Reddit Down: Site Says Fix May Take ‘Some Time to Implement’

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dominion Voting Systems’ whopping $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox Corporation and Fox News is cleared to go to trial, despite the media company’s efforts. Barring a settlement or other unforeseen circumstances, the voting technology company will get to have its attorneys grill Fox News anchors and Fox Corp. executives, Judge Eric M. Davis of Superior Court in State of Delaware ruled in a filing on Friday. “The Court will allow this civil action to go to trial,” Davis said Friday. At issue in the case are damages Dominion alleges it is owed after Fox News aired false claims about its actions and influence on the 2020 election. It is the second legal proceeding made against Fox News for its coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 race for the White House. Smartmatic, a separate voting technology company, has filed a massive $2.7 billion suit against Fox News. Both suits allege that Fox News falsely claimed the companies had rigged the election, repeated items about the matter and then refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. The 2020 election was not fixed and its results were certified by multiple legal processes.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, posted a message to fans of Mondo, the high-end collectibles company it acquired last year, after Mondo was hit with layoffs. As part of Funko’s 10% job cuts across the company, Mondo co-founders Mitch Putnam and Rob Jones as well as senior creative director Eric Garza were laid off last week. In a Twitter post Thursday, Mariotti confirmed that there were layoffs at Mondo but said “the majority of the companywide layoffs weren’t in Mondo.” He also wrote that contrary to early reports last week that Mondo was shutting down the posters division, “the Mondo posters business will continue, period.” That said, according to Mariotti, “We feel that making extremely limited runs of posters, most of which are 150 pieces or under, limits access to fans unfairly. Many of these posters are bought with the sole purpose of flipping them at a much higher cost to fans that really want them.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As part of a companywide cost-cutting effort, Disney has axed its cross-divisional Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences group, which encompassed the Mouse House’s metaverse ambitions. The elimination of Disney’s Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences group, led by company veteran Mike White, affects about 50 employees, Variety confirmed. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. A Disney rep declined to comment. The shutdown of Disney’s metaverse group came Monday with the first wave of the company’s move to slash 7,000 jobs under interim CEO Bob Iger, which is part of its attempt to reduce $5.5 billion in costs. Following this week’s layoffs, there will be a larger second round of cuts next month, Iger told employees in a memo Monday. A final round of layoffs will hit “before the beginning of summer,” according to Iger.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Funko, less than a year after acquiring high-end collectibles brand Mondo, has wound down Mondo’s movie-poster business and let go several employees — including Mondo co-founders Mitch Putnam and Rob Jones, Variety has confirmed. Mondo, based in Austin, Texas, was founded in 2001 and was previously a subsidiary of indie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse before Funko’s deal to buy it last year for $14 million. Mondo had gained a strong following for its limited-edition screen-printed movie posters. Notable artists who worked with Mondo on its posters have included Olly Moss, Shepard Fairey, Ken Taylor and Kevin Tong. Sources said that Mondo’s vinyl records and collectibles businesses are intact.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The odds of the U.S. banning TikTok are higher after the app’s CEO testified before a House committee, according to some analysts. During the hearing, American politicians expressed frustration over what they saw as evasive and unconvincing answers about China’s influence over TikTok — and the communist regime’s ability to track user data — as well as its efforts to curb misinformation and harmful content, particularly in relation to children who use the app. In his D.C. appearance Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the popular app, used by more than 150 million American users monthly, as committed to ensuring privacy and security. He insisted, as TikTok has claimed before, that the company has never furnished U.S. user data to the Chinese Communist Party (nor has the CCP ever made such a request). Chew talked up TikTok’s “Project Texas,” intended to bring user data fully under the aegis of U.S.-based personnel and hosted on Oracle infrastructure.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is continuing its push to bring out a diverse set of games — ranging from casual puzzle titles to AAA games — included for no extra cost with its streaming plans, on the theory that it will help drive up and retain subscribers. Since bowing its first games globally in November 2021, the company has released 55 games. About 40 more are slated for later this year, which would bring the lineup to 95. In addition, Netflix Games has around 70 titles in development with partners, plus 16 games currently being developed by its in-house game studios, which include one in Southern California built around Chacko Sonny, the former Activision Blizzard executive producer behind “Overwatch.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After more than two years, YouTube has lifted its suspension on Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former U.S. president who was booted from major internet platforms in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. “Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content,” YouTube said in a statement Friday. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.” YouTube added that Trump’s “channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.” The channel currently has 2.64 million subscribers. The most recent videos uploaded to it (on Jan. 12, 2021) are clips from the far-right OANN (One America News Network) coverage a Trump press conference on the border wall in Texas.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor J.K. Rowling said she knew her comments about trans women nearly three years ago would land like a “hand grenade” on Twitter but claimed that despite the backlash, “a ton of Potter fans were grateful that I’d said what I said.” “I absolutely knew that if I spoke out many people who would love my books would be deeply unhappy with me,” the best-selling author said in the latest episode of podcast “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling,” released Tuesday. “Personally, it has not been fun and I have been scared at times for my own safety and, overwhelmingly, for my family’s safety. Time will tell whether I’ve got this wrong. I can only say that I’ve thought about it deeply and hard and long and I’ve listened, I promise, to the other side.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed the first slate of films to screen as part of its Special Presentations program at the 30th edition of the festival, running April 27 to May 7 in Toronto. The Special Presentations program, which features high-profile subjects, award-winning films and filmmakers, and original perspectives on current events and pressing issues, will screen in cinemas across downtown Toronto during the festival. The program covers an extensive array of subjects, from a behind-the-runway look at racial diversity in the fashion industry to a harrowing documentation of the recruitment of child soldiers in Uganda. International premieres include “Black Barbie: A Documentary,” a deep dive into the true story of Black Barbie, from her origins to her contemporary presence; “Food and Country,” New York Times’ food critic Ruth Reichl’s uncovering of our broken food system, and the innovators risking everything to transform it; “Stephen Curry: Underrated,” the story of one of the greatest NBA players working today; and “Periodical,” an eye-opening documentary examining the politics, science, and mystery of the menstrual cycle.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is pink-slipping another 10,000 employees, coming on the heels of laying off 11,000 last fall. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, announced the planned cuts in a memo to employees Tuesday as an “update on our Year of Efficiency.” The 10,000 layoffs represent 11.6% of the 86,482 full-time employees Meta reported as of the end of 2022. Zuckerberg said Meta also is instituting a hiring freeze, canceling about 5,000 open job positions. “Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” Zuckerberg wrote in the memo (read it below).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Rhett & Link are taking shows produced by their Mythical entertainment company — including the hugely popular “Good Mythical Morning” — and packaging them in a TV-like, around-the-clock stream on Roku Channel. The duo’s Mythical launched Mythical 24/7, an always-on free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel with a curated feed of its shows, which include flagship talk show “Good Mythical Morning,” “Good Mythical More,” “Mythical Kitchen” and “Ear Biscuits.” It also features “Mythical Specials,” comprising content from the company’s archives and other special projects like Rhett & Link’s comedy sketches and music videos.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sarah Rosen, who left Twitter last year shortly after Elon Musk’s takeover over the social network, has joined Reddit as senior director of content partnerships. At Twitter, Rosen most recently was head of North America content partnerships, leading all efforts in the region across entertainment, news and sports. After eight and a half years at Twitter, Rosen quit in November, less than a month after Musk closed the $44 billion acquisition. In her new role at Reddit, Rosen will oversee the content partnerships team focused on media, sports, gaming and entertainment verticals. According to Reddit, in the last year, the content partnerships team has expanded collaborations with organizations including the NFL (for the Super Bowl), Netflix (for “Stranger Things”), Lionsgate (“John Wick 4”), HBO (“The House of the Dragon”), Amazon’s Prime Video (“The Lord of the Rights: The Rings of Power”) and the Washington Post.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the wake of the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Wrapbook, a company that provides payroll services for TV and film productions, said payments submitted through its platform will be subject to delays. In messages to clients Friday, Wrapbook said payroll-processing delays caused by the failure of SVB — which came after a historic run on the bank’s deposits — may continue into next week. The shutdown of SVB “will cause payroll to be delayed today, March 10th 2023, and impact the processing of uncashed checks,” Wrapbook said in a statement. The company said it is working to resume payroll processing with SVB while at the same time seeking to process payroll payments with another banking partner.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor About one-fourth of Roku’s cash and equivalents — nearly half a billion dollars — has been held in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which was shut down by financial regulators Friday after it collapsed. And the streaming platform company said it’s unsure the extent to which it will be able to recover that cash. SVB, after it faced a run on deposits and failed to raise capital to make up the shortfall, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the FDIC as receiver of its assets. Roku disclosed in an SEC filing that about $487 million of its $1.9 billion in cash and equivalents is held at SVB, or about 26% of the company’s cash and cash equivalents balance as of March 10. The remaining $1.4 billion is “distributed across multiple large financial institutions,” Roku said in the filing.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After nearly 10 years on Netflix, comedy “New Girl” will be leaving the streaming service to get a new dual home on Hulu and Peacock. “New Girl” will be available on Hulu and Peacock beginning April 17, 2023. Under a shared agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal, Peacock and Hulu will share streaming rights to all seven season of the show, comprising 146 episodes in total. “New Girl,” starring Zooey Deschanel, first began streaming on Netflix in the U.S. in the summer of 2013. The show’s ensemble cast includes Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone. “New Girl” originally aired on Fox from 2011-2018.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hernan Lopez, former head of Fox International Channels and founder of podcast startup Wondery, was convicted on charges that he participated in a scheme to bribe South American soccer officials in order to secure exclusive broadcasting rights for 21st Century Fox. In April 2020, federal prosecutors indicted Lopez along with another former 21st Century Fox executive, Carlos Martinez, alleging they were part of a conspiracy to pay millions of dollars annually to FIFA officials in South America between 2000-15 in exchange for broadcasting rights to the Copa Libertadores club tournament as well as confidential bidding information for U.S. broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Alex Jones, the Infowars far-right conspiracy figure who has been ordered to pay a staggering $1.5 billion to families of Sandy Hook victims over his lies about the deadly massacre, would receive a $520,000 yearly salary under a proposed bankruptcy plan his company submitted this week. Jones’ Free Speech Systems, which is the parent company of online outlet Infowars, filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan Tuesday with a bankruptcy court in Texas. Under the proposal, which requires court approval, Jones’ company expects it would have $7 million to $10 million per year after expenses to pay creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku announced that Dan Jedda, a 15-year veteran of Amazon and former CFO of Stitch Fix, will join the streaming platform company as chief financial officer effective May 1. He will report to Roku founder/CEO Anthony Wood. Jedda will succeed current CFO Steve Louden, who announced last year he would leave Roku. According to the company, Louden will work closely with Jedda during transition period before Loudon exits the company in August 2023. Louden had previously planned to step down as CFO in late 2019 but later decided to remain at Roku. Jedda joins the company as Roku’s revenue growth slowed dramatically at the tail end of last year — and the company expects overall revenue to decline about 5% in the first quarter of 2023. Amid macroeconomic headwinds, Roku’s operating expenses have soared, and the streaming platform company has made layoffs and taken other cost-cutting steps.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeremy Renner’s vehicle-renovation show “Rennervations” motors on to Disney+ next month. And the actor says “Rennervations” has become a “driving force” in his recovery from a serious snow plow accident. All four episodes of “Rennervations” will drop exclusively on Disney+ on April 12. (Watch the official trailer below.) In the series, the actor — who famously plays Marvel superhero Hawkeye — teams with expert builders to acquire large, decommissioned government vehicles and reimagine them as “mind-blowing creations” that serve kids in communities around the world. “I’ve been on this journey for many years, and I started in my community by building vehicles for people in need,” Renner said in a statement. “But a few years ago, I thought, ‘How can I plus this up and create a bigger impact on a whole community?’ And that’s what this show does.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler as the gyrating rock ‘n’ roll icon, has been streamed for a total of about 2.7 billion minutes by HBO Max viewers in the U.S. since it came to the platform Aug. 8, 2022, according to new data from Nielsen. That makes “Elvis” the most-streamed title on U.S. subscription services among the films nominated for in the Oscars best picture category this year — but only if you are looking at the platforms for which Nielsen reports metrics. What’s important here: Nielsen’s Streaming Content Ratings do not include Paramount+, which added “Top Gun: Maverick” on Dec. 22, whereupon it became the service’s most-streamed movie premiere to date. Nielsen also does not report streaming estimates for Showtime, which has the rights to best-picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”