Hollywood Week: Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros, Virginia Giuffre Memoir, Diane Keaton, Ace Frehley

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Saturday, 18 October 2025 10:13

Written by Janet Walker

The end of year layoff rumors which circulated during the pre-Paramount Skydance merger are moving forward and although the specifics have yet to be announced it is widely speculated that the entire international MTV silo will be shuttered.

Paramount Begins Layoffs

While stateside, the sting of unemployment will be less, some 2,000 employees are expecting to be terminated. Paramount Skydance employees throughout Europe will see much broader cuts, as the expectation is that the MTV silo of channels across the UK, Ireland and the continent will be closed, after 44 years of broadcasting.

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"The plug will be pulled on five cherished channels: MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live. They'll first go down in the UK and Ireland, before switching off in France, Germany, Austria, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Australia and Brazil," Euronews.com reported. As Paramount continues its restructuring, the MTV silo, in all likelihood, won't be the only channels in the television division to feel the squeeze.

Paramount Skydance Chief Jeff Shell noted during the initial media conference that they did not want Paramount "to be a company that has layoff's every quarter" as they continue the cost-cutting restructuring.

Even as Ellison, who has the financial backing of his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, has indicated the need for both expansion into the current trends of sports and technology, and the possibility of acquiring Warner Bros., and removing those once cultural institutions that have lost their luster and their market share.

So, when in 1980, when the music television launched with MTV, a social experiment began. The very first video played was "Video Killed the Radio Star," by The Buggles. And now evolution repeats itself, as technology and social media channels have killed the television video star as micro content producers and influencers effortlessly secure market share.

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Warner Bros. Rejects PSKY First Offer

Warner Bros. Chief David Zaslav is said to have rejected the first offer from David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, as simply "too low."

Media reports that Zaslav, who has been vocal about splitting the company into two publicly traded companies or selling. Ellison, who may be new to the Hollywood game, but has made his position crystal clear, he has deep pockets and is backed by the enormous wealth of his father, who is onboard with acquisitions that will build Paramount Skydance into a 21st century technology and entertainment studio.

So, Ellison's low ball offer to buy Warner Bros., with its vast library and franchises at $20 a share or about $60 billion was dismissed, essentially without consideration.

"The hard-charging Warner Bros. Discovery CEO has relayed to Ellison, who reportedly has been floating a lowball bid of around $20 a share and suggesting he might go hostile – that he needs to put up more money, possibly upwards of $30 a share [or $74 billion] to close a deal, The Post has learned," The New York Post reported.

Ellison doesn't appear to be someone who takes rejection lightly, so Hollywood and Warner's Chief David Zaslav can expect a showdown as he continues to build his vision.

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Virginia Giuffre Memoir Details Epstein Pedophile Ring

The late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the most vocal survivor of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's underage trafficking victims, has from the grave forced her alleged rapist, Prince Andrew, to relinquish his title and all honors associated with it.

Giuffre committed suicide last April in Australia, which seems odd for someone who had secured so many victories in her effort to exposure the most elite sex trafficking organization in modern history.

And yet from the grave as Guiffre explained her story, and along with a ghost writer, Amy Wallace, the two filled in the blanks and recreated her story, one of naivete, of being recruited at age 16, victimization, survivor, champion, and unfortunately still unable to free herself from the horrors of what had once held her captive.

In her posthumous memoir, "Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice" will be published by Knopf and available at retailors everywhere on October 21, 2025.

The Guardian ran a more extensive excerpt which detailed Giuffre's encounter with the prince, "He was friendly enough, but still entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright. . . .The next morning, Maxwell told me: "You did well. The prince had fun." Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the man the tabloids called "Randy Andy,"' The Guardian reported.

And of course, Epstein and company all believed their power and position gave them the "right" to engage in behaviors that were criminal. That is called special privileges law.

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Diane Keaton Cause of Death Released

The cause of death for the Academy Award winning actress Diane Keaton, who died one week ago, at 79, was revealed this week. The actress was said to have died from pneumonia. Ms. Keaton was lauded by the many she knew and worked with throughout the years. The tributes gave the public a glimpse into the life of the person behind the personality.

Keaton's co-star in each of the "Godfather" films, Al Pacino said this about her, "I am deeply saddened by Diane Keaton's passing. When I first heard the news, I was shaken. Diane was my partner, my friend, someone who brought me happiness and on more than one occasion influenced the direction of my life. Though over thirty years has passed since we were together, the memories remain vivid, and with her passing, they have returned with a force that is both painful and moving," Deadline reported.

Bette Midler, Keaton's co-star in "The First Wives Club" said, "The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. 'I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!," reported Daily Mail.

Throughout the days following Ms. Keaton's death, colleagues, friends, family, and fans, continued to pay tribute to her original spirit, laughter, and kindness.

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Ace Frehley, Original Guitarist for the Rock Band Kiss, Dies

Ace Frehley, one of the original four members of the rock band Kiss, died this week in Morristown, New Jersey. He was 74.

Frehley, who had just recently canceled his remaining tour dates due to medical issues, is rumored to have died from injuries resulting from a fall suffered during a home accident.

Exploding on the scene in the 1970s, at the moment when rock music was splitting into various veins, Frehley, who was a self-taught guitarist, and the other members of Kiss, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons, embraced the opportunity and "inspired by the early hard rock and glam bands kicking around New York, Kiss began applying Kabuki-like makeup and developed larger-than-life personas for each member," reported The Washington Post.

Coupled with the mystery of the band's appearance, the larger than life persona, and wicked lick's, the band found an audience, and Frehley, who had been nicknamed Ace, in high school, delivered on the flash Simmons and Stanley were looking for during his audition. At the height of their career, the Kiss concerts became an extravaganza of smoke, flames, lighting bolts, mystery, magic and an inescapable sound.

Ace Frehley was a pioneer in the field, granted there were guitarist before him, but as the 1970s sound, coupled with the performance and stage show, he broke ground and becoming a forerunner for generations of guitarist after him. During the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2014, Frehley was introduced as the man who "ax billowed smoke and shot rockets."

Former Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash, said this on his Instagram, "Hard to believe and process this devastating news today. Ace I will miss you. and millions more will too. RIP my friend. One of the true great rock 'n' roll guitarists, the Spaceman has left the planet."

The band members of Kiss issued this statement Guitar World reported, "We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss' legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world."

Frehley is survived by his wife, daughter and two siblings.

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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 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," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.