English Entertainment
This Father’s Day, Have a Dose of Humor with the Do’h’s of Homer Simpson, only on Star World
Homer Simpson, the iconic pop culture TV dad is not only the most popular father figure on television, he is also one of the most unique and funniest characters ever created. With Father’s day right around the corner, Star World, India’s leading English entertainment channel, brings a father’s day special binge watch of the longest running award-winning sitcom, The Simpsons!
So, bring your father to the couch and show him some of that mad love by together binge-watching the 31st and latest season of The Simpsons, this Sunday from 3 PM to 11 PM, only on Star World.
Created by Matt Groening, this award-winning, critically acclaimed series has won a total of 34 Primetime Emmy awards and 10 People’s Choice Awards till date. Currently on its 31st season, The Simpsons follows the lives of the dysfunctional Simpsons family. Homer Simpson, at the heart of the show, holds the title of the most radically peculiar yet loving father on television! Amusing and adoring, he loves Lisa and Bart in the best way he knows how while going about their crazy antics and sharing love and laughs.
The current season has a lot of fun moments in store for viewers – from heartwarming moments between Homer and his children to some of the biggest names from Hollywood such as Game of Thrones’ Khal Drogo aka Jason Momoa, Thor Ragnarok’s Hela aka Cate Blanchett, popular talk show host Lilly Singh, Tinsel Town’s big wigs such as Marvel Studios’ president, Kevin Feige, the Russo brothers, How I Met Your Mother star & MCU’s Agent Maria Hill aka star Cobie Smulders and many more lending their voices to characters on the show! Renowned singer John Legend will also star alongside wife, Chrissy Teigen and he will bring to the show, his original composition – ‘The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson’
No matter what dad personality your father has, there is not a better character than Homer to watch all day, this Father’s day, as he continues to be the perfect combination of goofy, protective and silly – all in one! So this Sunday, binge watch some episodes with your father and catch the most uniquely fun, loving, and yellow dad on TV, 3 PM to 11 PM, only on Star World.
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.
