The telecast, which has aired on ABC since 1976, has a contract with the Disney owned-company through 2028. Before that, the show alternated between NBC and ABC since it was first televised in 1953.

NBC, which carried the Oscars for most of the 1950s and 1960s, is also a suitor, Bloomberg reported. But two people familiar with the inquiry told the outlet that YouTube is also actively interested.

The most-watched video platform in the world has been open about its interest in streaming high-profile live events, and the Academy Awards would certainly be a crown jewel in its stable, which now includes the NFL Sunday ticket and a small but growing roster of live sports.

Messages sent to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is in the middle of negotiations for the telecast beyond 2028, were not immediately returned Sunday. Inquiries sent to Google and YouTube were also not immediately returned.

YouTube offers a huge audience on streaming, but it lacks the broadcast component of other companies – all of which also have their own streaming platforms. And at least three active bidders own major movie studios that send product to movie theaters – a huge priority for the Oscars and the films they showcase.

The 97th Academy Awards, which aired on March 25, drew an average of 19.6 million viewers across TV and streaming, according to Nielsen, a slight uptick from 2024, and the highest viewership in five years.

The post YouTube Inquires About Becoming Next Home of the Academy Awards | Report appeared first on TheWrap.

Colbert will “evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely,” O’Brien insisted. And “technology can do whatever they want” in terms of changing the landscape of television, even “make a television pill.”

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“It can make television shows a high protein, chewable, vanilla-flavored capsule with added fiber. It still won’t matter,” O’Brien continued. “If the stories are good, if the performances are honest and inspired, if the people making it are brave and of good will, then somewhere, two weird siblings huddled in their crowded living room just off Route 9 outside Boston are going to be moved.”

O’Brien began his speech by recalling a childhood spent with his brother Neil, an unabashed fan of TV. And though “streaming changes the pipeline” through which series are delivered into homes and minds, he said, “the connection, the talent, the ideas that come into our homes, I think it’s as potent as ever.”

The late night host pointed to the audience as proof positive, and cited series like “Severance” and “Andor” to support his point. The reality of TV in 2025 is that “it’s all electrifying a new generation of viewers.”

“Yes, late night television as we have known it since around 1950 is doing to disappear,” O’Brien admitted, “but those voices aren’t going anywhere.”

Colbert announced the end of his late show in mid-July. Since then late night ratings have surged, and Colbert has managed to get in a few jokes that surprised even his audience.

The post Conan O’Brien Insists Stephen Colbert Is ‘Too Talented and Too Essential’ to Disappear: ‘Not Going to Happen’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Tillman and the band recreated the actor’s now-iconic “Severance” season two finale dance before shifting to a rendition of “Relax” in honor of Stiller’s 2001 film. The performance deftly stitched together two of Stiller’s most beloved offerings to date.

“Severance” has been a runaway hit for Stiller and Apple TV+ and is the most-nominated Emmy series this year with 27 nods (including Outstanding Drama; Lead Actor for Adam Scott; Lead Actress for Britt Lower; Directing for Ben Stiller and Jessica Lee Gagné; and Writing for Dan Erickson).

Tillman stars as Mr. Milchick, the show’s chief antagonist.

“The Music Dance Experience [in Season 1] was so iconic, and I loved how people embraced that moment,” Tillman told TheWrap in March. “It has become meme-ed over and over and over again, it’s on T-shirts and whatnot. It’s beautiful. But there are some things that you can’t recreate.”

The post ‘Severance’ Star Tramell Tillman Crashes ‘Zoolander’ Screening – With a Marching Band appeared first on TheWrap.

Speaking with “Politics Nation” host Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday to promote the Denzel Washington film “Highest 2 Lowest,” Lee said the Trump administration’s federal law-enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C., wouldn’t go quite the same if the president tried it in New York City.

“This country right now is … it’s bananas, and this and this guy trying to take over D.C. and just weaponize these things,” Lee said. “And I mean, he’s going to think twice [if he tries] to do that in New York though. The Boogie Down? Harlem?”

Sharpton agreed, saying that it would “be a different kind of reaction.”

Chuckling with glee, Lee responded: “Oh yeah. It’s gonna be very different.”

Sharpton asked Lee what he thought about Trump mobilizing federal agents and National Guard troops “in heavily Black and brown cities with Black mayors,” given how Lee has portrayed authoritarian law enforcement throughout his films.

“They’re weaponizing these other agencies of the United States government,” Lee said more gravely. “And this is — this is a scary time. The last word in ‘School Daze’ … my brother … Lawrence Fishburne saying, ‘Wake up!’ And the first line in ‘Do the Right Thing’ you know — Samuel Jackson saying, ‘Wake up.’ So we need to wake up. We need to wake up. You know, it’s some serious times and we gotta be on point and just be in the moment and see this three-card-monte game — watch the black, watch the black, watch the black! … you can’t win.”

“Highest 2 Lowest” is in theaters now.

Watch the entire exchange in the video above.

The post Spike Lee Says Trump Should ‘Think Twice’ if He Considers a Federal Takeover of New York: ‘The Boogie-Down? Harlem?’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Newsweek reported Martinez, who is well-known on TikTok for posting videos that document several ICE arrests, was filmed on Friday seated in her Tesla when agents opened her car door and pulled her onto the pavement. She also appeared to experience a medical event during the arrest, and at one point onlookers are heard demanding treatment for her.

The arrest was also briefly interrupted by a man who attempted to tow one of the police cars in the arrest.

“He mocked and videotaped ICE officers chasing after him,” McLaughlin also told Newsweek. “Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who seeks to impede law enforcement will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Martinez was initially transported to White Memorial Hospital and is currently being held in a detention center in downtown Los Angeles.

On Thursday, Los Angeles Rep. Jimmy Gomez accused ICE of staging an empty migrant detention center.

“One person was talking to the Mexican consulate who happened to be there, and the other person was just in the cell with their head down on a table or on the table or something. He was just kind of sitting there,” Gomez said of the center he visited recently.

Gomez also questioned why the center was so empty despite the numerous arrests made recently. Nearly 2,800 people have been taken into ICE custody since early June.

“They’ve been running raids, even over the weekend, and all of a sudden there’s no one there? That’s just completely bizarre,” he told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki.

The post ICE Arrests TikTok Influencer Who Documented Immigration Raids at Her Home on Livestream appeared first on TheWrap.

“What I hated and didn’t enjoy at all was being on ‘Entourage,’ an American series,” she explained. “Someone there behaved inappropriately, it got to the point where I left the set and stopped working with them.”

She did not elaborate on the experience, or about whom she was talking specifically. Gadot was later asked about her own acting skills, which she described as “OK.” As she put it, “If you cast me, you cast me well. My greatest strength is that I’m not afraid to work and I don’t let things stop me.”

Though her role in the series was short-lived, director Doug Ellin told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 that it was apparent Gadot would have a successful career.

“I remember when Gal came in, it was a small little role but everyone said, ‘This girl is gonna be something big,’ so it is cool to see,” he said.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Gadot admitted navigating the controversies that surrounded the release of “Snow White” this year was challenging. Her costar Rachel Zegler came under fire in 2024 after posting the words “and always remember, free palestine” on X after thanking her fans for their support for the “Snow White” trailer. Gadot served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from 2004-2009.

Though both Gadot and Zegler put their best foot forward ahead of the film’s release, the movie’s box office performance was impacted.

“You can always explain and try to give people in the world a context about what’s happening [in Israel] and what the reality is here, but in the end people decide for themselves,” Gadot said. “I was disappointed that the movie was greatly affected by that and didn’t do well at the box office.”

The post Gal Gadot Says She Left ‘Entourage’ Set Because Someone Behaved Inappropriately, ‘Hated’ the Experience appeared first on TheWrap.

The 82-year-old entertainment mogul filed his response Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Michaels – aka David Armstrong – sued last month. The two married in 2023 and Geffen filed for divorce earlier this year.

The 32-year-old Michaels alleged that his much-older ex ensnared him in a years-long web of exploitation after shopping for a “vulnerable” partner online, then “masquerading as a white knight while hiding behind wealth, philanthropy and fame.” The couple reportedly did not have a prenuptial agreement.

Also filed in Superior Court, Michaels’ lawsuit says he was a “young vulnerable black man, orphaned as a toddler” who wound up in foster care at 18 months old. It says the couple met via the website Seekingarrangements.com, where Geffen “learned of Michaels’ troubled past — his history of neglect, poverty, instability and legal entanglements,” and leveraged that to make him “an object of exploitation … whose trauma could be weaponized for Geffen’s personal gratification and public image.”

In their response, Geffen’s attorneys at Glaser Weil described Armstrong’s complaint as “ludicrous and contrived,” accusing him of attempting to wage a public relations campaign while seeking a large settlement.

“Plaintiff cannot embarrass Geffen and extort a settlement with petty gossip and salacious lies,” according to the filing obtained Saturday by TheWrap.

Armstrong, a former model and adult film actor, alleges Geffen promised him lifelong financial support and shared ownership of assets during their time together. Geffen denies making any such promises, noting that his estate plan and financial records contain no evidence of agreements to provide Armstrong with property or ongoing support.

The defense paints Armstrong as a reckless spender who abused Geffen’s generosity during their two-year marriage. According to the filing, Armstrong used assistants to charge hundreds of thousands of dollars to Geffen’s accounts for luxury clothing, elective cosmetic procedures and extravagant gifts for friends. In the final months of the marriage, Geffen claims Armstrong also spent heavily on OnlyFans subscriptions and male escorts.

Geffen’s lawyers argue Armstrong misrepresented his behavior throughout their relationship, hiding extensive drug use and multiple extramarital affairs. The filing contends that while Geffen helped pay for Armstrong’s rehab and counseling, Armstrong’s drug use — including cocaine and ketamine — persisted.

“Geffen loved Plaintiff and treated him with nothing but kindness, respect, and generosity throughout their relationship,” the filing reads. Staff and friends, it adds, described Geffen as treating Armstrong “like a king.”

The defense also highlights that Armstrong continues to live rent-free in one of Geffen’s New York apartments and receives voluntary monthly payments, contradicting allegations that Geffen abandoned him and left him homeless and destitute.

The filing requests that Armstrong’s complaint be dismissed with prejudice and that Geffen be awarded legal fees. It also includes a demand for a jury trial, no date for which has been set.

The post David Geffen Responds to Ex-Husband’s ‘Ludicrous and Contrived’ Lawsuit: ‘Petty Gossip and Salacious Lies’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The eight pages, prepared by U.S. staff and left behind in the business center at Hotel Captain Cook, bore U.S. State Department markings and were later found by three guests who declined to be identified, NPR reported.

The papers included precise meeting times and locations for the Friday summit inside Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, as well as phone numbers for American government employees, according to the reports. Three hotel guests found the documents around 9 a.m. and took photos later reviewed by NPR.

The first page outlined the sequence of meetings, including the specific rooms where they were to take place, and noted Trump’s plan to present Putin with an “American Bald Eagle Desk Statue.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly on Saturday dismissed the documents as a “multi-page lunch menu” and said their discovery did not constitute a security breach. The State Department declined to comment.

Other pages contained the names and phone numbers of three U.S. staff members, as well as 13 U.S. and Russian officials, along with phonetic guides for Russian names.

The documents also described a luncheon “in honor of his excellency Vladimir Putin,” thought he lunch was ultimately canceled. The papers included a seating chart that placed Putin across from Trump, who was to be flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on one side; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff were seated on the other.

Putin was to sit alongside Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov. The menu called for a green salad, filet mignon and halibut olympia, with crème brûlée for dessert.

Jon Michaels, a UCLA law professor who specializes in national security, told NPR the discovery illustrated a lapse in judgment by administration officials.

“It strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and incompetence of the administration,” Michaels said. “You just don’t leave things in printers. It’s that simple.”

Earlier in the week, a law enforcement group chat that included members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement mistakenly added a random participant to a discussion of an ongoing manhunt. In March, national security officials inadvertently included a journalist in a group chat about pending military strikes in Yemen.

The post State Department Papers Found on Alaska Hotel Printer Include Sensitive Details of Trump’s Summit With Putin appeared first on TheWrap.

Rondell’s death was announced by his family.

Rondell grew up in Hollywood, and his father worked as an extra and then an assistant director on “The Jack Benny Show” and “Around the World in 80 Days.” Rondell’s own career also included performing stunts in “The Matrix Reloaded” and “Twister.”

He’d been “doing a lot of fire work” when he was hired for the cover shoot, Rondell said in the 2012 documentary “Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here,” and he “had the special suits and all this stuff for fully enveloped fire.”

The shoot itself was straightforward, he added. “But a partial is basically pretty safe, pretty easy one to do, in most cases.”

Having said that, Rondell, who wore a fire-retardant layer underneath his business suit, ended up losing half his mustache. “There’s a funny thing about fire,” he said. “When it gets in your face, you’re going to move.”

Ultimately, the shoot was just another day in the life of a stunt performer.

“It was pretty easy to do, not too life threatening, and paid well,” Rondell concluded.

He spent several years working as a stuntman and also as a stunt coordinator and a director before starting his own company, Stunts Unlimited, in 1970.

“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of the last of Stunts Unlimited’s 3 esteemed founding fathers, Ronnie Rondell,” the company wrote in a message shared on Facebook.

“In a class all his own, Ronnie was a generous mentor whose talents set the bar for every aspiring stunt person. He was deeply respected, admired and loved. Ronnie was not just a legend, he was legendary and will be deeply missed.”

“The family requests that we all respect their privacy at this time and hold off on phone calls or posts until they are able to share details for honoring his life and legacy. – RA Rondell and Family,” the message concluded.

He is survived by his wife Mary Rondell, his son R.A. Rondell; his grandchildren Brandon Rondell, Rachel Rondell, and Dalton Rondell, his great-grandchild Rocco Rondell, and his brother Ric Rondell.

The post Ronnie Rondell Jr., Hollywood Stuntman Set Ablaze for Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ Album Cover, Dies at 88 appeared first on TheWrap.

Pierce continued, “What makes it classic [is] it speaks to, it spoke to the audience then, it speaks to us now, it will speak to audiences long after it’s over.”

The series, which debuted on HBO in June 2002, was great because of “the cautionary tale that it was, the fact that it lets people know there’s an ugly side of human nature,” he added.

Those themes remain relevant today, Pierce added. “We’re seeing that demonstrated today. I mean, as we stand here on wonderful beautiful Hollywood Boulevard, they have American secret police who raided MacArthur Park today with guns drawn on citizens for no reason.”

The series was especially “poignant,” he added, because it prompted viewers to grapple with a key question: “What kind of society do we want to be part of?”

Pierce’s words echoed those of Michael B. Jordan, who appeared in all 12 episodes of the show’s first season in 2002. While promoting “Sinners” this year, Jordan said of the series, “I would love to see that just remain, you know, without a reboot, without a recast, any of that stuff. Just leave it. Leave it where it is. I mean, maybe I’m biased because I’m a part of it, you know what I’m saying. I don’t want to see ‘The Wire’ rebooted at all.”

The post Wendell Pierce Shuts Down Idea of Remaking ‘The Wire’ appeared first on TheWrap.