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Matt Damon gate crashes the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live
MUMBAI: Actor Matt Damon took popular host and friend Jimmy Kimmel by surprise on the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The actor hilariously gate crashed one of the show’s popular segments, filmed in Las Vegas. In the segment, Kimmel introduces Aunt Chippy who is playing blackjack at a casino in LA to try and win money for the show’s studio audience, but to Kimmel’s surprise Aunty Chippy wasn’t alone. Matt Damon was sitting right next to her dressed in a pair of sunglasses and a fine mullet wig!
Spotting Matt at the table, Kimmel quipped, “Hold on — there’s not supposed to be anyone else at the table,” and Aunt Chippy replied, “If I knew he was going to be here, I would’ve shaved my legs, Jimmy.”
When asked about his sudden appearance, the actor said, “I’m just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit. I took a midnight train going anywhere.” “Thought maybe I’d play some cards with Aunt Chippy,” said Damon, who explained he was in Vegas for the premiere of “Jason Bourne”.“I don’t know — is that a crime?”
Aunt Chippy who has a fantastic track record of winning at the game was actually at the losing end in spite of Matt’s generous offer to keep the game going. Damon was feeling generous, he said, “Hang on. Wait a minute. Jimmy, I was thinking, you know. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen $10,000, but I personally like your studio audience a lot, and I feel like some of them like me. I think we’ve gotta do this again.”
But of course, that did not help.
Looks like, it was bad day for the Jimmy Kimmel Live audience, but, definitely a good day for the two.
The duo have been close friends for years now, and keep pulling pranks on each other much to the amusement of fans. Throughout the episode they kept calling each other out and the actor even said he’d love to do the segment again.
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Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
