'Ghost' Whitewash: Japanese Actresses Debate; Roger Ailes Miniseries at Showtime; O'Reilly Ad Boycott; Polanski Denied

What's news: Bill O'Reilly, Fox News and 21st Century Fox all have remained silent on the new sexual harassment claims engulfing the network, but advertisers are beginning to comment. Plus: Roman Polanski won't be returning to the U.S. any time soon and Jason Blum’s empire is expanding. — Matthew Belloni and Erik Hayden. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( April 04, 2017 What's news: Bill O'Reilly, Fox News and 21st Century Fox all have remained silent on the new sexual harassment claims engulfing the network, but advertisers are beginning to comment. Plus: Roman Polanski won't be returning to the U.S. any time soon and Jason Blum’s empire is expanding. — Matthew Belloni and Erik Hayden. O'Reilly Loses Advertisers But does it matter? Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, which have advertised on Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, both distanced themselves from the show in the wake of the revived sexual harassment claims against the anchor: [Mercedes-Benz:]( "We had advertising running on The O'Reilly Factor (we run on most major cable news shows) and it has been reassigned in the midst of this controversy. The allegations are disturbing and, given the importance of women in every aspect of our business, we don't feel this is a good environment in which to advertise our products right now." [Hyundai:]( "We had upcoming advertising spots on the show but are reallocating them due to the recent and disturbing allegations. As a company we seek to partner with companies and programming that share our values of inclusion and diversity." [An independent investigation?]( Those advertisers issued statements around the same time that attorney Lisa Bloom held a presser with Dr. Wendy Walsh, who detailed harassment claims against O'Reilly and called for an investigation at Fox News over the allegations, as Ashley Cullins reported from Woodland Hills. "No company in America has the right to use its riches to flout the law, and that includes Fox News," said Bloom. [New lawsuit filed:]( Meanwhile, a Fox News pundit, Julie Roginsky, became the latest to sue the network and ousted chief Roger Ailes. The complaint: "Ailes repeatedly called Roginsky into his office for one-on-one meetings, telling her that he really liked her on The Five. During these meetings, Ailes would frequently steer the conversation to Roginsky's personal life by asking, among other things, if she was dating anyone, why she was not married, what she was looking for in a man, and remarking that he did not understand why she was still single since she was so attractive." Elsewhere in TV... ► Blumhouse is expanding again. Jason Blum’s prolific company has launched [an independent TV studio](, with investment from ITV Studios. The latter will maintain a 45 percent stake in the new shingle, which will co-produce a Purge series for TV and a Roger Ailes miniseries for Showtime. ► Writers Guild sets strike vote calendar. Jonathan Handel's latest update: This year, the parties appear to be [some distance]( apart in their positions on such issues as relief for middle-class writers, shoring up the health plan and other matters. ► NBC partners with Chris Hardwick on another series. The ubiquitous host, familiar to anyone who watches AMC, Comedy Central's @midnight or the new NBC game show The Wall, will topline yet another series with the [six-episode order]( for The Awesome Show. ► IFC's Brockmire, reviewed. Critic Daniel Fienberg's takeaway for the series (premiering Wednesday): "Hank Azaria's Funny or Die sportscaster works surprisingly well as a regular series lead on the new IFC show, costarring the excellent Amanda Peet." ↱ [Reality TV struggles to find a new Voice](. An MIPTV update from Scott Roxborough in Cannes for the market: Drama is still king, but rising costs and the threat of a Hollywood writers' strike could give a boost to a new crop of reality. ↲ [^CBS' Late Late Show plans London trip.]( James Corden is traveling home, and he's bringing viewers with him for three back-to-back shows broadcast from the historic Central Hall Westminster in June. ► USA Network renews Falling Water. The cabler has [reupped]( the supernatural drama for a second season, and has tapped Remi Aubuchon (Falling Skies) to take over as showrunner. Ratings for season one were soft, but the show is produced in-house. ► CBS' Law & Order: SVU casts Roger Ailes episode. Bonnie Somerville, Christopher McDonald and Mark Moses will headline [the episode]( about a female news anchor who accuses her boss of rape. ► Peabody Awards telecast moves channels. The upcoming ceremony, honoring TV and radio, will be broadcast on PBS and Fusion for the first time. Rashida Jones has been tapped to host the annual May 20 gala. ► Audience Network's Three Days of the Condor remake finds star. Oscar winner Mira Sorvino has[joined]( the series based on the 1975 movie. Lawrence Trilling (Parenthood, Alias) has signed on to direct and exec produce. ► Dr. Phil's daytime empire is expanding. The longtime host is teaming with The Daily Mail and CBS Television Distribution to launch a new syndicated newsmagazine series based on the British publication in the fall. [Details.]( ► RIAA gets new leader. "Mitch Glazier will take the helm of the major-label trade association -— as president now and then as chairman and CEO in January 2019. Cary Sherman, who holds that position now ... will retire at the end of 2018," Billboard [reports](. The worst rebrand since Tronc? In a perplexing name change, Yahoo will merge with AOL to form a new Verizon-owned business called Oath, which will be run by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. Its hashtag slogan? "[#TakeTheOath.](" Japanese Actresses on Whitewashing A debate: Senior reporter Rebecca Sun invited four actresses of Japanese descent to watch Ghost in the Shell and participate in a candid chat about the film and working conditions in Hollywood: The participants: Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls), stage actor/writer Traci Kato-Kiriyama (PULLproject Ensemble), Atsuko Okatsuka (co-founder of the all-Asian, mostly female Dis/orient/ed Comedy tour) and Ai Yoshihara (The Sea of Trees). What they discovered in watching the Hollywood adaptation was a surprising twist. The [no-holds-barred conversation]( also veers into a debate about cultural authenticity and why Japanese nationals fail to understand the race controversy. "People in Japan worship white people," Yoshihara says. Elsewhere in film... ► Avatar 2 to (finally) begin shooting this fall. That [latest timetable]( is from Sigourney Weaver, who also said: "We’re trying to get it done as quickly as possible ... They’re so worth it." The scripts from all four planned sequels have already been completed. ► Fox's Frogkisser! hires Boss Baby screenwriter. Fresh off the strong opening weekend of the DreamWorks Animation film, screenwriter Michael McCullers is set [to adapt](the children's book for Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. ► Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s company forms new venture. Imagine Entertainment is joining forces with Animal Logic, the visual effects and animation company. The [five-year deal]( calls for the production of six feature-length films. ↱[Japan's earliest animated films released online.]( To mark a century of Japanese animation, the Film Center at Tokyo's National Museum of Modern Art has posted 64 short films from 1917 to 1941. ↲ [^The backstory of 1984.]( Tatiana Siegel writes: As the rerelease of the 1984 film adaptation hits theaters today, the story behind how Gina Rosenblum, a formerly unemployed housewife in Chicago, came to own film rights to the book is worthy of its own screenplay. ► Roman Polanski denied guarantee of no jail time in U.S. return. The director likely won't be heading back to the states soon, as an L.A. County judge [stated:]( "Polanski is not entitled to avail himself of this court's power to hear his demands while he openly stands in contempt of a legal order from this very court." ► Harrison Ford won't be fined for airplane landing incident. The actor will not face fines or punishment for landing his single-engine Aviat Husky on [the wrong runway]( of the Orange County Airport in February. The FAA closed its inquiry. Rep Sheet: Orlando Bloom signs with ICM Partners. The actor is following his agent Joey Stanton, who left CAA in March to join ICM. He continues to be represented by Lighthouse Management and the U.K.'s Independent Talent Group. [Details.]( About Those Quirky Fox Lot Topiaries As any visitor to the Fox lot in West L.A. will have noted, amid the blocky buildings and water tower are tucked a number of quirky topiaries. Those owe their existence to one self-taught landscaper: Kathy Jones. Here's a fun story from Patrick Shanley: Jones, who grew up in Encino, has been working on the lot as a landscaper for 34 years. Sometime in the mid-'90s she decided ("without permission," she says) to put her artistic abilities to use on the greenery. She recalls: "After about six months, my foreman noticed, and he said, 'That's cute, do another.' So I did the snail and the mushroom, and after that I started doing the penguins, and nobody really said anything, so I just kept going along and turning the bushes into things." [What happened when someone said something.]( What else we're reading... — "CNN had a problem. Donald Trump solved it." Jonathan Mahler's cover story: "Inside the strange symbiosis between Jeff Zucker and the president he helped create." [[The New York Times magazine](] — "TV feels the heat from Google and Facebook." Sahil Patel writes: "Make no mistake, Google and Facebook want a piece of the TV business. It’s why Google continues to spend money on YouTube." [[Digiday](] — "The web's inventor plots a radical overhaul of his creation." Klint Finley profiles Tim Berners-Lee: "On the better web Berners-Lee envisions, users control where their data is stored and how it’s accessed." [[Wired](] — "U2 producer’s other job." Jon Regen notes: "The six-time Grammy winner Steve Lillywhite selects music to sell at the restaurants alongside buckets of fried chicken." [[The New York Times](] — "Alec {NAME} is disappointed with everything." Dan Zak reviews the actor's memoir: "If {NAME}’s Nevertheless had a subtitle, it would be 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Defeated Egotist.'" [[The Washington Post](] **[Home news:](The Hollywood Reporter's website has been nominated for a Webby Award by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Today's Birthdays: David Blaine, 44, Robert Downey Jr., 52, David Cross, 53, Hugo Weaving, 57, David E. Kelley, 61, Craig T. Nelson, 73. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( April 4, 2017