Mediagazer: Drake initiates legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, payola, and more to pump Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a track that attacks Drake (Bill Donahue/Billboard)

9:45 AM ET, November 26, 2024

Top News:

Bill Donahue / Billboard:

Drake initiates legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, payola, and more to pump Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a track that attacks Drake — Drake has initiated legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify over allegations that the two companies conspired …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Independent, The Verge, Business Insider, Associated Press, Page Six, Us Weekly, New York County Supreme Court, Rolling Out, Socialite Life, The Guardian, Music Ally, Cele|bitchy, Variety, @desusnice, @phil_lewis_, @mannyfidel, @annaknicolaou, AV Club, Sandra Rose, @annaknicolaou, @janecoaston, Entertainment Weekly, @casey_evans_, UPROXX, @brianzisook, @_zeets, @joshgondelman, @dragonflyjonez, @hebennigatu, @fadamgotdajuice, @theneedledrop, @wowthatshiphop, CBS News, @nhoodpublicist, @wowthatshiphop, @wickednfine, @skrappy83, Digital Music News, @mrmedina, @dragonflyjonez, @big_business_, People, @arianfoster, theJasmineBRAND, @umg, @_zeets, @variety, @gothamhiphop, @phil_lewis_, @engineeringbae.bsky.social, Bossip, The Wrap, Stereogum, @darrylc.bsky.social, @britticisms.bsky.social, Music Business Worldwide, Rolling Stone, New York Daily News, @mikemadden.bsky.social, @mford.bsky.social, TMZ.com, Los Angeles Times, @myfakeironlung.bsky.social, @markroebuck.bsky.social, @daviddennisjr.bsky.social, @kashana.bsky.social, @billdonahue.bsky.social, Deadline, Forbes, Consequence, Fox News, Just Jared and Oh No They Didn't!, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

CNN confirms Kaitlan Collins as its chief White House correspondent; she will become CNN's first prime-time anchor to also serve as its top White House reporter — For the first time, a prime-time anchor will also serve as the network's lead White House reporter.

Discussion: CNN, The Wrap, Variety, @sarafischer, @bristei, @jeremymbarr, @dylanbyers, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck

Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: CNN is considering making network anchor Kaitlan Collins its chief White House correspondent and relocating her show from New York to DC

Discussion: New York Post and TVNewsCheck

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Public figures are asking their PR advisers to reach out to podcasters like Joe Rogan and other right-leaning platforms after Trump's success in the US election — The News — Corporate executives and other public figures emerged from this month's election with a new task for their handlers …

Discussion: @four4thefire, @nick_field90, @juliahobsbawm, @seanspicer, @dannygroner.bsky.social, Jaime Medovitch Smith on LinkedIn and @cbalfe

Carmen Reinicke / Bloomberg:

Conservative video streaming platform Rumble hires Guy Beahm, aka Dr Disrespect, to lead Rumble Gaming; RUM rises 13%+ to its highest level since May 2024 — - Amazon's Twitch platform banned Guy Beahm four years ago … Guy Beahm will stream both free and premium content on the platform …

Sam Tobin / Reuters:

Prince Harry's phone-hacking lawsuit against News Group Newspaper will go to trial in January 2026, with the parties' legal costs set to exceed £38M — Prince Harry and other high-profile British figures' privacy lawsuits against the Daily Mail newspaper's publisher will go to trial in early 2026 …

Discussion: Daily Express, Irish Examiner, @jack_royston, Newsweek and GB News

Hua Hsu / New Yorker:

A look at Giant Robot, a magazine published from 1994 to 2011 that explored Asian American pop culture and peaked with a circulation of ~27K in the early 2000s — The magazine explored Asian American culture, without dwelling too much on what that meant. — The first issue …

Marc Fisher / Nieman Reports:

A look at the changes made by hard-right TV mogul David Smith at The Baltimore Sun and the anxiety over his plans for the paper inside the shrunken newsroom — David Smith built a television empire on sensational, crime-saturated newscasts. Then he bought Maryland's premier newspaper.

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Filing: Disney agrees to pay $43.25M to settle a 2019 lawsuit over pay equity for up to 14,000 female Disney employees; the trial was set to begin in May 2025 — We now know how much Disney is writing a check for to end the pay equity class-action suit that has loomed over the company for the past five years.

Discussion: CNN, Wall Street Journal, @rwhelanwsj, Variety, @barkjack_, The Wrap and TVNewsCheck

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: NBC's new deal with Macy's to keep the Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC and Peacock has an average annual fee of $60M+, up from ~$20M in the current deal — Macy's and NBC near pact that would raise the spectacle's annual average price to $60 million.

Discussion: The Wrap, Benzinga, New York Post, @wsj.com, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck and Just Jared

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

A UK House of Lords committee warns that UK news coverage is at risk of “fracturing irreparably” within 10 years as people rely on “dubious online sources” — Lords communications committee calls on government to take steps to avert ‘two-tier’ media environment

Discussion: Press Gazette, HoldtheFrontPage and UnHerd

Jason Zinoman / New York Times:

A look at Disney's plans to compete with Netflix in standup comedy through Hulu, emphasizing quality over quantity while largely avoiding controversy — Under the Hulu banner, the company says it will offer quality over quantity while largely avoiding controversy. Many comedians are ready to give it a shot.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Deadline and IndieWire

David Gilmour / Mediaite:

Elon Musk appears to confirm that posts containing links in their main text are deprioritized on X, saying it is to stop “lazy linking” — Elon Musk confirmed that posts containing links in their main text are deprioritized on X in a revelation that renews criticism that the platform …

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