Cory Booker Still Wants David Ellison To Testify On Paramount-WBD Merger; Speakers At Capitol Hearing Warn Of Massive Layoffs & Trump Influence

Ted Johnson, Deadline

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that he still is inviting Paramount CEO David Ellison to testify on the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, after the lawmaker held a 2 1/2 “spotlight” hearing that warned about the merger’s impact on everything from j…

Emmy-Winning Actress-Writer Sonia Manzano Honored For Astonishing 44-Year Career On ‘Sesame Street’ And More – Miami Film Festival

Matthew Carey, Deadline

When actress Sonia Manzano goes out in public, bringing a hanky can be quite helpful. Fans tend to react to her with deep emotion. They know and love Manzano from Sesame Street, the show she graced as Maria from 1971 to 2015, an extraordinary 44-year run. Her…

CBS May Add Another L.A. Production With ‘Flint’ As Paramount’s George Cheeks Calls Above-The-Line Incentives “Key Component” Of Reviving Hollywood

Katie Campione, Deadline

CBS could add another Los Angeles-based production to its primetime lineup as the network revealed Wednesday that it is in development on a new cop drama starring Matt LeBlanc that, if greenlit, would film locally. That series, titled Flint, would mark the fo…

Trump’s posting even more AI-generated Trump-Jesus fanart

Tina Nguyen, The Verge

Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about Big Tech power plays in Washington and beyond. (And when I say beyond, I mean the great beyond, like Heaven, maybe.) If you've found your way to this newsletter from the wild, annual sub…

Trump shares image of Jesus embracing him, continues to lash out at Pope Leo

Nicholas Kerr, Michelle Stoddart, Abcnews.com

Vice President Vance also criticized the pontiff, telling him to "be careful."

Judge Tosses Trump’s Ridiculous $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against Rupert Murdoch

Mike Masnick, Techdirt

Back in January of last year, the Wall Street Journal published a story about a leather-bound birthday book that Ghislaine Maxwell had assembled for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The book included letters from various associates, and one of them bo…

BBC To Set Out Scale Of Cuts To TV, Radio & Online Over Coming Months Before Enacting 2,000 Layoffs, Director General Says

Max Goldbart, Deadline

The BBC will in the coming months set out how it plans to cut back on TV, radio and online following today’s brutal announcement of 2,000 layoffs. Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s interim Director General, just said on Radio 4’s The Media Show that the corpora…

TMZ Is Now Berating Congress, as the Founding Fathers Intended

Claire Guinan, Jezebel

This will either be the best or the worst thing to happen to the American people.

‘Trump Phone’ Sees Price Hike, But Still No Release Date (Or Actual Phone)

Karl Bode, Techdirt

Last year the fraud-prone Trump organization announced a half-assed wireless phone company. As we noted at the time, calling this a “phone company” was generous; it was a lazy marketing rebrand of another, half-assed, “MAGA-focused” mobile virtual network ope…

Trump is right: He is MAGA’s Jesus

Amanda Marcotte, Salon

The president's blasphemy exposes the truth about the Christian right

BBC Staff Confidence In Leadership Plummets After Trump & Gaza Crises

Jake Kanter, Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: BBC employees’ confidence in the UK broadcaster’s leaders has taken a significant hit after a string of editorial scandals in 2025, including the bust-up with Donald Trump. In internal communication this week, the BBC revealed the findings of its s…

Trump Melts Down in Rapid-Fire Truth Social Posting Spree

Yahoo Entertainment

A Blasphemous President

Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic

Bullying won’t work against a power that has little need to curry favor.

Trump’s ‘DoorDash Grandma’ Stunt Makes Life Hell for PR Flack

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

DoorDash has tied its brand to a very unpopular president, for seemingly no benefit.

Guy Fieri under fire for Andrew Tate clip

Ashlie D. Stevens, Salon

The TV host’s friendly exchange with the controversial influencer at a UFC fight is drawing criticism from fans

Catholics warn of serious juncture as Trump targets Pope Leo XIV

Garrett Owen, Salon

Even traditional allies pushed back after Trump escalated attacks and posted an image casting himself as Jesus

“What Does Teleport Mean?”: Trump Responds to FEMA Official’s Story

Edith Olmsted, The New Republic

President Donald Trump has finally weighed in on that FEMA official who claims he teleported to a Waffle House—and it’s a doozy. Gregg Phillips, who serves as associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management …

Kacey Musgraves Mocks Trump’s Jesus Photo With Dolly Parton Homage

Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone

After President Trump shared an AI image of himself as Jesus healing the sick, Kacey Musgraves generated a similar AI pic featuring Dolly Parotn.

Trump deletes AI image depicting himself like Jesus after outrage

Al Jazeera English

US President Donald Trump has deleted an AI-generated image of himself depicted as a Jesus-like figure.

Iran slams YouTube ban on pro-Iranian group’s Lego-style AI videos

Al Jazeera Staff, Al Jazeera English

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says the move aims to 'suppress the truth about their illegal war on Iran'.

Amy Goodman on the Media’s “Access of Evil”

The Intercept Briefing, The Intercept

The investigative journalist and “Democracy Now!” host — and the subject of a new documentary — on why independent media is needed now more than ever. The post Amy Goodman on the Media’s “Access of Evil” appeared first on The Intercept.

Morning news brief

Michel Martin, NPR

Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales are stepping down amid misconduct allegations, the U.S. and Iran are both blocking oil exports, Trump deletes controversial post amid row with pope.

‘I pray they come together’ - Americans react to Trump’s feud with Pope Leo

BBC News

Hours after posting a lengthy message critiquing the pontiff, the US president shared a Jesus-like image of himself that he has since deleted.

WATCH: The top internet searches surrounding Trump's now deleted AI post

ABC News, Abcnews.com

An AI-generated image that President Donald Trump posted Monday on his social media platform that depicted him as a Jesus-like figure is drawing criticism and interest online.