English Entertainment
Justin Bieber turns 22; 5 TV shows that he was part of
MUMBAI: Canadian singer and songwriter Justin Drew Bieber turns 22 today. Born on 1 March in 1994, the pop star has broken many records with first place on charts. His debut full-length album My World 2.0 was released on 19 March 2010 when Bieber was 16 had gone platinum in several countries.
Led by a huge fan following, the Baby song singer has received huge amount of love and wishes on social media by his fans. #HappyBirthdayJustinBieber had about 13,000 likes at the time of this filing.
Bieber has also won various accolades for his work in the past and has also performed with many popular singers like Skrillex, Chances the Rapper, Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, etc. Wishing him many more billboard chart-busters, Indiantelevision.com has listed down a few television shows that featured the young vocalist in a special appearance.
1. Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)
The series premiered for a year starting from 2011 and starred William Petersen, Gary Dourdan and Marg Helgenberger. The plot sheds light on the murder of a police chief leading Willows and Brown (the lead actors) to Miami. Bieber was seen in season 11 of the series in episode 1 (Shock Waves) and episode 15 (Targets of Obsession)
2. Punk’d
Punk’d was an American hidden camera-practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg and starred Justin Bieber in one of its episodes. This series closed in 2012.
3. Ridiculousness
An American comedy clip show, it started airing from 2011 onwards. The show was hosted by Rob Dyrdek and co-hosted by Sterling Steelo Brim and Chanel West Coast. The show aired viral videos from the internet involving failed do-it-yourself attempts at stunts, to which Rob and his panellists added mock commentary. Currently in its 7th season with approximately 142 episodes, the show saw the Love Me singer in its second season.
4. The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber
Several roasters, and the master himself Kevin Hart, made fun of Justin Bieber in this show that aired in 2015. Bieber was the youngest person ever to be roasted at a Comedy Central Roast.
5. The Graham Norton Show
This British comedy chat show airing on BBC hosted by Irish comedian Graham Norton saw Bieber with Dame Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller as guests. Bieber also performed his famous single What Do You Mean on the show.
English Entertainment
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.
