SEC Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

in an SEC filing.“As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams,” Wilson wrote.The company puts out EA Sports FIFA 2023, Apex Legends and perennial favorite The Sims. In January, it announced it was canceling Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile, which had failed to meet expectations, leading to EA also missing expectations for third-quarter earnings.Per Wilson’s email, the restructuring is expected to be completed by Sept.

David Zaslav’s compensation for 2022 totaled nearly $39.3 million, hefty but well down from the previous year when the figure was swelled to $246 million by a large option grant.

Mean Girls actress Lindsay Lohan has been charged with failing to disclose that she was being paid to promote cryptocurrency tokens on social media. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which published a press release on the matter this week, Lohan wasn't the only celebrity involved, as YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul, musicians Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo, Akon, Lil Yachty and Austin Mahone, as well as adult entertainer Michelle Mason, were also allegedly participating in this illegal scheme.

filed with the SEC on March 20.The paperwork shows that McMahon’s payment was made on Thursday, March 23 and it covered costs through January 31, 2023. Additionally, it states, “McMahon will also review in good faith and reimburse the Company for additional costs incurred by the Company and/or its subsidiaries subsequent to January 31, 2023,” meaning he’s agreed to pay any additional costs after that date.In July 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million over the past 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.

In a further step toward reclaiming his World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) empire, executive chairman Vince McMahon has filed new documents with the SEC.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vince McMahon has paid WWE $17.4 million for costs the wrestling entertainment company incurred in investigating misconduct allegations against the exec. McMahon, WWE’s executive chairman and controlling shareholder, returned to the company in January after he “retired” from the company last year. WWE’s board had formed a special committee to look into allegations that he paid millions of dollars in hush money to multiple women to stay quiet about affairs and other misconduct. Under an agreement reached with the company, McMahon on March 23 paid WWE about $17.4 million, according to an SEC filing by WWE Friday. That was to reimburse the company “for the costs that have been incurred and paid by the company and/or its subsidiaries, through January 31, 2023, in connection with and/or arising from the investigation conducted by a special committee of the company’s board of directors,” as well as related revisions to the company’s financial statements and other related matters, WWE said.

Whoa! As the houses of cards making up most (or all?) of the crypto currency market crumble before our eyes, they’re taking plenty of celebs with them!

A number of musicians are among a list of celebrities that have been hit with charges from regulators in America over their involvement with a scheme to sell some good old crypto asset securities. Akon, Ne-Yo, Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone feature on a list of eight celebs targeted in an investigation carried out by the US Securities And Exchange Commission.The SEC yesterday announced charges against Justin Sun, founder of the Tron Foundation Limited and three of his companies for the unregistered offer and sale of TRX and BTT crypto asset securities.

who last week announced she is pregnant, was called to give up the $10,000 she was paid, plus interest, and pay a $30,000 fine, according an SEC complaint. A spokeswoman for Paul declined to comment. Emails left with representatives for the other celebrities named in the SEC complaint weren’t immediately returned Wednesday.

Lindsay Lohan, Ne-Yo and Jake Paul are among a number of stars who have been charged with cryptocurrency violations. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have filed fraud charges and unregistered securities charges against crypto founder Justin Sun, and they also announced charges relating to various issues against eight celebrity influencers, who are accused of collaborating with the Grenadian diplomat by promoting his Tronix and BitTorrent assets in ways which led investors to believe the TRX and BTT crypto coins had the potential for financial success and were being actively traded.

Actress Lindsay Lohan, rapper Akon and singer Ne-Yo have been forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to settle claims they promoted crypto investments to their social media followers without disclosing they were being paid to do so. The group of celebrities, which also included rapper Lil Yachty, boxer and internet personality Jake Paul and adult film performer Michelle Mason, agreed to pay more than £325,000 ($400,000) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The celebrities were paid to promote crypto companies Tronix and BitTorrent to their millions of followers on social media.

Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and several other celebs are in hot water after allegedly promoting cryptocurrency endeavors without revealing they'd been paid to do so.The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Wednesday that they have filed fraud charges, as well as unregistered securities charges, against crypto founder Justin Sun — who is also a Grenadian diplomat.The SEC also announced charges related to various violations against eight celebrity influencers, who are accused of collaborating with Sun by promoting his Tronix and BitTorrent crypto assets -- specifically the TRX and BTT crypto coins — in a way that led investors to believe they were being actively traded and had the potential for financial success.The SEC alleges that Sun was «orchestrating a promotional campaign in which he and his celebrity promoters hid the fact that the celebrities were paid for their tweet.»Lohan and Paul were among those accused of being a part of the fraudulent efforts, as well as music artists Austin Mahone, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty, Ne-Yo and Akon, and adult film actress Kendra Lust.Six of the eight artists accused of the violations have subsequently agreed to pay a collective total of $400,000 in disgorgement and penalties. However, the settlements were not an admittance or denial of guilt, according to the SEC.

Lindsay Lohan and seven other celebs were charged as part of an alleged “crypto scam.”

Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, musicians Lil Yachty, Ne-Yo, Soulja Boy, Akon and Austin Mahone and adult film star Kendra Lust were s charged Wednesday for illegally promoting the securities of crypto companies at the center of an SEC investigation.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Ne-Yo and rapper Lil Yachty are among the eight notable names who have been hit with Securities and Exchange Commission charges for violating securities laws in touting crypto currencies. The SEC on Wednesday disclosed that charges were filed against eight celebrities in connection with the broader investigation of crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his companies: Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc., which marketed crypto asset securities under the brand names Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT). The eight boldface names were charged with “illegally touting TRX and/or BTT without disclosing that they were compensated for doing so and the amount of their compensation,” according to the SEC.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Digital World Acquisition Corp., the blank-check company that has proposed merging with Donald Trump’s media company, said it fired chairman and CEO Patrick Orlando. On March 19, the company’s board of directors terminated Orlando from his positions as chairman and CEO, DWAC disclosed in an SEC filing Wednesday. Orlando remains a director of the company. “Due to the unprecedented headwinds faced by the company, the board agreed it was in the best interest of its shareholders to select a new management team to execute an orderly succession plan and set strategic operating procedures for the company in this new phase,” DWAC said in a statement. “Mr. Orlando’s departure enables the board to appoint new leadership, which it believes will restore confidence to the shareholders.”

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.

The biggest bank failure since the financial crisis 15 years ago has hit streaming giant Roku.

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13D and 13G reports. For those outside of the inside-baseball world of corporate finance: Forty-five days out from the end of the year, companies are required to have filed 13D and 13G disclosure forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are required for investors who amass 5% or more of a company’s total stock issue. Starting with this primer on how to monitor big-dollar investment bets, Variety will offer a quarterly survey of how the media and entertainment sector is faring among the world’s most sophisticated stock pickers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery, which is struggling with billions of dollars in debt, is willing to pay more money to executives who might be able to help reduce it. The owner of HBO, Discovery Channel and Food Network said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pay out new rewards to CEO David Zaslav, six senior staffers and an unspecified group of others if they could meet certain goals of new generation of free cash flow. “The changes to the Warner Bros. Discovery executive compensation program are designed to further incentivize Company employees, including members of its leadership team and others whose efforts are critical to achieving the key near-term financial objectives of increased free cash flow and reduced leverage,” said WBD board chairman Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr. in a prepared statement.“The WBD board is confident that these additional incentives offer a more competitive package against the backdrop of ongoing industry-wide transformation and economic headwinds, and better position the company to advance core drivers of shareholder value.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In a wide-ranging restructuring, SiriusXM is eliminating 475 jobs — or about 8% of its headcount — with CEO Jennifer Witz citing economic uncertainty and a need to operate with “greater agility and efficiency.” The satellite radio and audio streaming company is the latest media company to pare back its headcount. Nearly every department across SiriusXM will be affected by the layoffs, Witz wrote in a memo to staff Monday announcing the cuts, which the company disclosed in an SEC filing. “The investments we are making in the business this year, coupled with today’s uncertain economic environment, require us to think differently about how our organization is structured,” Witz wrote. The “decision to reduce our workforce was required in order for us to maintain a sustainably profitable company.”

Warner Bros. Discovery has tweaked its CEO’s employment contract, granting a bigger pot of restricted stock units but linking them to free cash flow targets.

As it gets set to reveal plans for the likely separation of Starz and the Lionsgate movie and TV studio, Lionsgate has re-upped two key members of its management team: Vice Chairman Michael Burns and COO Brian Goldsmith.

Paramount has agreed to pay $122.5 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit by Viacom shareholders over the company’s merger with CBS.

Shares in Dish Network continued their multi-day slide on Tuesday, falling another 6% to a 14-year low of $11.41, after the pay-TV and wireless provider confirmed its systems were hit by a cyberattack.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dish Network is working to recover from a cyberattack that disrupted its internal servers and customer-service operations — and said the hack may have resulted in the theft of personal information. On Feb. 23, Dish execs announced on the operator’s earnings call that the company had experienced a network outage. After an investigation by cyber-security experts and outside advisers, Dish determined that the outage was due to “a cyber-security incident and notified appropriate law enforcement authorities,” the company disclosed in an SEC filing Tuesday. On Monday, Feb. 27, Dish said, it “became aware that certain data was extracted from the corporation’s IT systems as part of this incident” and said it’s possible that an investigation “will reveal that the extracted data includes personal information.”

The road to recovery. Bristol Palin shared an update on her health with fans following her ninth breast reconstruction surgery last month.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A former MoviePass executive was arrested Tuesday on charges that he embezzled $260,000 from the company to pay for a party at Coachella Music Festival. Khalid Itum, 42, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. The charges allege that Itum submitted sham invoices to MoviePass to pay for the marketing event, which he had run through a separate company that he owned and controlled. MoviePass collapsed in 2019, after losing hundreds of millions of dollars on its all-you-can-watch theatrical subscription business. Last November, the two top executives — Theodore Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe — were indicted on securities fraud charges for allegedly deceiving investors about the sustainability of the business.

Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav earned $232 million in excess compensation in 2021, according to As You Sow’s latest annual ranking of the most overpaid CEOs among S&P 500 companies. Amazon, Apple, Disney and Netflix are also high up in the group’s ninth report that looks beyond total pay in its own attempt to quantify overpay and draw attention to some pressing issues in the space.