Iran Standoff Cools, Hollywood Lawyers Up, and Comic-Con Chaos

MayaGood morning, everybody. Welcome back to the Morning Rundown.

DavidGood to be here. Coffee's hot, news is hotter.

MayaOil markets actually breathed a little today. Iran and the U.S. hit pause near the Strait of Hormuz.

DavidYeah, and over in the Senate, Fetterman suddenly singing a different tune on the filibuster. That's, uh... Turn.

MayaBig turn. We'll get into it.

DavidAlso on deck, a judge just sent the singer David to trial in that Celeste Rivas Hernandez case.

MayaRough one. And SAG-AFTRA is pushing back on the Paramount Warner Brothers merger, though they're stopping short of joining the lawsuit.

DavidPlus Ariana Grande suing over a hacking campaign, and there's a data leak at Tribeca worth talking about.

MayaAnd once we get through all that heavy stuff, we're closing with something light. Something lighter. Comic-Con recap. Ella Langley's wild Hot 100 streak.

DavidWe need the palate cleanser after this lineup.

MayaSeriously, alright, let's start where the world's actually holding its breath.

DavidThe Strait of Hormuz. Let's go.

MayaOkay, so overnight the shooting stopped between the U.S. and Iran. Trump's giving them room to talk about the Strait of Hormuz standoff.

DavidAnd oil noticed immediately. Prices tumbled Monday, according to Chantal Da Silva and Steve Kopack at NBC.

MayaWait, how fast are we talking?

DavidFast. Traders had priced in a shipping lane shutting down. The second that risk eases even a little, the premium comes right back out.

MayaSo this actually hits what we pay at the pump.

DavidDirectly. A huge share of the world's oil moves through Hormuz on tankers. Every one that gets through untouched is one less reason for prices to spike.

MayaAnd it's not just gas, right? Trucking, shipping, groceries, it all rides on the same fuel costs.

DavidExactly. A scare in the Gulf hits your Amazon order before you even hear the headline.

MayaOkay, but Tucker Reals reported for CBS. That the U.S. is still building up forces in the region even while the talks happen, that doesn't sound like it's over to me.

DavidIt's not. A pause by space, it doesn't lock anything in. The administration's basically saying, don't test us while we're talking.

MayaDiplomacy with the gun still loaded?

DavidPretty much. And markets know a ceasefire and a truce that could break by Friday are two different things.

MayaSo what's actually driving the pause? The buildup, or is Tehran just- I'm just as spooked as everyone else.

DavidProbably both. Nobody wants to be the country that closes Hormuz and owns a global oil shock.

MayaFair, so don't book the road trip off one good headline.

DavidWatch the tanker traffic, not the tweets.

MayaSpeaking of rules holding up under pressure, did you catch Fetterman?

DavidI did. Politico had it today. He's saying Democrats were horribly wrong to try killing the filibuster.

MayaWait, isn't he the guy who campaigned against it?

DavidSame guy. Now he's calling it a vital guardrail for whoever's stuck in the minority.

MayaFunny how the rulebook looks different once you might be the one losing.

DavidThink of it like a credit line. Useful when you're broke, annoying when you're flush.

MayaRight.

DavidWhoever holds the gavel wants it gone until they don't.

MayaSo less ideology, more insurance policy?

DavidThat's about the size of it. Fifty-one votes today is fifty-one votes against you in two years.

MayaQuick note before we move on, Mitch McConnell put out a health update.

DavidSahil Kapur reports his office says he's still not ready for in-person meetings.

Speaker 3for in person work after that June fourteenth hospitalization.

MayaHope he's doing all right. And a heavier one: Police are still hunting a second suspect after the shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival.

Speaker 3Three people killed; a toddler among the wounded right under the Space Needle?

MayaGene Johnson's AP reporting says investigators think the two suspects were firing at each other, not the crowd. One's already in custody. Small mercy there's no ongoing threat to the public. Still a brutal way to end a Sunday night out. Out, yeah. So, governments settle their standoffs with troops, diplomats and a Senate rulebook?

DavidRight, so what happens when it's studios and lawyers doing the fighting?

MayaOkay, shifting from world stage to sound stage, there's a court ruling out of L.A. today.

DavidYeah?

MayaA judge ruled singer Dee Ford, real name David Burke, will stand trial for the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas-Hernandez.

DavidThat's heavy.

MayaThe AP's Andrew Dalton reported the judge found enough evidence at the preliminary hearing, murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and unlawful mutilation of remains. REMAINS.

DavidAnd he's pleaded not guilty.

MayaRight; that's where it stands. No theories from us; just the facts.

Speaker 3Speaking of legal messes, the Paramount-Warner Brothers Discovery deal just got another wrinkle.

MayaOh?

Speaker 3The SAG-AFTRA board passed a resolution formally opposing it, Deadline's Katie Campione had that Monday.

MayaBut they didn't join the WGA lawsuit?

Speaker 3No, and that's the interesting part: the union wants leverage without betting everything on one court fight.

MayaHmm, hedging.

Speaker 3Follow the incentive: lose the lawsuit you spent political capital for nothing; a resolution costs you zero and still sends the message.

MayaMeanwhile, the guy running the deal doesn't sound worried at all.

Speaker 3Paramount's David Ellison told staff, according to Deadline's Jill Goldsmith, he's confident it closes-and sees no legal issues.

MayaOf course he'd say that!

Speaker 3Sure; but look at who benefits if it does close. Ellison gets control of massive content library.

DavidThe Union's betting scale means fewer jobs later.

MayaWell, while the lawyers argue over who owns Hollywood, somebody's just stealing from it directly.

DavidOh, the hacking stuff.

MayaAriana Grande is suing what The Hollywood Reporter's Winston Cho called "a years-long hacking campaign against her inner circle." Dozens of her songs leaked.

DavidAnd it's not just her.

MayaVariety's Marlow Stern reported the Tribeca Festival had its own leak, hundreds of thousands of records exposed, including contact info for Robert De Niro and Jennifer Lawrence.

DavidSo if you're famous, your info's probably floating out there already.

MayaThat's the uncomfortable part. These festivals and labels are sitting on celebrity contact lists like it's

DavidYeah.

Mayatwo thousand five, and nobody's updated the locks.

Speaker 3Cheap security, expensive consequences.

MayaOK, on a lighter note, speaking of Hollywood putting itself on display, let's talk about San Diego this weekend.

Speaker 3Comic-Con.

MayaOkay, shifting gears hard. Can we talk about Comic-Con for a second?

Speaker 3Please, my brain needs the break.

MayaSo James Hibberd covered it for Hollywood Reporter, and apparently Marvel slaked that a real reaction, but the room genuinely split on the Johnny Depp news.

Speaker 3Split how?

MayaLike half the crowd cheering, half just silent. Gizmodo's Germain Lussier and Cheryl Eddy actually called it one of the losers of the whole weekend. WEEKEND

Speaker 3Hmm, and Lanterns?

MayaThat one landed clean, from what Hibberd described; no controversy, just buzz.

Speaker 3Okay, but I need the Reynolds story, that's the one I heard about.

MayaOh it's so good. Jazz Tangcay reported for Variety that Ryan Reynolds walked the entire convention floor in the Deadpool suit.

Speaker 3In costume?

MayaFull costume; no handlers,

Speaker 3Wow.

Mayano security, just him in the mask wandering around.

Speaker 3And nobody recognized him?

MayaThat's the thing. He's in the suit. Nobody clocks the guy in the suit because that's what the suit is for.

Speaker 3That's actually kind of brilliant. Hide in plain sight.

MayaRight? He told Winston Cho he felt lucky just blending into a sea of cosplayers.

Speaker 3I mean, of course he felt lucky. He got to be a regular person for a day.

MayaRight? No entourage, no rope line, just wandering a con.

Speaker 3Meanwhile, the rest of Hollywood's got lawyers everywhere.

MayaExactly. Different energy entirely.

Speaker 3Okay, switching to music, what's happening on the charts?

MayaSo Gary Trust reported for Billboard that Ella Langley? Okay, so that horror muse pause, David made it click for me. Oil drops fast because so much of it moves through that Strait.

Speaker 3Right, but it's not a resolution, just space to talk. Build-up still happening.

MayaWhich honestly is the theme today, Fetterman flipping on the filibuster too. Insurance, not ideology.

Speaker 3An insurance line you hate until you need it.

MayaExactly. All right, that's the Rundown for today.

Speaker 3If you'll learn something, hit subscribe and leave us a review. Genuinely helps.

MayaIt really does. Thanks for spending your morning with us.

Speaker 3See you tomorrow.