Royal Blackman Dies: Former NATAS President & Longtime Entertainment Lawyer Was 99

Roy Trakin When Varietychose to honor Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) founder Raúl Alarcón with its Legends & Groundbreakers Award at its Miami Entertainment Town event on April 13, it picked the perfect person to fit that definition.  Among SBS’ 22 stations in the leading eight Latin markets are New York’s WSKQ-FM (Mega 97.9), the most-listened-to and streamed outlet in the U.S. in any language, Miami’s No. 1 station WXDJ-FM (El Nuevo Zol 106.7) and WCMQ-FM (Zeta 92.3) as well as L.A.’s top-ranked KXOL-FM (Mega 96.3) and KLAX-FM (97.9 La Raza), the first FM station to program regional Mexican music such as Norteñas and Banda, which once famously beat out an incredulous Howard Stern in morning ratings on KLSX. 

Kathy A. McDonald Once bohemian and artsy, the leafy bayside enclave of Miami’s Coconut Grove has gone decidedly upscale. In 2022, the suburb was home to Miami’s priciest residential real estate transaction when entrepreneur and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin paid $106 million for two mansions on a combined lot with expansive bayfront frontage and unobstructed views. Jill Hertzberg of the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty, who represented Griffin, describes the 4-acre estate as akin to a Picasso and “priceless.”  The pandemic accelerated the Grove’s popularity, attracting transplants from New York, Chicago (such as Griffin) and California due to its proximity to all things great about Miami — including well-regarded private schools, a relatively quick drive to downtown, sophisticated dining, bayside parks and the revitalized Dinner Key pleasure boat marina. According to One Sotheby’s Intl. Realty’s February Florida East Coast Market Report, median single-family-home prices in Coconut Grove were up 43.5% year-over-year. 

Quentin Tarantino is now on the international leg of his book tour for “Cinema Speculation,” the director’s first work of film criticism. And the tour also now serves as a way for the press to, well, press Tarantino about his upcoming tenth and final film, “The Movie Critic.” With its late-1970s LA setting, many believed the titular main character could be based on Pauline Kael, the lauded long-time critic for The New Yorker who had a brief stint working in Hollywood.

Brian Cox is speaking out about that shocking twist from last night’s episode of Succession.

Former president Donald Trump was arraigned in New York City on Tuesday, April 4. He is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Abbott Elementary” will finally reveal Janine’s mother on the ABC comedy’s April 12 episode, and even though it’s April Fool’s Day, we’re not (Cookie) Lyon: It’s “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson, who will play Vanetta on the hit comedy series. The casting of Henson was revealed Saturday at the Paley Center for Media’s annual PaleyFest LA event, where an “Abbott Elementary” panel featured stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Wiliams and William Stanford Davis in person, as well as Janelle James and Chris Perfetti via Zoom from New York. Pre-taping a message was star and executive producer Quinta Brunson, who wasn’t able to attend — as she’s hosting tonight’s installment of “Saturday Night Live.”

Donald Trump‘s lawyer answered the question that everyone has been asking since the news broke that the former president had been indicted – will he be in handcuffs at any point?

Disney’s former head of communications Zenia Mucha is advising TikTok as the beleagued company fights calls to shut it down in the U.S. on security concerns, Deadline has confirmed. It’s already banned across the Federal government with President Biden recently ramping up demands that the global app’s Chinese parent sell the U.S. business to a company Stateside, or see it vanish.

Finding herself! Meghan King is getting real about her decision to expand her dating pool to include women.

Ellise Shafer A New York grand jury has voted to indict former president Donald Trump over an alleged 2016 hush money scheme, the New York Times reports. The Associated Press also confirmed the news with Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina. Four people with knowledge of the matter told the New York Times on Thursday that the felony indictment “will likely be announced in the coming days.” As the indictment is sealed, the exact charges are unknown for now, but they have to do with his role in allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, the Times reports. According to the AP, Trump is expected to surrender to authorities next week. The indictment makes Trump the United States’ first president to be criminally charged, and certainly puts a damper on his upcoming try for a second term in the 2024 election.

Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti will star in an Off Broadway production of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters for a (very) limited run: The production at the Irish Repertory Theatre will run from May 30 to June 4 for eight performances.

A good intention? Jennifer Aydin is giving some context on why Luis Ruelas decided to wear pajamas that once belonged to Teresa Giudice’s late father.

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga have been invited to perform for US president Joe Biden and South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol at an upcoming state dinner.According to a report by South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the pop stars have been invited to perform at an upcoming US state dinner between US president Biden and South Korean president Yoon.Yoon is set to make a state visit to the US on April 26, which will feature a joint cultural event at a state dinner with the US president. The dinner will reportedly begin with an opening ceremony, at which BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga have been invited to perform at.YG Entertainment has since confirmed that the girl group have received an invitation.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker reportedly testified again before the Manhattan grand jury investigating Donald J. Trump and an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Rob Wilk, most recently global head of advertising at Microsoft, joined Snap as the first president of Americas overseeing the Snapchat parent company’s sales in the region. Wilk, who is based out of Snap’s New York offices, reports to Snap COO Jerry Hunter. In the new role, Wilk will run sales across the U.S., Canada and Latin America and will be responsible for supporting and managing its largest advertising partners in the region. Wilk steps into the Snap job after the departure last summer of the company’s two top ad sales execs, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, who joined Netflix. “We were impressed not only with Rob’s hands-on experience building a large and growing advertising business, but also his approach to leading customer-centric sales teams and developing strong, sustained customer relationships,” Hunter wrote in an internal memo to Snap staff Monday.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Universal Pictures Distribution and Marketing EVP John C. Hall has joined the team at American-European media fund APX Group, as it continues to restructure and expand ahead of a planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.

recently stepped down as special prosecutor on the upcoming “Rust” criminal trial against Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, wrote in emails sent to the Santa Fe district attorney last fall and acquired by The New York Times that she believed working on the case could help her electoral campaign. Reeb was selected by DA Mary Carmack-Altwies last June to handle criminal charges related to the accidental death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Real talk. Kelsea Ballerini revealed how her divorce from Morgan Evans affected her physical appearance — and detailed the not-so-glamourous side of hair extensions.