Paddington was not part of my childhood. I was a Muppet kid, and Fozzie was my comfort bear of choice. Instead, Paddington came to me as an adult. In 2015, an exceedingly polite, marmalade-slurping fellow in a floppy felt hat and blue duffel coat arrived in theaters and offered an uplifting story about tolerance and … Read more
On Dec. 7, Rupert formally filed his petition to strip Prue, Liz and James of their voting power. The three children quickly filed an objection, arguing that their father was abusing the narrow amendment that enables him to make changes to the family trust. Though the public was still unaware of the escalating turmoil roiling … Read more
The divided Murdochs The fight over the Murdoch family trust has deepened old fault lines. Lachlan was convinced that his three oldest siblings, led by James, were plotting to overthrow him when their father dies. Elisabeth, who has historically seen herself as the family’s Switzerland, said that she felt “violated and forsaken” by her father’s … Read more
Voters had delivered the president to the White House for a second term, disregarding news about arrests and indictments of former aides accused of breaking the law to help keep him in power. Now, the newly emboldened president and his top officials had a message for the reporters who covered it all so aggressively: It … Read more
During a news conference four days after the fires began, Kathryn Barger, the chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said she had been forced to pay a $95 fee to the company to make a $500 donation to a friend whose home had been lost in the fire. “I was shocked,” she … Read more
Newspapers across the country owned by the news media company Lee Enterprises were unable to print, had problems with their websites and published smaller issues after a cyberattack last week, the company said. In a statement emailed on Sunday, Lee Enterprises said that the company was facing disruptions to its daily operations because of a … Read more
Last month, the Golden Globes drew 10.1 million viewers. No, wait, maybe 9.3 million. The very same night, “Sunday Night Football” attracted 28.5 million people. Scratch that, perhaps it was 25.8 million. The “Yellowstone” finale? Possibly 11 million — or eight million? Ratings have long been the currency of the TV business, helping to determine … Read more
The Fox Corporation said on Monday that it had acquired Red Seat Ventures, a growing digital media company that has become a go-to partner for old-media stars like Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan as they create their own independent online programming. Red Seat and its founding partners, the brothers Chris and Kevin Balfe, … Read more
Two weeks ago, Netflix’s chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, strutted across the stage of the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles and crowed about the company’s 13 Oscar nominations for its Spanish-language musical, “Emilia Pérez.” “We just received more Oscar nominations than any other studio,” she boasted. Finally the most coveted prize, the Academy Award for … Read more
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has ordered an investigation into the diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Comcast, the parent company of NBC News and Universal Studios. In a letter sent to Brian Roberts, Comcast’s chairman, on Tuesday, Mr. Carr said the F.C.C. would look into D.E.I. practices broadly at many … Read more