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TOM ILLIUS CANNOT BE REACHED FOR comment. The longtime William Morris agent died in 2011 and therefore is unable to address the fact that he has been named twice now in connection with the still burgeoning Bill Cosby scandal. In Cosby’s deposition in Andrea Constand’s 2005 lawsuit, obtained by The Associated Press in July, the star acknowledged that in 1976, he asked Illius to send $5,000 to another of his alleged victims. And in a statement released in January by attorney Gloria Allred, a woman identified only as “Kacey” alleges that she quit her job as Illius’ assistant at William Morris after Cosby drugged and assaulted her at the Hotel Bel-Air. Although that statement did not say when the alleged incident occurred or whether it was reported to Illius or…
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A tarnished asset? Viacom no doubt is wondering as Bill Cosby’s library collects dust at the company’s cable networks TV Land and BET sibling Centric. The former pulled The Cosby Show in November, the latter held out until July. (African-American network Bounce pulled repeats of CBS’ Cosby; Cosby Show episodes remain on Amazon and Hulu.) Though execs at Viacom and distributor Carsey-Werner are staying mum, sources believe it’s highly unlikely that contractual language would protect a network in such a situation. Indeed, it’s uncommon for there to be morals clauses in acquired series contracts. But given how much business C-W likely has done with Viacom, one network chief says he’d be “hard-pressed to believe Carsey-Werner has taken an intractable stance.” According to TV execs polled,…
THE CONTINUOUS DISCLOSURES ABOUT BILL COSBY’S alleged (I chuckle every time I write that adjective in connection with this story) misdeeds have been terrific in terms of bringing some justice for this vast collection of his alleged (I just laughed again) crimes. But has it done anything to protect vulnerable women from being victimized by powerful men in the entertainment industry? I’d say no, but if we shift our focus a bit, it could. The Cosby Show producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner’s statement, after the story broke, that the allegations against Cosby were “beyond [their] knowledge and comprehension” is possibly true, but I don’t believe it. I’ve worked on many film and TV sets, and keeping secrets is almost impossible. If Cosby were bringing a slew of women to…
IT’S NOT EXACTLY THE SONY hack, but another breach of online security is the latest cyberwhodunit to stump Hollywood. On July 29, Red Granite Pictures, an independent film backer with credits including The Wolf of Wall Street and the upcoming Will Ferrell comedy Daddy’s Home, filed a lawsuit in California federal court with disturbing echoes of the year’s biggest industry scandal. The company claims someone “unlawfully and without permission obtained access to Plaintiff ’s computer systems,” gathered contact information and sent harassing emails to Red Granite employees and others who have done business with the company. Some allegations are stranger. In the same complaint, Red Granite claims an executive at a company that advises Red Granite on operations and finances was “being physically surveilled” and has received repeated phone calls…
REALITY TV’S NEW MANTRA: ‘GET BIG OR DIE’ UNSCRIPTED TELEVISION HAS A NEW SUPER-group. The company created from the merger, announced July 28, of French firms Banijay Group and Zodiak Media (Wife Swap) has joined the ranks of megaproducers that dominate the global nonfiction TV business. Like Shine-Endemol-Core Media (Big Brother), ITV-Talpa (The Voice), Discovery-Liberty Global-All3Media (Undercover Boss) and FremantleMedia (Got Talent), Banijay-Zodiak now will be a truly global operation. In addition to the U.S.’ Bunim/Murray (Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Project Runway), the company also owns Germany’s Brainpool; Australia’s Screentime; Nordisk in Scandinavia; France’s GTV, Adventure Line Productions, KM Productions and Mona Lisa; and Britain’s RDF Television, IWC and Bwark — for an overall presence in more than 18 territories. The as-yet-unnamed conglomerate will have total annual revenue of…
“Ohh the dentist ‘had no idea’ the lion was famous. … Had he known, he would never have murdered it without asking for a selfie first.” OLIVIA WILDE The actress, in a tweet mocking a statement from Walter Palmer, the dentist who hunted and killed Cecil, a beloved lion living in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. “I was paternal. She responded to someone paternal. I liked her youth and energy.” WOODY ALLEN The director, revealing in an NPR interview what led him into a romantic relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, adding that he thought it was “ridiculous … a fling” at first. “I assumed there was a sex tape of me out or something.” AMY SCHUMER The comedian, revealing to Jon Stewart her…
