Jason Kilar Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDiscovery investors will be asked to approve the $43 billion deal to combine with WarnerMedia, which AT&T is spinning off, at a March 11 virtual meeting.Discovery announced the date in a letter to shareholders, which it disclosed in an SEC filing Thursday. On that same day, AT&T has scheduled a virtual investor conference where the company said it will provide “additional insight and expectations for financial and operational performance of AT&T’s Communications segment” following the close of the WarnerMedia transaction.The pact cleared a major hurdle this week after U.S.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefHow could Jeff Zucker let himself self-destruct like that?It’s now been reported extensively just how many of his loyalists at CNN are outraged that WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar abruptly forced the charismatic leader out of his post last week for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with his “closest colleague,” chief marketing officer Allison Gollust. After all, his supporters argue, this was a consensual relationship between two single adults, so therefore what was the actual harm? True enough, but unfortunately the harm done was done by Zucker himself, and it ultimately led to his undoing at CNN when an enemy seized an opportunity to bring him down over it.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAs CNN’s many journalists tried to get past the ouster of Jeff Zucker, they ran up against one of their biggest professional hurdles: a source who refuses to talk.Some of WarnerMedia’s best-known on-air personalities pressed the company’s CEO Jason Kilar again and again on Monday, asking him to divulge more details around why Zucker resigned after acknowledging a personal relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s chief marketing officer. But Kilar would not.The WarnerMedia chief faced questions from Don Lemon, Alisyn Camerota, Brian Stelter, Jim Sciutto, Bill Weir, Richard Quest, John Avlon and Victor Blackwell, as well as longtime producer Jim Murphy, many of them pressing him for more information about whether the parent company felt Zucker was given a harsher punishment than was necessary; about whether WarnerMedia was negotiating with Chris Cuomo, fired by Zucker last year, over severance; and whether the looming merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery forced his hand when it came to deciding what to do about the now former CNN chief.

all earnings from the exploitation of the films’ copyrights, not just those it can’t hide through sweetheart deals to benefit HBO Max.”Representatives for Warner Bros. did not respond to a request for comment. Among the claims, Village Roadshow is saying Warner Bros.

Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy looks as though it may be releasing this September if the release of a book is anything to go by.As noted by The Rowling Library, a book titled The Art And Making Of Hogwarts Legacy will release on September 6 of this year, leading to the assumption that the game will be released around the same time, as long as it isn’t delayed this year.Searching the books ISBN 9781647226190 number of does lead to a Google Books page that confirms the release date and publisher, Insight Editions. According to The Rowling Library, the book will be authored by Jody Revenson, who has written other tie-in books within the franchise.Last month HBO’s CEO Jason Kilar did make it clear that Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled for this year, backing up the general idea that the book could tie in roughly to the game’s upcoming release date.As noted by IGN, September 1 is also “Return to Hogwarts” day in the world of Harry Potter, as it’s the first day of a new term for the students at the school.

AT&T CEO John Stankey and Discovery CEO David Zaslav generally sidestepped questions about the exit of CNN boss Jeff Zucker amid dismay among the cable network’s on air talent and staffers over how the situation was handled.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN staffers who spend a lot of time delivering the latest headlines may have something else to give their corporate overseers: a raised middle finger.Executives who run companies like WarnerMedia and Discovery spend much of their time these days trying to keep investors enthused about their prospects, even as the consumers who watch their movies and TV shows keep moving away to new streaming venues. Now they may have to take up some of their hours soothing a roiled staff at CNN, where many employees remain furious about the ouster of Jeff Zucker, the company’s president for the past nine years.

NEW YORK -- CNN President Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned Wednesday after acknowledging a consensual relationship with another network executive — an entanglement that came to light during an investigation of now-fired anchor Chris Cuomo.Zucker said he was asked about his relationship with longtime aide Allison Gollust as part of the Cuomo investigation, which revealed that the former anchor had aided his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he navigated a sexual harassment scandal.“I acknowledged the relationship had evolved in recent years,” Zucker wrote in a memo announcing the end of his nine-year tenure.

Jeff Zucker’s surprise resignation from CNN on Wednesday quickly triggered puzzled questions over just what led to his ouster after revelations of his relationship with Allison Gollust, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for CNN Worldwide.

Michael Bass, Amy Entelis and Ken Jautz will serve as interim co-heads of CNN following the resignation of Jeff Zucker.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThree of CNN’s top managers, Michael Bass, Amy Entelis and Ken Jautz, were named Wednesday to lead CNN as interim chiefs in the wake of the departure of Jeff Zucker.“We are fortunate to have three senior leaders within the News organization who have agreed to serve as interim co-heads for CNN beginning today through what you should anticipate will be through the close of the pending transaction with Discovery. These leaders are Michael Bass, Amy Entelis and Ken Jautz,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said Wednesday.

Keith Cocozza, a longtime public relations executive who spent nearly two decades at Time Warner/WarnerMedia, has joined CNBC as Senior Vice President, Communications. He’ll report to CNBC chairman Mark Hoffman overseeing external and internal communications worldwide for the network, based at CNBC Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

We are on the eve of one of the biggest releases of 2021— “Dune.” The film has been delayed (like most blockbusters) for close to a year, and now, Warner Bros. is not only releasing the film in theaters, but also day-and-date on HBO Max.

WarnerMedia’s top leadership invited Variety to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank for an open-ended conversation about where the company is headed as regulators scrutinize its planned merger with Discovery Inc.

Late last year, before the release of Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984,” WarnerMedia announced that all of WB’s 2021 films would have a day-and-date release in theaters and on HBO Max. The news sent shockwaves through the film industry, including the filmmakers that were directly affected, as the studio failed to tell them beforehand.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar defended last year’s stunning decision to release Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters, though he admitted that it could have been handled better with the studio’s filmmakers. “We endeavored to do the right thing in terms of communication.

“I would far prefer this adventure to go on for 10, 20 years, but that’s not the way corporate America works,” outgoing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar admitted today.

WarnerMedia will require its U.S. employees or anyone entering one of its offices to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the company has announced.

HBO Max in 2022.WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar revealed the development yesterday (July 22) and said distribution plans for the studio’s 2022 slate will be taken on a film-by-film basis, reports Variety.Kilar claims the studio is leaning towards the 45-day window plan for movies that debut first in cinemas while at the same time Warner Bros.

There’s big HBO Max news!

For years, there has been a debate about what is “cinema” and what is just a “movie.” That debate is often fruitless and leads to heated disagreements and name-calling on social media. But in more recent times, the new debate isn’t between what is cinema and what is just a movie.

Asked during this morning’s AT&T quarterly earnings call about his current view of movie release strategy, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar declared, “The motion picture format absolutely matters.”

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros. will produce 10 or more movies exclusively for HBO Max in 2022, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said Thursday as he declared “motion pictures matter and will continue to matter.”Kilar spoke as part of AT&T’s second quarter earnings call in which he was asked about the company’s distribution strategy for Warner Bros.

screenshots, it had the subject line “Integration Test Email #1” and the body of the email simply read, “This template is used by integration tests only.” Naturally, it left a bunch of HBO Max subscribers — and Twitter users wanting to get in on the avalanche of ensuing jokes — wondering what it meant or if it was some kind of marketing stunt (it wasn’t).

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCould a Netflix board seat be in WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar’s future?Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder, chairman and co-CEO, posted a public appeal to Kilar to join the streaming giant’s board of directors on Thursday.Kilar, who joined WarnerMedia in May 2020, is widely believed to be looking to leave the company following AT&T’s spinoff of the media conglomerate — to merge with Discovery.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWith speculation swirling about Jason Kilar’s potential exit from WarnerMedia — given the conglomerate’s looming combo with Discovery — the CEO told staffers at a town hall meeting Thursday that he plans to stay with the company at least through next year.“My plan and my focus is to remain here in my CEO role at WarnerMedia,” Kilar said, according to a source who was in attendance. “I am not thinking right now about post-merger.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, whose position was destabilized last week after Discovery and AT&T announced plans for a merger, says he will remain as CEO for the next 12 months.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefTo borrow from the name of a popular Hollywood franchise, this week’s industry news came fast and furious.No sooner did The Wall Street Journal publish a profile of Jason Kilar celebrating his one-year anniversary as the CEO of WarnerMedia than Bloomberg broke a high-octane merger story two days later that will likely spell the end of the leader’s short and controversial tenure at the entertainment company.The morning after the May 16 bombshell news broke that

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAs soon as news broke May 16 about AT&T’s proposed deal to combine WarnerMedia with Discovery, the guessing game began about what the megadeal would mean for top executives at the company.The initial takeaways: It’s a good sign for CNN boss Jeff Zucker and a bad omen for Jason Kilar, who in his one year in the job as CEO of WarnerMedia might have ruffled too many feathers as he tried to refashion the company for the streaming wars.Discovery CEO David Zaslav is set