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  • ‘The Bachelorette’ Implodes: Why Taylor Frankie Paul’s Casting Was Doomed From the Start — And Disney Knew the Risk

    ‘The Bachelorette’ Implodes: Why Taylor Frankie Paul’s Casting Was Doomed From the Start — And Disney Knew the Risk

    It’s no question that “The Bachelorette” needed a big change. After Jenn Tran’s season ended in 2024 with yet another failed engagement and the show went on hiatus the next year, whoever ABC picked as the lead for Season 22 was going to have to be someone who could recapture America’s attention. Well, as evidenced by ABC pulling the show indefinitely — it was meant to premiere on Sunday — after a video was leaked of a 2023 domestic violence incident between Taylor Frankie Paul and her on again-off again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, the network and producer Warner Bros. Studio have done just that. But this is surely the companies’ nightmare scenario.

    They should have seen it coming, though — the clues were all on screen on the hit Hulu series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” In September, the announcement that the 31-year-old “Mormon Wives” star had been chosen as the Bachelorette sent shockwaves through Bachelor Nation. It marked the first time in “Bachelorette” history that the star of a season had not previously appeared on “The Bachelor” or been linked to the franchise in any way. But a splashy reveal on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast and the rabid fanbase for Paul’s own Hulu reality show promised to deliver exactly what “The Bachelorette” needed: viewers.

    But casting Paul on “The Bachelorette” was always going to be a risk, because the writing has always been on the wall with her public persona. Though it’s fueled the success of “Mormon Wives,” Paul’s brand is chaos — and as the de facto leader of #MomTok, chaos follows her wherever she goes. And she’s not hiding it; it’s the opposite, in fact. Season 4 of “Mormon Wives,” which Hulu dropped in a binge on March 12, almost seemed to be a negative advertisement for “The Bachelorette,” which was supposed to premiere 10 days later. Throughout the season, Paul can’t quit hooking up with Mortensen, despite everything. No matter how much her friends and her family warn her — and even though she’s risking her own mental health, as well as the well-being of their child and the children she has with her ex-husband — Paul wouldn’t listen to reason. Her future opportunities because of the success of “Mormon Wives,” #MomTok and her being the lead on “The Bachelorette” — none of those things seem to matter to her. She’s clearly addicted to Mortensen, everything else be damned.

    The Season 4 finale ends with Paul jetting from Utah to Los Angeles to begin filming “The Bachelorette.” But there’s a problem: She had yet again spent the night with Mortensen, so when her friends go to the airport to send her off with fanfare, they see only Paul’s mom and sister, who are going ahead without her. When the friends go to Paul’s house, literally breaking in to try to talk sense to her, Paul claims to be sick. She does eventually head to L.A. that night, but there’s never been more of an ominous start of a journey to find love — which is the alleged purpose of “The Bachelor” franchise.

    Paul certainly does know how to create a spectacle, that’s for sure. A single mom from Utah, Paul first blew up on TikTok for revealing that she and her (now ex) husband had been hooking up with other Mormon couples, also known as “soft-swinging.” Paul’s honest, slightly unhinged admission — which was delivered on TikTok Live and ignited a war of words on the platform between those involved — became part of her appeal. Here was a young woman who would unabashedly speak her mind, no matter who she pissed off. Needless to say, the internet loved it — and then Hulu came knocking to document how the fallout affected Paul and her fellow young, Mormon influencer friends (aka #MomTok). “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which premiered in September 2024 and is already airing its fourth season, was an immediate hit, delivering Hulu’s most-watched unscripted premiere of that year. Its second season, which premiered last spring, was even nominated for a primetime Emmy. Why wouldn’t ABC and “The Bachelorette” want a piece of that?

    But there was something darker looming in the background. The pilot episode of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” ends with Paul’s February 2023 arrest after an altercation with her and Mortensen, whom she had just started dating at the time. She allegedly hit, choked and threw metal chairs at him, with one of the chairs allegedly hitting one of her children from her previous relationship. Paul pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault, while charges of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief were dismissed. She’s still serving three years of probation and therefore couldn’t leave the country for “The Bachelorette’s” typical globe-trotting, meaning production had to adjust travel.

    The 2023 incident was just the start of a toxic cycle. Episode 2 picks up one year later, when Paul is pregnant with Mortensen’s child. Through the next three seasons, viewers see Paul and Mortensen break up, make up, sleep together and do it all over again. It’s a classic case of an abusive relationship, with bad behavior seemingly coming from both sides.

    In the days leading up to “The Bachelorette” premiere, the news cycle around Paul exploded. Earlier this week, production on Season 5 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” was put on hold due to a new domestic violence incident between Paul and Mortensen, with both currently under investigation by the Draper City Police Department in Utah.

    Even then, though, Paul’s “Bachelorette” publicity schedule continued unabated. ABC continued to put Paul at events and press appearances — and she didn’t shy away from talking to reporters. At a “Bachelorette” event in New York City on Tuesday, Paul told People that she’s “struggling for sure.” The next morning, during a live spot on “Good Morning America,” she was questioned about the “Mormon Wives” production pause and said she “doesn’t call the shots with production,” even though “GMA” anchor Lara Spencer aptly pointed out that she’s an executive producer.

    “I think just because we share our lives and we produce like, our own lives… but I don’t know necessarily what that means,” Paul said about her role. Regarding the allegations against her, she said: “I’m a person that will always speak my truth, you know, that’s what I’m known for. And so when the time is right, I will be.”

    But on Thursday, TMZ obtained and released a video of the 2023 incident. As Paul and Mortensen yell at each other, she throws three metal bar stools at him, one of which lands near her child, who starts to cry. Though it’s impossible to know the exact events leading up to that moment — a rep for Paul said that it “omits context” and is a “reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior” — the video doesn’t paint Paul in a good light. Though the details of the arrest were all in the public record, several of the charges had been dropped against Paul, and sources at Disney say they hadn’t seen the video of the 2023 incident until TMZ posted it.

    In a statement released after ABC pulled the show, Paul’s publicist claimed Mortensen has been abusive, saying, “There are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives.”

    Clearly, airing Paul’s season would not only be irresponsible, but outright dangerous — both for the credibility of “The Bachelorette,” ABC and parent company Disney, producer Warner Bros. and, most of all, for Paul’s well-being.

    The thing is that Paul should never have been cast on “The Bachelorette” in the first place. It’s clear to any casual viewer of “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” that she has been struggling with her mental health, and all too often in the reality TV world, the most vulnerable people are exploited for entertainment and viewers. Of course, Paul is more than deserving of love — but until she truly heals and breaks the cycle of abuse with Mortensen, what’s the point of having her date 30 men in front of the world? As the incident this week sadly proves, starring on another reality show didn’t solve Paul’s problems.

  • Natasha Lyonne Posts Health Update Two Months After Relapse: ‘Doing a Whole Lot Better and Back on Her Feet’

    Natasha Lyonne Posts Health Update Two Months After Relapse: ‘Doing a Whole Lot Better and Back on Her Feet’

    Natasha Lyonne is thanking fans for their support after she revealed in January that she had relapsed and was no longer sober. “Proud to report this kid is doing a whole lot better and back on her feet,” she wrote.

    “Want to thank our recovery communities and the fans who stood by and were so supportive. Aiming to keep the journey somehow private, but look forward to sharing my experience, strength and hope as makes sense.”

    After the Sundance Film Festival in late January, the “Poker Face” star wrote that she had relapsed and then added, “Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone. Grateful for love & smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo. Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets. If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise & baloney.”

    more to come…

  • New Resistance Training Guidelines Say Consistency Is Key for Stronger Results

    New Resistance Training Guidelines Say Consistency Is Key for Stronger Results

    Person exercising outside at sunset near a riverShare on Pinterest
    New resistance training recommendations emphasize consistency over complexity. Image Credit: Westend61/Getty Images
    • You don’t need a perfect workout plan to benefit from strength training, according to new recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine.
    • A large new review finds that at-home workouts or body weight exercises can be just as effective as complex resistance training routines.
    • Strength training can improve everyday function and long-term health when incorporated into a consistent fitness routine.

    When it comes to resistance training, doing some is better than doing none, and consistency is key, according to new recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

    Resistance training, also known as weight or strength training, is linked to numerous health benefits for people of all ages, including improved muscle strength, better metabolic health, and reduced risk of falls in older adults.

    “Start now and start simply. You do not need a complicated or perfect programme to benefit. You just need to begin and do it consistently,” said senior author Stuart Phillips, PhD, Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.

    “Many forms of resistance training can work, which means people have options. That flexibility matters. If someone believes there is only one ‘right’ way to train, the barrier to starting, or continuing, becomes much higher,” he told Healthline.

    The recommendations explicitly include home-based routines, body weight training, and the use of resistance bands as forms of resistance training that offer strength and fitness benefits. These approaches may also be more accessible and have a lower barrier to entry for some individuals.

    Perhaps surprisingly, some of the key variables people typically associate with resistance training appear to matter far less. Things like training frequency, exercise selection, and equipment type were all found to be less important than overall consistency and effort.

    The Position Stand is the first major update from the ACSM on resistance training since 2009.

    It’s an “overview of reviews,” meaning researchers pulled together findings from many prior studies to identify the most well-supported evidence. Specifically, they analyzed 137 systematic reviews, including data from more than 30,000 adult participants.

    “The message that this delivers is that you don’t need all these complex requirements for resistance training,” said Denice Ichinoe, DO, an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ichinoe wasn’t involved in the research.

    “This should be broadly applicable to a larger population and should make it more accessible for the general public,” Ichinoe told Healthline.

    Participants were healthy adults ages 18 and older, most of whom were beginners or had limited resistance-training experience.

    The included studies looked at people who followed a resistance training program for at least 6 weeks, with some programs lasting up to a year. These programs were compared with either no exercise or alternative training approaches.

    The researchers also examined how specific training variables — like frequency, weight, and number of sets — affected outcomes such as strength, muscle growth (hypertrophy), and physical function, which refers to aspects of everyday movement such as walking and balance.

    Across the board, resistance training delivered clear benefits. Compared with doing no exercise, strength training significantly improved:

    • muscle strength
    • muscle size
    • power
    • endurance
    • balance
    • walking speed
    • overall physical function

    In other words, strength training supports both fitness and everyday function, like climbing stairs or getting up from a chair.

    The study also identified specific training patterns linked to better results.

    For building strength, the strongest gains were seen with heavier weights (about 80% or more of a person’s maximum), 2 to 3 sets per exercise, and at least two sessions per week.

    For muscle growth, total workload, known as volume, mattered most, while the exact weight used was less important.

    When it came to power (the ability to move quickly and forcefully), the best results came from moderate weights (30% to 70% of maximum) lifted explosively, often with lower overall volume.

    Notably, many commonly debated factors — such as training to failure, using machines versus free weights, or complex programming strategies — did not consistently change outcomes, suggesting that simple, consistent training can be just as effective as more complicated approaches.

    It’s important to note that the findings represent general recommendations for novice and recreational lifters.

    Elite athletes and more experienced lifters may still require more specialized or individualized training approaches.

    “With any type of elite athlete, their training is going to look different. But the general consensus here is that for the average adult, the best type of resistance training is one that you’ll stay consistent with,” Ichinoe said.

    Whether you are new to resistance training or an experienced weightlifter, the new recommendations offer important insight into your training routine.

    The message should be clear: what’s more important than optimizing your workout is finding the consistency to get out there and do it week after week.

    “Consistency usually starts with lowering friction. For most people, that means starting with a routine that is realistic, convenient, and not too ambitious: a couple of sessions a week, a few core movements, and a plan that fits their schedule and access to equipment,” Phillips said.

    Even for older adults or people who’ve never really considered weightlifting before, starting resistance training is important for overall health.

    “With any new activity, there’s always going to be a little bit of hesitance, maybe some fear and trepidation,” Ichinoe said. “I usually try to emphasize to older patients that with strength training, not only does it help build and maintain muscle mass and strength, it also helps with making your bones stronger.”

    Ichinoe shared some actionable tips on how to get started:

    • Think about your health and fitness goals. Are you training for general strength, or do you just want to feel more confident playing a round of pickleball?
    • Start slow: a consistent practice may start with just 10 minutes a day or one weightlifting session per week.
    • Get friends and family involved. It may be easier to find motivation when you have people to work out with.
    • Remember that anything is better than nothing.

  • States are suing the EPA for relinquishing its role as a greenhouse gas emissions regulator

    California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York are leading a group of 20 other states in suing the US Environmental Protection Agency for renouncing its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, The New York Times reports. The lawsuit specifically argues that the EPA’s decision to rescind a 2009 study that determined greenhouse gases are dangerous to public health was illegal. The study, which is the source of what’s called the “Endangerment Finding,” was one of several justifications — along with things like the Clean Air Act — for the agency’s ability to regulate emissions.

    Rescinding the finding nullified the EPA’s evidence for things like emissions standards and a variety of other regulations that attempted to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the automotive, coal and oil industries. The Trump administration framed the rollback as a cost-saving measure, but it was also a major blow to the government’s ability to fight climate change. Greenhouse gases, which include things like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, collect in the atmosphere and warm the planet, upsetting weather patterns and negatively impacting the environment. Determining the changes caused by greenhouse gases posed a risk to public health gave the EPA the authority to regulate them under its existing mandate to address air pollution. An authority it could have again, depending on the result of this litigation.

    Of course, winning a lawsuit isn’t necessary to restore the EPA’s role in fighting climate change. Congress could do that now by passing a new law. The legal route is just faster, and potentially riskier. The New York Times writes that this new lawsuit was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and could ultimately be combined with an existing lawsuit from environmental groups. Depending on how the case fairs in the lower court, it may eventually be appealed to the US Supreme Court, who could decide on an even more restrictive interpretation of the EPA’s role.

    Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has already rolled back clean water rules and attempted to stifle research. The Trump administration has separately tried to undermine the authority of independent agencies like the EPA and FTC, something the Supreme Court has yet to determine to be illegal.

  • Kalshi doubles valuation to $22 billion with new $1 billion raise

    Kalshi doubles valuation to $22 billion with new $1 billion raise

    Kalshi has raised more than $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation in a new financing round led by Coatue Management, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    The deal roughly doubles the company’s valuation from its $11 billion December raise and shows investors are still willing to pay up for exposure to the prediction market boom.

    The timing matters because prediction markets are no longer a niche side bet in crypto and fintech. Data cited by Artemis shows the sector processed roughly $27 billion in January 2026 and $23.4 billion in February. FalconX, citing Artemis data, said prediction market volume climbed nearly fourfold to about $64 billion in 2025, with activity accelerating sharply into early 2026.

    Kalshi is emerging as one of the biggest winners in that trade. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that the company’s trading volumes had already moved above $1 billion a week around the time of its $11 billion round.

    The fundraising also lands as competitors and adjacent platforms race to capture the same category. Crypto exchange MEXC launched a zero-fee prediction market this week, pitching event contracts as a new trading vertical for its users. That follows a broader shift in crypto, where exchanges increasingly want prediction products alongside spot, futures, and options rather than leaving the category to standalone platforms.

    Polymarket remains the other major name in the space. Earlier reporting from October said the company was exploring a funding round at a valuation of $12 billion to $15 billion, after ICE, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to invest up to $2 billion at an implied valuation of about $8 billion.

    More recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Polymarket, like Kalshi, was exploring fundraising at roughly a $20 billion valuation. That means Kalshi’s new $22 billion valuation would still put it modestly ahead of Polymarket’s latest reported target, at least on paper.

    Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

  • Alphabet no longer has a controlling stake in its life sciences business Verily

    Alphabet’s life sciences business Verily is restructuring and raising money as a new corporate entity. Verily announced that with its $300 million investment round, it will change from an LLC to a corporation and rename itself Verily Health Inc. As a result, Alphabet now has a minority stake rather than a controlling one in the business.

    Similar to every other tech business, this chapter for Verily will be focused on AI. “From research to care, our customers need solutions that bring the best of clinical and scientific rigor together with AI to deliver the next generation of healthcare – one that is as precise as it is personal,” Chairman and CEO Stephen Gillett said.

    Google Life Sciences was renamed Verily in 2015, around the same time as Google also rebranded to Alphabet. It has worked on a wide range of projects over the years, such as using eye scans to predict heart disease and an opioid addiction center. In 2025, it closed its medical device division, a move that may have signaled its shift toward AI.

  • Crypto Clarity Act inches toward Senate hearing as lawmakers weigh legislative trades

    The negotiation to get a crypto market structure bill through its next stages in the Senate have hovered over an almost-there status for weeks, and Republican lawmakers met on Thursday to figure out how to bridge the final gaps.

    The White House was expected to get some updated legislative language on Thursday, reflecting the ongoing work on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, according to people familiar with the situation. But the talks are still going, and even if the previously uncertain senators (such as Republican Thom Tillis) become satisfied with the bill’s stablecoin yield treatment, other distinct compromises (such as the approach to decentralized finance) also need to be secured before the Senate would be able to send the crypto industry’s top policy priority to President Donald Trump for a signature.

    The longstanding debate that had focused on stablecoin yield — on which bankers and crypto businesses have been divided over the structure of stablecoin rewards programs — is close to a finish, the people said, though lawmakers have been discussing what else the community bankers might be offered to get their support while resolving some of their other priorities. That could include some unrelated provisions tied to Congress’ recent housing legislation, according to reporting from Politico.

    Officials from Trump’s administration were said to be involved with the meeting of Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, which is the second panel that needs to advance the bill before it would be repackaged into a final version that can get a vote of the overall Senate. Even if the effort advances from the committee by the end of April, as Senator Cynthia Lummis predicted this week, a couple of further hurdles may be out of lawmakers’ hands.

    Democrats involved in the talks have said they still want senior government officials and lawmakers from profiting off of personal crypto interests — most pointedly aimed at Trump. And they want Democrats appointed to the party’s vacant seats at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before the agency adopts new crypto rules. Those are both points that could require concessions from the White House, and crypto insiders are expecting those controversial points to be the last matters settled once the lawmakers are working on a final bill.

    On the yield issue, Lummis has said that stablecoin rewards programs that steer clear of bank-line language on savings and interest may survive the compromise, insisting they’re more akin to credit-card rewards than interest from bank-account deposits.

    Lummis said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, whose opposition to a previous draft bill helped derail an earlier effort to get to a Senate hearing, has been more flexible in recent talks. The company didn’t immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on its position.

    As Congress works, the Securities and Exchange Commission spent much of the week issuing and discussing new crypto policy points, including a first-ever taxonomy that sets out regulatory definitions for U.S. crypto assets. In a CoinDesk op-ed on Thursday, Chairman Paul Atkins and the two Republican commissioners suggested they’re eager to have a new law back up the policy they’re working on.

    “Only Congress can rewrite the law, and we stand ready to work with [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] Chairman Michael Selig to implement the CLARITY Act,” they wrote. “In the meantime, we are providing the responsible regulatory approach that markets demand.”

  • Maryland woman wins second $50,000 lottery prize in three months

    Maryland woman wins second $50,000 lottery prize in three months

    Odd News // 4 weeks ago

    Maryland woman wins second $50,000 lottery prize in three months

    Feb. 19 (UPI) — A Maryland woman credited her intuition with earning her a second $50,000 Bonus Match 5 lottery prize in the space of just three months.

  • In ‘The Oligarch and the Art Dealer,’ ‘Succession’ Meets 007 for the Epstein Files Age

    In ‘The Oligarch and the Art Dealer,’ ‘Succession’ Meets 007 for the Epstein Files Age

    Money, power, art, fraud allegations and a business partnership, maybe even a friendship, gone awry make for an explosive cocktail in The Oligarch and the Art Dealer. The story that has all sorts of Shakespearean flavors is a drama, but not a play. What may sound like a James Bond film isn’t served up shaken or stirred. And yes, it has elements of Succession but isn’t a fictional series. It is a three-episode documentary series. All three hours are screening at the ongoing CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, after the first episode was shown at Sundance. And it makes the series the only one featured at the fest, which has been very selective about the shows it features in its lineup.

    Created by producer Christoph Jörg and director Andreas Dalsgaard, who co-wrote the series with Kevin Lincoln and previously collaborated on the feature The Lost Leonardo, the series tells the story of one of the 21st century’s most sensational art scandals that turned into a 10-year war over billions. The CPH:DOX website highlights its “cast of colorful characters that one could hardly invent even in the wildest imagination.”

    The protagonists move in a secretive world of the super-rich that is typically shielded from the public’s view. The Russian oligarch is Dmitry Rybolovlev. The Swiss art dealer is Yves Bouvier.
     
    Initially a discreet adviser, Bouvier becomes “a global power broker and manager of Rybolovlev’s investments in one of the world’s most closed and enigmatic markets,” highlights a synopsis. Said market is “the part of the art world where the sums are staggering and the value of artworks is something agreed upon by a narrow elite of connoisseurs and ultra-rich tycoons.”
     
    But eventually, the gloves come off. “When the friendship between Bouvier and Rybolovlev suddenly explodes, a web of lies is revealed,” reads the synopsis. “The question is: who is really in the right?”

    Miriam Norgaard is also a producer on The Oligarch and the Art Dealer, with co-producers Ines Bensalem, Philippe Coeytaux, Lea Fels, Lucy Sexton and Isidoor Roebers. The series is produced by Dalsgaard’s Elk Film and Jörg’s Vestigo Films in co-production with Scenery, Akka Films and Words + Pictures.

    On the sidelines of the 23rd edition of CPH:DOX, which runs through Sunday, the two creators tell THR that they are happy to leave it to viewers to make up their minds, but wanted to invite them to take a peek behind the curtains of a world that most of us will never experience.

    “We wanted to understand how this secretive world that these two people live in works,” Jörg tells THR. ”They had the same goal. But then what always happens in this kind of relationship is that greed shows up, ego shows up, human behavior shows up, and then things go wrong and explode.”

    ‘The Oligarch and the Art Dealer’

    Courtesy of Elk Film

    Dalsgaard highlights the Hollywood feel of the whole affair. “What partly drew me to this is that we are in a universe that resembles what we see in series like Succession or Billions,” he tells THR. “It’s almost like a James Bond universe, or Tenet. We see that stuff in fiction, but we never see it in a documentary. That’s because it’s so secretive and it’s so hard to get access. No one in this world wants to talk, because that makes you vulnerable, and only because these two guys went to war and fought it out in courts all over the world, we as a public can access what actually went on inside.”

    Indeed, the team behind The Oligarch and the Art Dealer had thousands of documents to explore, including emails.

    Dalsgaard compares the impact of the materials to “the shock that’s happening right now around the world with the release of the Epstein files,” explaining: “Suddenly we get an insight into all these networks and all the ways that these people are dealing with each other and using each other.”

    One of the many insights of the series is on private auctions, “where an auction house puts these billionaires together, and then they are sitting there and fighting over a Klimt or whatever,” explains Jörg.

    The series also shows a freeport in Geneva that has been called the largest art museum that you will never get into. “If you remember the end shot in Indiana Jones, where The Ark of the Covenant is put in a box and moved into this endless storage space, that’s pretty much what a freeport is,” explains Dalsgaard.

    Given all the intrigue and power players involved, the duo behind the series emphasizes how much careful work, fact-checking and legal reviews the work on the project involved.

    ‘The Oligarch and the Art Dealer’

    Courtesy of Elk Film

    With all the makings of a Hollywood drama, who will show The Oligarch and the Art Dealer in the U.S.? The creators tell THR that no deal is in place – yet.

    Asked about the series’ clear global appeal, Jörg offers: “It has some of those [ingredients] that also make Shakespeare universal. He wrote stories about kings and dukes and princes, and oftentimes they end up getting in trouble due to the faults that they have as human beings – their greed, their ego, their jealousy. And that ends up eating them from the inside. I think we see something very similar in this story.”

    Concludes Dalsgaard: “This story is, of course, about art. But it’s really a story about how money and power wield their influence in the world, which is a timely [theme]. And art plays a big role in that. What I’m personally really fascinated by here is what makes this unique: There’s almost no other situation where we’ve ever had this kind of insight into the circles of money and power.”

  • Nexstar Closes $6.2 Billion Tegna Merger, Creating Local TV Giant

    Nexstar Closes $6.2 Billion Tegna Merger, Creating Local TV Giant

    The local TV giant Nexstar closed its $6.2 billion takeover of rival Tegna on Thursday, creating a TV station behemoth after the Department of Justice and FCC signed off on the mega-deal.

    “This transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Nexstar founder and CEO Perry Sook said in a statement. “By bringing these two outstanding companies together, Nexstar will be a stronger, more dynamic enterprise — better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities, and talent. We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr, and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and enabling this transaction to move forward.”

    The deal is being challenged by eight states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and had been opposed by a variety of companies and groups: From DirecTV and Newsmax to the Communications Workers of America.

    Still, with federal approval, the deal was allowed to close, and now Nexstar will be able to take advantage of the combined scale.

    Under federal law, the TV station ownership cap is limited to 39 percent of homes per company. The combined company will now reach roughly 80 percent of American homes, by owning 265 TV stations across 44 states and Washington, D.C.

    “The FCC has been focused on empowering broadcast TV stations to serve their local communities, consistent with their public interest obligations,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “Today’s agency decision does exactly that as both the record and Nexstar’s enforceable commitments demonstrate. 

    “For too long, the FCC stood by while newspapers closed by the dozen in communities all across the country,” he added. “Those trusted sources of local news and information shuttered while the FCC dithered.  If you care about local news, you should care about the future of local broadcast TV stations.  Often, they are the ones in a market doing the gumshoe reporting that citizens value and need. By approving this transaction, which allows Nexstar to own less than 15% of television stations, the FCC acts mindful of the media marketplace that exits today—not the one from decades past—and the agency ensures that these broadcasters have the resources to continue investing in their local news operations.”

    More to come.