Digital Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Following a hack that exposed more than 15,000 Roku accounts last month, the company said Friday it discovered a second security incident that affected 576,000 additional user accounts. Roku said it reset the passwords for all affected accounts and are notifying those customers directly about the latest incident.

Technology is to be introduced by a coroner which will be able to establish cause of death without dissecting the body. A leading coroner said families who have recently lost a loved one in Bolton, Salford, Wigan will soon benefit from 'digital autopsies', which not only minimise emotional distress, but also accelerate the post-mortem process.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The trailer launch for “Joker: Folie à Deux” was no laughing matter for Warner Bros. The marketing for the studio’s upcoming DC sequel, headlined by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a stellar start with 167 million viewers in its first 24 hours. The teaser trailer went online right after it debuted at Warner Bros.’s CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Four members of Paramount Global‘s current 11 board of directors will step down, the company disclosed, coming as the company has stepped up talks with Skydance Media about an M&A deal. The four directors — Dawn Ostroff, former chief content and advertising business officer of Spotify; Nicole Seligman, former president of Sony Entertainment; Frederick Terrell, vice chairman of investment banking at Wells Fargo; and Rob Klieger, partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP, who had served as legal counsel to Sumner Redstone — will not stand for reelection at Paramount Global’s annual meeting, set for June 4.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Daniel Radcliffe was treated to an unexpected moment during an appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast alongside his “Merrily We Roll Along” co-stars Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez. Podcast host Josh Horowitz played a clip from his Alan Rickman interview in 2016, which Radcliffe had never seen before. Rickman and Radcliffe were co-stars for a decade in the “Harry Potter” film series.

Amanda Holden has taken a stand for her 18-year-old daughter Lexi's choice to share bikini photos online this comes just a few days after the star herself got undressed in the Heart FM studio.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After nearly nine years, Showtime‘s streaming apps are fading to black. The Showtime standalone service will be shut down on April 30, according to notices sent to subscribers. The end of Showtime’s streaming apps comes just less than a year after parent company Paramount Global integrated Showtime’s programming into the top-tier Paramount+ plan.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dave Bautista and Eric Nam are set to headline the voice cast for the upcoming “Avatar: The Last Airbender” movie in development at Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Studios. The film’s working title is “Aang: The Last Airbender.” The news was announced during Paramount’s slate presentation at CinemaCon. Joining Bautista and Nam in the voice cast are Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten and Roman Zaragoza.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” will be re-released in theaters in honor of the sci-fi epic’s 10th anniversary. The film, which earned an impressive $731 million globally when it debuted in 2014, stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon and is set in a dystopian future in which a group of astronauts must travel to the far reaches of space to find a new planet for humankind to colonize. Paramount Pictures announced the re-release during its presentation to theater owners and executives at CinemaCon, the exhibition industry conference taking place this week in Las Vegas.

One of Britain's largest horse races will soon be underway.

Ever since online giant ASOS dropped its denim A-line shorts in a cherry print, £30 here, the cute style has been selling extremely fast, but it's currently still available on the digital shelves. However, if you're keen to snap them up, you'd better be quick.The summery denim comes in a regular fit with belt loops, five pockets and a high-rise style. If this gorgeous buy doesn't get you excited for the upcoming hot weather, then I don't know what will.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, which has faced ongoing political pressure amid criticism that its apps don’t take enough measures to ensure the safety of children, announced new steps it’s taking to protect users from “sextortion” and “other forms of intimate image abuse.” Among the new measures: Instagram is introducing a new nudity-protection feature in direct messages, which blurs images detected as containing nudity and will prompt users “to think twice before sending nude images.” On Instagram, nudity protection will be turned on by default for teens under 18 globally, and the app will also show a notification to adults encouraging them to turn it on. According to Meta, the feature is designed to not only protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their DMs but also to protect them from scammers who may send nude images to trick people into sending their own images in return.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor John Dahl, an ESPN veteran who helped produce the much-lauded Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance,” is getting into gear at NASCAR, where he will lead new efforts to connect to fans with content. Dahl has been named senior vice president of content, and will start in his new role on May 1.

Parents have been given a guideline on the best way to speak to teenagers about sexual health and relationships. A recent report has revealed that nearly a fifth of young people use the internet as their main source of information about sex.

Paramount is investigating claims Sylvester Stallone mocked extras on the set of "Tulsa King," a source close to the show confirmed to Fox News Digital. The comedy-drama series is facing allegations of a "toxic environment," which reportedly led to the resignation of casting director Rose Locke. While filming season 2 of the Paramount series, Stallone and director Craig Zisk both allegedly made disparaging remarks about the physical appearance of background actors.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jonathan Nolan appeared on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast to tout his latest television series, Prime Video’s “Fallout,” but the conversation touched on Nolan’s time co-writing Batman movies with his brother, Christopher Nolan. The siblings share screenwriting credit on 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” Jonathan admitted that he was pushing for the Riddler to be the primary villain of “Rises” and not Bane, which is what Christopher and David S. Goyer were planning.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube is advising viewer discretion with the newly dropped trailer for Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” — warning users that it “may contain suicide or self-harm topics.” As of Wednesday morning, a new message appeared before the trailer is playable on YouTube: “The following content may contain suicide or self-harm topics. Viewer discretion is advised.” Before they can watch the “Joker 2” trailer, users must click on a button that says, “I understand and wish to proceed.” The warning label did not initially appear on the trailer when it was released Tuesday evening.

Naman Ramachandran The BBC‘s news operations in India have been effectively divided from Wednesday with the launch of Collective Newsroom. Collective Newsroom was formed in December 2023 in order to comply with India’s strict foreign direct investment (FDI) in media rules. The Indian government’s cap on FDI in digital news outfits is 26%.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya was already a big star when she was cast as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” By that point in her career she had already amassed a huge following as the star of two Disney Channel hits, “Shake It Up” and “K.C. Undercover,” plus popped up in Beyonce’s “Lemonade” film and was a runner-up on “Dancing With the Stars.” None of that apparently registered for “Spider-Man” producer Amy Pascal. “To be honest with you, neither [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was,” Pascal admitted in Vogue magazine as part of its Zendaya cover story.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney released the official vote counts from its 2024 meeting of shareholders held April 3 — in which investors decisively defeated a campaign by activist investor Nelson Peltz to win a seat on its board. According to the votes disclosed in an SEC filing Tuesday, nine of the Disney-backed director candidates received more than 90% of the shares voted in their favor.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel‘s longstanding “Fast & Furious” feud came to an official end last year when Johnson shocked fans by popping up as the beloved Luke Hobbs in a “Fast X” mid-credits scene. Diesel had extended an invitation to Johnson in November 2021 to join “Fast X,” but Johnson said the following month that “I would not be returning to the franchise.” That turned out to be a bluff. The duo’s “Fast & Furious” co-star John Cena recently appeared on the “Armchair Expert” podcast (via People) and was asked by host Dax Shepard about the rumors concerning Johnson and Diesel’s on-set tussle.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kit Harington announced in a new interview with ScreenRant while promoting his new film “Blood for Dust” that his “Games of Thrones” spinoff centered around Jon Show is “off the table” and no longer in development at HBO. The network declined to comment. News broke in June 2022 that Harington was set to return to his iconic “Thrones” role, which earned him two Emmy nominations (one for supporting actor and another for lead actor in a drama series).

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Dune: Part Two” is barreling to streaming. The epic sci-fi sequel, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, will become available to rent and purchase on digital starting Apr.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ubisoft, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, announced the launch date for “Star Wars Outlaws” — the first open-world Star Wars game — and released the official trailer as well as new details for the much-anticipated title. “Star Wars Outlaws” will launch Aug. 30 on Xbox Series X|S consoles, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna and PC through Ubisoft Connect, at a suggested retail price of $69.99 for the base game.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya‘s most prolific roles to date in HBO’s “Euphoria,” which won her two Emmys for outstanding lead actress in a drama series, and three of Marvel’s “Spider-Man” films have something in common: High school. But she’s leaving the classroom behind for her new film, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” which casts Zendaya as a tennis phenom and finds her at one point during the movie playing a mother in her early 30s. “I’m always in a high school somewhere,” Zendaya recently told Vogue magazine about her career thus far.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Would you buy a car from an AI chatbot? What if it looked and talked like Tom Hanks? These are the sorts of questions kicking around Sacramento, where lawmakers are considering a slew of proposals to regulate artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, is pushing for legislation that would require detailed consent for the use of “digital replicas.” In a separate bill, the union also wants to prevent studios from putting dead performers in movies without the consent of their heirs.

Eurogamer, multiple GAME staff members spoke to the site anonymously and confirmed that most non-managerial staff will now be employed on zero hours contracts. They also added that this was not unexpected.GAME Staff affected by the layoffs will reportedly be told via phone or email, but it is unclear how many will be affected.

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle never had a chance to bond before drama rocked the palace. That claim was made by Ingrid Seward, editor in chief of Majesty magazine and author of "My Mother and I." The book explores King Charles’ upbringing and relationship with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Seward also sat down with the 75-year-old at his Highgrove estate.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jackie Chan marked his 70th birthday on April 7 by telling people not to worry about his health after some photos of the acting icon looking old with grey hair circulated online recently and sparked concern among his fans. Chan wrote in an Instagram post that any photo of him looking much older than 70 is just him in character for a new movie. “Not so long ago, a lot of friends saw some recent photos of me on the internet, and they were all concerned about my health,” Chan wrote in the caption.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jonathan Nolan said during a recent interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast with Dax Shepard that it took some convincing to get his brother, Christopher Nolan, to agree to direct “The Dark Knight.” The filmmaker had already hit a superhero movie slam dunk with “Batman Begins” and was hesitant to make another comic book movie because he didn’t want his career getting pigeonholed. “I worked on ‘Batman Begins’ in this slightly arm’s length capacity, but it was the one comic book my brother ever given me as a kid, ‘Batman: Year One,’ for my 14th birthday, and 10 years later I was on the set working with him,” Jonathan said, remembering thinking “this is nuts.” “Chris was on the fence about making another one,” Jonathan continued, noting that Chris went straight from “Batman Begins” into helming the magician thriller “The Prestige.” “He didn’t want to become a superhero movie director.” Jonathan said that Chris was “very proud” of “Batman Begins,” but “to me, it was like we built this amazing sports car, and I’m like, ‘Let’s take it for a drive.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s games group has bulked up executive ranks with new hires and promotions after the announcement of its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games and partnership to create a virtual world featuring the Mouse House’s brands and characters. Ray Gresko, formerly chief development officer at Blizzard Entertainment (who left prior to its the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard), joins the Disney Games team as senior VP, product and development.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steve Burns, who became an icon of children’s television as the host of Nickelodeon‘s “Blue’s Clues” from 1996 to 2002, recently spoke to “Today” and said he watched the viral documentary series “Quiet on Set” in “horror and heartbreak.” The ID Discovery series explores the alleged harassment and abuse that took place at Nickelodeon before and after the turn of the century, which is the same time Burns was the face of “Blue’s Clues.” “I don’t have any particular insight into any of that,” Burns said about the allegations made in the documentary series. “I’m coming to it much the same as anyone else, with horror and heartbreak. It’s just terrible to watch it unfold.

Evil” will premiere Thursday, May 23, on Paramount+, the streamer announced Monday. Production recently began in New York City on the previously announced four bonus episodes. Season 4 will include 14 episodes premiering weekly.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify already has numerous ways for listeners to find music to listen to on its platform. Now it’s adding a new AI tool that can automatically compile a playlist based on user-entered text strings. The company has launched a beta version of a feature it calls AI Playlist, available first to Spotify Premium subscribers in the U.K.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Robert Downey Jr. is not closing the door on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which he kicked off in 2008 with “Iron Man” and headlined for 11 years through 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Iron Man met his demise in that tentpole, but that has never stopped rumors from circulating that Marvel is trying to bring Downey back into the fold, especially now that the MCU has hit a box office rough patch with 2023 flops such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” Certainly, Downey’s return as Iron Man could restore Marvel to its blockbuster glory days. Speaking to Esquire magazine after his Oscar win for “Oppenheimer” last month, Downey was asked if he would ever return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that he is officially an Academy Award winner.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon continues to cash out of his stock in TKO Group Holdings, the company formed by the merger of WWE and UFC that is majority-owned by Endeavor. McMahon, the founder of WWE, resigned from the board of TKO Group in January 2024 in the wake of sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations against him by a former employee as detailed in a lawsuit. McMahon has strongly denied the allegations.