If you want to know how the California State Senate spent (some of) Monday: Lawmakers voted to adopt a resolution urging the Pro Football Hall of Fame to induct Jim Plunkett.

World Cup stress test for LA

Eric Swalwell spent years orbiting Hollywood — shopping scripts, hitting red carpets, touring sets. But he only ever executive produced one movie: “Words of War.” I talked to the film’s producer about the disgraced politician’s role on the 2025 thriller: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

World Cup stress test for LA

Eric Swalwell spent years orbiting Hollywood — shopping scripts, hitting red carpets, touring sets. But he only ever executive produced one movie: “Words of War.” I talked to the film’s producer about the disgraced politician’s role on the 2025 thriller: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Given the very fluid geopolitics of the moment, it is too early.

Big-city politicians are starting to worry about the World Cup A long-planned spectacle collides with the messy domestic politics and global instability of the present.

The World Cup is quietly in chaos, and the first game is less than two months away. Across U.S. host cities, officials are confronting problems ranging from funding gaps and labor strife to security concerns and spiraling costs. Our story (w/ @ryrivard.bsky.social): www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Warner Bros., the storied studio that Paramount Skydance is acquiring in a $110 billion deal, is about to present its slate of upcoming films to a packed house at CinemaCon. Music from “Casablanca” is playing and it is suitably wistful given the mood in some corners of Hollywood.

I’m headed to Las Vegas to cover my first CinemaCon, and one veteran of the convention has warned me, “If you aren’t intentional about eating vegetables you won’t eat any.” Please send salad and movie industry tips my way.

Bruce Springsteen takes the stage in Los Angeles at the Forum: “I stand today for the America I love, the America I’ve written about for 50 years.” The U.S., he says, is in the hands of a “racist and corrupt” administration. Then he launches into a cover: “War.”

Double parked in Los Angeles: a new $400k+ burnished gold Rolls-Royce Spectre. It is stopped in front of a store selling $125+ yoga pants and a coffee place selling $6+ cold brew — and by blocking traffic the Rolls is subject to a fine of $90+.

Chevalier’s, L.A.’s oldest independent bookstore, started selling periodicals in Feb. after a nearby newsstand closed. Update: Home and fashion magazines sell well, a staffer says, but *newspapers* are the real draw: “We have people waiting at the door when we open to grab them.”

California Dems are thankful to Trump, for once

News: Jane Fonda and her climate-focused PAC have endorsed Tom Steyer in the race for California governor, a key pickup for the billionaire candidate. Fonda said she was endorsing Steyer because he’ll tackle “the climate crisis and the democracy crisis.” www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Final score: UCLA 79, South Carolina 51

Every ESPN expert picked South Carolina to defeat UCLA in the national championship game. The Bruins lead the Gamecocks by 29 entering the fourth quarter. It would be the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball championship.

“Project Hail Mary” grossed $30.6 million this weekend at the domestic box office, bringing its total to $217 million — within striking distance of the $228 million domestic haul of “The Martian,” the other sci-fi hit based on an Andy Weir novel.

Politicians are debuting holograms at airports. It’s either innovation or the ‘height of inauthenticity.’ From Jacksonville to San Francisco and Las Vegas, holograms are starting to make inroads in American politics.

Why are so many mayors — and even some senators — getting holograms made of themselves? And why are they putting them in airports? I asked Bernie Sanders’ ex campaign manager — and William Shatner. Yeah, they didn’t see eye to eye on the matter. My story: www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

I believe this is the shirt.

Shohei is on the mound at Dodger Stadium — he’s given up one hit through five innings — and one of the loudest cheers of the night came when they showed a man on the Jumbotron wearing an “ICE out of L.A.” shirt styled in Dodgers colors. The cameraman quickly panned away.

New: The first renderings of President Trump’s skyscraper presidential library show it looming over Miami. It would include a large ballroom and an atrium w/ multiple U.S. military aircraft, including the luxury 747 Boeing aircraft given to Trump by Qatar: politi.co/413JrIw

Knowing Dave Regan, and a new push on ultraprocessed foods It’s hard to find anyone who’s worked at a high level of California politics who doesn’t have a strong opinion about Dave Regan.

New: Rob Bonta says he sees “huge red flags” in Paramount’s purchase of Warner Bros. — and it may warrant a lawsuit. The CA attorney general also wants to beef up his staff to help on several big cases. In today’s CA Playbook, from @tylerkatzenberger.bsky.social: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Amid the angst over the Paramount-WB deal, I'm reminded of this map of Hollywood by Lowell E. Jones. It's from 1947 — essentially the peak moment of the studio system. A year later, a legal ruling forced studios to sell their theater chains. Zoom in: the studios were almost stacked atop each other.

Audible gasps from the crowd at Sen. Adam Schiff’s Hollywood hearing when he said that from 2022 to 2024 L.A. County lost 42,000 motion picture industry jobs.

"The Pitt" star Noah Wyle said at today’s Hollywood-in-crisis hearing that filming the hit TV show in the L.A. area was a boon to the state's economy: the estimated total financial impact of making the first season here was a roughly $125 million contribution to California's GDP, he said.

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s acupuncturist is worried about media consolidation. As the congresswoman put it: “Being L.A., I also get acupuncture, and after my acupuncturist took the needles out of my back, she said, ‘Can you do anything to help bring back entertainment jobs?’”

This rates as drama in the Hollywood-in-crisis hearing hosted by Sen. Adam Schiff: the lights in the hearing room have suddenly turned off as the head of IATSE is naming Hollywood’s many unions. “I think you neglected to mention the lighting crew,” quips Schiff.

I’m here at Burbank City Hall — where there’s literally moviemaking in the mural — for a hearing w/ Sen. Adam Schiff on the many challenges Hollywood faces. Expect the discourse to detail film tax incentives and the proposed Paramount-Warner merger. Oh, Noah Wyle is here too.

The last line of defense against Paramount megadeal California's Rob Bonta is coordinating his antitrust review with at least one other state attorney general: Letitia James of New York.

Amid angst over the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, executives at the latter have a “praying-to-our-savior Rob Bonta text chain.” As layoffs loom, there’s hope among many at WB and beyond that the CA attorney general’s antitrust probe could block the sale. Our story: www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

As of a few minutes ago, Bob Iger is no longer CEO of the Walt Disney Co. That role — with all of its charms and complications — is now held by Josh D'Amaro.

Was it the politics? The lack of popcorn flicks? The Oscars lost about 2 million viewers from last year, falling to an audience of 17.86 million, per Nielsen. Since 2000, viewership is down more than 60%.

Netflix’s Chief Opens Up About Trump, YouTube and Europe Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sits down for a wide-ranging interview as he prepares to make his case to EU officials.

Ted Sarandos details scuttled Warner Bros. purchase, taking on YouTube and more in this @politico.com Q&A. Sarandos: “I do think that Paramount did a very nice job of creating a very loud narrative of a regulatory challenge that didn’t exist.” More here: politi.co/40DHu5l

A White House spokesperson responds to the Oscars: “President Trump was elected by an overwhelming majority of Americans to restore our country’s standing on the world stage and protect our national security. If the opinions of Hollywood elites meant anything, Kamala Harris would be President."