☀️WBD Joins PAR in ‘Junk’ Bin; NETFLIX 'Clash of Clans' Play
Chazelle eyes leads for new PAR pic / SONY 'Pay1' window shrinks / NETFLIX gets Vaughn wk 2 pop
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Where the U.S. consumer is finally getting some good news on tariffs! Everyday economy brand CHANEL has announced that it will not raise prices due to the #TrumpTariffs (well, at least until “a final decision” is made on them, which is kind of an adorable statement).
So, you can finally exhale that sigh of relief that you won’t need to scale back from your 30 CHANEL bags down to 2 this Christmas. 🙌
JUST 🤌: “I think I’ve done enough.” — Elon Musk at a Qatar economic conference (he streamed in), echoing a sentiment I think most folks would second . . . although Elon was speaking specifically about pulling back his 💰 support of the GOP, and not the past year in general. Eh, I’m sure TESLA’s rep will rebound in no time.
PLUS: L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is issuing an executive order to only require one city staffer on film & TV sets, a reduction of certain fees and to streamline the shoot permitting process.
Jon Voight’s manager Stephen Paul’s SP MEDIA GROUP bought an L.A. soundstage facility called AVENUE SIX STUDIOS in Van Nuys.
THEN: David Geffen, 81, filed for divorce from his husband of 2 years, Donovan Michaels, 32, citing irreconcilable differences.
AND: WARBY PARKER is teaming up with GOOGLE to try and make ‘GOOGLE Glass’ a thing again (likely not under that name), forming a partnership to make “AI-powered glasses” to take on all of the cool kids wearing META’s AI RAY-BANS that record everything you’re saying to someone wearing them. A hearty congrats to cocktail conversation!
OH: GOOGLE is also rolling out a new “AI mode” search option, which answers searches in a chatbot style . . . without the usual list of links, in case you thought your GOOGLE search referral traffic business model had a shot at a future.
It’s now a tab within search for U.S. users to start.
BTW: BNPL stalwart KLARNA announced that consumer credit losses (i.e. people not doing the “PL” part of BNPL) were up 17% in Q1 YoY.
A recent LENDING TREE survey of BNPL users indicated that 25% of them are using the services for groceries, up from 14% last year.
HMM: TIKTOK told its U.S. e-comm/TIKTOK SHOP employees that “difficult decisions” are ahead, and to work from home today 😳 . . . nodding to potential layoffs due to the double whammy of #TrumpTariffs and the whole status of TIKTOK in the U.S. thing in general.
WELL: ESPN may not be too interested in a new F1 TV rights deal (at least at the price F1 has been seeking), but DISNEY has struck a global licensing deal with F1 for co-branded products / merch and experiences, beginning with merch centered on the “Mickey & Friends” characters.
ALSO: As Mark Cuban signs off from Shark Tank after 15 years, he tallies that he’s invested $33M in companies throughout the run — although to note, the amount he’s said he would invest on-camera over that run was pegged at $62M.
Apparently deals made on Shark Tank episodes don’t always translate into . . . actual deals, or at the same amounts. 😱
He states that he received $35M in cash returns, and that his equity in all of the companies is worth $250M.
AH: Chuck Todd’s first post-NBC NEWS gig? A weekly Sunday night interview show called Sunday Night with Chuck Todd that’ll stream on a new journalist-focused . . . $15 a month app called NOOSPHERE (clips at least will be put on YOUTUBE).
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to George Wendt, who died in his sleep this week at the age of 76. A man who defined a seminal role in American culture that is increasingly harder to come remotely close to recreating today.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
WBD credit rating downgraded to junk
Or you could also call it ‘speculative’ if ya like, but S&P GLOBAL calls it BB+.
Essentially S&P’s concerns center on something called the cable TV business 🤷♂️, and around WBD’s ability to hit future leverage reduction targets. So, clearly S&P didn’t follow the coverage of HBO MAX. 🙄 But — WBD also has some company . . .