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Matthew Belloni, Eriq Gardner, Julia Alexander, Kim Masters & Scott Mendelson
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Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
An essential, insider-friendly Hollywood tip sheet from Matthew Belloni, who spent 14 years in the trenches at The Hollywood Reporter and five before that practicing entertainment law. What I’m Hearing also features contributions from veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, media analyst Julia Alexander, entertainment law expert Eriq Gardner, and special box office dispatches from Scott Mendelson.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Matthew Belloni
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December 24, 2024
Hollywood’s Villains of the Year Are the ‘It Ends With Us’ Publicists
Blake Lively’s legal complaint against co-star Justin Baldoni and his team of operators exposes the sinister subset of the crisis communications industry that seeks to attack and misinform, even as Lively’s own tactics, and the role of notorious publicist Stephanie Jones, come further into focus.
Matthew Belloni
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December 20, 2024
Amazon’s Christmas Theater War
Deploying Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Red One’ to Prime Video after only 27 days has angered the theatrical industry and raised a pertinent question that will define this next hybrid era: Can Amazon leverage movie theaters more than theaters can leverage Amazon?
Matthew Belloni
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December 17, 2024
Why, Exactly, Did Bob Iger Pay Off Trump?
A frank exchange with Kim Masters, Puck’s newest partner, about Iger’s $15 million blood sacrifice to Trump, its implications for ABC News, and whether this is the beginning of the end for Stephanopoulos.
Matthew Belloni
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December 13, 2024
The Lingering Golden Globes Stench
Two years after the Penske-Boehly takeover, and with the publicists’ war in the rearview, a new set of cascading challenges is befalling Hollywood’s perpetually scandalous awards show: apparent profiteering, marginalized membership, and an A.G. inquiry that threatens the whole party.
Matthew Belloni
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December 6, 2024
How to Spin the Decay of a P.R. Firm
It was telling to see the parent company of what’s now called R&CPMK sue a group of defectors on Thanksgiving eve—the latest sign that the Hollywood talent P.R. business isn’t what it used to be, and neither is PMK.
Matthew Belloni
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November 22, 2024
Prima Donna
Donna Langley’s NBCUniversal anointment gives her full greenlight authority for movies, NBC, Bravo, and Peacock. It also ends a power struggle with fellow executive Mark Lazarus, now riding an ice floe of cable networks into uncertain seas.
Matthew Belloni
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November 15, 2024
Bob Iger’s Netflix Moment
Disney’s C.E.O. has come roaring back from billions lost on streaming to project major profits and 10 percent margins as the onetime “terrible” business shows signs of life for everyone. If only TV wasn’t losing money faster.
Matthew Belloni
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November 8, 2024
Why Hollywood Executives Are So Giddy About Trump 2.0
Unlike in Trump’s first term, when entertainment became ground zero for the #Resistance, it feels like the industry—at least the business side of it—is gonna try to make nice to avoid issues with M&A and regulation, which is both sad and a reality of doing business when the president has become so openly vindictive, transactional, and unchecked.
Matthew Belloni
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November 5, 2024
Paramount’s Deal Dance, Costner’s Hubris & Clint’s Revenge
News and thoughts from my notebook on Bob Iger's campaign no-show, Amazon's post-election nail-biter, and initial takeaways from a key SEC filing in David Ellison's takeover of the Redstone empire.
Matthew Belloni
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November 1, 2024
The Mail Room: ‘Nobody Wants This’ Drama, Venu Plans & Timothée’s Salarée
In which readers ask me about the showrunner chaos at ‘Nobody Wants This,’ when Netflix will start hosting presidential debates, how much Timothée Chalamet is getting paid for his Dylan biopic, why anyone should still care about Venu, and much more.