WarnerMedia is investigating claims that Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara promised acting roles in exchange for sex as detailed in The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.
The article includes text messages between actress Charlotte Kirk and Tsujihara going back to 2013 when they were introduced by Australian billionaire James Packer.
The messages suggest a quid pro quo relationship between the aspiring actress and the studio head.
The expose comes two days after AT&T-owned WarnerMedia announced an expanded role for Tsujihara, who is already one of Hollywood's most powerful executives.
WarnerMedia representatives say a prior investigation did not find impropriety in Kirk's casting in films like "Ocean's 8."
An attorney for Tsujihara says he didn't help Kirk get roles. In her own statement, Kirk denies that any inappropriate behavior occurred with Tsujihara.
Sony reports healthy profits on strong sales of sensors and games
Sony's profit rose 69% in July-September from a year earlier on the back of strong sales of its image sensors, games, music and network services, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said on Friday.
Quarterly profit was 338.5 billion yen ($2.2 billion), up from 200 billion yen in the year-earlier period, while consolidated quarterly sales edged up 3% year-on-year to 2.9 trillion yen ($19 billion).
Tokyo-based Sony's latest quarterly results were boosted by healthy demand around the world for image sensors used in mobile products.
Sales also held up in its video games division. During the latest quarter, 3.8 million PlayStation 5 game consoles were sold globally, compared with 4.9 million units sold the same period a year ago.
Demand remained strong for PS5 game software, according to Sony.
The top-selling music releases from Sony for the quarter included "SOS" by SZA, David Gilmour's "Luck and Strange" and Kenshi Yonezu's "Lost Corner."
One area where Sony's business suffered was its pictures division, including TV shows and movies, which was impacted by production delays caused by the strikes in Hollywood.
Among the recent hit films from Sony was "It Ends With Us," a romantic drama based on a novel.
Sony, which also makes digital cameras and TVs, maintained its 980-billion yen ($6.4 billion) profit forecast for the fiscal year through March 2025, up 1% from the previous fiscal year.
Read More