English Entertainment
Hollywood’s most-loved celebrities in the Romedy of the Month
MUMBAI: “Let love be your resolution!” There is no reason and no season for love and one of the most enchanting times for love and laughter is New Year’s Eve when the whole world comes together to celebratewhat has been and what is yet to come. Romedy NOW gives you a chance to relive your special moments with the ‘Romedy of the Month’ – New Year’s Eve coming up on Saturday, April 19th at 9pm.
This one’s colourful as the rainbow with the glitz of New York and a beautiful ensemble cast. Encompassing the who’s who of Hollywood, the super impressive cast will leave you wanting for more. From the high priestess of acting (and a loooong list of awards to her credit) MichellePfeiffer, the ‘Godfather’ of performances Robert de Niro and the in-betweeners who are no less mighty, you will witness only stellar performances in all the segments of the movie. The million dollar actress Hilary Swank and the very extraordinary Halle Berryjoin the sexy city belle Sarah JessicaParker and the stunners Katherine Heigl and Jessica Biel. Just like the New Year’s Eve, there’s musical presence with the rocker Jon Bon Jovi, the evergreen new kid on the block Joey McIntyre and the hip hop performer Ludacris. And then, the cute Ashton Kutcher will just be the icing on the cake. Enjoy this epic line-up with many more faces to make your evening glitzy and glamorous.
Watch the lives of several people intertwine and made meaningful by the special evening. Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) works at a record company and after a near-fatal experience she quits her job to fulfill her resolution with the help of Paul (Zac Efron), who will get a ticket to a masquerade ball if he helps her. Paul’s sister and single mother Kim (Sarah Jessica Parker) is battling teenage daughter problems with Hailey (Abigail Breslin) who wants to spend the evening at Times Square with her friends and boyfriend. The annual festivities and the traditional ball drop at Times Square are being managed by Claire (Hilary Swank) who has to seek help at the last minute from an electrician to fix a billboard snag.
There are also stories of love healing all wounds with Paul’s friend Randy (Ashton Kutcher), who hates New Year’s Eve ever since his girlfriend jilted him on one such eve, being stuck in an elevator with Elise (Lea Michele), an aspiring singer. There’s also Chef Laura (Katherine Heigl) who is working at the same hotel where her musician ex-boyfriend Daniel Jensen (Bon Jovi) unceremoniously dumped her. Join Stan Harris(Robert de Niro) as he becomes part of the magical moment of the ball dropping one last time for him as he battles cancer, in the loving company of Nurse Aimee (Halle Berry).
With gorgeous moments that the characters discover, ‘New Year’s Eve’is sure to entrance youwith tender moments filled with forgiveness, hope and happiness only on Romedy NOW. Romedy of the Month ‘New Year’s Eve’ is powered by Provogue.
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.
