CEO Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Kassan‘s team promised late last week they would up the legal ante with UTA unless the agency completely dropped its lawsuit against the resigned/fired (depending on who you ask) MediaLink CEO, and today they did just that.

One of Fremantle‘s leading execs in Europe has become victim of a sophisticated $1M scam.

Selome Hailu The Golden Globes will air on CBS and livestream on Paramount+ for another five years, per a new deal with Dick Clark Productions that also puts the American Music Awards on the Eye Network. The agreement kicks off with the January 2025 telecast of the Golden Globes.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Christine Blasey Ford received a Hollywood welcome on Sunday night when Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Banks, Busy Phillips, Marisa Tomei and more gathered to toast the release of her new memoir, “One Way Back.” “We stand with you because you have stood with us so courageously, and we honor you and we celebrate you. We lift our glasses to you tonight,” Washington said. “To your courage, to your beauty, to your generosity as you continue to do more than you have to.

Nelson Peltz said today that his bitter proxy fight with Disney is “not about Mr. Iger, nor is it a referendum about his leadership” even as CNBC reported that his firm, Trian Partners, has withheld votes from the CEO, who is also a board nominee.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor UPDATED: Nelson Peltz claims Disney‘s board, not CEO Bob Iger, is the problem. But his investment firm, Trian Group, withheld its votes for Iger’s reelection to the Disney board. With just over a week before Disney’s annual shareholder meeting on April 3, Peltz’s Trian — which has been aggressively campaigning to get two seats on the Mouse House’s board — issued a new statement Monday saying the battle is not about any dispute with Iger but rather about forcing change on the board’s composition to boost the company’s financial returns.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Sesame Street” parent company Sesame Workshop has named Dannette “Danni” Hill its first-ever chief people officer. In this newly created role, Hill will oversee human resources, leading a division that supports “innovative best practices and organizational excellence” for Sesame Workshop, per the global impact nonprofit.

K.J. Yossman Fremantle has completed its acquisition of global production studio Asacha Media Group, the company confirmed today. Fremantle acquired the group from founding partners, managers and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management Fremantle’s group COO and CEO for continental Europe Andrea Scrosati spearheaded the acquisition.

Fremantle Completes Asacha Deal

EXCLUSIVE: If you thought the multi-million-dollar war of words and legal filings between UTA and former Medialink CEO Michael Kassan had been bare knuckles before, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer United Talent Agency has amended its lawsuit against former MediaLink chief Michael Kassan — striking its initial claims against its former partner to move those grievances to arbitration. The amended complaint offers new details of allegations of financial mismanagement against the advertising industry’s famous matchmaker and fixer, who blasts the litigation in a statement to Variety as a “smear” effort.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music At the Black Music Action Coalition‘s “Rooted in Country” discussion panel Thursday night — addressing the many challenges Black country artists continue to face breaking into the genre — it was just a matter of time before the conversation turned to Beyonce’s “Act II: Cowboy Carter” country-themed album that drops next Friday. The all-female panel (in honor of Women’s History Month) featured Rissi Palmer, a pioneering country singer-songwriter and host of the “Color Me Country” podcast; Holly G, founder of the Black Opry collective; and Live Nation Country’s Julie Matway; it was moderated by label veteran and author Naima Cochrane, who wrote a powerful study on the subject called “Three Chords & the Actual Truth: The Manufactured Myth of Country Music & White America” that was published in June of 2022.

Series Mania was Warner Bros. Discovery’s European roll-out timeline for Max, announced Thursday at the climax of the Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues. The most keenly anticipated session was nearly Series Mania’ Forum first: a Netflix showcase hosted by a confident Larry Tanz who significantly proved the only goal streamer exec to drill down on volume commitment.

The Sundance Institute announced on Friday that Joana Vicente will be stepping down as CEO, with Amanda Kelso to lead the organization as Acting CEO.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Joana Vicente has stepped down as CEO of the Sundance Institute. The news will come as a shock to the global independent film community, as Vicente served under three years in a plum role she took after years in leadership at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Michael Eisner, the former Disney CEO who exited the company in 2005, is the latest member of the extended Disneyverse to weigh in with support for current chief exec Bob Iger, who’s facing a proxy fight with activist investors including Nelson Peltz in a vote for board candidates at Disney’s April 3 annual shareholders meeting. “[I]n 1983, Disney was under attack by corporate raiders trying to take over the company,” Eisner wrote in a post on X, referring to the unsuccessful attempt by financier Saul Steinberg to stage a hostile takeover of the company.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Investors rallied around Reddit‘s initial public offering Thursday, driving the discussion-forum company’s stock up over 50% in its market debut. Through the IPO — expected to be among the biggest tech stock offerings of the year — Reddit raised $519 million and created a windfall for existing shareholders, including Condé Nast parent company Advance Publications and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

(Updated with  Laurene Powell Jobs statement) The fight for the future of the Walt Disney Company got very fast and furious this morning.

Angelique Jackson Wayfarer Studios, the independent production studio co-founded by Justin Baldoni and Steve Sarowitz, has bolstered its executive ranks with the recent hire of veteran executive Tera Hanks, who will now serve as president, while Jamey Heath has been elevated to the role of CEO. Hanks joins Wayfarer Studios from Westbrook Inc., where she served as president, following a lengthy tenure at CAA.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney was handed a setback in its boardroom fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz after proxy-advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that shareholders vote him onto the Mouse House’s board. ISS, whose recommendations are influential among institutional investors, cited Disney’s “failed” succession planning in the CEO role in its report backing Peltz, whose Trian Partners.

Former ITV and Channel 5 bosses will examine the future funding model of the BBC.

Cineworld Group, the world’s second largest theater circuit, said today it’s completed its executive team following the 2023 appointment of CEO Eduardo Acuna after the company emerged from bankruptcy.

Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, the CEO of France Télévisions, has called the collapse of the French broadcaster-backed streamer Salto “a strategic mistake.”

Contentious contract negotiations between publishing giant Condé Nast and the union representing staffers at many of its magazines spilled over Wednesday when staffers marched to the New York City offices of the company’s CEO.

Three staff members at the London Clinic are being investigated over claims they tried to gain access to Kate Middleton's private medical records.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Erv Woolsey, the manager who discovered George Strait and took him to the heights of country superstardom, died Wednesday at age 80. He died in Clearwater, Florida while under doctors’ care following complications from surgery, a representative said. One of the most famous managerial names in Nashville, Woolsey was also known for his role in the careers of Lee Ann Womack, Dierks Bentley, Ronnie Milsap and Clay Walker.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Apollo Global Management, a major private-equity firm, has submitted an $11 billion bid to acquire Paramount Pictures, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported that Apollo Global offered $11 billion for Paramount Global’s film and TV studio business. That would apparently not include CBS, Paramount Global’s cable networks or the streaming business that includes Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comscore, Inc. has been granted accreditation by industry watchdog Media Rating Council for its national and local TV-audience measurement services for households and average audiences, a critical win that threatens to erode Nielsen‘s dominance of the field.

As Deadline revealed last night, former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has joined Paradigm along with former Verve colleague Devon Schiff. Both join as agents in the Literary Content department and will be working out of Paradigm’s Los Angeles office.

George Lucas is the latest to come out in support of Disney and CEO Bob Igert as the company wages a bitter proxy fight against activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is making a run for two seats on the company’s board.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Star Wars mastermind George Lucas has come out with a statement in support of Disney‘s board and CEO Bob Iger, urging Mouse House shareholders to reject a bid by two activist investor groups to take seats on the media company’s board. “Creating magic is not for amateurs,” Lucas said in a statement released Tuesday. “When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger’s leadership.” Lucas continued, “When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved.

Toby Keith is posthumously heading to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

EXCLUSIVE: Following his stunning ouster from Verve, the agency he co-founded in 2010, where he’d most recently served as CEO, veteran agent Bill Weinstein looks to have found his next destination, as multiple sources tell Deadline that he’s in talks to join Paradigm.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are making moves behind the scenes!

,” coordinated by , is the first collective action of its kind, with global companies such as fashion brand Hatch, stroller company Bugaboo, and postpartum wellness company Anya—supported by actor Freida Pinto—taking part.The day of action symbolizes what could happen if women are forced to exit the workforce because of the lack of paid family and medical leave. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world with no form of national paid family leave.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s current strategic direction under CEO Bob Iger got the thumbs-up from independent proxy voting and corporate governance advisory firm Glass Lewis, amid a campaign launched by two activist investor groups to win seats on the Mouse House’s board. Glass Lewis, in a March 18 report, recommended Disney shareholders vote for the Disney-selected 12 director nominees — and reject those put forward by Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Partners and another firm, Blackwells Capital — at the company’s annual meeting on April 3.