Following last week's announcement that Disney will purchase several properties of 21st Century Fox, several employees inside Fox Broadcasting have said that the "general mood is one of anxiety and sadness." The parent company "held multiple town-hall meetings" on the Century City lot in L.A. late last week to "discuss the ramifications of the Disney deal." However, they "didn't discuss the fate of Fox in any detail." There are also "questions about which executives will be steering the ship once the Disney deal closes." 21st Century Fox President PETER RICE, along with Fox TV Group co-Chairs & CEOs DANA WALDEN and GARY NEWMAN, could "end up at Disney or strike out on their own" (WSJ.com, 12/21).
PAINT ME A BIRMINGHAM: N.Y.-based artist JOSEPH "JOJO" ANAVIM's pop-art paintings have "become a preferred acquisition of NBA stars." His pieces "sell for anywhere from $5,000 to $45,000," and Thunder F CARMELO ANTHONY and Knicks F KRISTAPS PORZINGIS are among the celebs that "own an original Jojo." Paintings for Nets G D'ANGELO RUSSELL and 76ers C JOEL EMBIID are "in progress." Anavim credits former NBAer AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE with "sparking the buzz" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/22).
PRINT FRIENDLY: Mylan World TeamTennis Washington Kastles Majority Owner MARK EIN “will buy” DC alt-weekly Washington City Paper in a deal “expected to close in the first week of January.” Ein did not "disclose terms of the deal, but cited the need for high-quality journalism -- 'particularly today'" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/21).
NAMES: Rockets G CHRIS PAUL and the Chris Paul Family Foundation held their first "Chris Paul Holiday Takeover" in Houston on Thursday with 100 Houston area children "receiving Target gift cards with the stipulation that at least one purchase must be a gift for someone else." Toyota also "provided tickets to the Rockets' Jan. 28 game" against the Suns (CHRON.com, 12/21)....Nike Chair, President & CEO MARK PARKER "sold nearly 135,000 shares on Monday," a sale worth $8.8M (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/21)....Former boxer SHANNON BRIGGS will launch a new business venture dubbed Champ RX, which is an alternative health and wellness line of CBD products that are 100% THC free. The product line will be available to consumers in early ’18 (THE DAILY)...Golfer SCOTT PIERCY and Cubs 3B KRIS BRYANT on Tuesday played golf together in Las Vegas, where they both attended the same high school (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 12/21)....NBC NASCAR analyst KYLE PETTY announced he and wife MORGAN are expecting their first child together in June (TWITTER.com, 12/20)....NBA TV on Dec. 24 at 1:30pm ET will air the premiere of the film "HOOPS AFRICA: UBUNTU MATTERS," which is a collection of stories that celebrate basketball in Africa, spotlighting the sport’s impact on society and its development on the continent (THE DAILY).
