Hollywood Week: Netflix News, Reed Hastings, Stock Dip, Paramount-Skydance, Taylor Sheridan, Rust Lawsuit
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Saturday, 18 April 2026 10:28
- Written by Janet Walker
Streaming giant Netflix co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors Reed Hastings announced, this week, he would not be seeking reelection when his term expires in June, shifting his focus toward philanthropy and other projects.
Netflix News, Reed Hastings, Stock Dip,
Hasting's announcement of his departure, from a company he co-founded in 1997 alongside Marc Randolph, and served as the CEO for twenty-five years, caused a ripple in Netflix commanding stock prices sliding 10% at the opening of Friday morning trading.
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"My real contribution at Netflix wasn't a single decision; it was a focus on member joy, building a culture that others could inherit and improve, and building a company that could be both beloved by members and wildly successful for generations to come," Hastings said in a statement," The LA Times reported.
Netflix current Co-CEO's Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, who have served together since 2023, saw their compensation packages dip slightly also, with each As of April 2026, both saw their 2025 pay packages drop, with Sarandos at $53.9 million and Peters at $53.2 million The majority of the compensation is stock awards, as both receive a base salary of $3 million, bonus make up the remainder.
Subscriber growth, and recent increases in subscription fees, across the direct to consumer platform have accounted, in part, for the increase in company revenue. The company's year over year guidance remains unchanged, even with the slight decline in stock prices and the first quarter change.
Reported subscribers to the video on demand service, officially hovers around 325 million subscribers globally, although according to multiple media sources, the streaming giant reaches approximately 1BN individuals worldwide.
"Netflix on Thursday said its mission remains "ambitious and unchanged." The company also laid out three areas of focus for its business strategy going forward: entertainment value, using technology to bolster its service and improving monetization," The Wall Street Journal reported.
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Paramount-Skydance Middle East Money
The Paramount-Skydance WBD deal, which has been lauded as completed, cleared, signed, sealed and delivered may be looking a bit dimmer, even as company CEO David Ellison, the son or Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is expecting the deal to be officially approved by the FCC in late 2026.
FCC Chairman Brendon Carr has not yet approved the deal but has suggested "the Paramount/WBD combination "is a lot cleaner" than the now-defunct Netflix deal to buy WBD. Netflix "would have had a very difficult path forward from a regulatory perspective" because of "the scope and scale" of the streaming service that would have been created by combining Netflix with WBD property HBO Max, Carr said. There were "a lot of concerns in DC" about Netflix buying the company, he said," CNBC reported.
The Paramount/WBD deal, according to media sources, has created a myriad of antitrust issues, which have yet to be resolved. Moreover, the recent revelation of the Middle East foreign investment, upwards of $47 BN, has also in the current climate may also create shockwaves in Washington.
And of course, the close friendship with the president, who is experiencing a cataclysmic melt down, and if the deal doesn't close before the mid-term elections, the anti-trust issues, especially the number of major networks like CBS, CNN, TNT, and TBS could lead to massive influence over media ecosystems.
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Recently as many as 3000 celebrities, directors, and industry professionals explained in a letter of protest, why the merger deal would be bad for business.
"The letter, which was signed by well-known performers and directors including Bryan Cranston, Joaquin Phoenix, Tiffany Haddish, Lily Gladstone and Yorgos Lanthimos, warns that merging two of Hollywood's major studios will result in "fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world [. . ] Increasingly, a small number of powerful entities determine what gets made — and on what terms — leaving creators and independent businesses with fewer viable paths to sustain their work," The New York Times reported.
Although, it is doubtful that any court would weigh in the Paramount/WBD deal, the reasoning behind the recent block of the $6.2 BN Tenga deal brings into question the approval process of the Paramount-Skydance WBD deal.
Many of the same concerns, the reduction of the workforce, removal of redundancies, and allowing the media ecosystem to be controlled by a single entity, without, especially in the Paramount case, the tolerance of bias free reporting. Moreover, the combination of two storied companies, with vast libraries of IP, and a monopsony (market with only one buyer for one service) in across the board creative service hirings.
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"A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros merger is an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families," [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren [D-Massachusetts] said in a statement. "What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House? A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want," The Guardian reported.
Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison will not be testifying before congress due to a death in his family.
Taylor Sheridan Departs Paramount
Paramount's streaming anchor, Taylor Sheridan, has already inked a deal with rival NBCUniversal, for a reported $1BN, and according to media sources is permitted to begin developing projects under the new banner as early as late 2026.
Sheridan's success, "The Madison," "Yellowstone," "Tulsa King," "Mayor of Kingstown," and others are still owned by Paramount, and "The Madison," Sheridan's most successful debut of any of his past successes, has already been renewed for season three. Filming on season two of the Michele Pfeiffer- Kurt Russell led series has wrapped according to sources.
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Rust Civil Suit Continues
The civil suit against the producers of the ill-fated film, Rust and Alec Baldwin, who fired the live round on the New Mexico movie set, Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, will proceed to trial, which is schedule for October 12, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled.
Serge Svetnoy, who worked on the production, was a close friend of Hutchins working on nine different films with her, and comforted her as she lay dying.
"We are pleased with the Court's decision denying the motions for summary judgment filed by Rust Movie Productions and Mr. Baldwin," lawyers Gary Dordick and John Upton, who represent Svetnoy, said in a statement following the hearing. "He looks forward to finally having his day in court on this long-pending matter," The Los Angeles Times reported.
Baldwin was cleared of criminal charges in Hutchins death, while the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 18 months, and was released in 2025.
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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 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.
