Kylian Mbappé Leaves Nike After 20 Years, Joins On as Brand Enters Soccer

Kylian Mbappé is leaving Nike after 20 years with the brand to become a global ambassador for On, marking the Swiss sportswear company’s official entry into soccer. The Real Madrid star will work directly with On’s product team to develop its new offerings, bringing his experience and perspective to the brand’s new category. And after working with the company behind the scenes since last year, On also named Thierry Henry as its Director of Football. Mbappé’s Nike departure follows Lamine Yamal, who recently signed with Adidas.

Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, ending his leadership of the company after more than six decades. The 96-year-old investor will become chairman emeritus and remain on the board, with his son, Howard Buffett, succeeding him. Greg Abel, who became CEO in January, will continue running the company. Under Buffett, Berkshire delivered a 19.7% compounded annual return to shareholders, nearly twice the S&P 500’s performance.

Brad Pitt is returning for a World War Z sequel, with Edward Berger set to direct. The pair recently wrapped A24’s The Riders, where Pitt reportedly began pitching Berger on the long-awaited sequel. Dennis Kelly will write the script, with Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner producing through Plan B. Paramount has been pushing to revive the project after years of stalled development. The original World War Z earned more than $540 million worldwide in 2013.

Peacock is stacking the cast for the next celebrity season of The Traitors. Kristin Chenoweth, Chloe Kim, Rashad Jennings, Whitney Leavitt, Cody Simpson, Craig Conover, Joey Graziadei, Bianca Del Rio, and Dominic Monaghan are among the 23 contestants competing in the 2027 season. Hosted by Alan Cumming, the reality competition’s fourth season recently delivered its biggest audience yet, up 72% from the previous season.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Terry Crews, Jonathan Haidt, Nina Westbrook, and Rich Kleiman are among the speakers announced for Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival, returning to New York’s Spring Studios on Oct. 10. The free public event will feature conversations, fitness classes, music, creativity, and immersive experiences focused on mental health. Towns will discuss grief, loss, and high performance in a session moderated by Kleiman, with additional programming exploring technology, identity, and personal change.

Universal Music Group and Sony Music are suing Suno again. The labels filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit Friday, alleging the AI music platform’s new v6 model still relies on recordings used without authorization, despite Suno saying the model was trained exclusively on licensed music. The case follows a 2024 lawsuit against Suno, while the company has since struck licensing partnerships with Warner Music Group, BMG, and Believe.

Resident Evil is off to a franchise-record start, with Sony’s reboot pulling in $8.8 million from previews, the biggest preview haul in the series’ history. Directed by Zach Cregger, the horror film is tracking for a $40 million-$50 million domestic opening, with some projections reaching $60 million. Starring Austin Abrams, the reboot follows a medical courier entering a zombie-infested town and could give Cregger another major horror hit after Weapons.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are promoting Brandon Weems to general manager, the team announced Friday. Weems, who played high school basketball alongside LeBron James, has spent the past decade in Cleveland’s front office, most recently serving as assistant GM since 2022. He helped oversee four consecutive playoff appearances, including Cleveland’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and will now work under team president Koby Altman. Former NBA guard José Calderón was tapped as the new assistant GM.

Mbappé isn’t the only major On news this week. The brand is also expanding its K-Tech partnership with KITH through the new K-Tech 3, the collaboration’s first dedicated lifestyle silhouette. Built with technical woven mesh and suede overlays, the sneaker arrives in Ivory/Storm and Black/Black for $190. The Fall 2026 drop also brings new seasonal colorways to the K-Tech 1 and K-Tech 2, extending the growing footwear lineup.

OpenAI was the target of an AI-powered hack after security researchers reportedly used Anthropic’s Claude to gain access to an employee’s ChatGPT account and reach the company’s private software repository. The researchers, working as white-hat hackers, uncovered the vulnerability through OpenAI’s bug-bounty program and received a $6,500 reward. The incident adds to growing concerns about AI tools becoming increasingly capable of executing sophisticated cyberattacks.

Disney is hiring Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer, tapping the former Meta, Microsoft, and Character.AI executive to lead its technology strategy. Reporting to CEO Josh D’Amaro, Anand will oversee Disney’s enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, product, and engineering teams. The move comes as Disney looks to integrate emerging technology and generative AI across its global operations.

Image: Shaun Botterill / FIFA / Getty Images