Serena Williams Joins Ownership Group of WNBA’s Toronto Tempo
Serena Williams is joining the ownership group of the new WNBA expansion team Toronto Tempo, the team announced Monday. In the release, the Toronto explained that the 23-time Gland Slam champ will “play an active role in future jersey designs and will help forge unique merchandise collaborations with the team.” This is the latest addition to Williams’s portfolio, which already includes ownership stakes in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, the NWSL’s Angel City FC, and TGL’s Los Angeles Golf Club.
‘Anora’ Director Sean Baker Makes Oscars History, Ties Walt Disney
Anora director Sean Baker made history on Hollywood’s biggest night, becoming the first person to take home four Academy Awards for the same film. Baker won Oscars in the Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Directing, and Best Picture categories. He ties legendary filmmaker Walt Disney to have won four Oscars in one night, although Disney won for four separate projects.
Drake, iHeartMedia Reach Settlement in ‘Not Like Us’ Dispute
Drake and iHeartMedia have agreed to a settlement over a dispute regarding airplay for Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning song “Not Like Us.” Drake initially sought legal action in November in Texas, claiming that iHeartMedia had received illegal payments from UMG to boost radio airplay for the popular song. UMG is the parent company to both Republic Records and Interscope, which are Drake and Lamar’s labels, respectively.
Pharrell Williams Inks Exclusive Collab with Moët & Chandon
Pharrell Williams and Moët & Chandon have partnered on an exclusive collaboration of bottles alongside a global brand campaign that wants to put an emphasis on keeping champagne at the center of celebrating birthdays. It’s a natural collaboration for Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director of Menswear and Moët & Chandon, both under the LVMH umbrella. It’s also a strategic move by Moët after global champagne shipments fell by 9.2% in 2024
Sabrina Ionescu Joins NWSL’s Bay FC as Investor, Advisor
Reigning WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu is joining NWSL franchise Bay FC as an investor and commercial advisor, the club shared Monday. In this role, the New York Liberty star will work alongside Bay FC on commercial strategy and support its athletes as they work to build their portfolio of brand endorsements. The Nike signature athlete also serves as an ambassador for Body Armor, Fanatics, AT&T, and Michelob Ultra.
Women Starred in 54% of Top 100 Highest-Grossing Films of 2024
According to the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 54% of the year’s top 100 highest-grossing movies had female lead or co-lead roles, a sharp jump from 30% in 2023. Some of the biggest box office hits reflected this change, with Inside Out 2, Moana 2, and Wicked all ranking among the top five. Universal Pictures stood out as the industry leader, with 66.7% of its films featuring female stars.
Charles Leclerc, Chivas Regal Reveal Multi-Year Partnership
Ahead of his eighth season racing in Formula 1, Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has teamed up with upscale Scotch whisky brand Chivas Regal as its newest global brand ambassador in a multi-year partnership. Chivas Regal cited Leclerc’s passion for music, being a self-taught pianist and composer, and how it relates to creating the perfect whisky as a reason why it wanted to partner with the popular F1 athlete. The first activation of the collaboration will be a pop-up piano bar called Leclerc’s at the Australian Grand Prix next weekend.
Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever to Play First-Ever WNBA Games at United Center
Anticipation for the 2025 WNBA season is skyrocketing, evident by the Chicago Sky moving their two home games against the Indiana Fever this year to the United Center. The contests scheduled for June 7 and June 27 will be the first time WNBA action hits the same floor as the Chicago Bulls in the venue’s history. For reference, the United Center holds nearly 21,000 fans versus the 10,387 the Sky can host at Wintrust Arena. The two teams will kick off their 2025 seasons against each other on May 17 in Indiana.
Anthropic Boasts $61.5B Valuation After Latest Funding Round
After raising $3.5 billion in its latest funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Anthropic has increased its valuation to $61.5 billion, it announced Monday. With the added financing, the Amazon-backed artificial intelligence start-up says it plans to “advance the development of next-gen AI systems, expand its compute capacity, deepen its research in mechanistic interpretability and alignment, and accelerate its international expansion.”
FIFA to Reportedly Postpone Women’s Club World Cup to 2027
Needing more time to iron out details, next year’s FIFA Women’s Club World Cup could potentially be delayed until 2027. A final decision hasn’t been made, but The Guardian reports that the topic will be discussed during a FIFA council meeting later this week. As for the men’s side, the 32-team tournament is still set to kick off this summer in the United States.
