Benzinga Buzz: San Diego Comic-Con In Trouble, Bud Light Is Desperate, MrBeast Hits 160M

Each week, Benzinga Buzz compiles the latest entertainment news into a cohesive column for your consideration. Read on for the latest updates — both useful and irreverent.

InCONceivable! Variety proclaimed "Comic-Con Crisis" after entertainment giants like Netflix Inc. NFLX, Sony Group Corp SONY, Warner Bros. Discovery-owned WBD HBO and Universal Corp. UVV announced that they were skipping San Diego Comic Con, the world's largest comic book convention. Silver lining: Maybe, for once, the event focuses on ... comic books?
Pathetic. Toxic people boycotted Bud Light because the brand partnered with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney on an ad campaign. GOP candidate Ron DeSantis and Kid Rock were among the harshest critics because of course they were. Now, Bud Light is so desperate to win back these customers, it's literally giving away money and picking up beer tabs. "Forget Dylan," the company seems to be saying — during Pride Month no less — "and behold our new ad campaign filled with football stars and country music singers! U.S.A.!" Bud Light is owned by Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA BUD.
160M Subscribers Can't Be Wrong. Jimmy Donaldson is officially the most-followed person on YouTube. The number of "MrBeast" subscribers currently hovers around 162 million, gaining roughly 10 million over the course of just a few days. When headlines claimed that he "just hit 150 million subscribers," Donaldson deadpanned: "I don't remember hitting anyone."
"Simpsons Did It." Are the writers of "The Simpsons" just brilliant or is the world "just crazy?" a Collider video once asked, tallying the number of eerie predictions the long-running cartoon has inadvertently made. In one episode, Homer joins a billionaire and decides to explore the sunken Titanic and it does not go well. Sound familiar?
Reddit's Hollywood Moment. The trailer for "Dumb Money," about amateur Reddit investors taking delight in short selling GameStop Corporation GME and messing up the stock market, dropped this week. It stars Seth Rogen and Pete Davidson. If you're one of the seven people excited about this movie, click here.
Not-So-Huggin' Bear. 2023 is the year of legal spats for Walt Disney Co. DIS. Just recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a case against the media giant by a toy creator must be heard. The lawsuit is over the rights to the villainous Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear character that appeared in “Toy Story 3" — a movie that came out 13 years go. Well, at least the lawsuit is not with real-life Lots-o’-Huggin’ bear, Gov. DeSantis.
Woke Warrior Stinks Up Battlefield. Speaking of DeSantis, the conservative charmer is losing favorability among Republicans due to his beef with Disney. Maybe "a racist dog whistle" in speaking about the NBA will boost poll numbers?
50-Day WGA. The Writer's Guild of America wants higher wages, healthcare benefits and pensions and in particular, better compensation when its work shows up on streaming platforms such as Apple TV. The current strike has officially spanned over 50 days with no resolution, and shows like "Metropolis" on Apple TV are shutting down. This is surprising, considering Apple Inc AAPL and its corporate partners have a history of treating workers so well ... oh wait.
Recommended Reading. Sixty years of The Pink Panther - Positive Queercoding & Psychedelia; Wyclef Jean talks cannabis; Tyler Perry wants to buy BET; and Andrew Tate, who is being indicted on rape and human trafficking charges, has lost all his Bitcoins BTC/USD.