Scouting Hollywood: Jan. 25 - 31

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

Photo by Adrian Curiel on Unsplash

The NFL wildcard playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins pissed off many viewers since Comcast’s Peacock streaming service spent an estimated $10 million to put the highly anticipated game behind its pay wall. The streamer hoped to gain subscribers and it must have worked, as the game was reportedly the most streamed event in history with 23 million viewers and, during the game, constituted 30 percent of all web traffic. Although Comcast claims thousands of hours of live sporting events are now available on Peacock, I wonder how many new subscribers will stick around for all the Law & Order reruns? 

Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained at a Munich airport recently for traveling with an “unregistered” luxury watch he owns. He was stopped by German customs officers and held for three hours after arriving from Los Angeles, but seemed to handle the ordeal with stride despite the long stretch of time. The action film star and former California governor was planning to auction the watch — said to be a Swiss brand Audemars Piguet worth more than $21,000 — in Austria for the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, leading customs to initiate ‘criminal tax proceedings.’ “If the goods remain in the EU, you have to pay tax and duty on them, that applies to everyone,” noted a customs spokesman. 

In a case that rightfully won’t seem to go away, Producer/Actor Alec Baldwin has again been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in 2022. If convicted, Baldwin faces a maximum of 18 months in prison. A year ago, a similar indictment fell apart over questions about the gun used in the killing and if it had been modified.