Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Donate
Home Blog Page 21

UPDATE Scott Pelley Fired at “60 Minutes” After Meltdown at Meeting Over Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecila Vega, Tanya Simon Dismissals

Roger Friedman
-
0
UPDATE Scott Pelley Fired at “60 Minutes” After Meltdown at Meeting Over Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecila Vega, Tanya Simon Dismissals

Scott Pelley is out at “60 Minutes.”

CNN is reporting that the end came after Pelley met with new Executive Prodcuer Nick Bilton. This followed yesterday’s meeting in which the long time correspondent blew a gasket over Bilton’s hiring and Bari Weiss firing Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, and executive producer Tanya Simon.

CNN says Bilton’s letter to Pelley said this:

“Despite yesterday’s misconduct, I had hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together. You made clear that you are not interested in such a path.

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton wrote. “And I have heard you.”

Therefore, he wrote, “your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”

It’s interesting that CNN got this letter. They are now the corporate cousin of CBS thanks to David and Larry Ellison buying all of them. You can already see CNN staff toadying up to the Ellisons for a shot at “60 Minutes.” Watch Jake Tapper elboe his way to the front of the line.

This is the tragic end of “60 Minutes” as we knew it. I see comments about the show having lost its way, which are completely untrue. The real “60 Minutes” stood for the highest journalistic values. The new one will be a pale reminder of those days.

The show is now down three major correspondents and a long time EP. What’s next? Nothing good.

Paul McCartney’s “Boys of Dungeon Lane” Will Debut at Number 5 This Week, Ahead of Michael Jackson, A New Drake Album, and BTS

Roger Friedman
-
0
Paul McCartney’s “Boys of Dungeon Lane” Will Debut at Number 5 This Week, Ahead of Michael Jackson, A New Drake Album, and BTS

Paul McCartney has really put in the time these last two weeks promoting his new album.

His PR tour should be studied at Harvard. They did everything right.

At some point, some enterprising person should pull all the clips and interviews and fashion a documentary. It would tell the whole story of his life.

The pay off for all this work? “Boys of Dungeon Lane” will debut in 5th place, according to hitsdailydouble.com. Total sales are 67,000 — and almost all of them are downloads or physical CDs.

“Dungeon Lane” needs a streaming presence. It also needs a single or impact track. There are plenty to choose from. I’d pick either “Lost Horizon” or the unique opening track, “As You Lie There.” The latter is brilliant and out of left field.

The album starts on the chars right behind Drake, Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen, and Noah Kahan. But “Dungeon Lane” is better than all of it!

EXCLUSIVE Scott Pelley’s Foreword to “60 Minutes” Founder’s Memoir Presaged the Current Debacle: “The scales of justice tilt toward the powerful…”

Roger Friedman
-
0
EXCLUSIVE Scott Pelley’s Foreword to “60 Minutes” Founder’s Memoir Presaged the Current Debacle: “The scales of justice tilt toward the powerful…”

Dylan Byers reports that the great Scott Pelley may be exiting “60 Minutes” any time now after having a less than productive meeting with the new bosses.

Pelley is over it, and tired of dealing with the puppets that have been installed at his legacy Tv show and network.

As luck would have it, Pelley has written the foreword to a book coming out this October by a CBS legend, producer Harry Moses. Moses is a much awarded veteran documentary filmmaker who also produced over 100 stories for “60 Minutes” in its early days.

Moses’s book is called “Mad as Hell,” a reference to the famous line from the wrenching media movie, “Network.”

What Pelley writes in the foreword are words that if we don’t live by now, we will be doomed. For CBS News, long revered as the gold standard of journalism, to be destroyed now over a petty president and corporate interests, is a massive tragedy.

“Moses believes—as I do—that the scales of justice tilt toward the powerful. Journalism is one of the weights that bring democracy closer to balance. Not because reporters are heroes, and not because they are infallible. Moses is honest on both points.”

He continues: “What 60 Minutes understood from the beginning, and what
Harry Moses helped invent, is that journalism in America works best
when it is built around a story we can recognize…There is no democracy without a free and independent press. James Madison once wrote that freedom of the press is the right that guarantees all the others.

“The First Amendment is forty-five words. It contains no aster-
isks, no exceptions, no fine print. It does not say the press shall be
free except when the powerful find it inconvenient. It does not say
the press shall be free unless its findings are embarrassing, expen-
sive, or disruptive to the established order. The framers, who had just
finished a war with a king, understood something we are in danger of
forgetting: a republic without an aggressive, independent press is not
a republic at all. It is a stage set.”

“Michael” Movie Will Stop, They’ve Got Enough: Hit Film Bailing to Streaming Services Instead of Shooting for $1 Billion Record

Roger Friedman
-
0
“Michael” Movie Will Stop, They’ve Got Enough: Hit Film Bailing to Streaming Services Instead of Shooting for $1 Billion Record

Michael Jackson fans are very disappointed.

The “Michael” movie is heading to home streaming on June 9th, next Tuesday.

This is a surprise since “Michael” currently has $850 million banked worldwide at the box office.

But once it goes to streaming, attention will shift to living rooms and phones. It’s unlikely “Michael” will hit the magical $1 billion mark.

Now, if Lionsgate is lucky, the film will top out at $900 million.

It’s a strange decision, but this is the way things are now. I’m sure movie theaters will miss this film. It was a solid hit that drew people back to the candy counter.

“Michael” had a good run. It will turn up in awards season at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes because they have categories for it. I doubt we will Oscar action, and there was no new song. But $900 million should make everyone happy.

A second movie? A really bad idea, unless it’s just going to cover 1988 through about 1991. But after that the story gets pretty dicey.

White House Press Reschedule Dinner Even After Trump’s Insulting Treatment of Reporters Since Then, and No Information About “Assassin”

Roger Friedman
-
0
White House Press Reschedule Dinner Even After Trump’s Insulting Treatment of Reporters Since Then, and No Information About “Assassin”

The White House Correspondents Association continues to debase itself.

They’ve rescheduled last month’s interrupted dinner for July 24th.

The April 25th dinner was interrupted by a shooter who didn’t make it near Donald Trump. But it’s considered an “assassination attempt.”

The shooter’s name was Cole Tomas Allen. Since the incident, none of the White House Correspondents have mentioned it or reported on it. Allen just disappeared into the miasma.

The night after the canceled dinner, Trump was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell on “60 Minutes.” He called her a “horrible person” and was as usual insulting.

He’s continued to treat the press corps in the same way. Look at the video below. And still, the WHCA has persisted.

Will they bring back the mentalist for entertainment? Does anyone care? And July 24th — in Washington, it will be one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Most everyone will be on vacation.

Also, with Trump pulling the strings to destroy CBS News and “60 Minutes,” a redux dinner is especially humiliating.

UPDATE: Monday Box Office for “Backrooms” $7.5 Million Corrected After Horror Typo, Down from Sunday About 60%

Roger Friedman
-
0
UPDATE: Monday Box Office for “Backrooms” $7.5 Million Corrected After Horror Typo, Down from Sunday About 60%

A typo on the site TheNumbers.com didn’t do any favors for “Backrooms.”

The box office source said the indie horror film dropped 96% from Sunday to Monday.

In fact, it was about a 60% drop.

Monday’s receipts were $7.5 mil from $18 million the day before.

That was scary!

Laurie Metcalf Ramps Up for Tony Awards by Winning at Black Tie 2026 Gotham TV Awards Where New Shows, Stars Got Their Due

Roger Friedman
-
0
Laurie Metcalf Ramps Up for Tony Awards by Winning at Black Tie 2026 Gotham TV Awards Where New Shows, Stars Got Their Due

Laurie Metcalf is expected to win a Tony Award Sunday for “Death of a Salesman.”

Just for practice, she won a Gotham TV Award tonight for her Netflix series, “Big Mistake.” Now, she’s ready for Sunday!

The other winners and presenters proved to be a breath of fresh air. The nominees are not the same as traditional shows, which gives the night a much relaxed feel.

Achievement awards went to Michelle Pfeiffer, Kerry Washington, Claire Danes, also the Duffer Brothers of “Stranger Things” and to the cast of the JFK Jr soap opera, “Love Story.”

Many of the nominees you’ve never heard of, as well as their shows. But that’s the point. The Emmys and other TV Awards have become drearily the same. Time for some new faces!

The crowd was full of stars including Alessandro Nivola, Jamie Bell and wife Kate Mara, Richard Gadd, Hugh Dancy, Ann Dowd, Constance Zimmer, and the always charming Erika Alexander.

2026 Gotham TV Award Winners:

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
DTF St. Louis
(HBO Max)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series
Michael Shannon, Death by Lightning (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series
David Harbour, DTF St. Louis (HBO Max)

Breakthrough Drama Series
Pluribus
(Apple TV)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments (Hulu)

Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming
Reflection in a Dead Diamond

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series
Babou Ceesay, Alien: Earth (FX/Hulu)

Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming
Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Shudder)

Outstanding Performance in an Original Film
Cory Michael Smith, Mountainhead (HBO Max)

Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
Katrina: Come Hell and High Water 
Geeta Gandbhir, Spike Lee, Sam Pollard, executive producers (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series
Laurie Metcalf, Big Mistakes (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series 
Tim Robinson, The Chair Company (HBO Max)

Breakthrough Comedy Series
I Love LA

UPDATE: Fab Morvan, Original Member of Milli Vanilli, Says He Will Not Participate in Trump Great American State Fair: “I’m not a pawn”

Roger Friedman
-
0
UPDATE: Fab Morvan, Original Member of Milli Vanilli, Says He Will Not Participate in Trump Great American State Fair: “I’m not a pawn”

Donald Trump is hard up for musical acts.

You know things are bad when Milli Vanilli turns you down not once, but twice.

Initially, another group using the name of the disgraced 80s pop group said they would not play in Donald Trump and Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair on the Washington mall.

Now Fab Morvan, the living member of the original duo, tells CNN he’s out, too. Likening politics to chess, Morvan says he won’t be anyone’s pawn.

Fab won’t even lip sync. It’s the first right decision he’s made in 38 years.

So now the event is down to Vanilla Ice and FloRida and maybe C&C Music Factory. The event starts in 24 days.

LIVE Watch the Gotham TV Awards, With Lots of Stars Including Sally Field, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kerry Washington, “Stranger Things,” And More!

Roger Friedman
-
0
LIVE Watch the Gotham TV Awards, With Lots of Stars Including Sally Field, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kerry Washington, “Stranger Things,” And More!

Let’s all watch together

Reports: “60 Minutes” Meeting Turns Ugly as Scott Pelley Reams New Executive Producer Over Firings of Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega

Roger Friedman
-
0
Reports: “60 Minutes” Meeting Turns Ugly as Scott Pelley Reams New Executive Producer Over Firings of Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega

I love Scott Pelley.

He’s the real life “Jim Dial” of “Murphy Brown,” the erudite and seasoned veteran reporter at “60 Minutes.”

So, of course, today he picked a fight with the new executive producer of the news magazine during a get to know you meeting.

The New York Times and others are reporting that Pelley told Nick Bilton in front of the whole staff: “[Bari Weiss is murdering 60 Minutes.”

You have to love it. Weiss didn’t even come to the meeting.

Pelley and the staff are angry that last week Weiss fired Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two veteran correspondents, because they questioned Weiss’s decisions.

Neither Weiss nor Bilton have any experience in broadcast television. Bilton is a freelance writer who also worked on scripts for the failed HBO fiction series, “The Idol.”

Pelley also said:

“She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”

Pelley added: “She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the ‘Evening News’ have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?”

Pelley doesn’t care if he’s fired for insubordination, obviously. Why should he? Weiss and Bilton should not be the reward for four decades of superior journalism.

Pelley is right about the Evening News. Weiss has managed to kill it. The ratings have never been lower. Anchor Tony Dokoupil has become her puppet, as is she the hatchet man for the new CBS owners, David and Larry Ellison. They are friends and associates of Donald Trump.

But isn’t this all a set up? Trump sued “60 Minutes” and hates a free press. His heart lies with Fox News, News Nation, and OAN because they represent his cruel ideology.

Yesterday Maria Bartiromo on Fox News went out of her way to agree with Scott Bessent that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security should be cut.

Bartiromo and husband Jonathan Steinberg are worth about $300 million. She’s a total fraud, completely insincere. If there’s a revolution, she should be among the first to go.

As for Pelley, much applause came in the room after Bilton left. CBS News is going to have to a long, dark summer.

1...202122...2,424Page 21 of 2,424

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com