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Judges Consider Effort To Force FCC Action On News Distortion Policy

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After a group of former FCC chairs and commissioners petitioned the agency to repeal its news distortion policy last November, the current chairman Brendan Carr never acted on it.

Last month, they asked an appellate court to compel him to do so.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel gave the FCC 30 days to respond to that effort, known in legalese as a writ of mandamus.

The former chairs and commissioners, joined with the Radio and Television Digital News Association, contend that Carr has used the news distortion policy “as a weapon to control news content and suppress viewpoints the government disfavors.”

“As the midterm elections approach, this abuse of regulatory power to shape voter perception and control information the electorate has access to is a particularly urgent matter,” they wrote in their court filing last month.

The FCC itself states that its authority to enforce the news distortion policy is narrow, and must involve “a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report.” It also must involve deliberate distortion, not mere inaccuracy or difference of opinion.

Carr has invoked the policy numerous times. A news distortion complaint over CBS 60 Minutes editing of an interview with Kamala Harris last year led to an FCC investigation, and Carr cited the policy when he warned ABC stations over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and his comments about Charlie Kirk. The network pulled Kimmel’s show off the air for several days before reinstating him.

More recently, Carr, responding to Donald Trump‘s complaint about coverage of the war in Iran, wrote on X that broadcasters “that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.”

The petition filed last November included Mark Fowler and Dennis Patrick, chairmen of the FCC under President Ronald Reagan; Alfred Sikes, chairman under President George H.W. Bush; and Tom Wheeler, chairman under President Barack Obama. They claimed that the news distortion policy has been “weaponized” by Carr and that, until recently, it had been enforced only in rare circumstances.

The legal team behind the petition includes the Protect Democracy Project, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Gigi Sohn of G Squared Strategies and Berin Szóka of Tech Freedom.

After their filing last year, Carr responded on social media, “How about no. On my watch, the FCC will continue to hold broadcasters accountable to their public interest obligations.”

He added, “And it is quite rich for the exact same people that pressured prior FCCs to censor conservatives *through the news distortion policy* to now object to the agency’s even-handed application of the law.”

Since then, the commission has taken no action, as Carr has not brought it to a vote. If that were to happen and the FCC declines to rescind the news distortion policy, there could then be a broader court challenge on appeal.

The group wrote in its filing last month, “Permitting the Commission to continue to ignore the News Distortion Petition will irreparably prejudice Petitioners and all broadcasters. The Chairman’s abuse of the news distortion policy is chilling broadcasters’ speech—incentivizing them to avoid coverage on controversial and partisan issues.”

An FCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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YouTuber Gossip Goblin Releases Trailer For R-Rated AI Theatrical Film ‘Only Gods Give Gifts’

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Popular YouTuber Gossip Goblin, aka Zack London, has released the trailer for his forthcoming film Gods Don’t Give Gifts, a feature film made entirely with artificial intelligence.

The sci-fi film will open in limited theatrical release in the U.S. and UK on December 4. The filmmakers say the theatrical engagement will be a milestone for a fully AI feature, adding that it is the first AI film to receive an MPA rating (R) and also to be campaigned in the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards.

The trailer will go to theaters on Friday, along with lobby posters, and billboard ads are due to begin in November.

Full of trippy visuals matching London’s other work, Gods Don’t Give Gifts is billed as taking place in the “science-fiction, horror-tinged world of the ‘Second Cycle of Humanity’ where transhumanism has accelerated to the point that humanity looks very different.”

The film, which was previewed last month at the Venice Film Festival market, is produced by Edward Saatchi. Fable, Saatchi’s AI company, counts Amazon among its backers.

The filmmakers hope to draw interest in a market that has taken notice of YouTube creators in a big way over the past year, with significant grosses pulled in by the likes of Obsession, Backrooms and Iron Lung.

Over the past five years, Saatchi said in a statement, “the question has been when will an AI film win an Oscar? Gods Don’t Give Gifts is the first that has a shot at a nomination and then it’s all to play for. We will be screening for voters and running a traditional campaign. It’s objectively a seminal, historic moment in animation – and we feel it could be this generation’s Toy Story – the fact that this generation’s Toy Story is a dark, satirical, brutal and bold statement on all 2026’s fears about AI and our species’ future is an appropriate commentary on the questions we are all confronting as a society.”

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‘Drew Barrymore Show’ Claims Best Season Premiere Ever, ‘Adam’s Law’ No. 1

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The Drew Barrymore Show kicked off its seventh season with its highest viewership ever for a premiere episode, and new court show Adam’s Law, produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin and featuring her son, Judge Adam Levy, debuted as the top new syndicated strip. Both shows come from CBS Media Ventures.

The September 14 season debut of The Drew Barrymore Show saw its highest numbers ever in total viewers, up 21% vs last season’s premiere. Averaging 1.8 million total viewers, the show ranks No. 3 among syndicated talk shows in households, total viewers and women/adults 18-49 / 25-54.

Other CBS Media Ventures syndicated titles also fared well during premiere week. Entertainment Tonight remained the No. 1 entertainment news magazine, with Inside Edition the No. 1 daily news magazine and Hot Bench the No. 1 court show still in production. The Perfect Line, hosted by Deborah Norville, ranked as the No. 4 syndicated game show behind Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud.

The stats come amid a diminished first-run syndication field, with Kelly Clarkson ending her daytime talker The Kelly Clarkson Show after seven seasons at the end of August. Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk show Sherri was canceled after four seasons in February. And in March, NBCUniversal announced it was exiting the first-run syndication business all-together, with Access Hollywood and its offshoot Access Live, The Steve Wilkos Show and Karamo all ending. The Drew Barrymore Show and The Jennifer Hudson Show are the last remaining daytime talkers produced under the traditional syndication model.

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Michael Douglas Book’s Wild Revelations, Including Kathleen Turner Affair

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Michael Douglas does not hold back in his new memoir — and if he did, one can only imagine the details he left out.

In his aptly titled new book, One Helluva Ride, the Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction star details secret affairs with co-stars, drug binges and surprising backstage awards show encounters.

“Your 80s may be a good time to share,” the 82-year-old actor explained to The Los Angeles Times. “People interested in movies, we give them a certain insight into the process, and maybe they could learn something. For others, it’s just gossip.” Douglas added to the Associated Press: “I’m pretty tough on myself in the book and, you know, honest. I tried to do the right thing, but I found myself in situations where it looks like I’m the bad guy.”

Below are the seven wildest revelations that have come out so far about One Helluva Ride.

Douglas and Kathleen Turner Had a Secret Affair and Covered It Up for 40 Years: Douglas and Turner had tremendous on-screen chemistry in 1984’s Romancing the Stone, leading to rumors the two were lovers in real life. It turns out, they were. The duo would sneak into each other’s hotel rooms while filming and director Robert Zemeckis and co-star Danny DeVito remained unaware.

Douglas described himself as “still technically married, but separated” at the time from his wife Diandra Lurker (who apparently had a different understanding of exactly how separated they were), and the affair ended after Lurker confronted Turner about the affair on the set.

The stars lied about their romance in press interviews for decades afterward. “The official story went as follows: Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, ‘terrible flirts,’ and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us … It was a lie meant to protect my wife and son, a lie we told the world for 40 years.” Douglas says he got permission from Turner (and from other women whose relationships he discussed) to reveal the affair in the book. Turner has since commented, “Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.”

Douglas added he had a brief romance with the screenwriter of Romancing the Stone, Diane Thomas, as well.

Douglas Slept With His Basic Instinct Co-Star (But Not the One You Might Assume): While Douglas and Sharon Stone shared several steamy scenes in Basic Instinct, Douglas says he had an affair with his character’s former romantic interest who was played by Jeanne Tripplehorn (who was nearly 20 years his junior). Douglas says he “fell very hard” for Tripplehorn. “[The press] were so focused on a possible relationship between Sharon and me, they missed the real relationship happening between me and Jeanne,” Douglas wrote. “I was crazy about her. But I was also just self-aware enough to know that the worst thing I could do at that moment after nearly twenty years of marriage was jump right into another serious relationship. My relationship with Jeanne lasted through production, then we went our separate ways.” Douglas was married at the time, though described his relationship with Lurker as on the rocks.

When Catherine Zeta-Jones Asked for Monogamy, Douglas Broke Up With Five Women: In 1998, Douglas met the love of his life, Catherine Zeta-Jones, at a film festival. When he and Zeta-Jones became official, Douglas said he had to make “five quick phone calls” to break up with other women who he made sure “all lived in different cities.” “None of them asked for a commitment or even asked what else I was up to,” he added. “I am sure they were seeing other people, too. That day, I called each one to say I’d met somebody and would no longer be able to continue seeing them. They all took it well.” Douglas and Zeta-Jones wed in 2000 and are still married today.

Douglas Drunkenly Insulted Julia Roberts: At a 1990 Golden Globes party, an intoxicated Douglas spotted Roberts with her arm around his 13-year-old son and “kind of nuzzling him.” Douglas blew up at her, and said, “Take your hands off my son and take that Golden Globe and stick it where the sun don’t shine.” He later apologized and sent flowers to Roberts and her then-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland. “I remained friends with Kiefer,” Douglas wrote. “Julia, not so much.”

His Wife Caught Him In Bed With Another Woman, Which Led to An Ultimatum: Douglas and his wife were visiting Los Angeles and Lurker declined to spend the night with him. So Douglas called somebody else to come over — and then his wife came back to the hotel room. The actor describes hearing “the door handle turn” and then saw his wife “standing in the doorway, staring at us.” He speculated that Lurker might have been tipped off by a private investigator. Douglas says Lurker gave him the choice of “rehab or divorce,” and he opted for rehab. That said, he hotly denied media reports from the time that he was in rehab was for sex addiction (“I was never a f–king sex addict” he writes).

Also, Douglas claimed that Lurker had affairs, as well. “This wasn’t a case of her sitting at home in her nightgown waiting by the telephone for me to call and check in. She was out with her friends and having romantic interludes with people, too.”

Douglas Used Cocaine Heavily, Including With O.J. Simpson: The actor says he didn’t use drugs while working, but that between projects he abused coke so heavily that he once fell asleep with a straw in his nose. One night, in the late 1970s, he says he did cocaine with O.J. Simpson while hanging out with Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner. “I was overwhelmed, [under] a lot of pressure and began to get more involved with cocaine,” he wrote. “I think it was a large part of the failure of my first marriage and going for rehab … I look back on cocaine as a ridiculous, useless drug. But at the time, it was a way to extend partying and to let off steam.”

Somebody Wanted to Stab Douglas at the Oscars: At the 1992 Academy Awards, Douglas was stopped by an FBI agent at the Shrine Auditorium and told there was a credible threat from somebody inside the building who wanted to stab him with an HIV-infected needle. Douglas says he was “terrified” yet still went on stage to present the award for Best Actress along with Jodie Foster. “As I walked out, I took a quick glance into the crowd to make sure that no one was rushing to the stage.”

One Helluva Ride is released today by Grand Central Publishing.

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