WGA Pushes Back on Gloomy Media Industry Outlook, Stressing Profits

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The conversation about a new WGA contract has centered on the streaming economy, and how writers can make their way in a world of shorter TV seasons and slackening demand for shows. But setting industry trends aside, there’s another major factor that’s putting the squeeze on writers: inflation. The WGA last updated its contract minimums in 2020, just before inflation soared to its highest levels in 40 years. The contract provided annual increases in weekly minimums of 1.5%, 2.5% and 2.25%. With inflation climbing as high as 9.1% in 2022, and still stuck at 6%, those nominal increases have turned out be represent sharp cuts in terms of buying power.

$44 billion has been to even the playing field between verified and unverified users, believing that the blue check that traditionally comes with accounts belonging to public figures sets a left-leaning, elitist hierarchy on the site that he wants to do away with. While the fix to that hierarchy has seen its fair share of hiccups along the way, including a period of time when anyone could go blue and impersonate a celebrity, Musk announced last week that he’s doing away with unpaid verifications altogether.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand on Friday afternoon, telling a Utah jury that she was not the one to blame for a ski accident seven years ago. Paltrow is being sued by Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, who alleges that she crashed into him at the upscale Deer Valley Resort. In her testimony, Paltrow described watching her children ski downhill when Sanderson abruptly crashed into her from behind. “I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart,” she said. “And then there was a body pressing against me.”

arrested on Tuesday, accused the DA’s office of reading an indictment “motivated by political calculations” and demanded that he turn over communications, documents and testimony relating to what it called the “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority and the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump.”Bragg slapped back at the GOP’s accusations, calling the letter “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution,” Newsweek reported. “The letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.

Gemma Collins has revealed the biggest incentive that drove her to sign up to Celebrity Bake Off this year - and it was down to a longstanding crush. The 42 year old former TOWIE star took part in the celebrity special of The Great British Bake Off alongside a host of famous faces including Friends star David Schwimmer and ex-Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson to raise money for Stand Up 2 Cancer. But it was a certain judge that had Gemma blushing, as she admitted that she fancies Paul Hollywood, who weighed up the baking creations alongside Prue Leith.

Cameron Diaz is having a Tom Brady moment. The actress may go back into retirement after her Netflix action-comedy Back in Action. Diaz retired in 2018 and came out of retirement in 2022 for the Jamie Foxx film.A source told DailyMail, she’s ready to enjoy her time as a mother.

DirecTV has reached a carriage deal with conservative news outlet Newsmax, ending two months of media industry acrimony that spilled into Washington.

Hundreds of WGA East members who work for Hearst Magazines Media are planning to stage a walkout Thursday to demand a fair contract. The half-day action is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET and will last the remainder of the day.

The editorial staff at Fox affiliate WNYW-TV New York has voted unanimously to ratify a new four-year contract with the WGA East. The 52-member bargaining unit includes news writers, writer/producers, assignment editors, segment producers, news assistants and feed coordinators.

The Great British Bake Off returned in style on Sunday, as the first episode in a series of celebrity Stand Up To Cancer specials got underway and put four of our favourite stars against each other in the hope of earning the approval of judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. However, mere moments into the show, host Matt Lucas informed fans at home that for this debut edition, sadly his co-host Noel Fielding was not able to join them for the episode, joking it was due to him being a "vampire". While The Great British Bake Off's official Twitter poked fun at Noel's, 49, absence too as they joked about celebrity contestant David Schwimmer, who is best known for his role in US sitcom Friends, being his "replacement".

The Great British Bake Off has officially announced Alison Hammond as Matt Lucas's replacement and fans are over the moon. Sharing the news on social media, the baking competition's official Instagram page quipped that they had "baking news".

This Morning presenter Alison Hammond is reportedly set to join The Great British Bake Off when the Channel 4 series begins filming later this year. Alison, 48, will reportedly be replacing Matt Lucas as co-host, after the comedian announced his departure at the end of last year, telling fans that it had become clear he couldn't balance both GBBO and other commitments. Matt's fellow co-host Noel Fielding will be remaining on the show, with Alison set to present alongside him.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The solo TV auteur may soon be a thing of the past. The Writers Guild of America will sit down with the studios on Monday, and high on the agenda is setting a minimum staffing level for writers rooms. That means the days when Mike White or Craig Mazin could write an entire season of prestige TV all by themselves could be coming to an end. The guild argues that studios are squeezing more work out of fewer writers over a shorter time span, and paying them less than they’re entitled to. And the union’s leadership believes that it’s time to set basic standards around the size and duration of a writers’ room.

Nicola Petlz Beckham has shared her hope of starting a family in the future, almost a year after marrying Brooklyn Beckham in a star-studded ceremony in Florida. The actress married Brooklyn, the eldest son of former England footballer David Beckham and Spice Girl and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, in a Palm Beach ceremony last April.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The WGA announced Tuesday that 98.4% of members had voted in favor of the “pattern of demands,” a loose outline of topics for discussion in upcoming negotiations. The vote was not unexpected, but does signal a broad consensus around issues like wages, streaming residuals and “mini-rooms.” The negotiations are set to begin on March 20, ahead of the May 1 expiration of the current contract.

Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Too $hort, Warren G, Berner and DJ Drama.From July 7 through Aug. 27, the hip-hop icons are taking off on their 33-concert ‘High School Reunion Tour’ that will take them to arenas and amphitheaters all over North America.That includes three stops in New York and New Jersey.First, the sextet will drop it like it’s hot at Camden, NJ’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on July 30.

Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have announced a massive joint tour titled ‘High School Reunion’ across North America.Snoop announced the 33-date run via a poster on Instagram on March 7. The tour will kick off on July 7 in Vancouver before wrapping up the run in Irvine, California on August 27.

Reality star Stephen Bear could be forced to sell his house and car to pay back the money he made from posting 'revenge porn' with Love Island star Georgia Harrison to his Only Fans.The 33-year-old was jailed for one year and nine months on Friday 3 March for posting a video he secretly took of himself having sex with Miss Harrison in his garden. He denied but was convicted of one count of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private videos.The clip was uploaded to Only Fans on November 8 with the caption: “Morning everyone. Can’t wait for you to see me f****** in my garden.

TikTok user, who goes by the name Kelly on the social media platform, has recreated a mock-up of Prince Harry’s book cover that was parodied on a recent episode of the Comedy Central animated series.The Duke of Sussex, 38, debuted his bombshell memoir “Spare,” in January and “South Park” dubbed a novel written by an ex-Canadian prince “WAAAGH.”The episode featured the ex-royals from Canada on a “Worldwide Privacy Tour” where they appear on a variety of talk shows to moan about wanting to be private.“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone included a book cover that looks suspiciously like Harry’s, with a red-headed, freckled cartoon prince in a close-up shot.Inspired by the episode, Kelly brought the animated cover to life, illustrating the image through graphic design software.In a variety of TikToks, Kelly showed off her process, as well as placing the fake book jacket onto an actual hardcover novel.After designing the wrapping on her computer, she printed out the cover and folded it into the correct dimensions. Before purchasing “Spare” to fit the new jacket, Kelly had placed it on top of the 2004 Patricia MacDonald novel “Suspicious Origin.”“And I think that joke writes itself,” she said in a video.Kelly then made the trek to Target to purchase the ex-royal’s book following fan demand to plant the cover on the actual, 400-page tell-all novel.The art influencer’s idea earned many comments from her viewers, who couldn’t help but laugh over the fake cover.“My f–king hero,” someone beamed.

Matthew McConaughey’s oldest son is all about that surf life!