EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off a guest star role in an upcoming episode of NBC’s St. Denis Medical, Damon Wayans has signed with Verve for representation.

A writer, actor, producer, comedian, and patriarch of one of comedy’s most enduring dynasties, Wayans is best known as a co-creator and star of the groundbreaking sketch comedy series In Living Color — the first major network sketch series centered around a predominantly Black cast, which earned him four Emmy nominations for his writing and helped launch the careers of icons such as Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey.

Wayans is otherwise perhaps best known for starring in the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids, which ran for five seasons, winning him a BET Comedy Award. Most recently, he starred opposite his son Damon Wayans Jr. in CBS’s comedy series Poppa’s House, for which he won the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. Wayans and Wayans Jr. made history as the first father-son duo nominated together in the category.

Additional TV credits for Wayans include Lethal Weapon, Happy Endings, The Underground and Saturday Night Live.

On the feature side, his credits include Major Payne, The Last Boy Scout opposite Bruce Willis, Mo’ Money, Bamboozled for Spike Lee, Celtic Pride, Bulletproof opposite Adam Sandler, and Earth Girls Are Easy.

Earlier this year, Wayans joined siblings Keenen Ivory, Marlon, Shawn and Kim, along with son Damon Wayans Jr., as the Wayans family was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame. This came in recognition, per NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson, of “trailblazing work in television, film, and stand-up [that] has transcended pop culture and cemented their legacy.”

Wayans reunites with former In Living Color castmate David Alan Grier in the Season 3 premiere of St. Denis Medical, airing November 2. In the episode, he plays Dr. Highland, a charming but pompous new doctor at St. Denis who’s filling in while Ron (Grier) is recovering from surgery.

Wayans continues to be represented by Dave Feldman at Brecheen Feldman Breimer.

Ari Emanuel’s Mari has entered into a deal to acquire Broadway and West End theater giant ATG Entertainment from Providence Equity Partners.

ATG operates a portfolio of 70 venues across the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Spain, including seven Broadway theaters and ten in London’s West End, as well as an extensive network of regional theaters.

Its venues host over 16,000 performances and welcome over 18 million theatergoers each year, including the Broadway productions of “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” It also produces and co-produces work for the West End and Broadway.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, would see the two companies continue to operate separately.

Following the deal’s completion, Mari would act as a long-term custodian of ATG’s regional, Broadway and West End theaters, investing in their preservation and modernization alongside an improved audience experience and support for new productions. Mari would aim to build on the role regional theaters play in their communities, creating new opportunities for local artists and broadening access to live theater.

Financial terms were not disclosed, though the Financial Times previously reported that the deal values ATG at £4.5 billion ($6 billion).

The deal expands Mari’s global portfolio of events and experiences across sports, art, entertainment and lifestyle, including Frieze, Barrett-Jackson, the Miami Open, the Mutua Madrid Open, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and the Hampton Court Palace and Blenheim Palace Festivals.

“I’ve spent my whole career in entertainment, and I started out in theater. I’ve seen the industry reinvent itself many times, but live has only grown more powerful. Nothing connects great talent with audiences more directly,” Mari founder and principal investor Ari Emanuel said in a statement. “ATG has built one of the world’s great theater businesses around that experience. This is a long-term bet on where live goes next.”

ATG will continue under its existing brand and leadership and retain its commitment to creative independence.

“MARI understands live entertainment and what matters most to ATG: our theaters, the people behind them and the relationships we have built with producers, artists and audiences. That makes MARI the right home for our next
chapter,” ATG Entertainment CEO Melanie Smith added. “We look forward to this new era and thank Providence for their unwavering support over the past
thirteen years.”

More to come…

Paramount CEO David Ellison told a group of the company’s top executives that he will start the process of exiting California on Oct. 1 if State Attorney General Rob Bonta will not negotiate to settle an antitrust suit around the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Ellison made the remarks at a meeting last week. Details were first reported by Puck and confirmed by Deadline.

Bonta is leading a group of 20 State Attorneys General in the case that is set to go to trial in March of 2027. Oct. 1 is the day Paramount starts to accrue a so-called ticking fee of $7 million a day called for in the WBD deal terms if the transaction hasn’t. closed.

Deadline hears That Ellison was emphatic that he doesn’t want to relocate but doesn’t feel welcome in Paramount’s home state as the company and the AG wage a PR battle.

The suit is focused on antitrust concerns in three areas — wide release films, blockbuster films and cable network programming. Ellison has promised the combined studios will release 30 films a year with significant theatrical windows and said he approached the AG about a settlement. He’s accused Bonta of playing politics.

In an op-ed published in Deadline Monday, Bonda said that “Paramount and Warner Bros see the writing on the wall: that they will lose in a court of law. So instead, they are resorting to the court of public opinion. They want to talk about anything but the facts of this case. … As disingenuous as it may be, they are welcome to do so.”

Rumors had surfaced months ago that Ellison was considering an exit if the AG did not soften his stance. Destinations mentioned include Tennessee, Texas and Georgia.

More to come