Hollywood News Now

University of Auckland senior law lecturer Nikki Chamberlain said there were likely multiple explanations for the recent explosion of US-based entertainment industry lawsuit cases, compared with here at home. They included differences in civil procedure and funding mechanisms, the role of government agencies, social media and cultural movements, and even something as simple as how deep people's pockets are. "In the USA, each party is responsible for their own legal costs, even if they are unsuccessful at trial. In New Zealand, the loser pays both parties' costs, usually on a scaled basis. This creates greater cost risks for a plaintiff commencing litigation in New Zealand," she said. Most US cases are also usually heard by jury trials, whereas in New Zealand, the cases are normally heard by a judge-alone trial. Defamation cases are an exception, as people can elect to have a jury trial. "Juries tend to award higher damages awards. Further, New Zea...

Image Credit: Emily Reynolds Bergh In Hollywood, celebrities frequently find themselves in the spotlight for reasons beyond their work. With the phenomenal rise of social media and career-threatening public controversies making headlines nearly every day, the demand for expert crisis management has grown significantly. Emily Reynolds Bergh, founder of R Public Relations, offers insights into advocacy trends shaping the Hollywood scene. Having navigated numerous crises for notable figures, she has seen advocacy evolve from a basic branding tactic to a key part of celebrity culture. The Shift from Brand Endorsements to Authentic Advocacy Gone are the days when celebrities endorsed brands or causes solely for visibility and profit. Today, there's a shift toward authentic advocacy, wherein stars support causes that align with their values. Emily notes that this change is driven by fans' growing demand for transparency. "Audiences are now savvy enough to distingui...

Audio storytelling is emerging as a powerful tool for testing and developing film and television content, as evidenced by a growing number of podcast adaptations. Latino-focused podcast network Sonoro has taken note and is leading the charge. Hollywood's Billion-Dollar Bet On Adaptations "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." Pictured is Best Supporting Actor nominee Ian ... [+] McKellen (L) as Gandalf with Elijah Wood as Frodo. (Photo by New Line/WireImage) WireImage The entertainment industry has long mined various media for adaptation opportunities, from novels to comic books. The strategy has paid off handsomely: according to Box Office Mojo , The Lord of the Rings trilogy grossed $2.9 billion worldwide, while Statista reports that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has generated over $31 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing film franchise to date. Now, podcasting is positioning itself as Hollywood's latest testing gro...

Meet Hollywood's nepo baby couples — and exes. WireImage Hollywood's next generation is finding love — with each other. Kaia Gerber, Miley Cyrus and more celeb offspring have made headlines for dating fellow nepo babies over the years. The former, who stepped out with Lewis Pullman in January 2025, previously spoke to Elle about the role nepotism played in her modeling career . Many A-list offspring have found love together. Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images Some have even made it down the aisle. Tonyhawk/Instagram "No artist is going to sacrifice their vision for someone's kid. That just isn't how art is made, and what I'm interested in is art," Cindy Crawford's daughter said while acknowledging that nepotism "is prevalent." However, she claimed, "I think if it actually was what people make it out to be, we'd see even more of it." Keep scrolling to meet Gerber's beau and more A-list kids who have...

Joey Arbagey has joined 19 Entertainment, the Sony Pictures Television company led by Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, as executive vice president of music. Joining 19 Entertainment from Epic Records, where he spent a decade and most recently served as executive VP of A&R, Arbagey will oversee the music business connected to "American Idol." Arbagey will support the music division, overseeing 19 Recordings, 19 Publishing, and 19 Management, as well as related partnerships, including with distribution partner BMG. He will report to Holzman and Rachel Dax, SPT Nonfiction's president and executive VP of production, respectively. In a joint statement, Holzman and Dax said, "We are so glad to bring Joey aboard as we work to evolve our music division to address the needs of artists in the music industry of today. He is an outstanding executive with a strong track record across both the business and creative sides of the industry. His input will be invaluable a...

Super Bowl commercials and popular celebrities go together like peanut butter and chocolate. So how come there's no famous face putting a spotlight on Reese's candy during the Big Game? A new Super Bowl ad for the Hershey 's-backed treat will show fans taking extreme measures at the site of an active volcano to taste lava, clearly confused after the introduction of a new version of Reese's that has chocolate lava. There is a 94-year-old woman among the crowd who gets into an interesting mix-up, but there are no movie stars, no sports figures, no politicians. "I don't think we want to share the stage with someone else, you know?" says Ryan Riess, vice president of brand strategy and creative development, The Hershey Company, during a recent interview. "I think there are definitely times to use celebrities, but the Super Bowl is one where our goal is to have Reese's be the star." Reese's will rely on a strategy that is embra...

Scripted TV production is off 25% from its peak, per industry data firm Ampere Analysis. Ampere expects spending on entertainment content from the major players to be flat in 2025. Streamers are shifting some spending to sports content. Hollywood's production slowdown may be the new normal. Many entertainment insiders started 2024 hopeful that production levels would recover following the  twin labor strikes  of 2023 and the broad industry  correction in 2022 . Now, the first full year since the strikes has ended. So, where is the industry? New data from the UK-based industry tracker Ampere Analysis shows first-run scripted TV series orders in 2024 were down about 25% from 2022, when 3,108 shows were ordered industrywide at the height of Peak TV. Ampere said the decline was roughly consistent across geographic regions and company types. What's more, Ampere expects the entertainment content outlay by the industry's top spenders to be essentially flat mo...

Bill Burr still has some anger to work through... and it's all directed at Howie Mandel . While appearing on a recent episode of Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Burr was treated to an unwanted therapy session when the host brought out Billy Corgan , the Smashing Pumpkins guitarist who months ago revealed that the duo might be related.  "Howie did what he did because he is a Hollywood whore and he doesn't care what happens," Burr told Rich Eisen on Monday, while reflecting on the ambush. "He could've said something and he just brings up all that weirdness." The origins of the incident dates back to Mandel's November conversation with Corgan, where the musician revealed that his stepmother once said to him: "Do you know who Bill Burr is? Bill Burr might be one of the children that your father sired in his days being a traveling musician." So when Burr visited the studio for his own episode, Mandel had the idea to c...

Anthony Mackie told Esquire magazine in a new cover story that playing Captain America "is my Oscar because I've been overlooked so many times in my career." The actor says there are least four performances of his that deserved award nominations ("Brother to Brother," "Half Nelson, "The Banker" and "The Hurt Locker"), and yet he was snubbed every time. So he's making " Captain America: Brave New World " his Oscars moment, as he's finally leading a Marvel tentpole after 11 years in the franchise. "The expectations of what comes along with this role is something that nobody talks about," Mackie told the magazine about becoming Captain America. "Nobody really acknowledges the mental jousting that takes place. When I walk out of this hotel, I don't walk out of this hotel as Anthony Mackie. I walk out of this hotel as Captain America." Mackie said "Brave New World" is "lit...

At its core, the Oscars telecast is supposed to serve as a three-hour infomercial for the movie business. But celebrating the year in film is a challenging task at a time when the motion picture industry is hardly in a celebratory mood. It's not just the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, which destroyed the homes of many who work in movies and TV , both above and below the line, and which have cast a grim shadow over Hollywood's awards season economy. This at a time when a sluggish box office and a lack of employment in onscreen entertainment has already given the business a sickly Nosferatu-like pallor. It doesn't help that, by general consensus of those who've spoken with The Wide Shot, that the group of 10 best picture nominees for the 97th Academy Awards is a bit underwhelming. With no billion-dollar blockbusters in the mix, this definitely isn't a "Barbenheimer" year. At the time of Thursday morning's nominations announcement, this year...