☕ The Cullens are back

TV is starting to look like your middle-school bookshelf... April 20, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [Revela]( Good morning. Not only does she do 44-song sets, but Taylor Swift also does her due diligence. According to a lawyer handling a lawsuit against celebrities who promoted FTX, Swift was the only superstar approached who asked FTX, “Can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?” Swift apparently didn’t get the answer she was looking for, because she turned down the $100 million endorsement deal she was offered and avoided the legal mess others like Larry David, Shaq, and Tom Brady now find themselves in. Karma really is her boyfriend. —Matty Merritt, Molly Liebergall, Cassandra Cassidy, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 12,157.23 +0.03% S&P 4,154.52 -0.01% Dow 33,897.01 -0.23% 10-Year 3.594% +1.6 bps Bitcoin $29,205.08 -3.81% BBBY $0.46 +35.28% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 3:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Did everyone on Wall Street head off on a corporate retreat without telling us? It sure feels that way from how little [stocks]( have budged over the past two days despite big companies announcing their earnings. One stock that did manage to make moves was Bed Bath and Beyond, which spiked for the third day in a row following reports it is close to a bankruptcy filing.  C-SUITE [Everyone’s mad at the CEO who told staff to ‘leave pity city’]( [Andi Owen "pity city" video screenshot.]( YouTube The internet’s favorite kind of main character popped up this week: a CEO going off script. Andi Owen, CEO of furniture conglomerate MillerKnoll, went [viral]( Tuesday with a one-minute, 20-second clip telling employees to stop worrying about whether or not they’d get bonuses and “leave pity city.” People online were quick to tell Owen to take a trip to get-a-grip-ville, pointing out that this kind of comment feels callow coming from a high-paid exec during a time of economic instability. Reading the room, MillerKnoll said the clip was taken out of context and the comment was meant to push employees to focus on hitting the company’s $26 million sales goal. Owen reportedly sent an apology email to staff saying, “I feel terrible that my rallying cry seemed insensitive.” The cool CEO facade is cracking Over the last few years, pandemic bumps and economic turbulence have forced CEOs who once spent most of their days wearing fun sneakers and delivering good news to become the big bad boss. And when being the bearer of bad news gets handled less than delicately, it tends to go viral: whether it’s a CEO laying off staff via mass Zoom meetings or posting a [crying selfie]( about letting employees go. If there doesn’t seem to be much empathy for C Suite blunders these days, it might be because executive pay has eclipsed worker pay over the past few decades. A July report from the AFL-CIO, the largest US federation of trade unions, found that, on average, S&P 500 CEOs made about $18.3 million, or roughly [324x]( the median salary of workers, in 2021. Bottom line: Owen’s attempt to fire up employees to sell fancy chairs left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Especially since it came from someone who, according to Fortune, took home $3.9 million last fiscal year in incentive-based compensation on top of her $1.1 million salary.—MM   TOGETHER WITH REVELA [This spring, hair is here to stay]( [Revela]( Is your hair still hibernating while everything else is in full bloom? Before you invest in a closet full of hats (we love a hat, tbh!), take a look at Revela. They used an innovative AI engine to discover a revolutionary new ingredient that targets sleepy hair follicles and revitalizes even the most stubborn of scalps. ProCelinyl™ combats hair loss by reawakening dormant follicles [to promote thicker-looking hair]( with a 97% success rate in clinical trials. Revela is so confident in their game-changing formula, all their hair products come with a money-back guarantee. Let your locks shine. Snag a bottle of Revela’s breakthrough before it’s gone—[with 20% off for a limited time](. WORLD Tour de headlines [people holding signs in front of the Supreme Court that say "Abortion Pills"]Plan C/@mollyemillerphotography SCOTUS puts off ruling on abortion pills. The Supreme Court [extended]( until Friday its pause on a lower court ruling restricting access to mifepristone, leaving the pill available nationwide for now. Mifepristone’s status is up for grabs after a federal judge in Texas suspended the FDA’s two-decade-old approval of the medicine, and another federal judge issued a conflicting ruling the same day ensuring access to the medicine in some states. The case is considered the most important abortion dispute since Roe v. Wade. Price drops cut into Tesla’s profits. One day after cutting prices on its cars for the sixth time this year, Tesla reported that all those discounts made a big dent in its Q1 [profits]( which were down 24% compared to the same period last year. But with competition in the electric vehicle market heating up, the company said it was sticking with its plan to sell more cars for less. It expects to move 1.8 million cars this year, up from 1.3 million in 2022. You can be a part of your own $700+ million legal settlement. No judgment if you’re still using Facebook now, but if you were using the social network any time between May 2007 and December 2022, you can submit a claim [here]( for your share of a $725 million privacy settlement. You have until August to request your piece of the deal that resolves a [class action]( over Facebook giving 87 million users’ data to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that worked with political campaigns. Meta agreed to the settlement last year without admitting wrongdoing. ENTERTAINMENT [The Twilight Saga is getting a TV revival]( [The Twilight Saga is getting its own TV show.]( Francis Scialabba The franchise that spawned five movies and countless Edward Cullen cosplays is coming back from the dead for a [television reboot](. The unnamed Twilight series is in early development at Lionsgate, whose stock rose 6% on the news yesterday. For now, we know almost as little about the series as Bella knew about vampires when she moved to Forks. Stephenie Meyer is expected to be involved, and an executive producer of the Twilight movies, which grossed $3.3 billion worldwide, is already on-board, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Besides that: - The show’s writer is currently deciding whether to remake the books and movies or use the source material to create a new story within the Twilightverse. - There’s no timeline for production, let alone a network or platform committed yet. - No cast details have been released, so we can’t say whether Kristen Stewart and co. will reprise their roles from the films (don’t count on it). Zoom out: Your entire middle-school bookshelf is coming to the small screen. The Twilight series will compete for ratings glory against two familiar foes with equally devoted fans: a 10-year Harry Potter series on HBO Max and Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+. The latter finished filming and will premiere next year.—ML   TOGETHER WITH SMARTASSET [SmartAsset]( Sunny days ahead. If you’re one of the 110m Americans over age 50 (or just a mature, forward-thinking millennial), planning for retirement is top of mind. SmartAsset’s [free tool]( makes it easy to connect with vetted financial advisors serving your area. Work to make those golden years even brighter. [Learn more](. CRIME [Best way to catch a hitman? Rent one]( [Mirror selfie of Josiah Garcia]( Facebook Last Wednesday, the FBI arrested Josiah Garcia, a Tennessee Air National Guardsman who applied to be an assassin on RentAHitman.com. Rookie mistake: The website is a parody site that’s been used to catch potential killers for years. So, it turns out the only assassination Garcia was signing up for was that of his character. - In one of many follow-up emails to his application, Garcia allegedly wrote, “I enjoy doing what I do, so if I can find a job that is similar to it, (such as this one) put me in coach!” - He also peppered in his nickname, Reaper, which was allegedly given to him for his excellent marksmanship. The site wasn’t originally intended to catch potential killers. Bob Innes, the Northern Californian who runs RentAHitman.com, bought the domain in 2005 for $9.20 with a plan to start a website traffic analysis company. The business didn’t pan out, but he held onto the domain, hoping that one day someone would buy it, according to The Guardian. It wasn’t until 2010 that he got a request serious enough to turn over to authorities from a woman hellbent on hiring an assassin to kill three of her relatives. In the years since, Innes has put a handful of others in the possession of law enforcement. He estimates he’s saved nearly 150 people’s lives by handing over the inquiries that appear serious to authorities. The future is grim for Josiah “Reaper” Garcia. He faces up to 10 years in prison for using the nickname “Reaper” interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.—CC   GRAB BAG Key performance indicators [People listening to a podcast mike]Hannah Minn Stat: The future of news might be hiding wherever you get your podcasts: 87% of Americans who hear news on podcasts expect it to be accurate, according to a new Pew Research [survey](. Given that confidence in newspapers and TV news has slipped, that’s a big win for podcasts. But it’s not necessarily a victory for the podcasts of traditional news outlets—only one in five podcast listeners say they tune into pods connected to news organizations. But we, of course, recommend anyone looking for the best news podcast check out [Morning Brew Daily](. Quote: “Maybe 4/20, maybe not.” Elon Musk might soon have one more reason to love 4/20. The aspiring Martian, who you may recall added ~$150 million to the price tag for his acquisition of Twitter just to make a 4/20 joke, is hoping that SpaceX will be able to [launch]( its massive Starship rocket today for the first time ever. The company had to cancel a planned launch earlier in the week due to a frozen valve, but Musk tweeted that the team is “working around the clock” in an effort to get the ship off the ground today. Read: My high-flying life as a corporate spy who lied his way to the top. ([Narratively]( NEWS What else is brewing - [Meta]( started its latest round of layoffs yesterday, letting go of workers in technical roles. The two rounds of job cuts announced since November were designed to eliminate ~21,000 positions. - [House Speaker Kevin McCarthy]( proposed a plan to raise the debt ceiling limit by $1.5 trillion, alongside big spending cuts. Democrats have already rejected the plan, and it’s not clear how many Republicans will vote for it either. - [Two teenagers]( and a 20-year-old have been arrested and charged with murder in the deadly shooting at a Sweet 16 in Alabama. - [Florida]( expanded its ban on teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, to include all grades through high school. - [Frank Ocean]( has pulled out of Coachella after his performance last weekend and will be replaced as a headliner this Sunday by Blink-182. RECS [To do list Thursday] 4/20 film fest: The best [stoner movies]( and the best [movies for stoners](. Want to know what ChatGPT knows? These are the websites that [train chatbots](. Bull’s-eye: Why archery could be the hot new thing in [sports betting](. Prove you’re not picky: Take [this test]( to see where you rate on the food disgust scale. Upskill: Elevate your downtime with [Brilliant](. Bite-size, interactive lessons in math, data, and CS help you get smarter—and have a little bit of fun. Join 10m+ people and [try it free for 30 days]( *This is sponsored advertising content. GAMES The puzzle section Brew Mini: Catch some Zzzs (well, actually a lot of Zs) in today’s Mini. [Play it here](. Three headlines and a lie Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than an Instagram DM about a brand collab. Can you spot the odd one out? - Sorry we [dissolved]( your son in acid, mafia bosses tell parents - Black bear breaks into vehicle, [guzzles]( 69 cans of pop - Cocaine worth nearly $440 million [found]( floating in the sea off Italy - Man [sues]( brewery for using his photo on can of beer called ‘Bald Guy Brew’ AROUND THE BREW [Summer in 3, 2, 1...]( [Summer in , , ...]( Want a free vacation? Check out Money With Katie’s free travel rewards hacks to book your flight and hotel [without breaking the bank](. Get ready to hear from top marketing leaders and network with them at The Brief, a Marketing Brew Summit, on May 11 in NYC. [Purchase your ticket today](. Does recruiting new employees ever feel like you’re searching for a unicorn in space without a spacesuit? Watch HR Brew’s on-demand virtual event with Duolingo [to help you find a spacesuit](. SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( ANSWER We made up the bald guy suing a brewery. Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Matty Merritt]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( and [Abigail Rubenstein]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Take The Brew to work - Marketers: [Marketing Brew]( - Corporate: [CFO Brew](  [HR Brew]( - Tech: [IT Brew](  [Tech Brew]( - Retailers: [Retail Brew]( - Healthcare: [Healthcare Brew]( Get smarter in just 5 minutes - Money & Career: [Money Scoop](  [Money With Katie](  [Raise]( Business education without the BS - Programs in [Business Essentials]( [Analytics]( and [Leadership]( Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2023 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011