Category: BUSINESS

Toward the end of her second day of testimony in Combs’ sex-crimes trial on May 14, Ventura Fine shared the settlement amounted to a $20 million payout. The 38-year-old, who is pregnant with her third child, said the settlement was paid by Combs, 55, and his companies.

The revelation came as she delved into the years following her and Combs’ 2018 breakup, revealing she was involved in writing a book about her experiences while they were dating.

She wanted Combs to read it so he would understand what she went through in their decadelong relationship, she told the court. So she reached out to Combs through her lawyer and asked him to read the draft and offer her compensation.

A week after media speculation emerged that Swift had been subpoenaed in the actors’ lawsuit, which combines Lively’s previous suit alleging sexual misconduct by Baldoni and Baldoni’s complaint against the New York Times for its reporting on the case, Baldoni’s attorneys sent a letter to Judge Lewis Liman on May 14 doubling down on their request for the subpoena, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.

In late April, Baldoni’s attorneys filed a notice of intent to subpoena Venable LLP, a national law firm that has represented Swift in the past (most notably in her 2015 sexual assault lawsuit against radio DJ David Mueller), per additional court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 13.

In the May 14 letter to Judge Liman, Baldoni’s legal team — led by attorney Bryan Freedman — pushed back against Lively’s claim that the subpoena seeks “irrelevant information.” The attorneys said the order can shed light on “witness tampering,” including Lively’s alleged communications with Swift and her legal team.

“The Haunting” star Lili Taylor and “Stranger Things” actor Maya Hawke have both joined the cast, “The Hunger Games” announced on X on Wednesday, May 14. The new film, based on the prequel book that published in March, will chronicle the infamous 50th Hunger Games decades ahead of the events of the original trilogy that starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.

Taylor will play Mags, who is the victor in the 11th arena tournament and was portrayed by the late Lynn Cohen in the 2013 film “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” Meanwhile Hawke will play Wiress, the 49th victor of the game, previously portrayed by Amanda Plummer.

Earlier this week the page announced that “Waves” actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. will also join to play Beetee Latier, the victor of the 34th tournament (previously played by Jeffrey Wright).

The show, which premieres in May, follows the life of a gutsy getaway driver (Josh Holloway) for a growing crime syndicate that goes from “dangerous to wildly, stupidly dangerous” when a rookie FBI agent gets in the mix.

The tenacious, but young agent (Rachel Hilson) comes “into town hellbent on taking his crime family down,” according to the official logline. “Duster” is set in the 1970s Southwest.

“The police report said that your brother’s death was an accident,” Nina says in the trailer. “But you don’t get to where Saxton is without leaving a trail of bodies … Work with me to build a case against Ezra Sexton.”

Hulu has released the first look of the animated comedy revival from creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, and the new poster shows a drone flying a case of Alamo beer into Arlen, Texas.

Hank Hill is back with his longtime pals – Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer – drinking beer in the alley behind Hank’s house. Hank and company look slightly older, naturally. His pals are embracing change. Bill is enjoying food deliveries by Mega Lo Eats, while Dale is rocking a virtual reality headset with an Alamo in hand.

Judge reprises his voice roles as propane salesman Hank Hill and fast-talking pal Boomhauer. Kathy Najimy returns as Hank’s wife Peggy and Pamela Adlon as only-child Bobby, who is now pursuing a culinary career. Stephen Root is back as Bill Dauterive. Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble, died in 2023.

Hulu retweeted the poster with the exclamation, “We are so back!” No official date has been given for the series, which is expected in the summer. Show creators will give more information on May 30 at the “King of the Hill” revival event at Austin’s ATX TV Festival. Judge, Daniels and other cast members are expected to attend.

Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of HBO’s streaming service known for popular shows from “The Last of Us” to “Game of Thrones,” announced May 14 that it’s reverting the service’s moniker from “Max” back to its original name: HBO Max. The change is expected to occur this summer.

“Max is becoming HBO Max!” the streaming service said.

The company told advertisers in New York that the name change, which is set to officially take place this summer, aims to better meet consumers’ needs.

Streaming déjà vu: Max is going back to the name HBO Max

‘White smoke was seen coming from the Warner Bros. water tower’

While the reason behind the name change may be business-driven, Max couldn’t help but joke about reverting to HBO Max in several X posts.

Amid Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-crimes trial, prosecutors have released the full version of a 2016 surveillance video showing the mogul physically assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine.

The video was first made public by CNN in May 2024 after Ventura Fine detailed the incident in her November 2023 lawsuit against Combs, which was settled a day later. In the now-widely circulated clips, Diddy is seen kicking, hitting and dragging Cassie at a Los Angeles luxury hotel on March 5, 2016. The video has not been seen in its entirety until now.

The jury saw the full video at different times in court this week ahead of and during Cassie’s testimony about the violent incident, among others.

See the full video, edited to include the five camera angles presented in court, below.

Prosecutors release 2016 hotel video of Sean Combs assaulting Cassie

Prosecutors have released the hotel surveillance video from 2016 showing Sean Combs physically assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie. This is the full video, edited to include the five camera angles presented in court.

Combs’ defense team has called into question the CNN version of the video, claiming the surveillance footage had been altered.

In a joint letter to Judge Arun Subramanian from Combs’ defense team and prosecutors in March, Combs’ lawyers said they subpoenaed the news network, claiming “a forensic video analysis of the CNN footage” showed it was “substantially altered in significant respects,” including being sped up “to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are.”

Diddy on Trial newsletter: Step inside the courtroom with USA TODAY as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces sex crimes and trafficking charges. Subscribe to the newsletter.

They alleged “CNN purchased the only known copy of the Hotel’s surveillance footage, uploaded that footage into a free editing software, altered the video; and then destroyed the original footage.”

Diddy trial live updates: Cassie alleges Combs threatened to release ‘freak off’ footage

The defense tried to have the video excluded from evidence, but to no avail.

Combs’ inner circle gave one of the security guards a bag of $100,000 in cash for the video to prevent its release, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said during opening statements for the trial.

In response, the defense team argued that Combs was “not trying to obstruct justice” but rather to protect both him and Cassie from “bad publicity.”

Diddy on Trial newsletter: Step inside the courtroom with USA TODAY as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs faces sex crimes and trafficking charges

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Patrick Ryan and Aysha Bagchi

Of an airplane.

From crawling all over a biplane to spelunking a sunken submarine, the A-lister’s daredevil secret agent Ethan Hunt is going above and beyond to save the world – as usual – in the eighth installment of the franchise, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters May 23). That “Final” does seem apropos: This installment feels different in terms of its emotional stakes and like more of a closure than ever, weaving in aspects of past movies while putting Ethan through the direst of straits.

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox

The introduction of “The Entity,” a rogue artificial intelligence, as Ethan’s main enemy leaned sort of silly in the last movie, 2023’s “Dead Reckoning.” Maybe it’s because the real world caught up with the movies, where the AI in co-writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s action thriller feels more believable as an apocalyptic chaos agent, but the Entity earns those supervillainous stripes this time around: It wants to enslave mankind.