THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
leah mcsweeney
Eriq Gardner June 3, 2025
Former ‘Real Housewife’ star Leah McSweeney has amended her lawsuit to accuse Bravo’s Andy Cohen of orchestrating a smear campaign against her—a claim that mirrors the allegations in the Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni saga. The same judge is overseeing both cases… and his decision in one could have major repercussions for the other.
Noam Shazeer Daniel de Freitas Character.AI
Eriq Gardner May 27, 2025
As entertainment and tech continue their high-speed merger, A.I. is no longer just a backend tool—it can be the writer, the performer, the recommender, and the curator. But when the machines start talking back, who’s responsible when something goes wrong?
blake lively taylor swift
Eriq Gardner May 20, 2025
News and notes on the cynical effort to pull Swift into the Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni legal vortex, and the pop star’s curious silence. Plus, how the Swift saga connects back to the government’s attempt to break up Live Nation—and whether there will finally be “karma” for Ticketmaster.
jon voight donald trump
Eriq Gardner May 13, 2025
Trump is considering a plan to revive the Nixon-era rules that once barred CBS, NBC, and ABC from owning the programs that they aired—and adding streamers like Netflix to the sanctions list. The president probably doesn’t have that power, but as his former antitrust chief told me, “Has that ever stopped Trump?”


Stephen Miller
Eriq Gardner May 6, 2025
News and notes on some timely industry legal spats, including a Bravo reality TV morass, a Stephen Miller–inspired D.E.I. complaint at CBS News, and a surprise copyright win for the “greatest fraternity rock song of all time.”
donald trump brendan carr
Eriq Gardner & Matthew Belloni April 29, 2025
An insider debate over how the Paramount-Skydance sale actually plays out: Will Shari settle the ‘60 Minutes’ suit? Is Trump pulling Brendan Carr’s strings? Can the president be flattered into approving the deal? And what’s the future of CBS if its owners bend the knee?
brendan carr
Eriq Gardner April 22, 2025
F.C.C. attack dog Brendan Carr not only regulates the media, he’s proving to be a vociferous media personality, himself. So why won’t he take calls from the would-be mogul who wants to own Paramount?
pat sajak alex trebek
Eriq Gardner April 15, 2025
Courtroom observations on Sony’s takeover of Jeopardy! distribution; the Dominion strategy to put the screws to Newsmax; and what’s significant about a Blade Runner v. Elon Musk ruling.


Sam Altman
Eriq Gardner April 8, 2025
OpenAI just won the ability to consolidate dozens of lawsuits into a single case, but the judge overseeing it isn’t exactly sympathetic to its plight. Meanwhile, Meta and Anthropic are fighting their own court battles over training A.I.s with unlicensed data. Insiders wonder if Congress will step in to broker a compromise—or if creators are destined for a less satisfying conclusion.
Bryan Lourd
Eriq Gardner April 1, 2025
While its legal battle with Range Media grinds on, the talent agency was quietly handed a major setback in a legal subplot over the equity it allegedly owes to its ex-agents. Meanwhile, CAA’s lawyers are reprising their decade-old strategy from a previous conflict with UTA. The only winner in both cases? Bryan Freedman…
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