SiriusXM Laying Off 475 Employees, Cutting 8% of Workforce

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Funko, less than a year after acquiring high-end collectibles brand Mondo, has wound down Mondo’s movie-poster business and let go several employees — including Mondo co-founders Mitch Putnam and Rob Jones, Variety has confirmed. Mondo, based in Austin, Texas, was founded in 2001 and was previously a subsidiary of indie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse before Funko’s deal to buy it last year for $14 million. Mondo had gained a strong following for its limited-edition screen-printed movie posters. Notable artists who worked with Mondo on its posters have included Olly Moss, Shepard Fairey, Ken Taylor and Kevin Tong. Sources said that Mondo’s vinyl records and collectibles businesses are intact.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter More layoffs are underway at The CW, Variety has confirmed. Sources say that over a dozen people have been let go from the network, mostly in the marketing and finance divisions. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, those released this time were supposed to be part of an initial round of cuts that took place late last year, but ongoing projects or remaining time on their contracts meant they were not let go until today. This marks the latest layoffs at the broadcast network since Nexstar acquired a majority stake in it in October 2022. As Variety exclusively reported in November, between 30-40 staffers were laid off shortly after the deal closed, including longtime network communications head Paul Hewitt. Those came after network head Mark Pedowitz stepped down along with several other senior executives.

Prince William laid a wreath at a monument dedicated to soldiers in Poland as part of a trip to meet Ukrainian refugees being helped in the Eastern European country. The Prince of Wales, 40, visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on Thursday morning - echoing a royal engagement carried out by the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who did the same in 1996. William was greeted by a guard of honour and carried the assortment of flowers to the monument, spending around 10 minutes there before leaving.

Filmmaker Aaron Sorkin revealed he was fighting for his life after battling a stroke.  The 61-year-old producer spoke out about the severe health condition he suffered from before working on a major Broadway project in New York City.  "[I’m] supposed to be dead," Sorkin told the New York Times. "There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again," he confessed.  In November 2022, the "West Wing" creator worked on a rewritten version of the Broadway show "Camelot." However, after his near-fatal stroke, he admitted his speech was impacted, where he slurred his words and lost mobility in his hands. Sorkin noted that it was hard to write his name and he had difficulty typing.  Sorkin decided to make some life changes and incorporated healthier habits into his daily life after his massive health scare.

The West Wing and Social Network creator Aaron Sorkin has revealed he thought “he was never going to be able to write again” after suffering a stroke.The award-winning screen and stage writer suffered a small stroke last autumn, but decided to keep the medical issue under wraps until recently. Speaking to the New York Times (as per Variety), Sorkin explained it was a “wake-up call”, but one which made him question if he even had a future left in the entertainment industry.“There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again,” said the Oscar-winning writer.

Aaron Sorkin revealed that he almost died last November after having a stroke.In a new interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, the writer shared more about his medical emergency.Sorkin explained that in November, he woke up in the middle of the night and noticed that he was “crashing into walls and corners” while walking to the kitchen.He didn’t pay much attention to it until the next morning when he kept spilling his glass of orange juice. The playwright called his doctor, who told him to come in immediately.His blood pressure was so high that his doctor told him, “You’re supposed to be dead.” It turns out that the film director had had a stroke.

A close call. Aaron Sorkin revealed that he suffered a stroke last year, prompting him to reexamine his habits.

new interview with the New York Times published Wednesday.“There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again and I was concerned in the short-term that I wasn’t going to be able to continue writing ‘Camelot,’” the playwright, screenwriter and director told the outlet. “Let me make this very, very clear, I’m fine.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ahead of the Broadway opening of his new “Camelot” musical adaptation, Aaron Sorkin revealed to the New York Times that he suffered a stroke last November. The medical emergency occurred two months before “Camelot” rehearsals were set to begin and resulted in his blood pressure being so high that “you’re supposed to be dead,” Sorkin said. As reported by The Times: “For about a month afterward, [Sorkin] was slurring words. He had trouble typing; he was discouraged from flying for a few weeks; and until recently, he couldn’t sign his name (he has just discovered, thanks to ‘Camelot’ autograph seekers, that that’s improving). Those issues are now behind him, and the main lingering effect is that he still can’t really taste food.”

Aaron Sorkin, whose adaptation of the musical Camelot opens on Broadway next month, has revealed that he suffered a stroke last November.

Aaron Sorkin is revealing that he suffered a stroke.

Aaron Sorkin had a major health scare, revealing that he had a stroke in November 2022 while working on the Broadway revival of. The revelation comes while speaking to the and agreeing to go on the record about what happened to him. Just months before rehearsals for the show, which was rewritten by Sorkin and is set to open at New York City's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on April 13, the 61-year-old creator learned that he had suffered a stroke.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After a strategic review, Amazon intends to lay off 9,000 more employees — on top of the 18,000 job cuts it previously announced, CEO Andy Jassy announced Monday. The latest round of cuts will mostly affect employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), People, Experience and Technology (PXT), advertising and Twitch divisions, according to Jassy. The company’s senior management team expects to make final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated by “mid to late April,” the CEO said. “This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” Jassy wrote.

Amazon is laying off another 9,000 workers as job cuts in the tech sector expand at a time of growing economic uncertainty. It follows cuts last fall and early this year.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Series Mania has always been about discovery: Of drama series as an art form, in its early days from launch in 2009; then of key players on a burgeoning international premium TV scene. Series Mania’s International Panorama now catches a new wave of creatives transitioning from film to scripted TV – Israel’s Yaron Shani with “Innermost,” Spain’s Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo with episodes of “Apagón”; and highlights notable emerging auteurs: Denmark’s Kasper Møller Rask, Canada’s Alexis Durand-Brault, Spain’s Fran Araujo, Pakistan’s Assim Abassi and Germany’s Jakob and Jonas Weydemann.  But for having already bowed at national festivals, some of the 12 titles below could well have been in the running for a Competition berth. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Satellite radio and podcast company SiriusXM extended its relationship with Kevin Hart and his entertainment company, Hartbeat, in a new multiyear deal. Under the agreement, Hartbeat will continue to curate content on Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio (SiriusXM channel 96), where all of Hartbeat’s audio programs will premiere exclusively — and the channel will have the exclusive first window on a previously unreleased stand-up album from late comedy legend Bernie Mac. Hart, who first struck a deal with SiriusXM in 2017, will continue to host his show and podcast, the newly renamed “Gold Minds With Kevin Hart” (formerly called “Comedy Gold Minds”), which debuts its new season Wednesday (March 15) at 7 p.m. ET exclusively on SiriusXM. In the season premiere, the comedian-actor-producer-entrepreneur will host filmmaker Ryan Coogler, and the duo will discuss his career journey, working with Michael B. Jordan across multiple projects including “Creed III,” and receiving guidance from the likes of Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Sylvester Stallone and Christopher Nolan along the way.

Vicente Besuijen has left the door open for a return to Aberdeen in the summer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is pink-slipping another 10,000 employees, coming on the heels of laying off 11,000 last fall. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, announced the planned cuts in a memo to employees Tuesday as an “update on our Year of Efficiency.” The 10,000 layoffs represent 11.6% of the 86,482 full-time employees Meta reported as of the end of 2022. Zuckerberg said Meta also is instituting a hiring freeze, canceling about 5,000 open job positions. “Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” Zuckerberg wrote in the memo (read it below).

The country's top doctor has warned the coming week will see the 'biggest strike disruption to date' as junior doctors stage a sweeping walkout.