Steve Pond's Blog, page 160
May 7, 2025
‘Les Mis’ Cast Members Boycott Kennedy Center Performance Due to Trump Attending
At least 10 cast members of “Les Misérables” plan to sit out of a Kennedy Center performance the night Donald Trump will attend for a fundraiser.
According to CNN, 10-12 of the “Les Mis” performing cast – both major members and ensemble – will not perform June 11 when President Trump attends for his fundraiser and show. The cast was given the option not to take the stage the night the president attended and many took up the offer.
The latest boycott comes a few months after Trump fired Kennedy Center board members and named himself chairman. Among his remarks back in February were attacks against the LGBTQ community and a number of past shows at the legendary performing arts center – including “Broadway Drag Brunch” and “BERTHA: Grateful Drag.”
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
He added: “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
“Les Mis” seems to be one of the Trump’s favorite plays. During his presidential run in 2016, he used music from the show at numerous campaign rallies – much to the chagrin of the musical’s creators.
Richard Grenell, who Trump assigned as director of the Kennedy Center earlier this year, told CNN he was not aware of cast boycotts.
“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” he said. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire – and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience. The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoys a performance together.”
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Disney Plans to Open New Theme Park in Abu Dhabi
Disney is set to open a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi in partnership with immersive destinations and experiences creator Miral.
The waterfront resort will be located on Yas Island, connecting travelers from the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia, Europe, and beyond. It will be fully developed, built and operated by Miral, with Disney and its Imagineers leading creative design and operational oversight.
“This groundbreaking resort destination represents a new frontier in theme park development,” Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro said in a statement. “Our resort in Abu Dhabi will be the most advanced and interactive destination in our portfolio. The location of our park is incredibly unique – anchored by a beautiful waterfront – which will allow us to tell our stories in completely new ways. This project will reach guests in a whole new part of the world, welcoming more families to experience Disney than ever before. Ultimately, it will be a celebration of what’s possible when creativity and progress come together.”
Disney will license its IP for the theme park and resort and provide certain development and management services to the project. While it will not provide capital for the project, it will earn royalties based on its revenues, as well as service fees. Development is subject to finalizing additional agreements among the parties.
Upon completion, the new theme park resort will offer signature Disney entertainment, themed accommodations, unique dining and retail experiences, and storytelling that celebrates both the heritage of Disney and the futuristic and cultural essence of Abu Dhabi.
“This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and creativity,” Disney CEO Bob Iger added. “As our seventh theme park destination, it will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways. Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati – an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment at this crossroads of the world that will bring to life our timeless characters and stories in many new ways and will become a source of joy and inspiration for the people of this vast region to enjoy for generations to come.”
The United Arab Emirates is located within a four-hour flight of one-third of the world’s population, making it a significant gateway for tourism. It is home to the largest global airline hub in the world, with 120 million passengers traveling through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.
“Abu Dhabi is a place where heritage meets innovation, where we preserve our past while designing the future,” Miral chairman Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak said in a statement. “The collaboration between Abu Dhabi and Disney demonstrates the remarkable results of combining visionary leadership and creative excellence. What we are creating with Disney in Abu Dhabi is a whole new world of imagination — an experience that will inspire generations across the region and the world, creating magical moments and memories that families will treasure forever. Through the development of unique attractions and experiences, Abu Dhabi continues to be a destination of choice for the world.”
“Bringing a Disney theme park resort to Yas Island marks a historic milestone in our journey to further advance the island’s position as a global destination for exceptional entertainment and leisure,” Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi added. “Together, we are creating a place of boundless innovation, where the vision of our leadership continues to inspire the world.”
Disney’s experiences segment, which includes its theme parks, hotels, Disney Cruise Line and consumer products, grew revenue 6% to $8.9 billion and operating income 9% to $2.5 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
Domestic parks and experiences revenue grew 9% to $6.5 billion, while operating income grew 13% to $1.8 billion. The results in its domestic business was reflected higher volumes in passenger cruise days reflecting the launch of the Disney Treasure, theme park attendance and guest spending, occupied room nights and Disney Vacation Club sales and increased costs due to DCL’s fleet expansion and inflation.
International revenue fell 5% to $1.4 billion, while operating income fell 13% to $225 million. The results in its international business reflected lower theme park attendance and increased costs at Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Shares of Disney climbed over 7% in pre-market trading Wednesday.
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Netflix Unveils First Look at New Homepage Design
Netflix executives unveiled a first look at the streamer’s upcoming homepage redesign, which includes an updated interface and improvements to content recommendations. It also introduce new mobile features, such as a video feed and generative AI-powered search in collaboration with OpenAI.
“Thanks to a combination of new technology and the expansion of our entertainment offerings, we think it’s time to take a giant leap forward,” Netflix chief product officer Eunice Kim told reporters on Tuesday. “Our redesigned TV home page is simpler, more intuitive and better represents the breadth of entertainment on Netflix today, and it’s better at the most important thing: helping our members easily find shows, movies, live events and games that they’ll love.”
The new homepage design will move its shortcuts menu for features like Search and My List from the left hand side to the top of the screen to make them more noticeable and easier to access. Titles will also feature callouts such as “Emmy Award Winner” or “#1 in TV Shows” to make discoverability easier. Additionally, Netflix will use a feature called color feeding to change the background of the homepage when users click on specific titles.
Homepage recommendations will also be more responsive to moods and interests in real time by leveraging AI, pulling from what trailers users are watching or what they are searching for.
In addition to the homepage, Netflix’s mobile app is getting a refresh, with a new vertical feed for users to swipe through clips of TV shows and movies while browsing that will begin testing in the coming weeks.
The company has also been testing a generative AI-powered search function to discover shows using natural conversational phrases, such as “I want something funny and upbeat.” The search feature is currently being tested in iOS as a small opt-in beta, with plans to roll the feature out to more members later this week.
The new mobile features come after Netflix launched Moments in October, which allows users to share clips of the streamer’s series and films with their friends and family on social media. Per Kim, the top saved scene is the kiss between Vi and Caitlyn in “Arcane” Season 2 and five of the top 10 moments have been from “Squid Game.”
“It’s been exciting to see these moments being shared all over social media,” Kim added. “We’ll be investing more in this space in the coming months.”
The new homepage design and mobile features come as Netflix as shifts its focus to engagement rather than subscriber growth. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters told analysts last month that the new homepage would roll out later this year.
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The New York Times Digital Subscriptions Jump 14% in First Quarter
The New York Times is off to a strong start to 2025, according to its first quarter earnings report released on Wednesday morning, with the paper adding 240,000 digital subscribers between January and March — up 14% compared to the gains it made a year prior. The Times also increased sales more than 7% year-over-year, hitting $635.9 million in first quarter revenue.
That subscriber growth indicates readers have been turning to the paper in the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term — although the paper did not mention the president, or coverage of tariffs, as subscription drivers during the first quarter.
The Times Chief Financial Officer William Bardeen did acknowledge the tariffs on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday morning, saying “the impact of tariffs on our business has been immaterial to date.” And he did not seem too concerned about the tariffs hurting ad revenue moving forward. Bardeen, when asked about the tariffs by an analyst on the call, said the Times has “engaged audiences that marketers can target effectively.”
CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, in a statement accompanying the Times’ earnings report, said the latest quarter showed its “strategy is working and our business is growing and demonstrating resilience amidst the current economic and geopolitical uncertainty.”
The Times spent $1 million on legal fees tied to its ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft; the paper has accused the ChatGPT parent company of using its reporting to train its models without consent.
Here are the key results:
Revenue: $635.9 million, up 7.1% year-over-year and slightly ahead of analyst estimates of $635.14 million from Zacks Investment Research.
Notably, sales for The Athletic, the digital sports outlet the Times bought in 2022 for $550 million, increased nearly 28% year-over-year to $47.60 million.
Nearly $71 million was attributed to digital ad sales during the first quarter, which was up more than 12% from a year ago.
Total subscribers: 11.66 million — up 230,000 from the previous quarter and up roughly 1.1 million from the same time last year.
Most of those subscribers — 11.06 million — are digital-only. Digital subscriber growth of 240,000 helped offset a slight decline for print-only customers; those 240,000 new digital subscribers represented a 14% year-over-year increase from the 210,000 the paper added during the first quarter of 2024.
NYT subscriber growth over the last year, via the presentation accompanying its first quarter reportNet income: $49.55 million, up 22.60% from the same period a year prior.
Earnings Per Share: Adjusted EPS of $0.41 was better than the $0.35 analysts had estimated.
Heading into Wednesday, the Times’ stock price had increased 15% over the last month — helping offset a dip that happened in Feb. For the year, NYT’s share price was up 0.67% to $52.66 before its first quarter report was released.
In other recent news for the Times, the paper at the end of Apr. announced announced its popular “The Daily” podcast is adding two new co-hosts, Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff, alongside veteran host Michael Barbaro. “The Daily,” which launched in 2017, is currently the fifth ranked show on Spotify’s podcast chart in the U.S. The Times did not mention its podcast business in its first quarter report.
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NYT’s bundle breakdown, via its first quarter report A few other points that stood out from the report: The Times made approximately $33 million off the sale of about “four acres of excess land at our printing and distribution facility in College Point, N.Y.” in February. And the company repurchased roughly $59 million in sales as part of a stock buyback program.
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Disney+, Hulu Combined Operating Profit Surges to $336 Million
Disney shares climbed over 7% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the company easily beat Wall Street expectations during the last quarter, swinging to a profit of $3.28 billion and growing revenue 7% to $23.6 billion.
The results for the January-to-March period, its fiscal second quarter, were driven by revenue growth across its entertainment, sports and experiences segments, according to its earnings report. It also saw 61% jump in entertainment profits and 9% increase in experiences profit, which were offset by a 12% decline in profits in its sports division, largely on a write-off cost.
Disney+ and Hulu posted a combined operating profit of $336 million, up 615% from a profit of $47 million a year ago. Together, the streaming services added 2.5 million subscribers for a total of 180.7 million. When including ESPN+, the total subscriber count across the three services was 204.8 million. Disney did not break out whether ESPN+ posted a profit or loss for the quarter.
The numbers underscore the momentum Disney has shown in its streaming services in the past year, a business that just a few years ago had $4 billion in annual losses after aggressive investments and expansion.
Here is a rundown of the key quarterly results:
Net income: A profit $3.28 billion, compared to a loss of $20 million in the prior-year period.
Earnings Per Share: $1.81 per diluted share, compared to a loss of 1 cent in the year ago period. Excluding certain items, EPS grew 20% to $1.45, compared to $1.18 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue: $23.6 billion, up 7% year over year, compared to $23.14 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Operating income: $4.4 billion, up 15% compared to $3.8 billion a year ago.
Disney+ subscribers: Added 1.4 million during the quarter for a total of 126 million.
“Our outstanding performance this quarter underscores our continued success building for growth and and executing our strategic priorities,” CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “Following an excellent first half of the year, we have a lot more to look forward to, including our upcoming theatrical slate, the launch of ESPN’s new (direct-to-consumer) DTC offering, and an unprecedented number of expansion projects in our Experiences segment. Overall, we remain optimistic about the direction of the company and our look for the remainder of the fiscal year.”
Looking ahead, Disney expects a modest increase of Disney+ subscribers in its third quarter relative to the second quarter.
For the full year, Disney’s adjusted earnings-per-share is expected to grow 16% year over year to $5.75 and cash provided by operations will be $17 billion, a $2 billion increase over prior guidance driven by the deferral of tax payments, the company said. It also anticipates double-digit growth in operating income for entertainment, 18% operating income growth for sports and 6% to 8% operating income growth for experiences.
Additionally, it expects to incur pre-opening expenses of roughly $200 million for Disney Cruise Line, with roughly $40 million in the third quarter and $50 million in the fourth quarter, and an equity loss of roughly $300 million for its India joint venture.
Disney added that it continues to monitor macroeconomic developments for potential impacts to its business and “recognize that uncertainty remains regarding the operating environment for the balance of the fiscal year.”
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Linear networks revenue fell 13% to $2.42 billion and operating income rose 2% to $769 million. Domestic linear revenues fell 3% to $2.2 billion, while operating income jumped 20% to $625 million.
The increase in operating income was driven by lower technology costs; lower marketing costs from fewer new shows at its cable channels and fewer season premieres at ABC Network than the prior year period; a decrease in ad revenue from lower rates and average viewership and fewer impressions; and lower programming and production costs at its cable channels, offset by higher costs at ABC Network.
International linear networks revenue fell 55% to $223 million, while operating income tumbled 84% to $15 million. The decrease was due to the Star India transaction with Reliance Industries.
Entertainment direct-to-consumer revenue grew 8% to $6.1 billion, driven by higher pricing and more subscribers, offset by an unfavorable foreign exchange impact and the absence of Star India subscription revenue and programming costs; higher ad revenue and technology and distribution costs; rate increases at Hulu + Live TV; and more subscribers to bundles with third-party offerings, including premium add-ons.
Disney+ reported a total of 57.8 million domestic subscribers and 68.2 million international subscribers. Disney+ domestic average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 1% to $8.06, driven by price increases and lower ad revenue, while international ARPU grew 5% to $7.52, due to price increases, subscriber mix shifts and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates.
Hulu reported a total of 54.7 million subscribers, including 50.3 million SVOD-only and 4.4 million Hulu + Live TV subscribers. SVOD-only ARPU fell 1% to $12.36, while Hulu and Live TV ARPU grew 1% to $99.94, both driven by price increases and lower ad revenue.
Content sales, licensing and other grew revenue 54% to $2.15 billion and swung to a profit of $153 million from a loss of $18 million a year ago, driven by an increase in sales of episodic content, the home entertainment performance of “Moana 2,” and the carryover theatrical performance from the film and “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
Disney SportsDisney’s sports segment, which includes ESPN and ESPN+, grew revenue 5% to $4.5 billion, but operating profit fell 12% to $687 million due to write-off from exiting its Venu Sports business.
ESPN grew domestic revenue 7% to $4.2 billion and international revenue 11% to $379 million. Operating income fell 17% to $648 million domestically, but rose 11% to $21 million internationally.
The domestic results reflected higher programming and production costs due to three additional college football playoff games and one additional NFL game; ad revenue growth of 29% due to rate and average viewership increases; and a modest increase in affiliate revenue offset by fewer subscribers.
ESPN+ subscribers grew fell 3% to 24.1 million, with ARPU growing 3% to $6.58 driven by price increases and the impact of a shift in subscriber mix. Disney is gearing up to launch its fully direct-to-consumer version of ESPN this fall, which will package the network’s sports programming with fantasy sports integrations, enhanced statistics, betting features and e-commerce.
Disney ExperiencesDisney’s experiences segment, which includes its theme parks, hotels, Disney Cruise Line and consumer products, grew revenue 6% to $8.9 billion and operating income 9% to $2.5 billion.
Domestic parks and experiences revenue grew 9% to $6.5 billion, while operating income grew 13% to $1.8 billion. The results in its domestic business was reflected higher volumes in passenger cruise days reflecting the launch of the Disney Treasure, theme park attendance and guest spending, occupied room nights and Disney Vacation Club sales and increased costs due to DCL’s fleet expansion and inflation.
International revenue fell 5% to $1.4 billion, while operating income fell 13% to $225 million. The results in its international business reflected lower theme park attendance and increased costs at Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Consumer products revenue rose 4% to $949 million, while operating income climbed 14% to $443 million. The results reflected higher licensing revenue that included the benefit of the release of “Marvel Rivals.”
Looking ahead, Disney plans to open a new theme park in Abu Dhabi.
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May 6, 2025
‘Andor’: Is [Spoiler] Dead? Breaking Down Season 2’s Most Shocking Moment
Note: This article contains spoilers from “Andor” Season 2, Episode 8.
“Andor” Season 2, Episode 8 is one of the most viscerally upsetting hours of up-close, in-your-face violence that the “Star Wars” franchise has ever produced. After spending seven episodes setting it up, the Disney+ series finally delivers on the growing, Imperial-induced tensions on Ghorman. Dedra (Denise Gough) and her fellow Imperial officials manipulate a crowd of Ghorman protestors into the planet’s capital square and then use a shot from a hidden Imperial sniper as an excuse to begin massacring all of the Ghormans present.
The episode’s most shocking moment is not the massacre itself, though, nor is it the long-awaited reintroduction of K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). It is, instead, the death of Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), the tightly wound Imperial busybody whose initial Season 1 investigation into Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) set in motion all of the show’s events. Syril is the first major character that “Andor” has killed off across its two seasons, and his death is shocking, tragic and befitting of a figure whose desperation to impress those around him was always going to be his undoing.
Kyle Soller in “Andor” Season 2, Episode 3 (Lucasfilm)How does Syril die in “Andor” Season 2?Before the Ghorman Massacre begins, Syril finally understands that he has been manipulated by his partner, Dedra. He was not stationed on Ghorman to help expose outside rebel forces, but to help stoke the fires of the very Ghorman rebellion that the Empire needed as an excuse to take over and strip-mine the planet. Syril storms into Dedra’s office, grabs her by the face and threatens to throw her out of the nearby window if she does not tell him the truth. When she does, Syril realizes not only how he was used by the person he loves the most but also the integral role he has played in orchestrating a mass genocide.
He leaves the Empire’s headquarters before Dedra can stop him and spends much of the ensuing massacre stumbling along its outskirts, lost and horrified. When he sees Cassian across the town square, Syril finds what he thinks is a rational target for all of his frustration and anger. He attacks Cassian, interrupting the latter’s sniper shot on an unaware Dedra and saving her life. What follows is a brutal, desperate fistfight between Syril and Cassian that the former actually wins when he gets ahold of Cassian’s blaster and levels it at the beaten rebel.
Syril pauses, however, when a bewildered, confused Cassian simply asks, “Who are you?” It looks, for a moment, like Syril is going to lower the blaster and walk away, but viewers never get the chance to hear or see his response to Cassian’s question. He is shot in the back of the head by Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel), who tried and failed earlier in the episode to stop his daughter and her fellow Ghorman rebels from walking right into the Empire’s trap. Syril pays for his betrayal of the Ghormans with his life.
Kyle Soller in “Andor” Season 2, Episode 4 (Lucasfilm)Before he dies, Syril realizes that the feud he thought existed between him and Cassian was one-sided. Cassian did not even remember him, let alone obsess over him. To Cassian, Syril was nothing more than one of the many Imperial officers he chose to fight against. When he realizes this, Syril’s identity crisis reaches its fever pitch — and it is given a distinctly Tony Gilroy-y, merciless kind of punctuation mark when he is subsequently shot in the back.
In his haste to succeed at all costs and climb higher, Syril sacrificed his own morals and identity. He saw the war between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance so narrowly through his own perspective of personal grudges and potential self-fulfillment that he never saw the greater picture. The Empire does not represent order, but destruction. Syril comes to understand this only when he sees up close the violence and horror that the Empire has used him to inflict. But by then it is too late to repent or to extricate himself from the Imperial side.
He is ultimately seen as nothing more than a fascistic tool by Carro because that is exactly what Syril chose to be. He realizes only too late that what it means to be a part of the Empire is to be nothing more than a faceless gear in a larger machine — easily replaceable and unremarkable.
“Andor” Season 2 airs Tuesdays on Disney+.
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Jimmy Kimmel Compares Canadian PM’s Trump Meeting to ‘an Ewok Going to a Meeting on the Death Star’ | Video
Jimmy Kimmel touched on multiple topics during his Tuesday night monologue. For instance, he opened with a lengthy series of jokes about the 2025 Met Gala. After that, Kimmel brought up the meeting Donald Trump had on Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Trump met today with Mark Carney, the new Prime Minister of Canada, and future Governor of North Montana,” Kimmel joked. “Ahead of the meeting Trump posted about how we don’t need anything from Canada, we don’t need their cars or energy or lumber or ‘anything they have. But then when the new Prime Minister showed up in person, it was as if they were a couple of old pals.”
Kimmel then ran a clip of Trump saying the only “concession” Trump wanted from Canada was “friendship,” and then Trump talking about Canadians he likes, including Wayne Gretzky.
“Poor Mark Carney had a helluva job today,” Kimmel continued. “It was like an Ewok going to a meeting on the Death Star. He handled it well though. He handled it very well. He came prepared and in a friendly way, he made sure Trump knows they have no intention of becoming our 51st State.”
Kimmel then ran a clip of Carney saying that “Canada will never be for sale,” to which Trump replied, “never say never” with a look of weird desperation on his face.
“That’s Trump. He doesn’t take no for an answer. In fact, he was found liable for it – in a court of law,” Kimmel deadpanned, referring of course to the lawsuit against Trump filed by E. Jean Carroll in which a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault.
After this, Kimmel touched on Trump’s demand for tariffs on movies produced in other countries, joking at one point that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “has the demeanor of the headmaster of an all-boys school that’s under investigation.”
There’s more than that, and you can watch the full monologue below:
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Stephen Colbert Jokes ‘I’m Off to the Tropics! F– All Y’all’ After Learning About Newark Airport Trauma Leave | Video
During his Tuesday night monologue, while discussing the harrowing news this week of problems at Newark Airport, Stephen Colbert had an amusing reaction to one element of the story.
Pretending to have just learned about the concept of trauma leave, Colbert abruptly walked off stage, shouting “f— all y’all’ as he left the Ed Sullivan Theater where he films “The Late Show.” Of course, he had to come back on TV immediately, because he’d booked airfare through Newark airport.
Colbert was of course talking about the scary report that last week, Newark air traffic controllers lost contact with aircraft for 90 seconds, an emergency that could have caused real disasters. Tragedy was averted but the airport has been beset by delays ever since.
“Quick question before we get started, anyone here from out of the country? All right? Well, you live here now because you’re never going to want to fly again, because for the past week, there have been 1000s of delays at Newark Airport, right across the river, including hundreds of cancelations just this morning,” Colbert explained at the start of his monologue.
“We now know that culprit was a 90-second blackout during which air traffic controllers temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear or talk to them. Oh, no, see here, those are three fairly important things,” Colbert continued.
Colbert continued by first noting that according to the subsequent investigation, the outage was caused by a fried piece of copper wire. He then mocked New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s response, before turning his attention to the response from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who Colbert described as a “White Lotus guest remembering what he did at the Full Moon Party.”
Colbert noted that Duffy blamed Joe Biden for the mishap, and pretended to agree. “Yes, this problem has been going on for years. Biden should have done something about it, or really, really the guy before him should have done something about it,” Colbert said. “The truth is, Biden did do something about it. In the 2021 infrastructure bill, he had $25 billion to improve airports. Unfortunately, all $25 billion was spent on Logan airport’s Peck relief area with many fire hydrants.”
“But it didn’t help that once Trump got into office, the DOGE bros immediately fired 400 staffers at the FAA, including maintenance mechanics and employees who work on electronic issues,” Colbert continued. “Those are the people who do the stuff. There are plenty of useless people you could have fired, like the TSA agent who says you can’t bring in a snow globe. I hate having to chug my snow globe right before security.
Eventually, Colbert noted that the barely averted disaster only became known because an air traffic controller went public, warning that Newark wasn’t safe to travel through and that people should avoid the airport “at all costs.”
“Counterpoint, if you could afford ‘all costs,’ you wouldn’t be in Newark,” Colbert joked. “It won’t get better anytime soon, because, due to the blackout, some air traffic controllers are now out on a 45 day trauma leave.”
Suddenly, Colbert stopped and said, “Oh, wait, wait a second. There’s such a thing as trauma leave?”
“Byeeee,” Colbert said as he walked away, waving to the camera sarcastically. “I’m off to the tropics!”
“F— all y’all,” Colbert added while flipping the audience off. The crowd of course loved it, chanting “Stephen! Stephen!” Colbert quickly returned to the stage, joking, “Damn it. I forgot my tickets out of Newark.”
Watch the whole monologue below:
The post Stephen Colbert Jokes ‘I’m Off to the Tropics! F– All Y’all’ After Learning About Newark Airport Trauma Leave | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
‘Andor’ Season 2, Episode 9 Ending Explained: Who Is That Mystery Rebel?
Note: This story contains spoilers from “Andor” Season 2, Episode 9.
“Andor” Season 2, Episode 9 featured the return of a couple members of the eventual Rogue One team but one is a bit less obvious than the other.
During the episode, Vel (Faye Marsay) is working with a clutch of new rebels and handing out – or back – their weapons. She gets to a distinct pistol and when she asks who it belongs to we get a long take on the latest Rogue One member to arrive at Yavin 4 – Ruescott Melshi (Duncan Pow).
Melshi has a big part to play in a few years when he joins Cassian (Diego Luna), Jyn (Felicity Jones), K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) and the rest of Rogue One on their final mission to Scarif, but he also met Cassian years earlier “Andor” Season 1.
Here’s what you need to remember about Melshi and where he is going.
Melshi in ‘Andor’ Season 1Melshi appears during the prison arc of “Andor” Season 1 in 5 BBY. He is an inmate alongside Cassian, forced to produce machine parts that were used in the construction of the Death Star. Melshi aided Cassian, Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) and the other inmates of the prison in a riot for control of the Narkina 5 prison when they learned that they were not working off their sentences, but being shipped to a new prison to continue their labor.
Cassian and Melshi managed to swim ashore – the prison was in the middle of a coastline – and agreed to split up to spread the word of the prison and the revolt that took place inside at the end of the arc.
Melshi in ‘Rogue One’Melshi is part of Extraction Team Bravo who handled the rescue of Jyn Erso from the labor camp on Wobani at the beginning of “Rogue One.” He pops up at the Yavin 4 rebel base throughout the movie but is one of the core soldiers who agree to join Cassian and Jyn on their mission to Scarif to retrieve the Death Star plans – which went against the orders of the rest of the Rebellion’s leadership.
Rogue One accomplished their mission but were stuck on the planet as the Death Star showed up. The planet was destroyed with Melshi and the rest of the team being killed in the blast.
“Andor releases new episodes Tuesdays on Disney+”
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Nate Bargatze Thinks Disney ‘Doesn’t Care About the Audience’
Nate Bargatze, the up-and-coming comedian tapped to entertain the Emmys audience in the fall, doesn’t think the powers that be at Disney care all that much about theirs.
In an interview with Esquire, Bargatze was asked about who his biggest career influences were. He quickly rattled off four names: Jerry Seinfeld, Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler and Walt Disney – but that last one came with a caveat.
The comedian explained that while he thought Disney the man cared for the customers and fans of his product and stories, he did not think the current heads of Disney felt the same way.
“Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman,” Bargatze said. “Well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience.”
While he doesn’t name names, he is almost certainly talking about current Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Bargatze does not seem afraid of ruffling feathers as he continues a banner year. He was tapped to host the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards in the fall. His first feature film “The Breadwinner” also recently locking in a 2026 release date. All this has the comedian looking to step out of the comedy spotlight and onto the big screen in the not to distant future.
“The next special will be on Netflix,” he told The New York Times in April. “I could see maybe one more special after that. I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I also want to get out of the way. I need to let the next wave of comedians come up. I got this tour and then maybe one more.”
Bargatze expanded on his plans to get into more movies.
“I don’t plan on touring and doing stand-up forever. I want to make movies,” he said. “People can think, If you get too big, are you going to change? The audience is very much in mind with everything that I will make. Again, I try not to do it for me. It’s for you. I want them to be able to trust that.”
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