NY Legislators Hint Future Of Tax Incentives May Depend On Fair Deal To End Strike, Call On AMPTP To Return To Bargaining Table With WGA

On Friday some bombshell news dropped about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Or should we say there was a bombshell about being “dropped”?

Hollywood stars have had such illustrious and iconic careers that they are considered royalty in their own right. Even though they may appear to us common folk as kings and queens, a surprising number of celebrities have distinct hereditary connections to monarchies. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletterThe team at Indy100 compiled a list of 18 celebrities who can claim aristocratic ancestry while also being phenomenally iconic (some people really do have the world at the tips of their fingers, huh).

Charna Flam Bill Simmons, the Ringer founder and head of podcast innovation and monetization at Spotify, recently ridiculed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on his podcast, labeling the couple as “fucking grifters” Simmons’ comment follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Thursday announcement that their production company, Archewell, had severed ties with the audio company. The pair inked a $20 million deal with Spotify in 2020. “‘The Fucking Grifters.’ That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,” said Simmons on his self-titled podcast. “I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”

Meghan Markle‘s podcast, “Archetypes,” will not be back for a second season despite its initial success as she and Prince Harry leave Spotify behind.

Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022, chatting to celebrities, historians and experts about the history of stereotypes levelled against women. Tennis star Serena Williams, singer Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and actors Mindy Kaling and Constance Wu were among the guests. The joint statement from Archwell and Spotify said: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.

“Asteroid City” co-stars Maya Hawke and Rupert Friend like to make their promotional tour fun.

Zendaya’s team is shutting down rumours.

Kendall Jenner and the editing team at The Kardashians have people wondering if she has a bun in the oven. A recent cliffhanger on the family’s reality show has rumors spreading like wildfire.

It’s final. There will be no second season for Walker Independence. Efforts to find a new home for the CBS Studios-produced Walker spinoff were unsuccessful following cancellation by the CW, sources have confirmed to Deadline.

KISS icon Gene Simmons attended Parliament, calling for the restoration of power sharing in Northern Ireland.As the BBC reports, Simmons appeared to argue that Stormont – the Northern Ireland Assembly – must be restored to look after people’s needs, and that he hopes “everything gets back in order in Northern Ireland and the people’s business should be done by their elected officials”.The frontman was visiting Parliament as a guest of the Democratic Unionist Party MP Ian Paisley.“One of our crew happened I guess to know him or they discussed something, and I guess he was a big fan,” Simmons told the BBC, revealing that the band’s private jet was struggling to find a place to land in the UK for their tour before Paisley stepped in.Visiting the UK Parliament, by invite of MP Ian Paisley was truly an honor. Here I am with two gentleman in Parliament who wanted to make sure I was behaving myself.

The Directors Guild’s tentative agreement with the studios for a new film and TV contract, reached late last night, eliminated the prospect of an unprecedented WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA three-guild strike which would’ve paralyzed the film and TV industry. It also likely won’t bring the labor peace the studios and streamers are looking for. But it brings even more attention to the WGA, whose strike is in its second month.

75-year-old actor played the lead character of Sam Malone in the long-running series, which aired from 1982 to 1993. On Friday, Danson reunited with co-stars George Wendt and John Ratzenberger and “Cheers” co-creators James Burrows, Les Charles and Glen Charles for a panel discussion about the show during the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas.While discussing why “Cheers” ended after 11 seasons, Danson admitted that he was behind it.

The Writers Guild is congratulating the Directors Guild on achieving a tentative agreement on a new film and TV contract but says its strike will continue unabated and that its own bargaining positions “remain the same” as at the start of the strike on May 2.

Albert Square as she came looking for her estranged husband, Rocky Cotton (Brain Conley). The pair tied the knot over 25 years ago, but because Rocky isn't the most honest about his past, little is known about his previous relationship. However, Rocky's shady past caught up with him leaving his current fiancée Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) heartbroken as he lied about being married.

Writers Guild of America has assured members in a memo that a potential agreement between Hollywood’s studios and the Directors Guild of America will not break their strike, saying that solidarity between the entertainment unions will safeguard against it and that the “era of divide and conquer is over.”“Our position is clear,” the guild wrote. “To resolve the strike, the companies will have to negotiate with the WGA on our full agenda.”In a memo posted to the WGA’s contract website, the guild’s negotiating team pointed to the conclusion of the last writers strike in 2008, as the DGA reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that became the pattern upon which the AMPTP set its deal with the WGA.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer This is not 2008. That was the message sent on Thursday by the Writers Guild of America, which argues that the current strike — now a month old — will not end the way the last one did 15 years ago. In 2008, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers got a deal with the Directors Guild of America, which set the pattern for the deal that ended the writers strike after 100 days. In an email to members, the WGA argued that the studios are once again pursuing a similar “divide and conquer” strategy.

Vacation mode activated! Drew Barrymore has traveled the world, and she has some excellent getaway recommendations in the “Happy Place” issue of Drew magazine, on newsstands now.

A different ending. Jeremy Strong tried to improvise a much darker conclusion for Kendall Roy on the series finale of Succession.

Inspirational footballers returned to their former club after beating cancer to help others. Rochdale legend Joe Thompson was joined by former Dale youth player Bader Al-Akkad at Spotland for the Goals for A Cure match.

First Dates star and former Miss Bikini Ireland Judy Fitzgerald has died aged 32.