Depp Wins $15M In Defamation Case Against Heard

►Near total loss. A Virginia jury awarded Johnny Depp $15 million in his defamation suit against Amber Heard on Wednesday, ruling in his favor on all three claims that he was defamed when Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she called herself a domestic abuse survivor. He was also mostly vindicated of allegations that he defamed Heard by calling her accusations a hoax.

Heard was handed a near complete loss in the case revolving around dueling defamation claims from her and Depp, prevailing on only one of her claims in a widely broadcast trial that came to symbolize the shortcomings of the #MeToo movement. The story. 

—"Opportunity to heal." Ahead of premiering Wednesday’s Red Table Talk discussion on alopecia, Jada Pinkett Smith briefly addressed the Oscars slap incident between husband Will Smith and Chris Rock. "Now, about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” Pinkett Smith said. The story. 

—Lean out. Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as Meta’s chief operating officer this fall after a 14-year career at the company. Sandberg, who will continue to serve on Meta’s board of directors, will be succeeded by chief growth officer, Javier Olivan, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The story. 

—Take a bow. Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jesse Williams, Patti LuPone, Sutton Foster and Beanie Feldstein are among the winners of the 2022 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. Six the Musical and POTUS took home favorite new musical and play, respectively, while Company and The Music Man tied for most wins by an individual production. The winners. 

THR's Comedy Actor Roundtable

►"The cancellation thing, I think that’s just to give boring people something interesting to talk about." As part of our Emmy roundtable series, THR's Lacey Rose chatted with six of TV’s funniest men — including Michael Che, Danny McBride, Jerrod Carmichael, Will Forte, Jake Johnson and Bowen Yang — who sound off on cold sweats, pissed-off moms and the fallacy of cancel culture. The roundtable. 

—"Some viewers may find elements of the first episode distressing." Peacock is adding a warning card to its upcoming “reimagining” of Queer as Folk following the horrific school shooting last week in Texas. The series, which puts a 2022 spin on creator Russell T Davies’ groundbreaking original, is built around a shooting at the show’s nightclub, Babylon, and follows how the New Orleans LGBTQ community rebuilds itself. The story. 

—"It’s definitely different than being on Fox. Certainly, it’s a classier association." THR flâneur Ryan Gajewski spoke to prolific producer and performer Seth MacFarlane about the third season of sci-fi comedy The Orville, which debuts on Hulu today after moving from Fox. MacFarlane discusses the notes he’s received from Hulu, the fact that he was three whiskeys deep before taking the stage as the 2013 Oscars host, what he would advise people who are frustrated by Dave Chappelle’s jokes and why he feels “a little detached” from some of his shows. The interview.  

—Rule change. The Emmys are doing away with the hanging episode rule, starting with the 2023 awards. The policy currently allows a series that premieres current-season episodes after the May 31 eligibility deadline, but before the start of voting for nominations, to post those episodes on a platform for Television Academy members. However, next year, only episodes that premiere on a platform available to a national audience by May 31, 2023 will be Emmy-eligible. The story.

—Prepare to be boarded, again. HBO Max has renewed Our Flag Means Death for a second season. The pirate comedy from creator-showrunner David Jenkins and executive producer and star Taika Waititi will be back for another voyage. The well reviewed first season was loosely based on 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby). The story. 

De Luca, Abdy to Lead Warner Bros. Film Division

►Incoming. THR's Kim Masters has the scoop on Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy reaching a deal to run Warner Bros.' film studio and New Line as soon as Amazon releases them from their contracts at MGM — as soon as next month. Toby Emmerich, who has been running Warners and New Line since 2017, will exit that role but received a production deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The shakeup on the film side comes as WBD chief David Zaslav seeks to model Warners after the system that former Disney CEO Bob Iger implemented at that studio, with the verticals reporting directly to him. The story. 

—The runners and riders. THR's Carolyn Giardina has the scoop on The Academy's list of nominated candidates running for open seats in its 54-seat Board of Governors. Soon-to-be former Warners’ film head Toby Emmerich, composer Hans Zimmer, actors Richard Dreyfuss and Marlee Matlin and director Jason Reitman are among those on the ballot for voting, taking place June 6-10. The story.

—Shifted to streaming. The Owen Wilson-starrer Secret Headquarters, a family superhero action-comedy from Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer, is headed straight-to-streaming on Paramount+. Secret Headquarters was previously set to hit theaters on Aug. 5, but will now exclusively debut on the streaming platform this August. The story. 

—Royal lineup. Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine will lead the movie adaptation of Casey McQuiston's beloved book Red, White & Royal Blue for Amazon and Berlanti/Schechter Films. The rom-com follows Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez), the Mexican-American son of the country’s newly elected president, who is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. The story. 

SJP Addresses Kim Cattrall Rift

►"There just isn’t anyone else who’s ever talked about me this way." Sarah Jessica Parker has spoken at length, for the first time, about the rift in her relationship with former Sex and the City co-star Kim Cattrall. Speaking to THR's Scott Feinberg, Parker says that Cattrall derailed a third SATC movie, and then publicly attacked her which led to her not being asked to be on HBO Max's revival series And Just Like That because "it no longer felt comfortable." The story. 

—"She felt so much like me." Ahead of the June 8 release of the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+, THR's Rebecca Sun spoke to star Iman Vellani on playing Kamala Khan, Marvel's first Muslim character to headline her own comic book. The Pakistan-born Canadian actress and comic book fan admits she procrastinated in sending in her tape for the role but told herself, "My 10-year-old self is going to hate me if I don't do it." The interview.  

—"There were moments of wanting to not be here." Elliot Page is opening up about his experience since coming out as trans in 2020, including describing a varied response — one the Umbrella Academy star didn’t anticipate would be so big — that brought “love and support from many people” and “hatred and cruelty and vitriol” from others. The story.

—"Every worker deserves that level of financial transparency." In a guest column for THR, Outlander star and former model Caitriona Balfe speaks out on a proposed New York state bill that would reform modeling agencies, creating, she says, "basic protections for fashion's creative workforce." The column. 

TV Review: 'P-Valley' S2

►"Cleverly tackles recent events with its own uniquely pungent voice." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews season two of Starz's P-Valley. Katori Hall's Mississippi Delta strip club drama returns with a second season set in 2020 amid the COVID pandemic and the summer of racial injustice protests. The review.

—"One of TV's best medical dramas in years." Dan reviews AMC+’s This Is Going to Hurt. Ben Whishaw plays an overworked London OBGYN doctor battling bureaucracy and his inner demons in this adaptation of creator Adam Kay's memoir. The review. 

—"[Adams] surprisingly fails to find any edge." THR theater critic Demetrios Matheou reviews Jeremy Herrin's The Glass Menagerie. Amy Adams makes her London stage debut as Amanda Wingfield in a revival of Tennessee Williams' 1944 memory play. The review.

In other news...

—Feinberg Forecast: Updated Emmy projections

—FX orders English Teacher pilot from Brian Jordan Alvarez

—PBS NewsHour names Laura Barrón-López White House correspondent

—Morgan Wallen among Academy of Country Music honorees

—Zurich: Emma, Chocolat composer Rachel Portman to receive lifetime achievement honor

—BET Awards: Doja Cat leads nominations with six

—Peabody Awards: Morgan Freeman, Jon Stewart, Melissa McCarthy and Riz Ahmed to present 

—Boston’s NESN offers break from cable bundle with streaming service launch

—Takashi Murakami on his new art show and AR elements at L.A.’s Broad Museum

What else we're reading...

—Weird one: "Spotify podcasters are making $18,000 a month with nothing but white noise" [Bloomberg]

—Sara Fischer's scoop on the Jonas Brothers backing a new subscription media business for celebrities [Axios]

— Lisa Rosen's interview with Cobra Kai stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka on the show's humor and wacky plot twists [LAT]

—Daily Show’s Trevor Noah tears into racist Star Wars fans for attacking star Moses Ingram [Daily Beast]

— Anna Peele on the bafflingly popular reality dating show Love Island, that has been rebooted following a series of high-profile suicides [VF]

Today...  

...in 2002, HBO premiered David Simon’s The Wire. The Baltimore-set crime drama ended up spanning five seasons, and to this day is considered by many to be one of the best television shows ever created. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Kevin Feige (49), Morena Baccarin (43), Dennis Haysbert (68), Awkwafina (34), Jack Lowden (32), Lasse Hallström (76), Jewel Staite (40), Justin Long (44), Zachary Quinto (45), Jeremy Ray Taylor (19), Wentworth Miller (50), Dominic Cooper (44), Amber Marshall (34), Dana Carvey (67), Liam Cunningham (61), James Ransone (43), Wayne Brady (50), Leah Cairns (48), Jon Peters (77), Norm Lewis (59)