cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/2483703

Comedian Katherine Ryan allegedly confronted Brand during the filming of Comedy Central’s “Roast Battle,” but her remarks were edited out.

It seems that Russell Brand’s alleged sexual misconduct may have been a well-known industry secret.

The British comedian left Comedy Central’s “Roast Battle” in 2018 after co-judge Katherine Ryan called him a “sexual predator” on camera, three sources who worked with the show’s production company, Fulwell 73, told Deadline in a story published Monday.

The sources told the entertainment outlet that Ryan, a Canadian comedian who worked with Brand on the reality competition show, called him out on numerous occasions during filming, but her pointed remarks were edited out of the final cut of the episodes.

On Sunday, The Mirror resurfaced a clip of Ryan telling the BBC’s Louis Theroux in 2022 that she had once confronted a co-worker about being a “predator” directly to “his face.” She did not name the co-worker at the time of the interview.

She told Theroux that it was “very dangerous for us to have this conversation.”

“I’m happy to have it,” Ryan continued, “but it is a litigious minefield, because a lot of people have tried to nail this person down for their alleged crimes, and this person has very good lawyers.”

She added that the allegations against her co-worker were “not really my story to tell.”

“No one has perpetrated any sexual assaults against me, but this person I believe very strongly — so do a lot of people … it’s an open secret — is a perpetrator of sexual assault,” Ryan told Theroux.

According to Deadline and The Mirror, Ryan also told Theroux that she had confronted this co-worker “in front of loads of people, in the format of the show.”

Deadline confirmed with its sources that Ryan was referring to Brand during her interview with Theroux.

Ryan did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment and confirmation.

Over the weekend, the U.K.-based outlets The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches released a joint statement saying they were investigating allegations that Brand had sexually assaulted and abused four women between 2006 and 2013 when the comedian’s acting career was at its peak.

One woman, who is now 31, said she had a three-month relationship with Brand when she was 16, and that Brand “forced his penis down her throat” at the time. She characterized the comedian as abusive and controlling.

Another woman who was interviewed by the British outlets said that Brand raped her against a wall in her Los Angeles home. The outlets’ joint statement also notes that they obtained medical records showing that this woman received treatment at a rape crisis center the day she said her rape occurred.

Brand has denied the allegations. In a video he posted on social media the day before the British outlets’ investigation was published, Brand said he had received notice of “some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.” He also suggested that he was the victim of a “coordinated attack” by the media.

Deadline notes that Brand has been virtually absent from British television since his one-season stint on “Roast Battle” in 2018, with the exception of an appearance on “The Great Celebrity Bake Off” in 2019.

In the past couple of years, the comedian has also rebranded himself as a wellness influencer and has become increasingly right-wing on social media. Brand shared COVID-19 conspiracy theories on his YouTube channel and hosted ex-Fox News personality Tucker Carlson on his channel in July.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/2450775

Hudson's is the latest daytime show to halt production, following similar announcements from The Drew Barrymore Show and The Talk.

The Jennifer Hudson Show has paused production and pushed back its return to the air following backlash from the writers' strike, EW has learned.

The EGOT's daytime talk show was set to premiere its newest season on Monday, Sept. 18, but that was before Drew Barrymore attempted to cross the picket line.

Barrymore had announced her decision to resume her eponymous talk show on Sept. 18 in spite of the Writer's Guild of America strike, now in its 18th week. The Never Been Kissed actress faced a heap of criticism for the move, leading her to pause her show's return until the resolution of the strike.

"I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today," Barrymore wrote on social media earlier today.

Shortly after that news, The Talk followed suit, pausing its season premiere, which was also set for Sept. 18. A rep for CBS told EW the network would "continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date."

Since the strikes began, other daytime talk shows, including The View, Tamron Hall, and Live With Kelly and Mark, have been filming new episodes. The Sherri Shepherd Show is currently scheduled to premiere its new season as planned on Monday.

After more than two months of picketing, the WGA writers were joined by SAG-AFTRA actors in striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), bringing Hollywood to heel. While SAG card-carrying performers can technically still appear on talk shows, they can't promote any work distributed, produced, or financed by AMPTP studios or streaming platforms.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/2450622

"I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show's premiere until the strike is over."

Drew Barrymore is officially hitting "pause" on production of her daytime talk show.

After days of enduring backlash surrounding her decision to resume The Drew Barrymore Show amid the writers' and actors' strikes, the host announced that she will no longer move forward with new episodes until the strikes end.

"I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show's premiere until the strike is over," Barrymore wrote on social media Sunday. "I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today."

She added, "We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon."

Barrymore announced plans last week for her Daytime Emmy–winning show to resume production without its three Writers Guild of America writers who, along with the rest of their union, have been on strike since May, demanding higher wages, clearer contract provisions, and more.

The star quickly became the center of controversy, earning criticism from striking members of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), in addition to others of the industry. Following her decision, the National Book Foundation also rescinded its invitation for Barrymore to host its annual awards event.

Her show resumed filming last week as picketers protested the choice outside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Some audience members said they were escorted out of tapings for wearing WGA-branded pins. A spokesperson for the show told EW in a statement that Barrymore was "completely unaware of the incident" and that their team is "in the process of reaching out to the affected audience members to offer them new tickets."

Barrymore initially defended her decision in a now-removed video she posted on Friday, explaining, "This is bigger than me and there other peoples' jobs on the line."

She continued, "I weighed the scales and I thought if we could go on during a global pandemic and everything that the world experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us? I just wanted to just put one foot in front of the other and make a show that's there for people regardless of anything else that's happening in the world."

Barrymore, a member of SAG-AFTRA, insisted that the show's return was "in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind," according to strike rules. When season 4 was first announced, a CBS spokesperson confirmed to EW that the series would "not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike."

While Barrymore herself was not in violation as the series' host — daytime talk shows fall under a separate contract, the Network Television Code contract — resuming production meant that it left its writers behind. As the WGA-East announced on social media, "The [Drew Barrymore Show] is a WGA-covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers… Any writing on The Drew Barrymore Show is in violation of WGA strike rules."

Cristina Kinon, a writer for the show, told The Daily Beast that she was disappointed to see Barrymore resume production on the series without its writing team. "It is frustrating," she said, "because it will prolong the strike, and we just want it to end."

When news broke that the series was coming back for a fourth season, CBS issued a statement to EW. "While our show has been largely an unscripted talk show from the beginning, the new shows we are producing this season will be completely unscripted until the strike ends," it read in part. "No one on our staff will fill a writing position. If you watch the show, it is obvious that Drew has always brought raw, unfiltered, spontaneous, open, and honest conversations to her viewers, and that will continue. The show also moves forward with important consideration to our staff and crew comprised of over 150 people, as well as our loyal viewers. We fully support Drew and her entire team 100 percent."

The show was set to return with new episodes on Monday, Sept. 18.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/2414370

An investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches has accused Russell Brand of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse, which he strenuously denies

Comedian Russell Brand had to have a 'no sex' clause written into his contract when he landed the Big Brother spin off show presenting job, it has been claimed in Channel 4's Dispatches programme.

The 48-year-old, who has starred in Hollywood films, been a stand-up and is now a Youtube star, is accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse, allegations which he has vehemently denied. Dispatches claims to have spoken to women who have been assaulted or emotionally abused by the Arthur actor.

While the show was being aired, Brand was performing in front of a crowd of 2,000 fans at the Troubador Theatre, Wembley, the first time he has been seen since the allegations were first made by Dispatches, the Sunday Times and The Times. He told the crowd: "I really appreciate your support. I love you. I want to do a fantastic show for you. I've got a lot of things to talk to you about. There are obviously some things that I absolutely can not talk about - and I appreciate that you will understand."

It comes less than 24 hours after Brand took to his own Youtube channel to address the claims in a statement last two minutes and 45 seconds. Brand said: "I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email. One from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.

"But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous."

One of the women interviewed as part of the Dispatches documentary claims Brand had a 'no sex' clause written into his contract, which she says he told her about after they had slept together when he is said to have urged her to keep it a secret. She said: "One of the memories which is very vivid is I must’ve gone to see what he wanted for lunch, he saw it was me and turned around. I wasn’t close to him but I saw he had his penis out of his shorts.

"I was scared to rock the boat, I felt very anxious, I was scared of what the repurcussions would be. I wasn’t going to tell anyone what he’d done because I didn’t want to lose hey job. His flirations grew stronger with me, I wss flattered, I was sucked Ito his world, He was a very intoxicating person."

Brand's colleague met up with him and they had sex for the first time and it was then that she claims he told her she "couldn’t tell anyone else on the crew, it had to be a complete secret. He had it written into his contact he wasn’t allowed to have any sexual contact with anyone working on Big Brother." In Brand's own autobiography, he admits his agent had to sign a contract saying the star would be no trouble."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.

Apple has become the latest entertainment company to suspend additional overall and first-look deals this month as the WGA strike is getting past the four-and-a-half-month mark.

As has been the case with the other recent suspensions at Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. TV and CBS Studios, impacted are non-writing producers who are not currently rendering services due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. I hear the handful of pacts that are being suspended include those for Natalie Portman’s MountainA, the company she formed with producer Sophie Mas, and Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries. A rep for Apple declined comment.

A number of the streamer’s high-profile deals with non-writing producers are still ongoing as they are working on projects, including Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone, which is behind the upcoming Apple series Masters of the Air. Martin Scorsese, who signed a film and TV deal with the streamer in 2020, also has been busy finishing and promoting his upcoming Apple feature Killers of the Flower Moon.

Disney’s suspensions, enacted earlier this week, included deals with Gina Rodriguez and ThIs Is Us alums Justin Hartley, Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore at 20th Television, Yara Shahidi and Marc Webb at ABC Signature as well as Hiro Murai, Billy Porter and Stacey Sher at FX Productions. The studios will provide salaries for the impacted assistants through the end of 2023 and development executives through the first week of October.

WBTV’s list of suspensions included marquee names such as Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence and Mindy Kaling. The NBCUniversal studios — both film and TV — suspended the pacts for Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video and Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Prods, among others. CBS Studios put on pause deals with such companies as Phil McGraw’s Stage 29 and DeVon Franklin’s Franklin Entertainment. The studio also will continue to pay salaries to assistants associated with the suspended term deals through the end of 2023.

TV studios initiated the first wave of suspending overall and first-look deals –- primarily with writers — in early May, just days into the WGA strike. There have been more rolling suspensions over the past couple of months as more producers wrapped work on shows amid an industry production shutdown.

The new round comes as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are stretching into the fall. In the first piece of good news in weeks, the WGA and AMPTP said yesterday that they have agreed to meet next week.