Talk Shows Perform U-Turn; Russell Brand Accused of Rape; Anderson Cooper Talks Trump Townhall, CNN After Chris Licht; 'Sly' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( September 18, 2023 What's news: HBO has canceled Winning Time after two seasons. American Fiction won the audience prize at TIFF. Oppenheimer is officially the top-grossing biopic ever at the global box office. Leslie Jones has revealed Chris Rock sought counseling after the Will Smith slap incident. Channel 4, the BBC and Banijay have all launched investigations into Russell Brand's time working for them. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Talk Shows Perform U-Turn After Strike Pushback ►"I have listened to everyone." Drew Barrymore has announced she is pausing her talk show amid the writers strike. Last week, the actress and The Drew Barrymore Show host revealed her show would be returning without writers and would abide by strike rules in not discussing struck work. After widespread criticism and accusations of scabbing, Barrymore apologized on Sunday and said the show will return when the strike is over. [The story.]( —Follow the leader. Following the news that The Drew Barrymore Show is pausing, The Talk and The Jennifer Hudson Show announced similar plans. "The Talk is pausing its season premiere scheduled for Sept. 18," CBS said in a statement. Hudson’s syndicated show, distributed by Warner Bros., was slated to premiere Monday but is now on hold. Sources say Hudson advocated for the postponement. [The story.]( —"I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words." Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner has issued an apology following controversial comments he made about Black and female musicians being not “articulate” enough to be included in his new book, The Masters. The apology came Saturday night, a few hours after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced he was being removed from his position on the board of directors. [The story.]( —Dahl deluge on its way. Netflix’s animated film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book The Twits is scheduled to come to the streamer in 2025. Phil Johnston (Ralph Breaks the Internet) is directing the project, with Katie Shanahan and Todd Demong as co-directors. Johnson is also penning the script with Meg Favreau and producing alongside Maggie Malone. The Twits is among several planned adaptations of Dahl’s stories heading to Netflix. The streaming giant acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in September 2021. [The story.]( Russell Brand Accused of Rape, Sexual Assault ►Multiple allegations. Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse during a seven-year period at the height of his fame. Five women have alleged that the British comedian, actor and YouTuber sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013, while he was a BBC and Channel 4 presenter and acting in Hollywood films, a joint investigation from The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches found. Other accusations include Brand’s controlling, abusive and predatory behavior. In a video posted on Saturday, Brand preemptively denied the allegations. [The story.]( —Internal investigation. Channel 4, the U.K. network that helped drive Brand’s career in its early days, has now launched its own investigation into sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him. In an email to staff, Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon said it had started an internal investigation into whether people at the channel “had knowledge of the alleged behaviors,” adding that it had recently safeguarded and strengthened its whistleblowing policies. [The story.]( —More investigations. The U.K. arm of production giant Banijay said on Sunday that it has launched an “urgent” internal probe about Brand's time working on Endemol projects EFourum and Big Brother’s Big Mouth, both of which aired on Channel 4. The BBC has also launched an inquiry into Brand's time working for the broadcaster. [The story.]( —"These are very serious allegations." Bluebird, an imprint of U.K. book giant Pan Macmillan, has said it will pause all future publishing with Brand in light of the sexual assault and rape allegations against him. Brand has published titles with Bluebird since 2017, including Recovery: Freedom from our Addictions and Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped. Recovery: The Workbook was due to be published this December. [The story.]( THR Titan: Anderson Cooper Talks Trump Townhall, CNN After Chris Licht ►"Nobody likes the place they’re working at to be a place where stories are being leaked. It was depressing." As Anderson Cooper hits the 20-year mark at CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, THR's [Pamela McClintock]( had a wide-ranging conversation with the veteran journalist, who reveals how he copes with CNN work drama, his thoughts on new boss Mark Thompson, his real feelings on the CNN New Year’s Eve Live alcohol ban, his complicated relationship with the Vanderbilt name, and how his new podcast taught him that grief and loss have defined his entire career: "I wanted to go places where people were suffering." [The interview.]( —"It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that." Comedian Leslie Jones says that her friend Chris Rock sought counseling after being slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars. In a new interview, Jones revealed that Rock had counseling with his daughters Lola and Zahra over the shocking incident. [The story.]( —He's in the army now. BTS’ Suga is set to enlist for mandatory military service this week, reps said Sunday. South Korea requires men between the ages of 18 and 35 to enlist for a period of 18 to 21 months if they are physically fit. BTS' label BIGHIT Music also asked fans to "refrain from visiting Suga at his workplace during the period of his service." Due to military service, all seven members of BTS will not be available to perform together again until 2025. [The story.]( —"It was existentially dangerous." Bob Odenkirk says he was too young when he joined Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. In a new interview, the Better Call Saul star explained it was difficult for him to start out in comedy, especially as a writer on the late-night sketch series from 1987 to 1991. While at SNL, which he joined as a 25-year-old, Odenkirk said he "had feelings of ‘I should erase myself.'” [The story.]( 'Winning Time' Canceled at HBO ►"Not the ending that we had in mind." HBO has canceled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty after two seasons. The surprise news came only moments after the second-season finale aired on Sunday. Co-creator Max Borenstein and director Salli Richardson confirmed the news on social media. The first season, which debuted in March 2022, spotlighted Jerry Buss’ first year as owner and Magic Johnson’s rookie year, 1979-80. The second season is set during the four-year period after that, which ended with a historic loss for the Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals. [The story.]( —"I think people have realized this season that if you just watch the show instead of judging the show without seeing it, it’s a great show." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Salli Richardson-Whitfield, the director of the series finale of Winning Time. Richardson-Whitfield talks about being protective of Magic and Cookie Johnson’s storyline and depicting the good and bad of the Laker’s love story in the episode titled, "One Ring Don’t Make a Dynasty." Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( The Awards Hopefuls That Popped at TIFF ►Contenders emerge. The 48th Toronto International Film Festival finished on Sunday, so THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg took the opportunity to share some of his impressions of this year’s event and the awards hopefuls that played there and also offers some informed speculation about which films could pick up some momentum this award season. [The analysis.]( —🏆 The people have spoken 🏆 Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut American Fiction, a satire about America's racial dynamics,​ picked up TIFF's top prize, the People’s Choice honor on Sunday. Previous TIFF audience award winners include Room, La La Land, 12 Years a Slave and Nomadland. [The story.]( —Status cemented. With American Fiction winning TIFF's big prize, Scott explains why it is a BFD for the Amazon/MGM release's Academy Award chances. Scott writes that over the 16 prior festivals to 2023, 14 TIFF audience award winners (all but 2007’s Eastern Promises and 2011’s Where Do We Go Now?) went on to nominations for the best picture Oscar. [The analysis.]( Box Office: 'Haunting in Venice' and 'Nun 2' Tie at the Top ►Slowdown after the summer rush. Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice — the third installment in his Agatha Christie-inspired movie series — had hoped to top the domestic box office chart in its debut but instead has found itself in a virtual tie for No. 1 with holdover The Nun II. Early estimates from New Line/Warner Bros. show the Nun sequel narrowly coming in ahead with $14.7m, while 20th Century Studios/Disney have Haunting earning $14.5m. Pamela McClintock writes that when Sunday projections are this close — only $200,000 separate the two films — the industry generally considers it a tie until the final numbers come in today. While Haunting opened in line with expectations, it’s still a muted start for the film, which will need strong legs to come out ahead. Similar to other recent movies with a buzzy cast, the threequel had to make its final publicity push without the help of its stars because of the ongoing actors strike. Overseas — where the franchise draws much of its strength from — Haunting opened to $22.7m in its first 51 markets for a global start of $37.2m. 20th Century kept the budget of Haunting at $60m compared to at least $90m for the last film in the franchise, 2022's Death on the Nile. Nun 2, which fell 55 percent in its second outing, has grossed an estimated $56.5m domestically in its first 10 days. Overseas, it earned another $30.1m from 72 markets to jump the $100m mark internationally for a global total of $158.8m. Elsewhere, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer celebrated another milestone in becoming the top-grossing biopic ever at the global box office after passing up Bohemian Rhapsody this weekend. The Universal movie’s estimated worldwide haul through Sunday is $912.7m. [The box office report.]( Film Review: 'Sly' ►"Moments of insight mixed in with moments of avoidance." THR's [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Thom Zimny's Sly. Sylvester Stallone is the subject of this Netflix doc that includes Henry Winkler, Quentin Tarantino and Arnold Schwarzenegger among interviewees. [The review.]( —"A forced farce." THR's [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews Thea Sharrock's Wicked Little Letters. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley star in this feature based on a real-life scandal that occurred in Littlehampton in 1920. [The review.]( In other news... —The 16-year saga to [build the Fontainebleau, Las Vegas’ hottest new hotel]( —European directors [back Agnieszka Holland amid Polish government attacks]( —Ayşe Polat’s [In The Blind Spot wins Oldenburg Film Festival German Independence Award]( —Rapper Jeezy [files for divorce from The Real host Jeannie Mai Jenkins]( —[Irish Grinstead]( singer of the girl group 702, dies at 43 What else we're reading... —Corbin Bolies writes that Kristen Welker's first Meet the Press interview proved once again that the media still has no clue how to deal with Donald Trump [[Daily Beast]( —Following multiple sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand, Jim Waterson looks at whether the comedian's anti-mainstream media push in recent years will insulate him from the claims [[Guardian]( —Alex Sherman has an interesting analysis piece on why Disney might be exploring legacy asset sales, suggesting that Bob Iger is readying the company for the future of TV [[CNBC]( —With lots of charts, numbers and snazzy visualizations, Whizy Kim looks at the mind-boggling scale of Disney World [[Vox]( —Stella Yifan Xie writes that China's economic predicament could be worse than Japan's after the Bubble crash in the 1980s [[WSJ]( Today... ...in 1963, MGM opened producer-director Robert Wise’s horror film The Haunting in theaters. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: [James Marsden]( (50), Jason Sudeikis (48), Jada Pinkett Smith (52), Billy Eichner (45), Aisha Tyler (53), Alison Lohman (44), Aidan Gallagher (20), Babs Olusanmokun (39), Holly Robinson Peete (59), Frankie Avalon (83), Christina Chong (40), Patrick Schwarzenegger (30), Sepideh Moafi (38), Christopher Heyerdahl (60), Nina Arianda (39), Charity Wakefield (43), Tara Fitzgerald (56), Keeley Hazell (37), Michael Landes (51), Anna Thomson (70), Travis Schuldt (49), Adeel Akhtar (43), Tim McInnerny (67), Denis Ménochet (47), Dan Povenmire (60), Xzibit (49) Billy Miller, the three-time Emmy winner for The Young and the Restless who also had long-running roles in All My Children and General Hospital, has died. He was 43. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. 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