AI-Generated Marilyn Monroe Chatbot Can Hold an Extended Conversation With ‘Realistic Emotions’ and Expressions, Company Claims

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Joe Rogan‘s massively popular podcast not only drives millions of listens of his show on Spotify — it also can boost music streams of guests featured on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” too. One of Spotify’s theses behind its investment in podcasts is that they spur higher engagement for the music side of the house: Users who listen to podcasts on average listen to more music, according to the company. Now Spotify has new stats it says demonstrate that flywheel effect as it relates to Rogan’s show, which has more than 14 million followers on the platform.

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.

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.

Eiza González had a lot of fun during her latest red carpet appearance. The Mexican star shared how proud she is of her role as Auggie in her new Netflix show ‘3 Body Problem,’ and took the opportunity to step out in a stunning ensemble, posing for the cameras at the event while twirling and playing with her dress.Eiza Gonzalez gives Betty Boop vibes at 3 Body Problem premiereEiza González reveals she’s ‘given up’ on dating; ‘I’m not looking anymore’How Eiza González prepared to play a physicist in new Netflix show ‘3 Body Problem’The star paired her black and white look with minimal jewelry and a soft glam makeup look. “Ready for ‘3 Body Problem’ in theme with this amazing Cartier theme,” she wrote on Instagram Stories, showcasing the jewelry for the special occasion.Eiza was all smiles giving photographers a Marilyn Monroe moment on the red carpet, and talking to reporters about her experience while filming the show.“Our show is out tonight,” Eiza wrote on social media before attending the premiere.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In what’s poised to be one of the biggest initial public offerings of the year, Reddit disclosed financial details of its forthcoming IPO, through which it’s aiming to raise as much as $748 million. On Monday, in an update to its S-1 filing with the SEC, Reddit said it will offer 22 million shares, expected to be listed at an IPO price of between $31 and $34 per share.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor WWE has sold sponsorship rights to a prime piece of real estate: the center of its ring. On Friday, WWE announced a “record-setting” pact with Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime Hydration beverage brand to become the wrestling entertainment company’s exclusive “official hydration drink partner” and the first partner to ever appear on the center of the WWE ring.

One of Marilyn Monroe‘s most famous quotes was, “I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor When Hollywood accurately depicts work-family and gender-equity scenarios on screen, it’s good for business by driving up viewership and engagement, according to a new research study. The vast majority of engaged streaming viewers in the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok, the massively popular video app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, apparently has an ally in Donald Trump. The former U.S. president expressed opposition to a national ban of TikTok not for, say, First Amendment reasons but because such a move would likely boost the fortunes of Meta’s Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor With American lawmakers sounding the alarm again over TikTok‘s ties to China’s communist regime, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee unanimously voted to approve a bill that would give China’s ByteDance 165 days to divest its ownership of TikTok — or effectively face a U.S. ban.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor J.J. Abrams is taking a look back at “Felicity,” the beloved series he co-created that premiered 25 years ago, in a difference kind of rewatch podcast featuring guest appearances by the show’s stars, including Keri Russell, Scott Speedman and Scott Foley. “Dear Felicity,” from Abrams’ Bad Robot Audio and Spotify’s The Ringer, is set to debut Wednesday, March 13.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon, the founder of WWE who resigned from the board of TKO Group earlier this year amid sexual assault allegations against him, filed to sell $411.95 million worth of TKO stock, according to a regulatory filing. McMahon’s sale comprised 5.35 million shares of TKO, per an SEC filing Monday. That came after he sold 8.4 million shares of Class A common stock in TKO — in sale worth $670.3 million — last November.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that the company is behind Netflix in terms of technical capabilities — and that the Mouse House is in the process of catching up. “We need to be at their level” of technical capability, in order to reduce marketing expenses and cut churn rates, Iger said about Netflix, speaking Tuesday at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Iger reiterated that Disney is on track to achieve profitability in the streaming business — which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — by the fiscal quarter that ends September 2024.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Will Shortz, the longtime crossword puzzle editor of the New York Times and NPR’s “puzzlemaster” for more than three decades, suffered a stroke last month and has spent the last several weeks rehabilitating. Shortz revealed the injury in a recorded message aired on on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” on March 5. He has been absent from the show in recent weeks, and at the end today’s puzzle segment, “Weekend Edition Sunday” host Ayesha Rascoe shared an audio clip from Shortz to let fans know the situation.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor UTA is tucking a small acquisition into its marketing division: The company announced the acquisition of JUV Consulting, a marketing, creative services and research agency that helps clients target Gen Z consumers. The JUV operations, to be rebranded as Next Gen, will become a new practice within UTA’s entertainment marketing division. About a dozen of JUV Consulting’s employees will join UTA, including CEO Ziad Ahmed (pictured above), working at UTA’s offices in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fubo chief David Gandler took the gloves off in lambasting the joint venture formed by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The descendants of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney have weighed in on the bid by two activist investment firms to win seats on the board of the Walt Disney Co. Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who runs hedge fund Trian Partners, is waging a proxy-fight battle to install himself and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo as directors; Peltz’s stated aim is to drive up the price of Disney’s stock.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dwayne Johnson now officially owns title to the sobriquet “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.” The actor and entertainment mogul, who broke out as a star in the WWE ring two decades ago, has gained rights to a number of nicknames, insults and catchphrases from his time in the ring in the 90s and early 2000s — including “Candy Ass,” “Jabroni,” and “If you smell what The Rock is cooking.” The transfer of the intellectual-property rights to the names and phrases to Johnson came under his deal to join the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the company formed by Endeavor that merged WWE and the UFC. As announced last month, Johnson officially has the rights to his famous ring name, “The Rock.” In its 10-K filing Feb.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor SiriusXM named industry veteran Sarah van Mosel to the newly created position of senior VP of podcast strategy. It’s a return to SiriusXM for von Mosel, who previously served as chief revenue office at its subsidiary Stitcher.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have a long history. Before their wedding in 2022, Affleck and Lopez were engaged in the early aughts, canceling their wedding three days before the date. It was a moment that rocked Hollywood, shattering the impression that everything was going well with the couple.