Hollywood Week: Netflix/FIFA, Disney Settles, Oscar Shortlists, Blake Lively Sues, Danny Masterson Appeal

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Saturday, 21 December 2024 11:00

Written by Janet Walker

Streaming giant Netflix surprised the sports world this week when they announced they had secured the streaming rights for the next two Women's World Cup soccer finals, further solidifying their presence into live sports arena.   

Netflix Nabs FIFA Soccer Rights

Move over ESPN, there is a new sports network in town, or so that is the message sent this week, when Netflix, in a power move that reinforces the disrupting streaming platform sports strategy, announced it had secured all language streaming rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup soccer finals.

"I've seen the fandom for the FIFA Women's World Cup grow tremendously – from the electric atmosphere in France in 2019 to, most recently, the incredible energy we saw across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand last year," said Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria. "Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn't just about streaming matches, it's also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women's sport," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

As Netflix continues to dominate the global streaming market, with between 282.7 million and 290 million subscribers worldwide, picking up on the global World Cup phenomenon exponentially expands their reach into global regional markets.

As for ESPN, during the 2024 Walt Disney Shareholders meeting, Chairman of the Board, Bob Iger talked about the company's plans to offer ESPN as a unique direct-to-consumer service, which will launch in fall of 2025. "We believe in the power of sports and their unique ability to convene and engage audiences," Iger said. "And we are hard at work building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports destination to reach even more fans in innovative new ways," Iger said.

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Disney Settles Minimum Wage Lawsuit

The Walt Disney company, this week, settled a class action minimum wage dispute, filed in Anaheim, California, home to Disneyland, and a complex that includes a luxury hotel, and a parking garage. Orange County voters, in 1996, proposed hotels that receive government subsidies must pay their employees the mandated minimum wage, with increases as the state imposes. This resulted in a class action lawsuit from five Disney employees and began wrangling by the entertainment giant to extricate themselves from the subsidies.

This week, the company settled the litigation for $233 million, which will be distributed, after a court approves the settlement, to the more than 50,00 employees affected by the wage dispute.

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Academy Announces Oscar Shortlists

The Academy Awards announced the shortlists in ten categories this week, including International Feature, Original Music (Score), Original Song, and Sound, Documentary Feature, and Documentary Short, Live Action Short Film, and Animated Short Film, Visual Effects and Makeup and Hairstyling.

Nominations voting begins on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, and concludes on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 17, 2025.

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Blake Lively Sues Director Justin Baldoni

Actress Blake Lively has sued "It Ends With Us" Director and co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment. From the time of the film's global promotional press tour, rumors of difficult working relationships and hostile environment have plagued the film. Many suggested it was simply a studio ploy to elevate the presence of the film to increase box office numbers.

According to the lawsuit, filed in California Civil Court, details the hostile work environment that nearly derailed the production of the film, which was also photographed during the film's production in 2023. According to the action, the working environment became so hostile that "an all-hands-on deck" meeting was held.

"The demands that were addressed in that meeting, according to the lawsuit, included not showing nude videos or images of women to Lively; no more mentions of Baldoni's alleged previous "pornography addiction"; no more discussions about sexual experiences in front of Lively and others; no further mentions of cast and crew's genitalia; and no more inquiries about Lively's weight," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Allegedly more traditional attempts at sexual harassment were initiated with inquired into personal and intimate details regarding Ms. Lively's person, style, and preferences. Other egregious actions included the discussion of pornography, and along with that the actions associated in its many forms, slurs, and slangs, and personal revelations of their own truthful accounts, or fabrication, of genital size.

The relationship between Baldoni and Lively apparently became so antagonistic and harsh, that Baldoni refused to attend the press junkets. And Lively, deflected many of the questions, and used the opportunity to cross-promote her hair care product launch.

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Danny Masterson Appeals Rape Conviction

Lawyers for convicted rapist, and Scientology Church member, Danny Masterson, filed an appeal to have his 2023 conviction immediately tossed.

"The Appellant's Opening Brief submitted on December 18, 2024, demonstrates two fundamental flaws in Danny Masterson's convictions: (1) the trial was rife with erroneous judicial rulings that skewed the jury's view of the evidence against him and (2) there was a stunning amount of exculpatory evidence which was never presented to the jury," Gardner said in a statement," reported USA Today.

Attorneys for Masterson have combed over the accuser's accounts and picked apart their statements, explaining throughout the voluminous appeal the motivation of the victims. They also state the exclusion of evidence inadvertently harmed their case. Any judge has the leeway to allow or prohibit the presentation of evidence, leaving the parties to argue the exclusion prejudices the jury. Before the brief can be filed, the voluminous document must be approved.

No further information is available.

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 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.