Disney’s Black Widow settlement, Super Bowl’s star-studded halftime show, Blue Origin workplace controversy
Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman breaks down Friday’s business headlines.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: A group of current and former employees at Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, are accusing the company of safety lapses and a culture permissive of sexual harassment. The group of 21, all except one, who remained anonymous, published their allegations on the website Lioness.
The self-identified employee, Alexandra Abrams, is former head of employee communications. She appeared on CBS this morning. Blue Origin said in a statement that Abrams was fired for cause and said it has, quote, "No tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind." The company also said its New Shepard rocket is, quote, "The safest space vehicle ever designed or built."
Scarlett Johansson and Disney have come to a settlement, following the actress's breach of contract lawsuit. Johansson claimed the studio sacrificed the potential box office take of her movie, "Black Widow," in order to boost Disney Plus, where it was simultaneously released. "Black Widow's" theatrical gross is $379 million. Johansson's suit may have been triggered by comments by Disney executives that "Black Widow" earned $60 million via Disney Plus Premier access. That's where Disney was charging $30 to view that movie. Financial terms of the Johannson-Disney settlement not disclosed.
And the NFL is trying to end the football season with a bang. The league, along with corporate sponsor Pepsi and entertainment company Roc Nation, just announced the halftime show lineup for Super Bowl 56 on February 13. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar will share the stage. This might be Brian Chung's dream lineup. I'm not sure.
Football ratings have been rebounding this season with a 9% increase over last year to an average 16.9 million viewers on TV and streaming platforms. That's according to the LA Times. And that is the best start for the NFL going back to 2016. So we'll see what that halftime show does for viewership for the Super Bowl.
