| | | | | Political moments at the Tony Awards | | Sunny and I are up late, watching the Tony Awards on CBS... I'm sending this out halfway through the show... but so far, "Oslo" and "Dear Evan Hansen" are two of the big winners...
At one point host Kevin Spacey joked about lifetime achievement honoree James Earl Jones and did this voiceover impression: "This is CNN, the most trusted name in fake news."
There hasn't been a "Meryl Streep moment," but Cynthia Nixon did say this while accepting an award for her role in "The Little Foxes:"
"It is a privilege to appear in Lillian Hellman's eerily prescient play, at this specific moment in history. Eighty years ago, she wrote, 'There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it, and other people who just stand around and watch them do it.' My love, my gratitude and my undying respect go out to all the people in 2017 who are refusing to just stand and watch them do it." | | | Chloe Melas emails: It's getting hot in here! The Tonys red carpet reached a sweltering 90 degrees at Radio City Music Hall. But that didn't stop the stars from stopping to chat with CNN! Sally Field, nominated for her role in The Glass Menagerie, said that her role as Amanda Wingfield is one of the "most important" female roles ever written in American literature. Josh Groban, nominated for his first-ever Broadway role in "Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812," said tonight feels "surreal." CBS boss Les Moonves blew past me when I asked how he finds "peace" these days given the political climate -- "I'm not answering that." Something to point out: Field, Cynthia Nixon, and Glenn Close all told me Hollywood needs more strong female roles especially for women "of age..." | | | Variety's Cynthia Littleton says there were "lots of ACLU ribbons" on the red carpet... A repeat of the show of support at the Oscars... Here's "Dear Evan Hansen" writer Steven Levenson wearing one... | | For a full list of the winners... | | | ...Plus Chloe's coverage from Radio City, check CNN.com/entertainment/ overnight... | | All the President's Secrets | | Simple question: Why is President Trump keeping so many secrets? He's acting like a man with a lot to hide.
That was the subject of my essay on Sunday's "Reliable Sources." I tallied up all the disparate examples of Trump and his White House withholding information and keeping secrets: Potential "tapes." Golf outings. A possible change in Afghan war troop levels. Tax returns. "Covfefe." The president's position on climate change.
It goes without saying that all governments keep secrets and all presidents withhold info in ways that frustrate reporters. But (stop me if you've heard this one before) Trump is different. He hasn't given any TV interviews in a month, he has avoided answering simple Q's like "where are the tapes?" and he has withheld White House visitors logs.
So why all the secrecy? That's the question I keep coming back to. Why is the president acting like a man with so much to hide? Here's the essay in video form... You can share it on Twitter here... | | The story Trump is telling... | | | It's a relatively simple story. He's repeating it over and over again. James Comey is a leaker, he says, thus a member of the opposition, BUT, he also says Comey has vindicated him. He reiterated the "leaker" point on Twitter in time for the Sunday shows... and on Sunday night he repeatedly retweeted @FoxAndFriends... | | Are Trump's kids his best or worst surrogates? | | Donald Trump, Jr. was on Thursday's "Hannity" and Saturday's "Justice with Judge Jeanine..." On the latter show, he "seemed to back up James Comey's claim that Trump asked him to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn," per CNN's Eli Watkins. Details here...
Ivanka Trump will be live on Monday's "Fox & Friends..." ostensibly to preview what some are calling "Apprentice week..." but she'll also be asked about Comey. Ivanka will be back on the morning show for a taped interview on Thursday... | | Speaking of "Apprentice week..." | | | It's an irresistible title, right? The White House says it wants to promote apprenticeship programs and job training. We'll see how much of the coverage accurately distinguishes between new Trump admin efforts and existing government programs... | | 📰 Monday's media columns 📰 | | In the WashPost, Margaret Sullivan says: "Is media coverage of Trump too negative? You're asking the wrong question."
In the NYT, Jim Rutenberg describes how "Watergate unfolded in a much simpler time in the media industry" and wonders, if Robert S. Mueller does find wrongdoing by Trump or his associates, "how much of the country will believe it?" | | | E3 is underway... and on Sunday Microsoft introduced Xbox One X, its next generation console, previously named "Project Scorpio." The new console will come out on November 7, all around the world, "priced at $499," The Verge's Tom Warren reports. "All existing Xbox One accessories will work on the new Xbox One X, alongside all existing Xbox 360 backwards compatible titles and Xbox One games..." | | -- On Sunday morning George Stephanopoulos had Preet Bharara's first TV interview since Bharara was fired by Trump. Bharara described "unusual phone calls" with POTUS... (CNN)
-- Luisita Torregrosa profiled Katy Tur for Sunday Styles... Tur was remarkably candid about her role at NBC... (NYT)
-- That viral cover of Time magazine calling Trump "LIAR IN CHIEF?" It's a fake. (Mediaite)
-- "The comic mind goes to a weird place some times," Bill Maher said while reiterating his apology for using a racial epithet on "Real Time..." (CNN) | | "Delta, Bank of America drop sponsorship of Shakespeare in the Park over 'Julius Caesar' stunt that shows Trump assassination" | | ...That's the Daily News headline. "Delta Airlines and Bank of America pulled out of their sponsorship of New York's Public Theater on Sunday over a production of 'Julius Caesar' that reimagines the main character as President Trump," the NYDN's Kate Feldman reports...
-- The context: "Fox & Friends" asked Sunday morning: "WILL 'SHAKESPEARE IN PARK' LOSE SPONSORS?"
-- Further context: Here's CNN's Chris Moody with a balanced story about the production... | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday through Thursday nights: "The Putin Interviews" on Showtime...
-- Tuesday: The Mirror Awards for media industry reporting are handed out at an NYC luncheon...
-- Tuesday: Verizon/Yahoo deal expected to close...
-- Wednesday: President Trump's 70th birthday... | | | Will we get an answer from Ofcom this week about whether 21st Century Fox is "fit and proper" to take over the rest of Sky? The regulator's deadline is June 20... | | -- Podcast analytics are on the way! "Apple is going to let podcast creators -- and advertisers -- see what listeners actually like," Peter Kafka reports... (Recode)
-- How does Malcolm Gladwell's podcast come to life? Erin Geiger Smith has the story... (NYT)
-- Fun fact: "American Idol" debuted 15 years ago Sunday... | | Kelly-Jones already coming under criticism | | | Megyn Kelly's big interview this "Sunday Night" was with Erin Andrews. But her sit-down with Alex Jones, airing NEXT Sunday, is already stirring controversy. (I wonder if that's something NBC welcomes?) After Kelly shared a promo of the Jones interview, the hashtag #ShameOnNBC started popping up on Twitter. Some commenters took exception to her description of Jones as "conservative." Others said the network should not be giving any airtime to a "Sandy Hook truther." The air date is still a week away... | | HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY'S "RELIABLE SOURCES:" | | -- The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis said yes when I asked if it's fair to be saying that this is a "White House in Crisis:" "Every day it seems like there's another major story or scandal or revelation that drops..."
-- Political analyst Jeff Greenfield agreed. Talking about the Comey hearing, he said, "in this case, the hype was accompanied by reality, which isn't always the case..."
-- Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery said Comey's stark warning about Russian meddling has been overshadowed: "It should not be seen through a partisan lens..." | | About the Reality Winner case... | | | It's a "cautionary tale" for reporters and leakers, NYT's Adam Goldman told me. Goldman was careful not to criticize Winner or The Intercept directly, but he said journalists and especially their editors who deal with classified material "need to be thinking about ways to protect the people providing them information." CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles has a full recap of the segment here... | | | Tim O'Brien was sued by Trump a decade ago, and the resulting deposition did not go well for Trump. Talking about Mueller, O'Brien told me Trump has "played ping-pong over the years, but this is the Super Bowl..." | | "It's time to ask our countrymen 'where are you from?' with a lot less fear and a lot more wonder."
--CNN's Bill Weir in "States of Change," his incredible look at the Divided Nations of America through his own homecoming. If you haven't read/watched this feature yet, I highly recommend it... | | Warner Bros. suspends production of "Bachelor in Paradise" amid "allegations of misconduct" | | Via Variety's Alex Stedman: "Production on the fourth season of ABC's 'Bachelor in Paradise' has come to a halt, Warner Bros. said in a statement on Sunday." What happened? It's unclear, but LATimes reporter Amy Kaufman, who's working on a "Bachelor" book, has some info on her Twitter feed.
Warner Bros. says "we have become aware of allegations of misconduct on the set," so "we have suspended production and we are conducting a thorough investigation of these allegations. Once the investigation is complete, we will take appropriate responsive action." ABC was going to premiere the new season on August 8...
-- RealityBlurred's Andy Dehnart tweets: "I can't recall a major network show stopping production. I can think of ones that should have but not ones that did. Thus: this seems major..." | | "Wonder Woman" #1 at the box office for a second week | | "Wonder Woman" is still wonderful at the box office, but Tom Cruise and "The Mummy" are staggering, Frank Pallotta reports. "Wonder" brought in an estimated $57.2 million at the North American box office this weekend. That's only a drop of 45% from its strong and record-breaking opening weekend last week. Its second week drop was much smaller than previous films in the DC Extended Universe...
As for "The Mummy," this weekend's box office runner up, it's a case of good news, bad news for Universal Pictures. The good news is that the film had a solid international box office. It brought in $174 million globally, which is Cruise's biggest worldwide opening weekend ever. The bad news is that the film merely met expectations at home. It brought in an estimated $32.2 million in North America... | | Sandra's panels at the ATX TV Festival | | | Sandra Gonzalez emails: I spent this weekend in Austin at the ATX TV Festival! I moderated two panels, including one in which a group of women from across TV opened up about the difficulties in finding complex female characters and the issues they've experienced in the industry. Here's Deadline's write-up... | | | The other was an insightful chat with the creatives behind "The Carmichael Show," "Superior Donuts," "One Day at a Time," and "Dear White People" about their respective approaches to producing socially conscious TV shows. "Laughing at hard things is very helpful," "Carmichael Show" EP Danielle Sanchez-Witzel said. "That's what all the shows up here are doing." | | "When Trump got elected, TV writers found new purpose" | | | More from Sandra: I also attended a great discussion about Trump's effects on scripted TV. Some of TV's most notable writers got candid about the election's effect on their approach to their craft... Read all about it here... | | "Battlestar Galactica" reunion! | | | One more story from Sandra: The weekend's main event was a "Battlestar Galactica" reunion that was simultaneously a walk down memory lane and a tribute to the show's legacy as a groundbreaking science fiction program... | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- In the UK, The Guardian will reportedly change format from the broader Berliner to a smaller tabloid style in an effort to save on printing costs while maintaining a paper edition. The Telegraph has the story...
-- An excellent story by the NYT's Jeremy Peters tracing a piece of false information all the way back to the first alt-right activist to spread it...
-- A fascinating profile of Dan Scavino by Politico's Eliana Johnson. Scavino, a former golf caddy, is now Trump's director of social media. On Twitter, "Scavino channels Trump, not the other way around," a senior White House aide is quoted saying in the story... | | | Hope your weekend was swell! Thanks for reading. | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Email us... we're at reliablesources@cnn.com... we appreciate every email. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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