Dave Chappelle Attacked on Stage at the Hollywood Bowl

►"Was that Will Smith? Dave Chappelle was assaulted on stage during his set at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, according to people who attended the show and footage circulating on social media. A man rushed the stage and tackled the comedian before being dragged away by security.

Chappelle appeared uninjured and made light of the incident in the immediate aftermath, as did Chris Rock who was one amongst many who came to the stage from backstage when the incident happened. The LAPD later confirmed they had taken a man into custody and that he was armed with a replica gun. The story.  

—"It’s not something people do lightly." Whoopi Goldberg delivered an impassioned speech about the “human issue” of abortion a day after a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion suggested a majority of justices could be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. On Tuesday’s The View, where the leaked opinion was a topic of discussion, Goldberg called abortion "a human issue" as opposed to "a religious issue." The story. 

—Trial to continue. A judge ruled on Tuesday that Johnny Depp has presented enough evidence to survive Amber Heard’s mid-trial bid to dismiss his $50 million defamation case. The judge pointed to testimony from witnesses supporting Depp’s claims that the allegedly defamatory statements at issue in the case are false, about him and that Heard could have made them "so recklessly as to amount to willful disregard for the truth." The story. 

—Mixing it up. After an all virtual festival in 2021 and an 11th-hour switch to online again in 2022, Sundance is planning a hybrid film festival for its 2023 iteration. The festival will run Jan. 19 to Jan. 29, with the in-person portion taking place in Park City, Utah. The 2023 program line-up will also be larger than the past two year’s schedules. The story. 

—Class of 2022. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced which of this year’s nominees will be inducted. Rock hitmaker Pat Benatar, new wave chart-toppers Duran Duran, hip-hop heavyweight Eminem, synth-pop duo Eurythmics, country legend Dolly Parton, R&B hitmaker Lionel Richie and pop singer-songwriter Carly Simon will all be inducted at the ceremony on Nov. 5  in Los Angeles. The story. 

Viola Davis in Talks to Star in 'Peacemaker' Spinoff at HBO Max

►Spin-off of a spin-off. HBO Max is looking to chisel out a second spin-off series from James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Viola Davis, who played Amanda Waller in the film (and its definite article-less predecessor), is in talks to reprise her role for a series project in the works at the streamer. The show would spin off from the streamer’s Peacemaker, which featured a couple of brief appearances from Davis’ Waller in its first season. The story. 

—Can't stop, won't stop. CBS will claim the lead among total viewers for the 2021-22 TV season, marking the 14th straight year the network has topped its broadcast rivals in that measure. NBC, which had both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics during the season, will likely end up on top in the key ad demographic of adults 18-49 — for the eighth time in the past nine seasons — but fall just shy of CBS’ viewer tally. The story.

—Chasing Starz. Roku and Apollo Global Management have put in a bid for a minority stake in the Lionsgate-owned cable and streaming service Starz. Apollo and Roku are understood to be among multiple undisclosed bidders at this time. Lionsgate has long been expected to explore a sale or spinoff of Starz, which it acquired for $4.4 billion in 2016. The story. 

—Denied. Cumulus Media has rejected an offer to acquire the company for $1.2 billion, the radio broadcasting company said Wednesday. The company did not list the prospective buyer, however Reuters previously reported that a consortium led by Jeff Warshaw, chief executive of broadcasting company Connoisseur Media, put in an offer to acquire the company and take it private at that price. The story.

—Pivot news. YouTube execs are placing a “big bet” on live shopping and other commerce integrations with creators as the video streaming platform has seen slower ad revenue growth in recent months. The video platform recently reported $6.86 billion in ad revenue during Q1, falling short of analysts' expectations after a year of major growth. The story.

—Because we all talked about Bruno. Universal Music Group reported higher revenue and earnings for Q1 on Tuesday amid growth across its businesses, including its recorded music unit, which benefited from the Encanto soundtrack, as well as releases by the likes of The Weeknd and Japanese idol group King & Prince. The music major saw quarterly revenue increase 21.6 percent to $2.32 billion. The results.

'This Is Us' Star Jon Huertas On Miguel's "Beautiful Sendoff"

►"I love the reaction people are having to this episode." THR's Jackie Strause spoke to This Is Us star Jon Huertas about the latest Miguel-centric episode of the show (fourth-to-last-ever!), a decades-spanning hour that finally gives audiences the full picture of Rebecca's (Mandy Moore) second love story. The interview. 

—"Be free, my beautiful mother. Be free." Ashley Judd is remembering her mother and thanking the public for its “outpouring” of support in the wake of Naomi Judd’s death. In a touching post on Instagram, the actress shared photos and video honoring Naomi from Sunday's Country Music Hall of Fame induction. The story. 

—If you build another one, they will come. THR's resident baseball nut Lesley Goldberg has the scoop that Peacock will film its upcoming limited series Field of Dreams in Iowa. However, the Mike Schur-created series will not use the field that Major League Baseball re-created last year on the site of the beloved Kevin Costner movie. Production is slated to begin this summer. The story. 

—Not dead to Netflix. Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman, who recently wrapped production on the final season of the Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini comedy, has already lined up her next show for Netflix. The streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for No Good Deed, a dark comedy about real estate that is inspired by the pandemic’s early quarantine days. The story. 

—Powerhouse trio. Seven-time Emmy winner Allison Janney has been tapped to star alongside Kristen Wiig and Laura Dern in Apple TV+'s 10-episode comedy Mrs. American Pie. Ordered straight to series in February, the early 1970s set comedy is based on the novel by Juliet McDaniel. The story. 

TV Review: 'The Staircase'  

►"Rises above the true-crime trend." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews HBO Max's The Staircase. Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan and Parker Posey star in this scripted limited series based on the acclaimed documentary The Staircase about a North Carolina author accused of murdering his wife in 2001. The review. 

—Yes! Yes! Yes! Meg Ryan is set to dust off her ’90s rom-com roots and will direct and star in What Happens Later alongside David Duchovny. The film — based on the play Shooting Star by Steven Dietz, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside fellow playwright and novelist Kirk Lynn and Ryan — is described by the filmmakers as an “evolved and nostalgic take on the romantic comedy." The story.

—Bravo! Paul Schrader, director of American Gigolo, Cat People, First Reformed and The Card Counter and the screenwriter of Martin Scorsese’s classics Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, will be honored with this year’s Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival. The story. 

—Top job. Eva Yates has been promoted to director of BBC Film, taking the role that is being vacated by Rose Garnett as she moves to A24. She will now lead one of the U.K.’s most important backers of independent film and a unit that helps develop and co-produce around 12-15 features each year. The story.

—This Week in TV. THR's Rick Porter runs down the TV premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. Among the things to look out for over the coming week include the debuts of HBO Max’s The Staircase, Hulu’s Candy and Paramount+'s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the return of the Peacock comedy Girls5eva, Amazon's The Wilds and Apple's Tehran as well as season finales for several broadcast dramas. The full guide.

In other news...

—Netflix: Movies and TV shows leaving in May 

—Netflix’s new releases coming in May 2022 

—Obi-Wan Kenobi drops intense new trailer for Star Wars Day

—Daniel Radcliffe transforms into “Weird Al” Yankovic in first trailer for Roku biopic

—Roku to develop original series with Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse

—Russo Brothers shingle AGBO hires Scott Nemes to head television

—Disney streaming adds to executive team with hires from Netflix, Meta

—AFM managing director Jonathan Wolf to exit

—TikTok star Chris Olsen signs with CAA

—Snap unveils equity pledge to increase representation on its original programming

What else we're reading...

—Here it is, part 2 of Evgenia Peretz's incredible expose of Grey's Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch (seriously, this popped the monocle right off my face) [VF]

—Story on social media startups like HalloApp that are trying to reshape online discourse (making it a bit nicer with fewer Nazis, essentially) [WSJ]

—Cecilia D'Anastasio with an interesting story on former YouTubers and Twitch streamers finding new ways to make to avoid burnout [Bloomberg]

—Rather concerning: "Even Biden’s allies have no clue what he’s doing on abortion" [Daily Beast]

—Adam Serwer on Alito’s plan to repeal the 20th century [Atlantic]

Today...  

...in 1944, MGM premiered Gaslight in New York at the Capitol Theatre. The thriller went on to claim two Oscars at the 17th Academy Awards, including a best actress nod for Ingrid Bergman. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Will Arnett (54), Alex Lawther (27), Shameik Moore (27), Richard Jenkins (75), Lance Bass (43), Abigail Hawk (37), Ashley Rickards (30), Ana Gasteyer (55), Julian Barratt (54), Jean Yoon (60), Stefano Sollima (56), Randy Travis (63), David Della Rocco (70), Steve Barron (66), Eleanor Coppola (86), David Blocker (67)