Hollywood Week: Netflix/Baby Reindeer, Hoda Kotb Exits NBC, WNBA, National Symphony Strikes, Maggie Smith
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Saturday, 28 September 2024 09:15
- Written by Janet Walker
Streaming giant Netflix has lost a bid to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against its wildly popular, and critically acclaimed "Baby Reindeer" limited series, after alleged gross negligence and using a salacious tagline to entice viewership.
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"U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner on Friday found that Netflix could've defamed Fiona Harvey, the inspiration behind Jessica Gunning's Martha depicted as a twice-convicted stalker sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assault, by stating that the series was "based on a true story." Netflix may have "insisted on adding" the disclaimer despite [Richard] Gadd's concerns, the court said," reported The Hollywood Reporter.
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Hoda Kotb Exits NBC
Hoda Kotb, NBC's co-Anchor of the third hour of the "Today" show, announced this week, she is leaving after co-hosting the morning show for 17 years, citing a desire to spend more time with her two young daughters.
The morning show wars are all about ratings, and a disruption as an extended "family" member leaves allows the networks to reshape the future, as they are looking for longevity, and the opportunity to add a new family member to the television viewing audience, one that will connect with viewers, and more importantly sync with the current team.
"In many ways the harder role to fill is at 10 a.m., where Kotb has been a co-anchor for 17 years, and has held forth with Jenna Bush Hager since 2019. While the show is part of Today, it is closer in look and feel to a more traditional syndicated daytime hour, where the on-air relationship between the co-hosts is the most important thing," reported The Hollywood Reporter.
As each of the big three, NBC, ABC, and CBS networks are undergoing personality changes, the exit of Kotb, in January 2025, is opportune time for all three morning shows, as the major events of 2024, the Paris Olympics and the 2024 Presidential election will be over, to consider renovating the house, creating new sets, segments, and dynamics, all of which play into the feel of home and family.
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National Symphony Strikes
The National Symphony, in Washington, D.C walked off the job in a consolidated strike on Friday morning, by mid-afternoon, they reached an 18-month labor agreement.
"This 18-month contract will provide all parties time to come together to settle a longer-term agreement that demonstrates our respect for their artistic contributions and maintains the orchestra's competitiveness in the field," the Kennedy Center said statement it released Friday afternoon," The Washington Post reported.
WNBA Finals Begin
The WNBA final begin this Sunday in New York, as the New York Liberty, the top seed in the league, hosts the Las Vegas Aces, in the best of five series. This isn't the first meeting between the two teams. The 2023 WNBA finals hosted the same match-up, as these two best in the league teams, battle each other for the championship. The Liberty's have had a better year, with Sabrina Ionescu scoring a record 36 points in the last round, and the Liberty's are looking for payback, coming into the series. The Aces who were number one last year, hold the number four spot, and are the defending champions. Game 1 is Sunday at 3 p.m. (EST) on ABC.
Phenom Caitlin Clark, who just finished her rookie year in Indiana, has been named "Rookie of the Year."
"Clark shook off a sluggish start to have one of the best debut campaigns in league history. She averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc," reported The Bleacher Report.
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Dame Maggie Smith Dies
Dame Maggie Smith, star of stage, screen and television, died this week in London. She was 89.
A versatile actress, Smith tackled each role with a robust energy, as she often explained acting allowed her to become someone else, to a live a life as someone she loved, for a short time, which provided her the opportunity to escape.
"Critics placed her in a pantheon of exalted "dames" of the stage, including Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright and Judi Dench. Ms. Smith was a founding member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company in 1963 and later was a marquee actress of the Stratford Festival's classical repertory company in Ontario," The Washington Post wrote.
Smith became known to an entirely new generation with her role in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which began a long connection with the franchise with Smith appearing in all but one of the films as Professor Minerva McGonagall, the head mistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The explosion of the British drama series "Downton Abbey," included Ms. Smith as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. Smith's ability to deliver her lines gracefully, with rapier wit and biting sarcasm, hiding her the true meaning behind the double-speak, earned her critical acclaim and three Emmys.
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A career spanning six decades, she received six Academy Awards nominations, and taking home the Oscar twice for "The Prime of Miss Brodie," (1969), and Neil Simon's "California Suite," (1978), she received five BAFTA awards, three Golden Globes, and four Primetime Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Awards. She is one of only 14 actresses to win the industries highest honors in film, theater, and television. She also played Mother Superior, an order, rules, and tradition matriarch, opposite Whoopie Goldberg's, outrageous lounge singer in hiding, in "Sister Act" (1992) and the sequel, "Sister Act: Back in the Habit" (1993).
Throughout her career she was nominated for more than 150 competitive awards and earned 58. She was also honored with Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972, the title of Dame in 1990, and Order of the Companions of Honour in 2014.
A statement from her family, released by her publicist Clair Dobbs, announced her death, but did not provide any additional details. No further information is available, but will be forthcoming, on posthumous honors and tributes.
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Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and the International Federation of Journalists.
