Variety 4/26/2023

One of the most powerful men in Hollywood is suddenly ousted from his job. He apologizes and expresses “regret.” As time passes, the story becomes clearer. He was allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with one of his employees, and she filed a complaint that he’d sexually harassed her. Years into the #MeToo movement, misconduct in the workplace is still shaking up the entertainment industry. That happened again over the weekend when Jeff Shell, the CEO of NBCUniversal, got axed as the result of a recent internal investigation into his behavior. In this week’s cover story, Variety executive editor of film and media Tatiana Siegel offers a pull-back-the-curtain look at what exactly happened after Comcast learned about Shell’s years long relationship with a CNBC anchor. But what does this high-profile firing…

Executive editor of film and media Tatiana Siegel revisited the 2020 firing of NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer in a bid to shed light on the shocking ouster of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell for this week’s cover story. Senior TV editor Brian Steinberg has spent the past decade chronicling the ups and downs of the TV news business — chances are your favorite anchor has yelled at him at least once. It wasn’t easy to find a photo of Jeff Shell without a smile on his face, says creative director Haley Kluge, who opted for a splash of red with a black-and-white image to produce a breaking-news, ripped-from-the-headlines look. “From the moment Joshua Jackson arrived in a pink suit, I knew we were both going to have a lot of…

The subject was cable news, but it played like scripted drama. Two of cable TV news’ most prominent personalities, Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon — ideological archenemies, no less — were taken out within 90 minutes of each other on April 24 in part because of their backstage behavior among colleagues. Carlson was done in at Fox News despite his stature by his disparaging private comments about Team Murdoch that were disclosed as part of the now-settled Dominion Voting Systems litigation battle against the Fox News empire. Lemon was forced out when his position became untenable after a bizarrely sexist on-air remark about Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley drew additional scrutiny to his performance at CNN’s morning program. “Cable news is now sort of seen as a place where people…

Tucker Carlson Age: 53 The firebrand conservative pundit has logged stints at all three U.S. cable news networks as well as PBS. ▶ Fox News 2009-23 Joined as a contributor; elevated to primetime host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in 2016 ▶ MSNBC 2005-08 Hosted 6 p.m. interview series “Tucker” ▶ PBS 2004-05 Hosted weekly public affairs show “Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered” ▶ CNN 2000-05 Co-hosted “The Spin Room,” 2000-01; co-hosted “Crossfire” until it was canceled in 2005 Don Lemon Age: 57 The veteran anchor came up the ranks in local TV news before making his mark at CNN. ▶ CNN 2006-23 Joined as co-host of “CNN Newsroom” in 2006; promoted to primetime host of “CNN Tonight” (later renamed “Don Lemon Tonight”) in 2014; moved to co-anchor of “CNN This Morning” in…

Nick Bakay has had a 30-year career in TV and film, including writing on traditional network sitcoms like “Young Sheldon” and “The King of Queens.” But the industry has shifted in recent years. Now he’s working on “How to Be a Bookie,” an eight-episode series for Max. The show is scheduled to wrap production on April 28, getting in just under the wire before a possible strike by the Writers Guild of America. “The game has suddenly changed so drastically,” Bakay says. “If you’re going to go from 22 episodes and residuals to eight episodes and no residuals, that’s a body blow.” Whether you’re a CEO or a set painter, you have a big stake in the outcome of the WGA negotiations taking place at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The…

MINI ROOMS The WGA wants to mandate a minimum number of writers per TV show. Studios are increasingly using “mini rooms” — where just a handful of writers break a whole season in a matter of weeks. The guild worries that if left unchecked, studios could do away with the traditional writers’ room model, replacing it with a cheaper way of making scripted TV. STREAMING RESIDUALS The current WGA streaming residual is a fixed amount, regardless of whether a show is watched by 10 million people or 10. The WGA wants to add a “success factor,” where shows that generate more views receive a higher residual. But that would require opening up viewership data, which the streamers are unwilling to do. SPAN PROTECTION Writers are typically paid by the episode.…