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When the Florida Room went looking for top chefs, they literally found … Top … Chefs.

The Florida Room — which opened in October as part of Fort Lauderdale’s $30 million complex The Fort — has husband-and-wife star chefs Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth, both veterans of Bravo’s cooking competition “Top Chef.”

McInnis competed in “Top Chef: New York,” the fifth season of the reality show in 2008-2009, and made it all the way to episode 10. (In part one of the finale, the Florida native was brought back but did didn’t make it to part two.) Meanwhile, Booth competed in “Top Chef: New Orleans,” the 11th season that aired in 2013-2014, and made it to episode 4 before being eliminated in a team challenge. (In the “Top Chef” spin-off web series, “Last Chance Kitchen,” the Australia native won four challenges in a row, but didn’t make it back into the main competition.)

The dynamic duo’s culinary empire includes Stiltsville Fish Bar in Miami Beach, Roots Coastal Kitchen in Puerto Rico and Root & Bone in North Carolina and Indiana. Booth also has Sunny Side Up Lifestyle, a Miami-based beauty and wellness company.

Florida Room is owned and operated by film producer Shona Tuckman, who is half of another creative couple: Her husband, Brad Tuckman, co-owns The Fort along with business partner Rich Campillo.

“So, these guys, they’re real people, and we can have real conversations,” Brad Tuckman said of the chefs. “I think that it evokes in their menu, the layers of flavor they have. And I think the key is to get people who understand the vibe and the culture that we’re trying to create. Janine and Jeff, they have that. When you work with good people, good things come.”

He said the couple “were open to hearing our input,” adding, “This menu came together because they were open-minded. … When Jeff and Janine started, I gave them a mood board and I said, ‘I’m never going to come up to you again other than this one time.’ And I gave him a whole bunch of pictures of food, right? I said, ‘My job is done. It’s now in your hands.’ And that’s what you have to do. You have to bring people around you that you trust and are amazing.”

Here is more about Florida Room in a Q&A session with Booth and McInnis that has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: How would you describe the overall vibe of Florida Room?

Booth: When you kind of walk into the dining room, it’s very lush and green. It kind of plays into, maybe, your grandma’s Florida room in her home. And it really kind of plays into the ambience of the restaurant as well. … We get this gorgeous breeze off the lake. We can open up the windows and so you truly do feel like you’re in a Florida room. … I didn’t grow up in Florida, but we do have a similar kind of indoor-outdoor dining in Australia, and it does kind of take me back to those childhood memories, but with a really modern take.

McInnis: We preach the gospel of Southern hospitality. We try to give the best service we can and take care of our customers. We believe that if we take care of our customers and feed them right, that everything else kind of falls into place.

Q: What can you tell readers about the “Southern American and coastal comfort food” culinary direction of the menu?

McInnis: I love the word nostalgia. I love when I remember something from taste. And I think it’s an important part of the restaurant business, to be able to bring that to people, to not just feed them but bring them something comforting and something that’s a memory. … I was blessed to grow up in North Florida, in a town called Niceville. I spent my first real culinary career, where I was a professional, in Charleston, South Carolina. I think that’s where I really started getting into it. So, all of those flavors — my grandma teaching me how to make biscuits and fried chicken — all of that stuff reigns very heavily with me as North Florida food. You get down into Miami and people kind of look at you crazy when you’re cooking biscuits, but it does work and people like it. So to me, the answer is we cook from our hearts and soul.

I don’t know if I want to just start naming dishes that … fit that Florida Southern comfort. But if I did, it would definitely be some of our fried chicken that we do a lemon dust on. …. Our ribs are to die for. We kind of smoke them tableside with rosemary in it. … Then, of course, we have some upscale dishes. We have a lot of seafood on the menu, but we tried our best to pay respects to good grits and good chicken and good ribs first.

Booth: I think Jeff kind of touched on some of the more comforting kind of items. Outside of that, we have kind of directed this menu with a focus on local mangoes, Florida avocados and really fresh produce … We have this beautiful mango salad with a sesame vinaigrette. We kind of char the mangoes and dice them up, and it’s kind of this earthy, salty, sweet tart, very balanced salad, but really kind of focusing on making the Florida mango shine. … So we do have this comforting kind of side of the menu, and then we have this light and bright and fresh side of the menu.

Q: Chef Booth, what about your Aussie influences?

Booth: Yes, the sausage rolls are one of my prized possessions, I guess. Jeff comes from this Southern background where he’s bringing the fried chicken. I’m bringing the sausage rolls. So we have an Australian lamb sausage roll. It’s wrapped in puff pastry, topped with some sesame seeds, and they’re a golden puffy delicious [dish]. And we topped them off with a mango chutney, so there’s a little spice in the lamb. So it’s a little bit of heat, but it’s more of like those warming spices. And with the mango chutney, it just all comes together. It’s like a really fancy Australian pigs-in-a-blanket minus the ketchup and you’ve got your mango chutney.

Q: Is it true that you are both very conscious of not using seed oils, a growing trend among foodies?

McInnis: Honestly, I think that it’s a trend that’s here to stay. I think that the conversation of health has turned. It’s not just, let’s eat less fat. It’s more of, what are we putting in our bodies that’s going to give us longevity? … I really believe that a lot of the issues that we’re seeing today with our children, with Alzheimer’s, with cancer, it’s all what we’re putting in our bodies. And I think just taking a stand against seed oil is a big one. I think that the world’s waking up to it.

Q: And this is also a very personal issue for you two, right?

McInnis: One of our children battled with issues with gluten for so long. And what we found out was that it wasn’t gluten. It was poison that was hurting her. And it’s poison that’s hurting all of us. I think a lot of these ingredients that are really inexpensive are really inexpensive for a reason. And if you just put the extra effort to the research and make your bread from scratch and everything, you’ll see a lot of these people will start having a lot less issues. And yes, of course, during that travail of figuring out what was going on with our daughter, we did live a gluten-free lifestyle for a long time. But now we’ve been able to reintroduce it by just using real ingredients, whole foods. We do that for our family at home, why wouldn’t we do it for our guests?

Q: What about the desserts?

Booth: There’s an amazing baked Florida, a [take on a] baked Alaska, which has a very nostalgic feel. I would say it’s basically a Buddhist Hand citron cake on the bottom and then we mix a combination of a vanilla bean ice cream and a lemon sorbet. So you get that kind of citrus creamsicle vibe going on, and then it is topped with a piped meringue and it’s torched and finished with the Buddhist Hand zest. It is absolutely divine and something that you should not sleep on for sure. We have a beautiful panna cotta that’s topped with a passionfruit jelly. … You could just come in for a cocktail and dessert and leave completely blown away.

Q: Is there something you just can’t wait for guests to experience?

Booth: From the moment you walk in the door, you’re kind of hit with this gorgeous restaurant. There’s amazing art — it’s almost like something out of a gallery. You could literally just stand there and look at the works of art, which our designer [and chief development officer], Chris Romero, he created these beautiful works of art himself. And he’s in charge of all of the little touches, from the napkins to all of the furniture design. … As you walk in, you’re seeing all these little touches of elements of design … even down to the silverware, the plateware, everything was so elegantly picked out for the purpose of how it feels.

McInnis: The temperature just dropped outside, and the dining room was always beautiful, but for the first time a few days ago, we started opening this huge wall that was designed on the bar. It brings the inside outside and vice versa. And it’s really magical. Especially … when the sun’s setting. We just started doing that, with the fresh air coming in. It really does feel like this nostalgic Florida room to me.

Florida Room is at 891 SW 34th St., Building B, Fort Lauderdale. Visit floridaroomftl.com or call  754-295-4141.

By DAVID BAUDER, Associated Press

President Donald Trump won’t be getting his wish. ABC said Monday it has signed late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension.

Kimmel’s previous, multiyear contract had been set to expire next May, so the extension will keep him on the air until at least May 2027.

Kimmel’s future looked questionable in September, when ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for remarks made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension, and Kimmel returned to the air with much stronger ratings than he had before.

He continued his relentless joking at the president’s expense, leading Trump to urge the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post last month. The post followed Kimmel’s nearly 10-minute monologue on Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Kimmel was even on Trump’s mind Sunday as the president hosted the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.

“I’ve watched some of the people that host,” Trump said. “I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”

Kimmel has hosted the Oscars four times, but he’s never hosted the Kennedy Center show.

Just last week, Kimmel was needling Trump on the president’s approval ratings. “There are gas stations on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Trump right now,” he said.

Kimmel will be staying longer than late-night colleague Stephen Colbert at CBS. The network announced this summer it was ending Colbert’s show next May for economic reasons, even though it is the top-rated network show in late-night television.

ABC has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, during a time of upheaval in the industry. Like much of broadcast television, late-night ratings are down. Viewers increasingly turn to watching monologues online the day after they appear.

Most of Kimmel’s recent renewals have been multiyear extensions. There was no immediate word on whose choice it was to extend his current contract by one year.

Following Kirk’s killing, Kimmel was criticized for saying that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” The Nexstar and Sinclair television ownership groups said it would take Kimmel off the air, leading to ABC’s suspension.

When he returned to the air, Kimmel did not apologize for his remarks, but he said he did not intend to blame any specific group for Kirk’s assassination. He said “it was never my intention to make the light of the murder of a young man.”

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

Let’s not mince words: This has been a harrowing year for South Florida restaurants.

From Lucille’s American Cafe in Weston to Loch Bar in Boca Raton, diners have said goodbye to scores of time-honored eateries, and if you don’t mind us waxing philosophical for a second, these closings reminded us that our dining scene is fragile and fleeting — a poignant wake-up call, even, to enjoy the places we have left.

So consider this lineup of 10 shuttered restaurants of 2025 an exercise in stress therapy. We could name the culprits of the Great Dining Scene Shakeup of 2025 (and already have in a previous article), because we shed dozens of great eateries each year like old snake skins. But let’s instead celebrate why we cherished them in the first place: the rush of nostalgia, the savored last bite, the unforgettable hospitality on your birthday.

Maybe it’s as commenter Pam Charney posted in the Sun Sentinel’s foodie Facebook group, “Let’s Eat, South Florida”: “I came up with a term for this that I use. It’s called restaurant grief. It’s when one of your favorite restaurants closes and you mourn not being able to go there anymore. Can anyone relate?”

Yes, we can relate. We’re feeling restaurant grief. So here are 10 places in Broward and Palm Beach counties that we’ll miss the most.

BROWARD COUNTY

New York Grilled Cheese Co.
2207 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors
Closed: Dec. 1

When the funkiest sandwicherie on Wilton Drive was brand-new, back in 2012, its oddball vibe — cheese-yellow walls, Big Apple skyscraper wallpaper, late weekend hours — beckoned like a comfort food bat-signal for nightlife crowds. Other places might treat grilled cheese as menu-filler, but owner Leor Barak stuffed his crispy, panini-pressed waffle melts with ingredients that made other sandwiches jealous. Take the Meat Packing District, slow-roasted beef with white cheddar, horseradish-chive sauce and caramelized onions enfolded in rivers of mozzarella, Swiss and brie; or the Fifth Avenue, fried chicken tossed in sweet Sriracha, Muenster and pepper jam. We’ll be thinking about those dipping cups of tomato-basil bisque for years to come.

Lucille’s American Cafe
2250 Weston Road, Weston
Closed: Aug. 31

Part 1940s-style cafe and part comfort-food institution, Lucille’s was a welcome wagon for a city in its infancy. The lunch-dinner destination debuted in 1999, back when Weston was a toddler, and grew up alongside the city under longtime owners Paul and Beth Nunez, serving homey fare such as roast turkey dinners, fork-tender baby back ribs, meatloaf in mushroom gravy and chicken pot pie in a dining room that played Great American Songbook tunes round-the-clock. The COVID-19 pandemic hit them hard, as did the sluggish return to in-person dining, Beth Nunez said, until landlord negotiations this summer stalled out and forced them to close. The couple’s Lucille’s outpost in Winter Haven remains open.

Christine Lee’s
801 Silks Run, Hallandale Beach
Closed: Sept. 21

How often did days of betting on the ponies end with evenings of defeat and sake at this Chinese staple, which held court for 18 years at Gulfstream Park, overlooking the track? Too many, we think, and somehow not enough. The 200-plus seater, which closed in September when second-generation owner Mary Lee decided to retire, held many locations over its impressive 55-year run including spots in Sunny Isles Beach and even Tamarac before landing in Hallandale Beach in 2007. The place became renowned for its spare ribs slathered in the chef’s slightly sweet, tangy barbecue sauce, Peking duck and pan-fried noodles in a garlicky sauce.

Swirl Wine Bistro
4976 W. Atlantic Blvd., Margate
Closed: June 27

Overlooked and underappreciated in a sea of Margate menu sameness, this gem from chef Judith Able (winner of the Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games”) and her husband, co-owner Mike Able, was a singular place, delighting adventurous palates with a rich Caribbean-European fusion. That they did so at two nondescript strip-mall locations for five years is impressive in itself, but their rotating menu definitely helped: pumpkin risotto, oxtail ravioli, pan-fried alligator and sausage dumplings, jerked chicken drumettes, poached pear salads, pork-belly tacos with apple coleslaw and Cornish hens — all got punched up with island spice and paired with sumptuous boutique wines and local art on the dining-room walls.

Char-Hut
12221 Taft St., Pembroke Pines
Closed: May 24 

Back in 1976, a multigenerational family weary of New York winters led by patriarch Joe Cammisa morphed a Royal Castle on Miami Gardens Drive into a mecca for juicy, smoky charbroiled burgers. So began the legend of this burger icon — beloved by Burger Beast blogger Sef Gonzalez and many others — which has grown and shrunk over its near-50 years of existence, then shrank further with the May closing of its 30-year-old Pembroke Pines location when the building was sold to new owners. Two Char-Huts remain (in Davie and Tamarac, run by Joe’s sons Michael and Tony Cammisa) and both still have chuck- and brisket-blended burgers on soft, poppy-seeded Kaiser rolls, chili dogs and seriously crunchy onion rings. Yes, many competitors abound, but Char-Hut’s simple flavors are such a testament to its longevity that we hope it survives another half-century.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Konro
424 Park Place, Suite 101, West Palm Beach
Closed: June 2

First, the elephant in the room: Chef and co-founder Jacob Bickelhaupt currently awaits trial on charges that include attempted second-degree murder, for which he has pleaded not guilty. Which makes it especially hard to disentangle the man, his stated redemption arc or his alleged crimes from the lofty ambitions of his 10-seat chef’s counter. Konro briefly earned Palm Beach County’s first-ever Michelin star in April before it was stripped in August, after his arrest. During Konro’s 18-month existence, the counter presented a ballet of Japanese A5 Wagyu, dry-ice smoke, alluring oddities like drumstick cones of crackling chicken skin stuffed with foie gras and cloudberry jam, delicate bouquets of microgreens and other surprising morsels paired with exotic, small-producer wines from his partner, sommelier Nadia Bickelhaupt. If nothing else, the Konro litmus test proved, however briefly, that Palm Beach County deserved to snatch the culinary limelight, and can do so again.

The Butcher and The Bar
510 E. Ocean Ave., Unit 101, Boynton Beach
Closed: Nov. 9

At this sandwich shop and whole-animal butchery, the porchetta sandwich was worth the price of admission alone: pork saddles that co-owner Eric Anderson rubbed with lemon zest, parsley, shaved fennel and garlic, roasted for four hours, piled onto fresh ciabatta and smeared with gremolata and extra pork skin for added crunch. Or consider its New York-style dogs, made with chuck that chef Logan Gates butchered from the cow, stuffed into a casing and doused in mustard and sauerkraut on a soft split-top bun. Such were the ambitious aims of this downtown spot that scratch-made just about everything. (Ever eat bread-and-butter pickles brined from local cucumbers? You could here.) The eatery shut after a five-year run that even attracted chef Guy Fieri, who featured the eatery on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” in a segment that finished with Fieri downing a whole hot dog on camera. (We’re guessing he liked it.)

Loch Bar
346 Plaza Real, Boca Raton
Closed: Aug. 31

A righteous whisky menu, live music that drifted across Mizner Park, briny oysters on the half-shell and jumbo crab cakes were reasons alone to frequent (and lament the demise of) this Maryland-spun mini-chain. But we’ll especially miss its fried chicken: Free-range, coated in house batter and pressure-cooked to yield all crunch and little grease, this bird was a sleeper hit, especially when accompanied by comfy garlic mashed potatoes. The raw bar quiet-closed in late summer, but continues to operate outposts in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Houston, per its website.

Racks Fish House and Oyster Bar
5 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach
Closed: Aug. 16

Northeast snowbirds and transplants flocked to Gary Rack’s highly trafficked perch off Atlantic Avenue for a dozen years, lured by bold, New England-y flavors: white wine-soaked clams, Old Bay-doused lobster rolls, chargrilled octopus and Maryland fries. That strategy worked right up until it didn’t. Premium seafood costs shot up this year and customers visited less often this summer, prompting Rack, staring down a lease renewal with higher rent, to close his seafood shack for good. “I can’t just keep pricing fish higher and higher until no one wants to pay it,” Rack told the Sun Sentinel.

HONORABLE MENTION

Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q
1236 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
Closing: Dec. 21

We’d be remiss if this roundup of bygone eateries didn’t include this institution, even though it’s not closed yet. Harry Harrell and Gary Torrence’s mighty Southern pit-stop, closing after 36 years, presided over the Federal Highway drag with a staff in perpetual motion: flipping slow-cooked brisket, chicken and St. Louis-style ribs on the 6-by-10-foot pit, chopping juicy pork in the kitchen, ladling mac ‘n’ cheese for the masses. After starting its life as a food trailer across the street slinging barbecue and sweet sauces, the longtime friends said the 40-seat Tom Jenkins’ will close because of higher meat costs and because it’s time to retire. Its imminent closing, as with the other nine restaurants on this list, will leave a void in our local culinary scene.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and DC Studios, and the right to reshape much of the nation’s entertainment landscape.

Emerging just days after top Warner managers agreed to Netflix’s $72 billion purchase, Paramount’s bid seeks to go over the heads of those leaders by appealing directly to Warner shareholders with more money — $74.4 billion — and a plan to buy all of Warner’s business, including the cable business that Netflix does not want.

Paramount said its decision to go hostile came after it made several earlier bids that Warner management “never engaged meaningfully” with following the company’s October announcement that it was open to selling itself.

In its appeal to shareholders, Paramount noted its offer also contains more cash than Netflix’s bid — $18 billion more — and argued that it’s more likely to pass antitrust scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Netflix on Monday said it had no comment about Paramount’s challenge. But on Friday, Netflix downplayed concerns that regulators would oppose a combination of Netflix and Warner’s HBO Max streaming business.

The fight for Warner drew strong reaction in Washington, with politicians from both major parties picking sides and citing the likely impact on streaming prices, movie theater employment and the diversity of entertainment choices and political views.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump weighed in, too, saying a Netflix-Warner combo “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.

Paramount, run by David Ellison, whose family is closely allied with Trump, said it had submitted six proposals to Warner over a 12-week period before the latest offer.

“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a statement. He added that his deal would lead to more competition in the industry, not less, and more movies in theaters.

Adding to the political intrigue in the dueling bids, a regulatory document released Monday stated that an investment firm run by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would be investing in the Paramount deal, too.

On Friday, Netflix struck its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max. The cash and stock proposal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.

The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.

The federal government has authority to kill any big media deals if it has antitrust concerns. Trump has said he will be personally involved in the decision regarding Warner Bros.

Usha Haley, a Wichita State University professor who specializes in international business strategy, said Paramount’s ties to Trump are notable. Ellison is the son of longtime Trump supporter Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person.

“He said he’s going to be involved in the decision. We should take him at face value,” Haley said of Trump. “For him, it’s just greater control over the media.”

The bid for Warner Bros. comes on the heels of Paramount’s October purchase of the news and commentary website The Free Press. Paramount then installed the site’s founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, saying it believes the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based.

It was a bold step for the television network of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and “60 Minutes,” long viewed by many conservatives as the personification of a liberal media establishment. The network placed someone in a leadership role who has a reputation for resisting orthodoxy and fighting “woke” culture.

Paramount’s tender offer is set to expire on Jan. 8 unless it’s extended.

Shares of Warner Bros. jumped nearly 4%, and Netflix was down 4% Monday in early afternoon trading. Paramount was up 9%.

Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky, David Bauder and Charles Sheehan in New York contributed to this report.

By JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” scored a leading nine nominations to the 83rd Golden Globe Awards on Monday, adding to the Oscar favorite’s momentum and handing Warner Bros. a victory amid Netflix’s acquisition deal.

In nominations announced from Beverly Hills, California, “One Battle After Another” landed nods for its cast — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn and Chase Infiniti — and for Anderson’s screenplay and direction. It’s competing in the Globes’ category for comedy and musicals.

Close on its heels was Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” a Norwegian family drama about a filmmaking family. The Neon release’s eight nominations included nods for four of its actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

The Globe nominations, a tattered but persistent rite in Hollywood, are coming on the heels of the a potentially seismic shift in entertainment. On Friday, Netflix struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion. If approved, the deal would reshape Hollywood and put one of its most storied movie studios in the hands of the streaming giant.

Warner Bros., Netflix and the Golden Globes

Both companies are prominent in this year’s awards season. Along with “One Battle After Another,” Warner Bros. has “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed vampire hit. It was nominated for seven awards by the Globes, including box office achievement, best actor for Michael B. Jordan and Coogler for best director.

Netflix’s contenders include Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” (which landed nods for George Clooney and Adam Sandler), Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” (five nominations) and the streaming smash hit, “KPop Demon Hunters.” Arguably the most-watched movie of the year, the three nominations for “KPop Demon Hunters” included one for cinematic and box office achievement — an oddity for Netflix, which typically gives its films only small, limited theatrical runs but found a No. 1 box office weekend in singalong screenings for the animated film.

The two studios led all others in nominations across film and television on Monday. Netflix landed 35 nominations, boosted by its expansive film slate and television nominees like the British limited series “Adolescence” (five nominations). Warner Bros. had 31 nominations, including 15 from HBO Max for series such as “The White Lotus,” the lead TV nominee with six.

The proposed deal for Warner Bros. has stoked concern throughout the industry that Netflix might devote one of the most theatrical-focused studios to streaming. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has pledged a theatrical commitment to many Warner releases, but the leading trade group for exhibitors has called the deal “an unprecedented threat.” On Sunday, President Donald Trump said the market share created by the merger “could be a problem,” and Paramount said Monday it was mounting a hostile bid for Warner Bros.

Neon shines on a bad day for ‘Wicked: For Good’

Yet the studio that triumphed on the movie side of the Globe nominations was Neon. The indie specialty film company has emerged as a dominant force in international releases, winning a string of Palme d’Or awards at the Cannes Film Festival. It earned 21 nominations Monday, including five of the six international film nominees.

Some of those nominations came at the expense of some high-profile studio films. “Wicked: For Good” was nominated for five awards, including two nods for its songs and acting nominations for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. But it was overlooked for an award it was presumed to be in contention for: best comedy or musical.

The nominees instead were “One Battle After Another,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” (a Neon release) and a pair of Richard Linklater movies in “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague.”

In the drama category, Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” scored six nominations, including nods for its stars, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. It was nominated for best film, drama, along with “Frankenstein” and three Neon titles: “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “It Was Just an Accident.”

Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” the acclaimed Iranian revenge drama, was nominated for a total of four awards. At different times, Panahi has often been imprisoned, put under house arrest and prohibited from leaving Iran by the Islamic Republic while making films over the past two decades. Earlier this month, while traveling outside of Iran with the film, he was sentenced to a year in prison and a new two-year travel ban.

Podcasters and A-listers mingle

As the Globes continue to transition out of their scandal-plagued past, there’s one notable change this year. For the first time, the Globes are giving a best podcast trophy. The inaugural nominees are “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard,” “Call Her Daddy,” “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” “SmartLess” and NPR’s “Up First.”

Many of those nominees aren’t exactly outsiders to Hollywood. But they’ll mingle with a wide array of stars that the Globes, long known for packing their red carpet with A-listers, were sure to nominate.

Those include Timothee Chalamet, nominated for his performance in “Marty Supreme,” Jennifer Lawrence (“Die My Love”), Julia Roberts (“After the Hunt”), Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”), Jeremy Allen White (“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”), Emma Stone (“Bugonia”), Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”) and the two stars of “The Smashing Machine,” Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.

After a series of controversies for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that previously put on the ceremony, the Globes were sold in 2023 to Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, a part of Penske Media. A new, larger voting body of more than 300 people now vote on the awards, which moved from NBC to CBS on a shorter, less expensive deal.

Nikki Glaser is returning as host to the Jan. 11 Globes, airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. This past January, Glaser won good reviews for her first time emceeing the ceremony. Ratings were essentially unchanged, slightly dipping to 9.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen, from 9.4 million in 2024.

Helen Mirren will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award in a separate prime-time special airing Jan. 8. Sarah Jessica Parker will be honored with the Carol Burnett Award.

A half-dozen star players from across the South Florida dining scene have for several years made an irregular pilgrimage to a Broward County restaurant to rekindle their friendship and talk shop.

These reunions, which began after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, were organized by Eric San Pedro, co-owner of Palm Beach Meats in West Palm Beach, a purveyor of luxurious Japanese Wagyu beef that earned a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand award earlier this year. He has an eclectic and decorated circle of friends.

San Pedro would often drive a van that also included Caroline McGinley, an award-winning West Palm Beach baker whose La Gringuita Cookies are now available at Whole Foods Market, and Sean Abel, an inventive pizza chef known as Stepdad whose Palm Beach County pop-ups are famous for long lines.

Joining them at the table was San Pedro’s longtime friend, Takeshi Kamioka, once a sushi chef at the exclusive Nobu Miami at the Eden Roc resort, then chef-owner at Wilton Manors’ word-of-mouth hit Gaysha Sushi, now operator of Fort Lauderdale-based Kaminari Ramen, one of South Florida’s favorite food trucks.

The group also included Jason “Jay Rok” Smith, a South Florida food-truck legend who opened brick-and-mortar BMC Smash Burgers in downtown Oakland Park in 2024 and this year was on the list of the Burger Beast’s “10 Best Burgers in Broward.”

Making the drive up from Miami-Dade County was Renata Ferraro, a co-founder of hip Key Biscayne bakery Flour and Weirdoughs. She is now executive sous chef at Michael’s Genuine in the Miami Design District, recently awarded its fourth consecutive Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand.

The destination for this accomplished band of culinary super friends? Humble and remote Skyline Chili.

If you assumed that South Florida’s top chefs spend their downtime dining on foie gras and Champagne, you’d be wrong. All of them have a fast-food crush, a déclassé dining destination that they swing through when no one is looking.

“When it comes to chefs eating fast food, it’s kind of a thing. Everybody knows it.” — Eric San Pedro, Palm Beach Meats

Part of it has to do with timing — by the time dinner service and closing procedures are over at a restaurant, it’s late and there aren’t many dining options.

San Pedro recently did a Wagyu dinner at Michelin-starred Vietnamese restaurant Camille in Orlando, where he has opened a second location of Palm Beach Meats. Afterward, he was stopped in a McDonald’s drive-thru when the driver in the lane next to him honked. It was a chef from the same dinner.

“I had just come from a $400-a-head dinner and we’re at McDonald’s,” San Pedro says. “When it comes to chefs eating fast food, it’s kind of a thing. Everybody knows it.”

But there is fast food — and then there is Skyline Chili, the Cincinnati chain best known for its unusual chili, served on spaghetti under a pile of cheddar cheese, and a variety of Coney hot dogs. It has a single location in South Florida, at 2834 N. University Drive in Sunrise.

When they lived in Coral Springs, San Pedro and wife Meghan became familiar with Skyline Chili as a convenient place to take their young son. Palm Beach Meats and Stepdad once collaborated on a pizza with Wagyu and Skyline chili.

San Pedro acknowledges that the chili at Skyline, with traces of cinnamon and allspice, is divisive.

“Have you had Skyline Chili? You either love it or you hate it. I’m fascinated with Skyline. I would say I’m obsessed,” he says. “I’m not a very fancy person, and I have a deep fascination with working-class food. Cincinnati chili is the story of Greek immigrants. It has very exotic flavors to it. I think Skyline deserves a Michelin star. [Laughs] I think it’s incredible.”

With that surprising statement in mind, we asked other Skyline Chili pilgrims and a few top South Florida chefs to reveal their favorite guilty dining pleasures, where they go and what they order.

Eric San Pedro

Co-owner, Palm Beach Meats in West Palm Beach and Orlando

“I get the 4-Way (spaghetti, chili, cheddar cheese), no beans, with onions. And you gotta have the Coney. I get the Coney all the way. And there’s a hidden gem there, the Chilito. They put the chili in a tortilla, and the way the cheese melts … There’s always a pound of cheese in everything. The chilito’s kind of a new discovery for me. There’s a woman there, she probably came with the place, she knows everything, doesn’t write anything down. She says you can do whatever you want. We went with Jay Rok and he discovered that you could put the hot dog in the Chilito. … We skipped the dessert. They don’t put chili on the dessert.”

Takeshi Kamioka

Chef-owner at Kaminari Ramen, based in Fort Lauderdale

“[At Skyline], I’d get the little Coneys, with the cheese, chili, onion, either the 3-Way or 5-Way, whatever it’s called. It’s been a minute. They’re small, so you could pound three of those, with a fountain drink and that really cool crushed ice. It was just good friends getting together and hanging. And I’m a sucker for the two-cheeseburger combo at McDonald’s, because that’s what I grew up with. Me and my girl, if we get off late, one little treat for her is Taco Bell. I get the three Taco Supreme Combo. Three hard shell tacos and a coke. At the end of the night after a couple of beers, it’s Taco Bell and the two cheeseburgers from McDonald’s, or pizza by the slice. I have two [pizza spots] by my house that I like: Sassano’s and Pete’s-A-Place, off of Davie.”

Renata Ferraro

Executive sous chef, Michael’s Genuine in Miami. (For the record, she “loves” the chili on spaghetti at Skyline.)

“A guilty pleasure for me, something that is fast and casual that I like going out for, is tacos. If I know where the [food truck] Wolf of Tacos is, I usually try to go there. I love his tacos, and he always has something different, so I usually get one of each of whatever he has. I think it’s the time and the dedication, how he marinates his meats, how he does it the right way, like, no shortcuts, great ingredients. It has a comfort-food feel, but at the same time it tastes really good. And if he’s not [convenient], there is a place near my house called Uptown 66 [in Miami], which is great. They have, like, a billion tacos.”

 Janine Booth

“Top Chef” alum; James Beard nominee (Rising Star Chef of the Year); former chef and co-founder, with husband Jeff McInnis, of Stiltsville Fish Bar, Yardbird Southern Table & Bar and Root & Bone; currently chef with McInnis at Florida Room at The Fort in Fort Lauderdale. 

“We have three kids and we try to always feed them the most nutritious thing possible, but then, you know, we also want them to live a little, too. We go on a lot of road trips, so we do find ourselves eating fast food here and there. Our kids, they love Chipotle. Everybody loves tacos, so Chipotle is definitely, definitely up there. … We go to the beach a lot and just to make things easy, we will pop into like Publix and get a Publix sandwich. They’re always good. There’s nothing better than sitting at the beach and eating a Publix sandwich. I usually do the Boar’s Head turkey, mustard, mayo, all the salads, extra jalapeños, extra banana peppers. That’s my go-to.”

Jeff McInnis

“Top Chef” alum; James Beard nominee (Best Chef South), former chef and co-founder of Stiltsville Fish Bar, Yardbird Southern Table & Bar and Root & Bone. (At Florida Room, McInnis and Booth serve a smash burger and a chicken sandwich inspired by a favorite fast-food spot.)

“If I’m going to splurge, [it] would probably be Shake Shack. Obviously, they’ve kind of hit the mark there on the burger. … I just usually go with the basic burgers and fries. Their fried chicken sandwich, though, is amazing, too. What was it, five, six years ago, there was a fried chicken craze with Popeyes versus all these people? [Shake Shack] crushed it. They definitely had the best. They probably had some kind of brine pump on the chicken that really kept it moist and juicy. It was just great. … I think we were in New York, and we got asked to judge the fried chicken sandwich challenge. And it was, David Chang’s [Fuku] versus Popeyes versus Shake Shack versus somebody else. We had to eat them all on this podcast radio station, and … [the winner] was, by far, Shake Shack.”

Allen Susser

Three-time James Beard Award winner (Best Chef Southeast); author (“New World Cuisine and Cookery” “The Great Mango Book” and another on the way in 2026); currently director at Sunness Supper Club in Fort Lauderdale”

“I love ramen, and I go to GoBistro down in Hollywood. It’s a ramen shop, but they also have some other things. I love the short rib ramen. It’s really fulfilling, lots of taste, good, sharp spices. My daughter told me about it. It’s a quiet place, a hole-in-the-wall type of place that serves great food. They have pork buns and some other things, but it’s the ramen I go for.”

Jimmy Everett

Chef-owner at Driftwood in Boynton Beach, who has worked at Michelin-starred New York restaurants Marea and Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50, as well as Valentino Cucina in Fort Lauderdale.

“Fast-food cravings don’t hit me like they used to, but every now and then I get the itch for a really good fried chicken sandwich or a classic burger. I’ll swing by Chick-fil-A maybe once every few months. I’ll do a Wendy’s value menu run once or twice a year. And about every six to eight years, I somehow end up at Taco Bell ordering the most ridiculous thing they’ve put on the menu, strictly for research purposes, of course. But if we’re being real … as a teenager, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Checkers were basically my entire food pyramid.”

Juan Carlos Peña

Chef de cuisine of Lona Cocina Tequileria at The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort; resume includes work in Michelin-starred kitchens at Le Jardinier in Miami and Stubborn Seed in Miami Beach.

“McDonald’s. If time is of the essence … I succumb to one of my darkest sins: A Quarter Pounder, large fry and a 10-piece McNugget, just to fill that little space that a quarter-pound of processed meat leaves behind. No special location, just the one closest to home to make sure the fries make it crispy to my couch.”

Tamer Altillawi

A native of Jordan, chef-owner of Sufrat Mediterranean Grill, with locations in Pembroke Pines, Miami Beach and Doral.

“I love Chick-fil-A because they’ve truly mastered the art of doing something simple exceptionally well. The classic Chick-fil-A sandwich is my go-to every time. It’s perfectly seasoned, with a juicy, tender chicken breast and a bun that’s soft but holds up just right. As a business owner, I really admire their consistency, hospitality, and the way they’ve created a culture that treats every guest with care. It’s also a great spot to bring my kids for a quick bite we can share together.”

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell. 

By LINDSEY BAHR, Associated Press

Netflix’s deal to acquire Warner Bros., one of Hollywood’s oldest movie studios, poses seismic shifts to the entertainment industry and the future of moviegoing.

As one of the remaining “big five” studios, the 102-year-old Warner Bros. is an essential part of movie theater business.

The studio currently boasts three of the top five earning films domestically, including “A Minecraft Movie,” in first place, “Superman” and “Sinners,” as well as the Oscar frontrunner, “One Battle After Another.”

There are more questions than answers about how ownership from a streaming giant would change things for Warner Bros. It’s not even clear if it will pass antitrust scrutiny, or, if it does, what the details will look like.

Here are some things to know, and lingering questions, in the wake of the news.

Will Warner Bros. continue releasing movies in theaters?

Yes, but it might change as well. For starters, it’ll be at least 12 to 18 months before the deal officially goes through and moviegoers can expect essentially business as usual until then. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Friday that they will “continue to support” a “life cycle that starts in the movie theater” for Warner Bros. movies. But he also commented that he doesn’t think that “long exclusive windows” are consumer friendly.

With the rise of streaming, and especially in the pandemic era, studios experimented with different theatrical windows. For many years, a 90-day theatrical window was standard, but now it’s closer to 45 days and often a film-by-film decision.

Netflix and movie theaters

Netflix does release some films theatrically, but not usually more than a few weeks before they hit streaming. Sometimes that’s to qualify for awards eligibility, sometimes it’s a gesture to top filmmakers. This year those releases included Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” and Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly.”

Major chains like AMC and Regal had refused to program Netflix releases until 2022, when enthusiasm for the “Knives Out” movie “Glass Onion” helped break the stalemate.

Earlier this year, “KPop Demon Hunters” unofficially topped the box office charts, earning nearly $20 million from a one-weekend run in theaters two full months after it debuted on the streamer.

Netflix also owns and operates several movie theaters, including the Paris Theater in New York and the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.

Upcoming Warner Bros. movies

The studio has a diverse slate of films expected in 2026, with high profile titles including the Margot Robbie-led “Wuthering Heights” in February, “Supergirl” in June, “Practical Magic 2” in September, Alejandro Iñárritu’s untitled Tom Cruise movie in October and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three” in December.

Movies planned for 2027 include sequels to “Superman,” “A Minecraft Movie” and “The Batman.”

Earlier this year the company said its target was 12 to 14 releases annually across its four main labels, Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. animation.

What does it mean for movie theaters?

So much of this depends on the details, but Cinema United president and CEO Michael O’Leary said hours before the news broke that it posed “an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”

He added: “Regulators must look closely at the specifics of this proposed transaction and understand the negative impact it will have on consumers, exhibition and the entertainment industry.”

Theatrical exhibition has not fully recovered since the pandemic. Before 2020, the annual domestic box office regularly surpassed $11 billion. Since then it has only surpassed $9 billion once, in 2023, driven largely by “Barbie,” a Warner Bros. release.

How will top filmmakers react?

It’s too early to tell, but Warner Bros. has always prided itself on being one of the premier homes for top filmmakers, this year releasing films from Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and James Gunn. Other longstanding relationships include Villeneuve, who has “Dune: Part Three” coming next year, Clint Eastwood and Todd Phillips. Much likely depends on whether robust theatrical releases will be honored — many of these filmmakers are vocal champions of the theatrical experience and may not stick around if it shifts.

The studio’s controversial decision to release films simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021 during the pandemic led to a rift with Christopher Nolan, who after making eight major films with the company, including the “Dark Knight” trilogy, partnered with Universal to make his next two films, “Oppenheimer” and next year’s “The Odyssey.”

Will HBO Max and Netflix become one service?

That’s also unclear. If the two platforms remain separate subscriptions, there may be “bundling” options, as with Disney and Hulu. Netflix on Friday said that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will give its members “even more high-quality titles from which to choose” and “optimize its plans for consumers.”

The Warner Bros. library of films includes classics like “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane” as well as the “Harry Potter” movies.

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The year in publishing saw such notable releases as the latest “Hunger Games” novel and the first book in years from Thomas Pynchon. Readers also sought life advice from Mel Robbins, campaign books by former Vice President Kamala Harris, among others, and the posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre.

Here are 10 notable books of 2025, in no particular order.

“Sunrise on the Reaping,” by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins once swore she was done with “The Hunger Games,” but the author has not given up on her blockbuster series and neither have her readers. “Sunrise on the Reaping,” a prequel set 24 years before the first book, sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, according to Scholastic, even as the press-shy Collins declined to promote it or give any interviews except for one with her editor, David Levithan.

Collins began the series in 2008 and many fans have grown up with it. At an opening night event in February, numerous attendees were in their 20s and 30s and spoke of how their teenage appreciation had deepened for Collins’ dystopian world, in which contestants hunt and kill each other — all while being broadcast live. “As a kid you focus so much on the plot and the action,” explained 26-year-old Savannah Miller. “As an adult I connected to the characters a lot more and had more of an emotional response.”

“The Let Them Theory,” by Mel Robbins

The year’s most talked about self-help book, Mel Robbins’ “The Let Them Theory,” offered familiar and assuring messages for a troubled time: Focus on the inner self, don’t try to change what you can’t change. Robbins acknowledged debts to everyone from the ancient Stoics to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the title of her opening chapter reads like a variation of the Serenity Prayer: “Stop Wasting Your Life on Things You Can’t Control.” Released late last year, Robbins’ blockbuster was high on bestseller lists throughout 2025 and the author appeared everywhere from “Meet the Press” to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Time magazine named Robbins among its top 100 creators: “She’s empowered millions to stop overthinking, start exercising and ignore their inner critic.”

“Flesh,” by David Szalay

Literary fiction traveled in 2025, from India to New York ( Kiran Desai’s “The Loneliness of Sunny and Sonia”), from Houston to Japan (Bryan Washington’s “Palaver”), from the recent past to the 22nd century ( Ian McEwan’s “What We Can Know”).

“Flesh,” winner of the Booker Prize, was a physical, economic and social travelogue. It’s a deadpan account of a working-class, half-dead Hungarian, István, who proves equally attractive to women and disaster as life pulls him along through sexual improprieties, juvenile detention, military service in Iraq, the good life in London and back down again. Happiness beyond the fleshy kind is almost entirely absent from David Szalay’s novel, but “Flesh” has a subtle, uncanny rhythm that made admirers out of everyone from Dua Lipa to Booker judge Roddy Doyle, who told reporters after the award was announced: “It is, in many ways, a dark book but it is a joy to read.”

“Careless People,” by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Some books make news just by existing: Anticipating an angry response from Meta, Flatiron waited until just days before publication to announce an unflattering insider take on Meta by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former director of global public policy at was then Facebook. Wynn-Williams alleged that CEO Mark Zuckerberg had offered to accommodate the Chinese government’s demands to censor the social media platform and that Sheryl Sandberg, Joel Kaplan and other executives had enabled an abusive workplace that included sexual harassment.

Meta countered that “Careless People” was a mix of “out-of-date” information and “false accusations,” and it convinced an emergency arbiter that Wynn-Williams had violated a confidentiality agreement and should be barred from promoting her book, which went on to top The New York Times’ nonfiction list. A headline from Vice read: “Meta Tries to Kill Damning Tell-All Book, Accidentally Promotes It to Bestseller.”

“Nobody’s Girl,” by Virginia Giuffre

The very existence of “Nobody’s Girl” made news, and kept on making news. Six months after the death of Virginia Giuffre, publisher Alfred A. Knopf released her posthumous “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.” Her painful accounts of her years as a “sex slave” helped build GOP support for releasing Justice Department files on Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and to President Donald Trump’s reversing his earlier objections. Her explicit memories of one Epstein client, the former Prince Andrew, helped lead King Charles III to strip his brother of his royal title and banish him to a private residence.

“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,” a statement from Buckingham Palace read at the time.

“The Fate of the Day,” by Rick Atkinson

The second of Rick Atkinson’s planned three-volume history of the Revolutionary War was published to wide acclaim and helped establish him as one of the foremost military scholars of his time, one given a leading voice in Ken Burns’ documentary on the country’s independence. With some 50 pages of source material listed, “The Fate of the Day” combines precise and bloody details of battles fought between 1777 and 1780 with vivid sketches of protagonists known and obscure. “There is no better writer of narrative history than the Pulitzer-winning Atkinson,” a New York Times review read in part.

“Shadow Ticket” (and “Vineland”), by Thomas Pynchon

At age 89, Thomas Pynchon was back after a yearslong hiatus. “Shadow Ticket” was a characteristically shaggy tale of a 1930s private detective, Hicks McTaggart, whose search for a missing cheese heiress lands him everywhere from Milwaukee to Budapest. Meanwhile, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson transformed Pynchon’s 1990 novel about aging radicals, “Vineland,” into one of the year’s most celebrated movies, “One Battle After Another.” Anderson, who faithfully adapted Pynchon’s “Inherent Vice” in 2014, is apparently one of the privileged few to be in contact with the famously private author.

“Realistically, for me, ‘Vineland’ was going to be hard to adapt,” Anderson observed in the movie’s press notes. “Instead, I stole the parts that really resonated with me and started putting all these ideas together. With (Pynchon’s) blessing.”

“Original Sin,” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson (Reliving 2024, Part I)

Books on the winning candidate in 2024, Trump, proved less attractive to readers than accounts about the losing side. “Original Sin,” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, was among several notable works that looked back and wondered how it went so wrong for the Democratic Party. The Tapper-Thompson book centered on the aging of President Joe Biden, made painfully public when he debated Trump, and on the aides and family members the authors alleged were keeping his cognitive decline a secret. “The original sin of Election 2024 was Biden’s decision to run for reelection — followed by aggressive efforts to hide his cognitive diminishment,” the authors concluded.

“107 Days,” by Kamala Harris (Reliving 2024, Part II)

The title refers to the hurried (and unsuccessful) campaign the vice president led when she took over from Biden after he dropped out in the summer of 2024. Harris pointed fingers in many directions: at Biden’s staff (“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed”); at herself, and her answer on “The View” that nothing “comes to mind” when asked how she would govern differently than Biden (“I had no idea that I’d just pulled the pin on a hand grenade”); and at the speed of time (“One hundred and seven days were not, in the end, long enough to accomplish the task of winning the presidency”).

“Independent,” by Karine Jean-Pierre (Reliving 2024, Part III)

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gained notice simply from the title of her book, “Independent,” an early tip that she had left the Democratic Party. The subtitle promised harsher takes: “A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.” Unlike other critics, she didn’t argue that the party had become too “woke” or had stayed with Biden for too long. She objected to how Biden was treated by the press and by fellow Democrats and contended he “remained thoughtful, clearheaded, and well-informed,” however poorly he came across in his debate with Trump. “We had a major miss,” she concluded about the 2024 campaign, “and I was starting to take a hard look at my party.”

Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 reaches its extraordinary zenith this weekend, with artists, gallerists, investors, singers, celebrities, DJs, hoodwinkers and hangers-on from around the world gathering for events radiating out to various locations from the Miami Beach Convention Center through Sunday.

South Florida in December is always a good place to be, especially for the well-to-do, so the serious art impulses of Miami Art Week and its culminating Art Basel Weekend have long been overwhelmed by oddball events, over-the-top parties and product premieres, making it an easy target for caricature. Who doesn’t remember “Comedian,” the infamous wall-taped banana at Art Basel 2019, which went on to sell for $6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction?

So if you want to spend $7,000 on a martini this weekend, Art Basel is here for you.

How crazy are things this year? Here are 16 Art Basel-associated happenings, not all of them true. Can you pick out the real Basel events from the fake? (Hint: Four of them are bogus.)

1. Riffing on the infamous Art Basel banana, a new banana-based, soft-serve ice cream concept called Banana Daddy made its debut at NADA Art Fair.

2. Rock icon and Palm Beach County resident Jon Bon Jovi will unveil Jersey Made, a new line of golf attire, at The Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables on Saturday.

3. Italian handbag designer Abel Richard opened a boutique in the Miami Design District that offers a new line of limited-edition bags starting at $170,000.

4. An artist who goes by Alec Monopoly took a Gulfstream G-IV jet and sawed it into pieces for an installation in the Miami Design District titled, “Flying to a Happy Place.”

5. NBC Sports’ “Join the Ride” pop-up exhibition at Wynwood Marketplace celebrates the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy with art by Olympic athletes using paint and pasta sauce.

6. Luxury design brand Moooi redesigned the lobby at The Standard Spa on Miami Beach to include pop singer Robbie Williams’ Introvert Chair, which goes for $4,395.

7. At the 1 Hotel South Beach, Montreal-based artist Je Suis has portraits of the Kardashian/Jenner sisters, plus pop stars Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish, created with a variety of media that include Kardashian/Jenner-branded cosmetics. Starting price: $5,500.

8. Japanese female pro-wrestling league Sukeban — which blends live sport with art, fashion and music — made its “triumphant return to Miami Art Basel” with a show this week at the Miami Beach Bandshell.

9. On Saturday at the Fontainebleau resort, famed photographer Alex Webb will unveil the exhibit “All Smiles,” a collection of portraits of rock’s most dour musicians (Morrissey, Keith Richards, Marilyn Manson) all smiling. Coffee-table book: $125.

10. The youthfully hip event space Casa Nube Wynwood was transformed into a 15,000-square-foot party for plush toys called Pudgy Penguins.

11. Delilah Miami and Lanore Fine Jewelry have collaborated on two martinis for Art Basel Weekend, each entwined with a diamond tennis bracelet. The martini with a 5-carat bracelet will cost $4,000, and the 7-carat martini will be $7,000.

12. At NADA Art Fair, Miami artist Art Yo! will display a line of jewelry called Retired that incorporates “elegantly shredded” pieces of recycled tires from the Miami Grand Prix. Prices range from $750 to $18,000.

13. An Art Basel brunch at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU on Sunday will spotlight a survey of photographs of the collars worn by late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

14. Palm Tree Club Miami, the restaurant, hotel and live music venue, and California-based Archer Aviation hosted a party to promote a collaboration on electric air taxi service to music festivals.

15. Small-batch luxury tequila brand Casa Dragones is serving at the Miami Beach Convention Center under a chandelier made from 500 recycled tequila bottles.

16. For a sculptural installation at Wynwood Walls called “The Kitchen Muse,” luxury appliance manufacturer Miele provided a refrigerator ($9,000+) and a cooktop ($3,600+) to create “a kitchen reimagined as a living work of art.”

(ANSWERS: All are true except 2, 7, 9 and 12.)

For information on Art Basel Miami Beach events, visit ArtBasel.com/miami-beach.

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell. 

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and MATT OTT, AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix struck a deal Friday to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, in a $72 billion deal that would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.

If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership — and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm, which has released popular titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”

“For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the world’s attention, and shaped our culture,” David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”

The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.

The proposed merger could draw intense antitrust scrutiny, particularly for its effects on movie making and streaming subscriptions.

“Netflix is the top streaming service today. Now combined with HBO Max, it will absolutely cement itself as the Goliath in the streaming industry,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, a market research company.

Will streaming services stay separate or combine?

One of the big unanswered questions, Proulx added, is whether HBO Max and Netflix would “stay as separate streaming services or combine into a mega streaming service.”

But either way, he said, customers could see some price relief in the form of a single subscription bill or bundle promotions, which would be a welcome change as streaming prices continue to rise and consumers feel the pinch of paying for multiple services.

Of course, that all depends on whether the deal goes through. Netflix on Friday maintained that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will give its members “even more high-quality titles from which to choose” and “optimize its plans for consumers.”

Others warned that a Netflix-Warner combo could create an even bigger entertainment titan with ramifications for both consumers and people working across the film and TV industry. Critics said the consequences could include job losses and a reduced variety of content.

Gaining Warner’s legacy studios would mark a notable shift for Netflix, particularly its presence in theaters. Under the proposed acquisition, Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner’s studio films, honoring Warner’s contractual agreements for movie releases.

Netflix has kept most of its original content within its core online platform. But there have been exceptions, including qualifying runs for its awards contenders, including this year’s “Frankenstein,” limited theater screenings of a “KPop Demon Hunters” sing-a-long and its coming “Stranger Things” series finale.

“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement, adding that merging with Warner will “give audiences more of what they love.”

Critics question potential effect on movie theaters and filmmakers

Critics said a Netflix-Warner combo would be bad news for people who love to go to movie theaters and for those who work in them. Cinema United — a trade association that represents more than 30,000 movie screens in the U.S. and another 26,000 screens internationally — was quick to oppose the deal, which it said “poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”

“Netflix’s stated business model does not support theatrical exhibition. In fact, it is the opposite,” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, said Friday. “Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost.”

The Writers Guild of America sound a similar alarm and called for the merger to be blocked. The Producers Guild of America said the Netflix deal must prove that it protects workers’ livelihoods and theatrical distribution.

“Legacy studios are more than content libraries — within their vaults are the character and culture of our nation,” it added.

Warner Bros., which is 102 years old, is one of the “big five” studios left in Hollywood. If the Netflix sale goes through, the remaining legacy studios would be Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Universal.

Friday’s announcement arrived after a monthslong bidding war for Warner. Rumors of interest from Netflix, as well as NBC owner Comcast, started bubbling up in the fall. Skydance-owned Paramount, which completed its own $8 billion merger in August, also reportedly made several all-cash offers.

Paramount seemed like the front-runner for some time, and unlike Netflix or Comcast, it was reportedly vying to buy Warner’s entire company, including its cable networks and news business.

Beyond combining two of Hollywood’s legacy studios, that would have brought Paramount-owned CBS and Warner’s CNN under the same roof. Such sizeable consolidation would have vastly reshaped America’s TV media landscape, and perhaps raised questions about shifts in editorial control — as seen at CBS News both leading up to and following Skydance’s purchase of Paramount.

Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday from The Associated Press.

Regulators and politics could decide fate of deal

While Netflix’s bid won over Warner’s approval, experts stressed that a bumpy regulatory road lies ahead.

“No doubt politics are going to come into play,” Proulx said. He pointed particularly to the Trump administration’s relationship with the family of Larry Ellison, whose son David runs Paramount, and reports of that company’s frustrations over Warner’s sale process — both of which, he noted, “can’t be ignored as part of the calculus as to the outcome of all of this.”

Christina DePasquale, a Johns Hopkins University professor who specializes in antitrust issues, said the government might be skeptical of a streaming behemoth controlling both the production and distribution of content.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed just three and a half years ago, announced its intention to split its streaming and studio operations from its cable business back in June. The move arrived as more and more consumers continue to “cut the cord” and rely almost entirely on streaming.

The company outlined plans for HBO, HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group and DC Studios, to become part of a new streaming and studios company. That is what Netflix is now acquiring. Meanwhile, networks such as CNN, Discovery and TNT Sports and other digital products will make up a separate cable counterpart called Discovery Global.

Warner signaled that it was open to a sale of all of parts of its business back in October, citing “unsolicited interest” it had received. Now that it’s agreed to Netflix’s bid, Discovery Global is set to become a new publicly traded company by the third quarter of 2026.

Ott reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in New York and Lindsey Bahr in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.