'Grey's Anatomy' Writer Placed on Administrative Leave Amid HR Investigation

►Big yikes. Elisabeth Finch, one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most vocal writers, has been placed on administrative leave amid concerns that elements of her personal journey — some of which she wrote into the ABC show — were allegedly fabricated. 

THR's Lesley Goldberg reports that Disney’s HR and legal departments are conducting an internal investigation to determine if elements including her cancer diagnosis and abortion while undergoing chemotherapy, among other subjects, were not true. The story. 

—"Overly hostile and extraordinarily dangerous." A Black production employee for Disney who claims that he was racially profiled and assaulted while working at a shoot for Grey’s Anatomy is suing the city and the Los Angeles Police Department for at least $20 million. The story. 

—Good lord. In his first year leading a publicly traded company, Endeavor founder and CEO Ari Emanuel received a pay package that topped $308 million. In its annual report, Endeavor notes that Emanuel’s realized 2021 compensation was closer to $67 million, reflecting his salary, bonus and equity awards that had vested. Emanuel receives a base salary of $4 million, with an annual target bonus of $6 million. The remainder of his compensation is almost all stock, $293.7 million in equity awards, the value at the time of the grant. The story.

—Egads. Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge received compensation worth $41.8 million in 2021, just up from $38.8 million in 2020 and $8.74 million in 2019. The story.  

—Grounded. Pete Davidson has bowed out of a short ride to space next week on a Jeff Bezos rocket. The SNL star “is no longer able to join” the other five passengers on the next Blue Origin flight, Bezos’ space travel company said Thursday night. No other details were provided. The story.

Schwarzenegger Invokes His Nazi Father in Emotional Message to Russia

►"I don't want you to be broken like my father." Arnold Schwarzenegger released an emotional video Thursday addressed to the people of Russia. The 74-year-old actor and former California governor largely focused on stating the basic facts of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, complete with subtitles, in an attempt to punch through Russian state propaganda. In a rarity for the Austria-born actor, Schwarzenegger also candidly invoked his father’s dark history as a Nazi sergeant when addressing the Russian government’s false claims that its troops are engaged in the “de-nazification” of Ukraine. The story.

—Sluggish, but expected. The Batman has gotten off to a predictably slow start in China. As of 3.30 p.m. local time on Friday, the film had earned $2.1 million, including some presales for Saturday and Sunday. Local word of mouth for the brooding superhero pic is looking respectable, so far, but widespread cinema closures in response to COVID flareups across China have taken a big bite out of the film’s earnings potential. The story. 

—The nerds have spoken. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the big winner at Critics Choice Super Awards with three wins, including for best superhero movie, with wins for actors Andrew Garfield and Willem Dafoe, as well as best superhero movie. No Time to Die, nabbed two wins in the action movie categories, while Dune took home two wins in the sci-fi/fantasy film categories. The winners list. 

—Sure-fire winner. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on The Harder They Fall director Jeymes Samuel reteaming with Netflix for the adaptation of Boom! Studios’ comic series Irredeemable and its spinoff, Incorruptible into a single feature. The film will be written by Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami, Soul) with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, James Lassiter and Samuel producing. The story. 

—Killer casting. Squid Game breakout Hoyeon has signed on to her next series, joining writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming thriller Disclaimer. The South Korean model turned actress is joining stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kodi Smit-McPhee in the series. The story.

—"I'll be ready to come back and be free and ready to do my thing." Wendy Williams disputes claims that she’s currently not of sound mind, saying that she’s “comfortable” enough to come back to daytime TV and that she’ll be ready to return to a set in three months’ time. Williams addressed ongoing rumors around her mental and physical health in a Thursday interview with GMA. The story. 

Paul Feig Just Wants to Entertain You

►"I've seen more careers taken down by passion projects." THR's Mikey O'Connell spoke to Hollywood's resident dandy, writer, director and now purveyor of artisanal gin, Paul Feige. The ever busy Feig spoke about his two new shows (Fox's Welcome to Flatch and HBO Max's Minx), his perspective on the Ghostbusters drama and social media and his plea to fellow creatives. The interview.  

—Accio no! The Lost City star Daniel Radcliffe may have just reunited with fellow Harry Potter alums for an HBO Max retrospective special, but he’s not interested in returning to his Potter role should there be an adaptation of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play. The story.

—Taking a break. Sandra Bullock says she knew when filming The Lost City that it would be the last time she would work in front of the camera for a while. In an interview set to air on CBS Sunday Morning, the actress said she doesn’t know how long her break from acting will be but that she wanted to spend time with her family. The story. 

—Erotic thriller renaissance! Netflix has added a new erotic thriller to its growing slate of U.K. originals. Damage is a contemporary three-part adaptation of the 1991 novella from late author Josephine Hart and will star incredibly good-looking British people like Richard Armitage, Indira Varma, Charlie Murphy and Rish Shah. The story. 

—The next level. Sony Pictures Entertainment has teamed with theme park firm Merlin Entertainment to create branded attraction rides and hotel rooms based on the Jumanji franchise. The attractions will be launched across Merlin’s properties in Europe, UK and North America. The first ride, Jumanji – The Adventure, will open at Merlin’s Gardaland resort in Italy next month, along with themed hotel rooms. The story. 

—Anna wins again. Inventing Anna stole big numbers in its second weekend, logging 3.3 billion minutes viewed in its first full week of play on Netflix, according to Nielsen rankings for the week of Feb. 14-20. The limited series first debuted on the streamer Feb. 11, amassing 1.22 billion minutes of viewing times in its first three days. Netflix’s reality series Love Is Blind was the second-most viewed title among any series or movie in its second week with 1.4 billion viewing minutes. On the movie side of the aisle, Disney’s Encanto continued to shine with more than 1 billion minutes viewed. The streaming charts. 

Film review: 'Windfall'

►"Lean and mean." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Charlie McDowell's Windfall. Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons and Jason Segel star in the story of a burglar surprised by the return of a multibillionaire and his wife to their isolated vacation home in this Netflix thriller. The review.

—"As funny as its predecessor, but not as relatably sincere." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's Human Resources. The streamer spins off its raunchy and sentimental favorite Big Mouth with a possibly raunchier animated comedy featuring even more Hormone Monsters, Shame Wizards, Lovebugs and Depression Kitties. The review. 

— "Oh tries, but the movie's mediocre." THR critic Frank Scheck reviews Iris K. Shim's Umma. The fully committed Killing Eve star experiences scary mommy issues in this horror film, produced by Sam Raimi. The review. 

—"A sly and subtle satire on humanitarian interventions." THR critic Jordan Mintzer reviews Radu Muntean's Intregalde. The writer-director’s latest feature, which premiered last year in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, follows three aid workers on a mission in rural Romania. The review. 

Thank Pod It's Friday

►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week the guys begin by running through the headlines including Judd Apatow leaving HBO, Netflix making more Dr. Seuss and the MLB embracing streaming. Soo Hugh, showrunner of Apple's ambitious Pachinko, drops by for a chat. And Dan has reviews of HBO Max’s DMZ, Hulu’s Life & Beth and Apple’s WeCrashed , among others.  Listen here.

—Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to Richard Linklater. The indie filmmaker reflects on the medical diagnosis that led him to abandon college sports for filmmaking; how he has navigated the biz to get his personal vision on the screen regardless of the size of his budget; and what is at the root of his fascination with the passage of time. Listen here.  

—Behind the Screen. Tech editor Carolyn Giardina's podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode, Carolyn speaks to Oscar-winning rerecording mixer Paul Massey, who is set to receive the Cinema Audio Society’s highest honor, the career achievement award, during the 58th Cinema Audio Society Awards on March 19. Listen here. 

In other news...

—SXSW film review: Ahsen Nadeem's Crows Are White

—SXSW film review: Gillian Jacobs' More Than Robots

—Japan’s Takeshi Kitano to receive Far East Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award

—Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Vanessa Kirby, Brad Pitt among 900 new BAFTA members

—Dorian Film Awards: The Power of the Dog, Flee among top honors

—The Flight Attendant sets Cassie on top-secret course in season 2 trailer

—Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep among Producers Guild Award presenters 

—Zendaya, The Lost Daughter, Candyman among PETA Oscat winners

—Dino and Martha De Laurentiis’ luxe Beverly Hills estate lists for $37.5m

—Pulse Films’ founders Thomas Benski, Marisa Clifford leaving company

—UTA hires three music agents for L.A., Nashville offices

—Nanny star Anna Diop signs with CAA

—Gymnastics star Nia Dennis signs with CAA

—Peter Bowles, star of British sitcom To the Manor Born, dies at 85

—Jackie Burke, producer for KTLA-TV and E! News, dies at 62

—Ukrainian actress Oksana Shvets killed in Russian rocket attack 

—Regina King, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda to co-chair 2022 Met Gala

What else we're reading...

—Kathryn VanArendonk on Netflix's recently canceled The Baby-Sitters Club which, despite solid reviews and viewership, wasn't loved by the algorithm [Vulture]

—Kevin Fallon on why all the recent prestige dramas on scammers, grifters, con artists and the like has inspired him to become a scammer [Daily Beast]

—Rafaela Bassili's passionate (and entirely correct) appraisal of Steven Soderbergh, a true American auteuer [Gawker]

—Wondering what happened to all the NYC mansions in HBO's The Gilded Age? Wonder no more! [WSJ]

—A Saudi-backed pro golf league that seeks to rival the PGA Tour is garnering interest from broadcasters and streamers [Bloomberg] 

Today...   

...in 1942, Paramount unveiled Cecil B. DeMille’s high seas adventure movie Reap the Wild Wind in Los Angeles. The film went on to earn three nominations at the 15th Academy Awards ceremony, winning in the special effects category. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Lily Collins (33), Brad Dourif (72), Yul Vazquez (57), Sutton Foster (47), Danneel Ackles (43), Abigail Cowen (24), Thomas Ian Griffith (60), Sophia Myles (42), Vanessa Williams (59), Queen Latifah (52), Adam Pally (40), Chris Geere (41), Dane Cook (50), Cindy Busby (39), Geoffrey Owens (61), David Cubitt (57), Adam Levine (43), Steve Kloves (62)