☀️ NEON, ROW K In Distro Talks; IMAX Explores Sale

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me atseanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Friday, May 22, 2026.

Where I’m beginning to think the glamour of being an all-powerful #bigtech leader . . . while also being at the beck and call of Donald Trump, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Ya gotta love changing your whole schedule at the last minute to make travel plans to D.C. after getting an ~~edict~~ invite from the White House on Wednesday to come watch Trump sign an AI bill the next day . . . and then being told on that next day that Trump changed his mind on the whole bill.

I really hope they can get their DELTA miles back! 😬

Although Politico reports that titans such as Altman, Zuck and Amodei were unable to postpone . . . whatever was on their calendars (Zuck likes to be in the office on layoff weeks), which was a factor in delaying the signing, according to 4 people familiar with the planning, ahem.

For the record, Trump said he “didn’t like certain aspects of it.”

ALSO: Nice to see Zuck communicating to META employees that “we do not expect other company-wide layoffs this year.” Eh, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition either, but always good to have reassuring words for the troops to cover the . . . next 7 months. Enjoy #NoPromises 2027!

BTW: META is joining NETFLIX in being sued by Texas, although the META lawsuit is around false encryption claims against WHATSAPP.

BUT: Ya gotta love this response from your U.S. President dad to the invite you sent him for your 2nd wedding this weekend: “He’d like me to go, but it’s going to be just a small, little private affair. I’m gonna try and make it.” Well, hopefully Trump can fit it in between 🏌 rounds in Jersey (he’s scheduled to be at his private club in Bedminster, NJ this weekend).

THEN: Democratic senators are once again urging the FCC to more closely scrutinize the WARNAMOUNT deal due to the resulting heavy Middle East ownership in a broadcast TV network (and CNN, plus basically a major U.S. media company overall) in a new letter to the agency — similar to the one a different set of Democratic senators sent 2 months ago — to which Brendan Carr replied:

AH: Yes, Elon Musk’s business acumen was on full display in the latest public document releases around SPACEX going public — TWITTER had $1.2B of revenue in 2022, and X, Grok AI and all of Elon’s AI business had $818M of revenue in 2025.

WELL: Enjoy paying $1.34 more per gallon of gas this year vs. last year’s Memorial Day Weekend, America!

PLUS: SPOTIFY is creating what it’s calling AI-generated “Personal Podcasts”. . . that kinda just sound like a computer telling you stuff.

You can tell it your interests — the examples given were “tell me about local concerts from artists I love” or “help me understand economics in five minutes,” indicating the target demo is apparently high schoolers with a big test today that they totally didn’t study for, and who are not planning on being grounded based on its results — and then the AI will tell you the info and link to podcasts from, ya know, actual people, who also discuss your desired topic . . . aka pods that you’ll never actually go listen to.
SPOTIFY paid subs will get the function in June, along with a number of monthly credits included to create the “pods” . . . and the option to buy more if you build a high volume of AI Personal Podcasts. AI tokens aren’t free, America.
AND: Paid subs will also be able to do AI-created remixes and cover versions of songs from participating artists from music’s biggest label, UMG — although you’ll have to pay an additional fee to do so.
SPOTIFY stock was somehow +13% on this news yesterday.

MEANWHILE: UMG also set a new licensing deal with TIKTOK to keep its music available on the platform (the 2 had a standoff last time around in 2024), including broad increased unauthorized AI protections, and increased marketing opportunities.

YEAH: A Middle East war, skyrocketing oil prices, a burgeoning technology threatening to disrupt employment across almost every sector and an economy on the cusp of recession . . . man, 1991 was tough!

Really love this NYT look at what Gen X college graduates were facing in 1991, and their advice to students graduating into the world today about career paths and perseverance.
ALSO: Just a reminder that Gen Z can rightfully gripe about electronically submitting job applications into a void every day . . . but, as always, be careful of those 1990s rose colored glasses:
- You’ll never know the joys of having to print and mail your resume to every job application, which you probably saw in a newspaper or on a communal job board — not to mention paying for the stamp to send every single one in.

REST IN PEACE: Goes out to NASCAR racing legend Kyle Busch, whose surprising death at age 41 yesterday after being admitted to the hospital this week with an undisclosed severe illness stunned the racing community. He had just won pole position in a race last Friday.

The Athletic has a nice roundup of remembrances of what he meant to fans and the sport here.

FINALLY: Before more great CBS press starts coming in next month that compares Comics Unleashed 11:35 p.m. TV ratings to The Late Show in June and beyond . . . it was a fun, celeb-filled final monologue to go out on last night.

Fare thee well, Stephen! Don’t be a stranger in Jersey, but please don’t start a daily entertainment business column as your next move 🙏.