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Fired Days of our Lives EP Albert Alarr Claims Investigation Cleared Him, But Studio “Caved to a Cynical Pressure Campaign”

Roger Friedman
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Fired Days of our Lives EP Albert Alarr Claims Investigation Cleared Him, But Studio “Caved to a Cynical Pressure Campaign”

Newly fired “Days of our Lives” executive producer Albert Alarr sent this statement through his rep. Alarr was the subject of an internal investigation about his conduct at the 58 year old soap. He says he was cleared in the investigation but the studio backtracked because of public pressure. The fact that 25 actors signed a petition against him, and that a few actresses went public, has to be counted into this episode.

Here’s Alarr’s statement:

“It is hard to overstate how heartbreaking I find this situation. 

“These allegations were already examined in a detailed and entirely independent investigation that lasted for two months. Dozens of individuals cooperated and every claim was thoroughly looked into. At the end of that process, the decision was made that I should continue in my role as Co-Executive Producer. Now, with no new facts presented, the studios have reversed course and caved to a cynical pressure campaign to force me out of my job. 

“It’s important to set the record straight. Every day, I worked with hundreds of people, the overwhelming majority of whom would disagree with recent mischaracterizations of me. I have been in this industry for decades, and not a single complaint has ever been made against me until now. 

“Many of the claims recently referenced in the media are simply false. Others have been taken so out of context or are so twisted that they are unrecognizable from the truth. 

“To be clear, this whole situation stems from the animus of just two individuals. Those individuals, at a time of industry-wide cutbacks and economic uncertainty, have been relentlessly angling for greater pay and increased influence on the show, and, it appears, believed that their best strategy to get it was to play on vile stereotypes in order to bring down a Black man in a position of power. 

“I will always be proud of being the only Black director/producer in daytime soap operas. And, while I am devastated by the manner of my departure, I will always treasure my years at Days of Our Lives and wish the wildly talented cast and crew the very best for the future.”

Strike News: WGA Reps Meet with Studio Team to Discuss Future Talks (Read Members Letter Here) But Don’t Make Much Progress

Roger Friedman
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Strike News: WGA Reps Meet with Studio Team to Discuss Future Talks (Read Members Letter Here) But Don’t Make Much Progress

The Writers Guild reps met the with the folks from the studios, aka AMPTP, and sent this letter to members a little while ago. It seems like the long hot summer will continue into September at this rate. PS This is separate from the SAG strike. No talks there yet

Here’s the letter:

DEAR MEMBERS,

Ellen Stutzman and Tony Segall met with Carol Lombardini and AMPTP staff this afternoon for what Carol stated was a confidential sidebar to discuss resuming negotiations for a new MBA. Topics included – at the AMPTP’s insistence – press blackouts. Also discussed was a potential negotiation protocol and a preview of the issues each side intends to bring back to the table upon resumption. 

As of now, there is no agreement on these items, because the AMPTP said they needed to consult with their member studios before moving forward. 

Our intention after the confidential meeting was to send a simple email to you all letting you know we would get back to you when there was more specific information about resuming negotiations. 

However, before the negotiating committee even had a chance to meet, our communications department began hearing from the trades asking for comments on studio-leaked rumors of the contents of the confidential meeting. This is after the AMPTP spent much of the meeting emphasizing the need for a press blackout. 

Since the studios are leaking to the press we need to let you know what was said in the meeting. 

First, Carol informed us that the DGA deal would be the deal on any pattern issues. 

She stated they were willing to increase their offer on a few writer-specific TV minimums – and willing to talk about AI – but that they were not willing to engage on the preservation of the writers’ room, or success-based residuals. She did not indicate willingness to address screenwriter issues, Appendix A issues, and many of the other proposals that remain on our list.

On behalf of the Guild, Ellen reiterated the expectation that all the fundamental issues over which writers have been striking these past three months would be addressed in this new contract, and that no segment of the membership would be left behind. 

Ellen made clear that, in addition to a comprehensive response from the AMPTP on our proposals in all work areas, we will need to address issues arising from the strike, including a health care benefit extension and additional plan funding, reinstatement of striking writers, and arbitration of disputes arising during the strike. We will also seek the right for individual WGA members to honor other unions’ picket lines as they have honored ours during this strike. 

Carol’s response – something she repeated three times during the meeting – echoes what was written in the AMPTP press statement yesterday: “People just want to get back to work.” 

We agree, with the caveat that those conditions that have made writers’ jobs increasingly untenable must first be addressed. 

Your committee remains willing to engage with the companies and resume negotiations in good faith to make a fair deal for all writers, even with this early confirmation that the AMPTP playbook continues. But rest assured, this committee does not intend to leave anyone behind, or make merely an incremental deal to conclude this strike.  

Soap Update: “Days of Our Lives” Fires EP Albert Alarr After Investigation, Actors Petition, and Fan Outcry

Roger Friedman
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Soap Update: “Days of Our Lives” Fires EP Albert Alarr After Investigation, Actors Petition, and Fan Outcry

“Days of our Lives” executive producer Albert Alarr is out. He’s been fired by Corday Productions after accusations of misconduct and bullying, a petition frm 25 actors, and fan out cry.

“Days” owner Ken Corday issued this message to his cast and crew:

Dear Days Cast and Crew,
Effective immediately, Janet Drucker will be elevated to co-executive producer of Days of Our Lives, replacing Albert Alarr, who will be exiting his role.
Moving forward, we will be implementing additional HR protocols, including an increased HR presence as well as channels for reporting any concerns. It is imperative that we have a safe and inclusive workplace environment.
Production will resume, as planned, on Monday with new leadership in place. As a reminder, we still have a pre-planned hiatus set for the week of August 14th.
Sincerely,
Ken

This news will come as a relief to the actors as well to the fans who rallied to their support. Alarr apparently had been terrorizing the “Days” cast for years, focusing on the actresses. His wife works at the show as a writer, it’s unclear if she’s out, too. We also don’t know if she was observing the writers’ strike or had gone fi-core.

“Days of our Lives” has always been run as a private entity at NBC and Sony TV, with Corday invoking his parents’ legacy. He’s made a lot of bad decisions over the years which is the reason why the soap is  now streaming on Peacock and lost its broadcast berth on NBC. Actors have been coming and going the last several years at an alarming rate, and now we know that at least some of that had to do with Alarr.

Many actors, both former and current, had been pushing for Alarr’s ouster. We’ll check and see their responses to this news.

YouTuber Kai Cenat, 21, Arrested After Allegedly Inciting a Riot in NYC’s Union Square, Dozens Arrested or Hurt

Roger Friedman
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YouTuber Kai Cenat, 21, Arrested After Allegedly Inciting a Riot in NYC’s Union Square, Dozens Arrested or Hurt

It’s hard to imagine what happened in New York’s Union Square this afternoon. A popular place for drugs and crime in the 70s and early 80s, the huge park was demolished and rebuilt in 1985 so it was eye level for the police. Since then, for decades, it’s been a serene place for the Farmer’s Market and Christmas shops.

But all that changed this afternoon when 21 year old YouTuber Kai Cenat summoned his followers to the park. The lure was a give away of video game stations and gift cards. He had just couple hundred of each, perhaps. But it’s summer, kids are out of school, and the weather is good. So his followers came– 2,000 of them — and caused a riot.

We’ve all been watching this on TV since 4pm. This is the power of social media. There’s no FCC, no regulation, and always the possibility of pandemonium. Luckily no one was killed. There were lessons learned, maybe. The mainstream had no clue who Kai was of what was going on. The police were very slow to respond. They also didn’t get it There’s going to be a lot of talk about Kai Cenat’s riot going forward. This is how easy it is to start one, even after 9-11.

Keep refreshing to see how Kai Cenat is handled, and if charges are brought against him.

(UPDATED with DOJ Response) Donald Trump Issues Specific Threat Against Everyone on His Social Media: If You Go After Me, I’m Coming After You!

Roger Friedman
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(UPDATED with DOJ Response) Donald Trump Issues Specific Threat Against Everyone on His Social Media: If You Go After Me, I’m Coming After You!

FRIDAY EVENING: The Dept of Justice has asked for an order of protection against Trump because of the Tweet below. Kyle Cheney of Politico reported this development.

 

FRIDAY AFTERNOON Donald Trump may be in violation of his orders from the federal court in Washington — which he received just yesterday.

Trump issued a specific warning on his Truth Social platform at around 5pm today/ It reads

in all caps

IF YOU GO AFTER ME I’M COMING AFTER YOU!

His implied targets here are the judiciary, the government, and maybe the press. Trump is a petty child, but we saw what he was capable of on January 6, 2021. No one knows how to blow a dog whistle of hate like Trump. His signals his followers, white supremacists, etc to commit violent acts on purpose.
It will be interesting to see what Jack Smith does about this Tweet, which has been up for an hour and has been copied over and over. Twitter or X will likely leave it there. Elon Musk finds all of this amusing.

Balance Of Nature Must Pay $1.1 Million in Consumer Protection Settlement with State of California — For Fraudulent Health Claims

Roger Friedman
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Balance Of Nature Must Pay $1.1 Million in Consumer Protection Settlement with State of California — For Fraudulent Health Claims

I’ve told you about the fruity business called Balance of Nature. Their shady business was cited by the FDA a few years ago for making fraudulent claims. Balance of Nature is one of the biggest advertisers on AM radio. Their constant advertorials — actors pretending to be satisfied customers — are heard 24/7.

Now comes word that the State of California has settled a consumer protection lawsuit against the questionable company over its claims that it stuffs fresh fruits and vegetables into pills that can replace the actual food.

Sonoma Count California District Attorney Carla Rodriguez announced this past week that her office — as part of the California Food, Drug, and Medical Device Task Force — “settled a consumer protection action against Evig, LLC doing business as Balance of Nature. The case was filed in Napa Superior Court by the District Attorney’s offices of Sonoma, Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, and Solano Counties, which together comprise the task force.”

According to a press release: “As part of the settlement, Balance of Nature agreed to enter into a judgment, which includes a monetary payment of $1.1 million dollars. Under the terms of the judgment, Balance of Nature must pay $250,000 in customer restitution. Any California resident who purchased a Balance of Nature product in the past 6 years will receive a notice on how to claim a refund. Balance of Nature will also pay $850,000 in civil penalties and investigative costs. Further, the judgment prohibits Balance of Nature from engaging in any of the unlawful conduct described in the complaint. Balance of Nature did not admit liability.”

The complaint, according to the Sonoma County DA’s office, alleged that “Balance of Nature made claims that its products could prevent, treat, mitigate, or cure serious disease conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, fibromyalgia, and cancer. The company went so far as to recommend that customers take 12 capsules each of its Fruits and Veggies supplements if they had been “diagnosed with life threatening illness[.]” Balance of Nature also used customer testimonials to make scientifically unsupported claims that the products could treat or cure disease conditions such as lupus, ulcers, gout, congestive heart failure, Hepatitis C, and multiple sclerosis.”

The complaint further alleged that “Balance of Nature enrolled customers into an automatically renewing subscription program, and charged them a recurring monthly fee, without clearly disclosing the terms of the program, giving customers an adequate acknowledgement of their enrollment in the program, or allowing customers to cancel online, all in violation of California’s Automatic Renewal Law.“

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez stated, “The California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task force does important work throughout the state to protect consumers from false and misleading advertising in the area of dietary supplements and medical devices and Sonoma County is proud to be a part of this task force.”

Balance of Nature is spending millions on advertising, which means radio and TV news departments are unlikely to report this story — or stop taking the ads. But this company is a fraud. It’s time for another FDA clamp down.

Lizzo Record Sales, Streaming, Airplay Collapse in One Day After Harassment Scandal Breaks Wide: Career Crisis

Roger Friedman
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0
Lizzo Record Sales, Streaming, Airplay Collapse in One Day After Harassment Scandal Breaks Wide: Career Crisis

It’s been about 48 hours since news of pop star Lizzo’s scandals broke wide. She’s being sued by former dancers for misconduct and harassment. Others who worked with her are backing these people up and now more allegations are coming out.

The result is a career collapse for Lizzo. In those two days, her record sales including streaming and airplay have collapsed. Looking at numbers from Luminate, the trends have not just fallen but evaporated. It’s as if every radio has pulled Lizzo’s hits. Fans stopped streaming the records, and forget about buying them or downloading them.

This kind of thing is rare and scary. Lizzo is going to need to a massive defense and a PR campaign no one’s ever seen before. The timing couldn’t be worse because the union strikes have stopped the talk shows she might have gone on to explain or defend herself. Lizzo’s only recourse, I guess, would be a People magazine cover story. But even that is dicey at this point.

According to the Luminate numbers, Lizzo was averaging about 2,000 copies of everything included per day from last Friday. She doesn’t have a current release so those numbers are fine. However, on August 3rd her total sales dropped to just 30. That’s including streaming and downloads plus airplay. It all just went away.

The lawsuit — brought by plaintiffs Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis, and Noelle Rodriguez — alleges nine areas of misconduct. The allegations made against all three defendants include a hostile work environment that featured sexual harassment, a failure to prevent or remedy sexual harassment in the workplace, and a failure to prevent or remedy religious harassment in the workplace.

The worst of the allegations isn’t the stuff about bananas in the singers’ vaginas. What is doing Lizzo in is accusations of weight or fat shaming against the dancers. The grossly overweight singer has turned her right to be fat into her anthem. The whole gist of her career is a celebration of bodies of all sizes and shapes. If she’s guilty of demeaning women for just that, her career will be over whether or not she’s a good singer or can play the flute.

“Barbie” Shows No Sign of Softening, Crosses $400 Million Mark and Aims for Number 1 Weekend

Roger Friedman
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“Barbie” Shows No Sign of Softening, Crosses $400 Million Mark and Aims for Number 1 Weekend

“Barbie” just keeps on going.

Doll is short for dollar as “Barbie” crossed the $400 million mark yesterday, dropping just a scooch from the day before. Another $40 or $50 million this weekend? Why not?

The whole Barbenheimer barrage should be fine this weekend since there’s no real competition. The horror film, “Meg 2,” has disastrous reviews and made $3.2 million last night in previews. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” will be a good place to park the kids while the parents are to “Oppenheimer.”

Next up: we’ll see if Warner’s can capitalize on “Barbie” with “Blue Beetle” next week. I always thought the Blue Beatle might be Ringo. Who knows? (I know nothing about it.) We’ll see…

Review: “Sex and the City” Throws Mr. Big Under the Bus and Backs Up Over Him Again–to Punish Chris Noth?

Roger Friedman
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Review: “Sex and the City” Throws Mr. Big Under the Bus and Backs Up Over Him Again–to Punish Chris Noth?

The last time I reviewed episodes of “Sex and the City And Just Like That” I mentioned that Season 2 took a left turn in Episode 5. After the dreadful first season and four bitter episodes from the second, the series all of a sudden was fun and light. It was actually enjoyable. It felt like the old “Sex and the City;”

Now episode 8 has dropped, and the trend has happily continued. The show is a comedy again, not a woke manual to lesbian sex, pronouns, and how to make Black friends. I guess it took this long for the writers to get it together.

In particular, Kristin Davis and Evan Handler and their family have stepped up to take center stage. “And Just Like That” feels like a sophisticated comedy about this urban family who have single friends (Carrie, Miranda). That they’re really rich and no one has a financial issue takes the strain off everyone, and makes the show feel like a fantasy.

What I found odd about episode 8, however, is how the writers have decided to back up over Mr. Big’s dead body. They killed off Chris Noth’s long time character in Season 1 Episode 1 so Carrie could mourn and go back to being single. Then Noth got into a #MeToo scandal and went through a period of questionable freezing out.

Now Carrie has moved on, or back, to her old boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett). And it’s not like she’s just getting past Big’s death. Her relationship and marriage are now termed “a mistake.” One wonders if Noth hadn’t had the scandal if Carrie would be so callous about his death. And she shouldn’t be. After all, he left her a fortune. If it weren’t for Big, she wouldn’t be able to afford hotel rooms for trysts, or to rent someone’s luxury apartment for the same. She’d be sitting at her desk, writing Tweets for money as a social influencer.

So feel bad for Mr. Big. This show just keeps killing him for no reason. On the other hand, “And Just Like That” is now fun. So that’s something.

Former Days of Our Lives Actress Speaks Out About Executive Producer Scandal: “It’s been hard for me to read the news. I guess I’m shocked he learned nothing”

Roger Friedman
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Former Days of Our Lives Actress Speaks Out About Executive Producer Scandal: “It’s been hard for me to read the news. I guess I’m shocked he learned nothing”

Actress Farrah Fath Galfond is weighing on “Days of our Lives” EP Albert Alarr. She had two stints on the show, with a better one — on “One Life to Live” — in between. You can read her Twitter comments below, followed by rousing approval of long time “Days” actress Arianne Zucker. Zucker is clearly anti-Alarr. Since she’s an integral part of the show, it’s hard to imagine Alarr can continue as EP. So far there is no word from the show’s owner, Ken Corday. I’m actually surprised NBC, which airs the show on Peacock, hasn’t stepped in.

Galfond writes: I’m not on the cast anymore but I would love to sign the petition in spirit. These were my experiences too. It wasn’t until I switched shows that I realized not every set was like that…I had the particular misfortune of having Alarr direct my first ever “love” scene when I was 19. He was new so I was already nervous not having one of the other directors that I was used to.

“I was extremely modest and freaked out to be standing in my underwear in front of dozens of crew (aka men that had known me since I was 15…ew) and did Albert do or say one little thing to make me feel remotely at ease? Absolutely not. He pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed me on a particular issue, and was annoyed when I stood my ground.

“20 years later and I still feel sad about that day yet happy I set a boundary. But MAN would it have been nice to have a WOMAN direct that scene and make sure I felt protected instead of exposed. It’s been hard for me to read the news. I guess I’m shocked he learned nothing after the me too movement. Or by …hello?? The cast & crew’s appalled reactions to him on daily basis?? I’m sorry to my former coworkers who’ve been dealing with this relentlessly for decades now. Proud of those who are finding their voice now. His time is up. Nice work “

Zucker commented: “Thank you Farah! Your words matter. Knowing you are not alone may not only start to ease what you and many others have gone through, but saying something is everything. Love you always! #Womentakingourpowerback MOVEMENT”

Zucker added on her Instagram page:

“I want to thank you all for the incredible community support! Without all your voices there is no change! (Even though we are still waiting). Your constant positivity and STRONG OPINIONS mean more than you know.
Thank you to those who have formally been on the show who have shared your stories and continue to share them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! It takes a village.
I’ll leave you with this…doing the right thing can never be wrong. Especially, when it is for the good of the many!”

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