Here's everything that's been happening in the world of Pop Culture this past week... in case you missed it! Feel free to comment on any of the stories and info shared here, add any news bits that you caught going on that may have been missed, or at least show us some love if you read the post but have nothing to comment on by clicking on that little heart icon at the bottom of the post...

GENERAL POP CULTURE NEWS:

- A state appeals court has upheld the rape conviction of disgraced former tv/film producer HARVEY WEINSTEIN in California but has ordered that he be resentenced. Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year sentence for his California conviction, the higher end of the maximum term because of his prior guilty verdict in New York, but a three-judge panel in California’s Court of Appeals decided the sentence should be revisited after that New York conviction was overturned.

- Getty Images and Shutterstock, two of the top photo, video, and stock image marketplaces, called off a $3.7 billion merger after hitting a regulatory roadblock in the UK. Getty’s board of Directors unanimously decided to shuttle the deal to merge with its rival after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority required the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial business prior to the merger’s completion, which was apparently an important piece of the deal for Getty.

- Following news last week that Canada’s CBC/Radio-Canada officially became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union, it was announced that Canada will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest next year in Bulgaria. Canada is the first new country to join the competition, which is overseen by the EBU, since Australia was invited to compete in 2015.

- NAMES, HASHTAGS, MEMES, AND TRENDS FROM THIS PAST WEEK –

Dutch ‘Oranje’ World Cup fans; World Cup fans trying American food; CAITLYN CLARK; daredevil proposal atop Empire State Building; Ranch dressing; JOHN OLIVER soap debut

 GOVERNMENT 101 -

- US: The Supreme Court rejected President DONALD TRUMP’s efforts to restrict birthright citizenship via executive order, a key component to his immigration agenda. The Trump administration was trying to limit who could claim birthright citizenship to only children born to American citizens, which, as cited by the majority in the decision, goes against the 14^th amendment which clearly states that anyone born in the United States is a citizen and does not restrict that birthright based on where one’s parents are from.

TECH TALK -

- Sony PlayStation plans to end production of new video game discs by January 2028. Video game discs have been a feature of the media and entertainment landscape for over three decades but in recent years there have been steady declines in physical game disc sales, mirroring similar patterns in the home entertainment and music businesses (vinyl records being the exception to the patterns, with vinyl sales topping $1 billion last year for the first time since 1983). The decision from Sony PlayStation follows a recent announcement that its long-awaited title, “Grand Theft Auto 6”, will be digital-only.

MOVIE NEWS:

- In honor of director/writer/producer/actor MEL BROOKS’ 100^th birthday, the American Film Institute decided to officially change the order of their signature “AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Laughs” list, moving Brooks’ 1974 western spoof “Blazing Saddles” from 6^th place to 1^st and proclaiming it “the funniest film of all time”, replacing BILLY WILDER’s “Some Like It Hot”, which previously held their top spot. Brooks it eh only filmmaker with three films in the top 15 on the list, which was originally compiled in 2000 via a poll of 1,500 industry artists and leaders from a list of 400 movies nominated (the list was updated in 2007 by eliminating 23 titles and replacing them with others. No Brooks film, including “Blazing Saddles” was on the updated version, while “Some Like It Hot” dipped from 1^st to 22^nd).

- Marvel Studios confirmed a new post-credits scene has been filmed for 2019 Marvel franchise film “Avengers: Endgame” for its upcoming re-release. The new post-credits scene will serve as a way to bridge the gap between “Endgame” and the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday”; Director JOE RUSSO confirmed that fans will get to see added footage “that is set in the Doomsday story”, making the re-release a “critical companion story” to the next Avengers movie. “Avengers: Endgame”, with the new post-credits scene, will be re-released to the big screen later this year.

- Sony Pictures announced it will release the TOM HANKS-led baseball comedy “The Comebacker” theatrically on July 30, 2027. The film is based on a DAVE EGGERS 2024 short story of the same name.

- Current A24 thriller “Backrooms” will release an extended cut version to theaters on July 3^rd. The KANE PARSONS-directed film based on the viral IP features 16 minutes of brand-new footage and a fresh new title – “Backrooms: Everything Must Go”.

- Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s animated sequel “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” will become available to stream on Peacock on July 30^th.

- MOVIE CASTING UPDATE -
- Actors ALEC BALDWIN, JEREMY PIVEN, DAVID A.R. WHITE, and LEVEN RAMBIN will star in the action thriller “Panic Button”.

- Actors TIM ROBBINS and SISSY SPACEK are joining actors EMMA STONE and CHRIS PINE in the romantic comedy “The Catch” from Universal Pictures.

- Actor PAUL DANO has been added to the cast of Paramount Pictures’ remake of the 1981 cult classic horror film “Possession”. Actors CALLUM TURNER and MARGARET QUALLEY were previously announced to star.

- Actors COLIN FARRELL, STEVE COOGAN, CHARLIE HEATON, and DOMHNALL GLEESON will join actresses EMILIA JONES and ALISON OLIVER in Netflix’s Irish period thriller “Bad Bridgets”.

- Actors SIMU LIU, ALLISON WILLIAMS, and MICHELLE RANDOLPH are set to star in XAVIER GENS’ sci-fi survival thriller “Homewrecker”.

- Actor JOSH GAD has boarded Warner Bros.’ as-yet-untitled “Ocean’s Eleven” prequel joining previously announced leads MARGOT ROBBIE and BRADLEY COOPER.

TV NEWS:

- MSNOW announced it was moving away from live hosted hours after 6pm on weekends as of June 28^th. The move means “Weekend: Primetime” came to an end on June 27^th though all four hosts still remaining with the network though in different roles. The network has opted to fill the weekends post 6pm with taped video podcasts hosted by MSNOW anchors NICOLLE WALLACE and CHRIS HAYES as well as the already airing “Crooked On”, which features highlights from Crooked Media podcasts including “Pod Save America”, “Lovett of Leave It”, and “Runaway Country with Alex Wagner”.  

- Starz announced it has picked up “S.W.A.T. Exiles”, the spinoff of former CBS drama series “S.W.A.T.”. The series, which will feature former “S.W.A.T.” star SHEMAR MOORE, will premiere September 25^th.

- TV CASTING UPDATE –

- Actor TOM HARDY apparently will return for a potential third season of Paramount+ drama series “MobLand” after all, a month after it was reported that Hardy was exiting the series amid friction with the series’ showrunner that escalated to the point where the two could no longer work together. According to reports, the pair have since smoothed things out and, along with the series executive producer, came to a “great understanding about a path forward”, leading to Hardy’s return.

- Actor MARK HARMON will join the cast of CBS drama series “NCIS: Origins” for a season-long arc. Harmon, who previously starred on “NCIS” as Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 18 seasons, will reprise the role on the prequel spinoff series. He is set to appear in every episode of season 3 as part of a present-day mystery tied to his ‘90s Camp Pendleton days.

- Actor MICHAEL WEATHERLY is returning to CBS drama series “NCIS” for season 24 as fan-favorite character Tony Dinozzo for a season-long arc. Weatherly originated the role of Tony Dinozzo in a backdoor pilot on “Jag” in 2003 before “NCIS” launched; he starred on the series for 13 seasons and in over 300 episodes before departing to lead another CBS series.

- MSNOW weekend afternoon anchor ALEX WITT, who has anchored more hours on the network than any other anchor in the channel’s history, announced she will be departing the network later this year.

- Actress OLIVIA THIRLBY is joining the season 5 cast of CBS drama series “Fire Country” as a series regular.

- Actor LAROYCE HAWKINS announced he is exiting NBC drama series “Chicago P.D.”. Hawkins, who has played Officer Kevin Atwater on the series since its inception, will depart during the upcoming 14^th season. Details on his character’s exit are being kept under wraps.

- Actor/tv host JERRY O’CONNELL is joining CBS’ “Big Brother: Unlocked”, the companion series to CBS reality competition series “Big Brother”, as part of the hosting panel alongside former “Big Brother” champions TAYLOR HALE and DERRIC LEVASSEUR, who both hosted the first season of the companion series. Former “The Talk” cohost O’Connell, a self-professed superfan of “Big Brother”, appeared as a guest on the first season of the companion series and also subbed for “Big Brother” host JULIE CHEN MOONVES on a live eviction episode two years ago after Chen Moonves tested positive for Covid.

- TV RENEWALS* AND PICKUPS/EXTENSIONS** -

* “Every Year After”, Amazon Prime Video, renewed for season 2

* “Nemesis”, Netflix, renewed for season 2

- TV CANCELLATIONS* AND TRIMMED/NOT-EXTENDED SEASONS** -

* “Godfather of Harlem”, MGM+, will end with 2-hour finale after four seasons

* “Building the Band”, Netflix, cancelled after one season

MUSIC NEWS:

- Spotify removed about 500,000 streams of the song “Earrings” by music artist MALCOLM TODD days after the song topped the platform’s daily US chart for the first time. The surge in streams was reportedly tied to manipulation based around bets on the prediction market Kalshi, which lists dozens of different props based on results for charts from Spotify and Billboard. Streaming services had already seen some level of attempted chart manipulation for years in both more nefarious fraud schemes as well as stan armies trying to help their favorite acts top the charts, but prediction markets are now allowing average music listeners to profit on results they have the chance to directly manipulate which is only further incentivizing more attempts at chart manipulation. Spotify, which has never had a partnership of any kind with any prediction markets, has also asked both Kalshi and prediction market Polymarket to remove their logos from their websites. According to reports, there’s no reason to believe Todd or his team were affiliated with the streaming manipulation.

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 SINGLES AROUND THE WORLD –

Australia: “I Knew It, I Knew You” by TAYLOR SWIFT

Ireland/ UK: “Rein Me In” by SAM FENDER & OLIVIA DEAN

Japan: “Karasu - Raven” by KENSHI YONEZU

New Zealand/ US: “Choosin’ Texas” by ELLA LANGLEY

Philippines: “Hate That I Made You Love Me” by ARIANA GRANDE

Switzerland: “Dai (FIFA World Cup Official Song)” by SHAKIRA x BURNA BOY