Hollywood Week: Nancy Guthrie Update, Netflix Price Hike, Meta Liable, Tiger Woods, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Saturday, 28 March 2026 08:56

Written by Janet Walker

Savannah Guthrie, the co-anchor for NBC's Today, gave her first interview this week, after the abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, describing the horror of these last two months as she prepares to return to the morning show.

Guthrie, 54, sat down with her former colleague Hoda Kotb, who returned to the show to fill in during Ms. Guthrie's leave of absence, to talk candidly about the emotional roller coaster details of her mother's disappearance, and the agony as the days turned into weeks without any resolution.

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On the morning of February 1, 2026, Guthrie, who was preparing to leave for Milano Cortina to cover the Winter Olympics, received a phone call from her sister, Annie, who also lived in Tucson. Nancy had failed to show up for church.

She described the next few hours of frantic telephone calls to the local hospitals trying to find her. Just after 12:00 PM, Annie and other relatives realized something tragic had happened, and telephoned local authorities to report their mother was missing.

"A tearful Ms. Guthrie said the family still did not know for sure what might have motivated the kidnapping of her mother. But she said she believed the two ransom notes that were sent to news outlets and demanded payment in Bitcoin were most likely from her mother's abductor or abductors," The New York Times reported.

She also added that the second ransom note indicated that her mother had died in captivity, and the family stated they were still willing to pay to have their mother returned.

Nancy Guthrie's frequent appearances on the Today, and as late as Thanksgiving 2025, may have played a part in the kidnapping. Pictured on the set with Savannah, the elder Mrs. Guthrie was also pictured with her cane. Her mobility issues with well-known and unfortunately broadcasted.

Savannah also indicated her personality status may have contributed to the kidnapping. The details of the kidnapping have been widely circulated, a doorbell camera picking up the image of a hooded assailant with a holstered weapon, blood drops on the entryway, Mrs. Guthrie pacemaker disconnected in the early morning hours of February 1, 2026.

Even with all the evidence, the search for Mrs. Guthrie has proved futile. The number of detectives assigned to the case has dwindled and for all parties agree the hope of finding her alive has long passed. The investigation has shifted to recovering her remains and finding the abductors.

For her children, intellectually, in the early days they understood the critical 72 hour time period, and the more time passes, the less likely they would find Mrs. Guthrie alive. Even as they were willing to pay to have her remains repatriated to them, the abductors ceased all contact.

Even as The Guthrie family, understand their mother has likely passed away, they are still offering a $1 million reward for information that leads to Nancy's return.

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Meta Faces Greater Scrutiny

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, was hit with two separate judgments this week, as courts, in Los Angeles, and New Mexico, found the social media giant to be liable for damages in cases that revolved around teen mental health and trauma, and social media addiction.

"The twin verdicts are signs of cracks in legal protections that for decades made tech companies seem almost impervious, as lawyers accuse the platforms of putting addictive or otherwise harmful features into their products. There are thousands more cases waiting to be heard, with young internet users, parents, school districts and state attorneys general all seeking compensation and changes to how social media services operate. All told, companies are facing potentially transformative damage awards," The Washington Post reported.

These decisions have opened pandora's box on the possibility of using social media addiction as a defense especially as the rise in TikTok challenges resulting in deaths has exponentially increased.

It also places the responsibility on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to once again be a forerunner in the internet space and develop security controls that limit access or chaperone teen usage or develop a new platform, a Facebook for kids, dedicated to the under 16 demographic, which can be securely monitored, as it would lure in all the pedophiles allowing the FBI to increase security.

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Netflix Raises Prices Again

Streaming giant Netflix announced that they will be raising prices, again, across all tier platforms. It is the second price hike in as many years.

While Netflix was recently outbid in the Warner Bros/Discovery sale, by Skydance-Paramount CEO David Ellison, the streamer has continued to enhance its content offerings, moving from movies and shows, to sports and gaming. The augmentation of offerings result in greater options for viewers at a higher subscription fee.

The streaming service offers many plans, the standard plan with ads is now $8.99 a month, up from $7.99. A standard ad-free subscription is now $19.99 a month, up from $17.99.

For many households, the standard subscription is essentially the better option. The Netflix Standard ad-free plan allows users to watch and download content on up to two devices at a time in 1080p (Full HD) resolution. This plan includes unlimited access to all TV shows, movies, and games, with the option to add one extra member who does not live in the same household.

Netflix also includes an add-on plan. Adding an extra member to a standard plan will now cost $7.99 a month with ads or $9.99 a month without ads, up from $6.99 and $8.99, respectively

The premium plan is now $26.99 a month, up from $24.99 and adding two extra members to a premium plan will now cost $7.99 a month with ads or $9.99 a month without ads.

The price increase takes effective immediately.

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Tiger Woods in Rollover Crash

Tiger Woods, considered one of the greatest golfers of all time, was arrested yesterday on Jupiter Island, Florida, after his vehicle was involved in a two car crash resulting in a rollover. The 50 year-old Woods clipped a landscaping vehicle as he attempted to pass, which caused the land rover to tip. He was able to remove himself from the vehicle with no apparent injuries.

He was arrested at the scene and shows signs of impairment.

Martin County Sheriff John M. Budensiek said, "Mr. Woods did not appear to be injured at all, and the other individual was not injured," Budensiek said, adding that Woods was "lethargic on scene because of what he was intoxicated on." He also confirmed that Woods "did exhibit signs of impairment." However, Budensiek said authorities "were not suspicious of alcohol being involved in this case, and that proved to be true at the jail," where he blew "triple zeroes" on the breathalyzer test. He refused to take a urinalysis test at the jail," People Magazine reported

This is not the first roll-over crash for the 15 Major Championship title winner, in 2017, Woods survived a single vehicle rollover in Rancho Palas Verdes, California, and in 2017 he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

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Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Nation's Oldest Newspaper, Set to Shutter

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the 240-year old daily newspaper, serving the Alleghany region, announced earlier this year that May 3, 2026 would be the paper's last edition.

"The Post-Gazette, the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains and one of the oldest in the United States, will join a long list of local newspapers that have closed in the past few decades. There were more than 7,300 newspapers in 2005 but fewer than 4,500 in 2025, according to a report from Northwestern University's Local News Initiative," The Washington Post reported.

The fall of local journalism contributes to the ostracizing of smaller communities, as many who benefit from local journalism coverage, which enriches local communities, are now left with larger, nationally focused new reporting often with slated coverage. The micro-community coverage, coverage focused solely on a singular town, city, or hamlet, may survive through digital publications.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette cited long battles with unions and recent court decisions as the primary cause behind the decision to shutter.

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 and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning 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 has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.