It’s official: Former entertainment power couple Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff are ending their marriage.
“The Substance” star Qualley and Bleachers rocker Antonoff filed papers for an “uncontested joint divorce” on Friday in Kings County Supreme Court in New York. Representatives for Qualley, 32, and Antonoff, 42, did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
The Emmy-nominated actor and the Grammy-winning musician, also known for collaborations with pop stars Taylor Swift and Lorde, separated in the summer. A source close to the couple confirmed to People at the time that the estranged partners were going through a “rocky” period.
“They share a deep affinity and love for one another, and though their romantic partnership is ending, they will absolutely be lifelong friends,” the source told the outlet.
Speculation about the pair’s split began in July, with internet fans noticing that Qualley — daughter of actor Andie MacDowell and Paul J. Qualley — appeared to delete photos featuring Antonoff (formerly of rock bands fun. and Steel Train) from her Instagram page. Among the scrubbed photos were reportedly wedding pictures she shared in March to promote the musician’s song “dirty wedding dress.”
Qualley and Antonoff married in August 2023, a little over a year after they got engaged and two years after first sparking up a romance in August 2021. Lana Del Rey, then-item Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum, and Swift were among the attendees at their nuptials at Parker’s Garage on Long Beach Island.
News of the Qualley-Antonoff split arose days after the latter was spotted attending Swift and Travis Kelce’s lavish wedding bash at New York City’s Madison Square Garden without his wife. Antonoff’s ex-girlfriend, “Girls” creator and “Famesick” author Lena Dunham, was also in attendance.
Antonoff has been on the road for the Bleachers Forever tour since June and recently performed at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. He kicks off the European leg of the tour next week in Italy. He spoke to the Guardian in an interview published this week about still performing music inspired by his romance with Qualley. “It’s beautiful,” he said.
“I don’t rewrite the past, I have no shame about the things I’ve said. My life has been dedicated to making it impossible for me to rewrite the past, because I’m standing there, singing about how I felt during the good times,” he said, “so when the bad times hit I can’t look myself in the mirror and pretend that those times didn’t exist. I would rather live through something publicly than even escape it privately.”
The FBI Tuesday morning raided a mansion in Beverly Hills in connection with an investigation into former Congressman Eric Swalwell, sources told The Times.
Swalwell, a Democrat from Dublin, dropped out of the California governor’s race and resigned from Congress in April after allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and acted inappropriately with other young women, which he denied at the time. Before he dropped out of the race, polls indicated that Swalwell was among the front-runners.
On Tuesday, FBI agents were in Beverly Hills executing a search warrant on North Roxbury Drive in connection with the probe.
“We are executing a search warrant. Court documents are sealed. No arrests are planned,” said FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho.
The raid is taking place at the home of billionaire Stephen Cloobeck, sources confirmed to The Times.
Swalwell stayed at the home several times while campaigning and used it for political events before he was kicked out in April after the allegations against him became public. In one of his last acts there, Swalwell filmed a video denying the rape and sexual assault.
Cloobeck, 64, is a one-time California gubernatorial candidate and a well-known figure in Democratic politics. He got rich in the timeshare industry, eventually selling his Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts company to a private equity firm for $2.2 billion. He immersed himself in Nevada Democratic politics, growing close with the late U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, and later launched his long-shot bid for California governor.
He quickly faded in the crowded field, failing to garner above 1% in any poll, and then threw his support behind Swalwell. More recently, he has found himself in the news for being embroiled in a criminal case with Adva Lavie, an OnlyFans model accused of seducing rich men for money.
In August, agents seized Swalwell’s electronic devices and raided his Washington home, even briefly holding the former lawmaker at San Francisco International Airport, a person familiar with the inquiry told The Times.
The source said Swalwell was held in August at SFO for search purposes and released the same day. Federal prosecutors are using civil rights law to pursue an inquiry into his conduct as a member of Congress. Authorities in New York and Los Angeles County are conducting separate investigations.
His home was also searched during the summer, the source added, based on a warrant in connection with a civil rights investigation concerning the sexual assault allegations.
Investigators sought to seize Swalwell’s white iPhone and MacBook Pro, according to court records.
They sought the devices as part of their inquiry into whether Swalwell violated a federal law that makes it a crime for anyone acting under official government authority to willfully deprive a person of their constitutional rights, according to the court filings.
Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing, but the accusations upended the California governor’s race and shook Capitol Hill, where both parties reckoned with a culture of secrecy and silence around sexual impropriety.
As Netflix grapples with fallout from historic layoffs and upheaval in its senior executive ranks, the streaming giant is facing mounting scrutiny from investors about its growth strategy, diversification plans and response to rising competition from the likes of YouTube.
But the biggest challenge confronting the Los Gatos, Calif., company may be something more fundamental: a clash between the firm’s roots as a technology-driven upstart and its ambition to be a force in Hollywood.
Increasingly, tensions have flared between the L.A.-based executives dedicated to movies and TV shows and its engineers and technologists in Silicon Valley. Internal disputes have erupted over how best to expand the business and promote content on the platform to boost audience engagement, according to former Netflix employees and industry insiders who spoke to The Times.
The friction has deepened since co-founder Reed Hastings stepped away from management, handing the reins in January 2023 to Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, who share the job of chief executive.
The dual-boss structure has at times hobbled the company and contributed to muddled messages and some costly misfires, such as its foray in the games business, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly due to the sensitivity of the topic.
“With two CEOs, it’s hard to have a singular vision,” said a former Netflix executive who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Netflix declined to comment for this article.
But a person close to the company disputed the claim that there was a culture divide in Netflix.
“The idea that this is a power struggle between Hollywood and Silicon Valley misses how Netflix actually operates,” said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “Ted and Greg bring different perspectives to the table, and that’s the point. They debate, make decisions together and recognize that neither great content nor great technology succeeds here without the other.”
Netflix, which laid off 6% of staff this month, has faced rising pressure after losing its status as a Wall Street darling and a Hollywood star.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Only about 1% of the largest 3,000 publicly traded companies in the U.S. have co-CEOs, according to research firm Equilar. But there are high-profile examples of the arrangement, including software company Oracle, Comcast Corp., Spotify and private equity behemoth KKR.
The Larry Ellison family, which this month merged Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111-billion transaction, installed scion David Ellison as CEO and the former leader of Mattel Corp., Ynon Kreiz, as co-CEO. Hollywood has had prosperous pairings, including longtime Warner Bros. studio chiefs Bob Daly and Terry Semel. Disney achieved tremendous success in the early 1990s when the late Frank Wells worked alongside former CEO Michael Eisner.
“The division of labor is just extremely powerful,” said Henning Piezunka, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “If there is a disagreement between the CEOs, you still have two very smart people that are battling it out, and I kind of prefer that over one single person making the decision.”
But Netflix’s top leaders now face mounting pressure as the company has lost its status as a Wall Street darling and a Hollywood star.
Investors have grown impatient; they want to see better growth metrics, which has become increasingly difficult as the service, which has more than 325 million subscribers, has neared saturation in the U.S.
This month, Netflix laid off 6% of its staff, including several key movie and TV executives. It bounced its chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, replacing her with former Fox and Disney executive Peter Rice, who starts on Monday. Several programming executives were also let go, including film chief Dan Lin and his top deputy, Doug Belgrad, and the director of original TV series, Carolina Garcia.
“They have got to have a plan to reignite revenue growth, and it can’t just be about making better TV content,” said Laura Martin, media analyst with Needham & Co. “Everybody’s trying to make hit content.”
Former Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings, left, and Ted Sarandos attend at 2011 launch party in Mexico City.
(Elizabeth Fuentes/Getty Images)
A dynamic leader
Former CEO Hastings, who co-founded the company in Scotts Valley just outside of Santa Cruz in 1997, was a dynamic leader. The mathematics and computer science graduate, who spent two years in the Peace Corps, launched Netflix by mailing DVDs in red envelopes to customers bothered by Blockbuster Video chain’s practices and late fees. In 2007, Netflix began offering streaming.
Hastings oversaw the creation of a pioneering technology that could offer helpful recommendations to users on what to watch next.
That recommendation algorithm has long been viewed as Netflix’s secret sauce. It quickly became the envy of rival entertainment firms that were late to recognize how disruptive the streaming business would become.
With Hastings, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur at the helm, power at the company was cleanly split between the tech teams who worked at its Bay Area headquarters and the executives who worked with talent and content on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
Hastings established Netflix’s unique left-brain/right-brain culture, where people pitching projects were encouraged to openly debate and disagree.
To prepare for an eventual leadership transition, the company set up a dual CEO structure in 2020 by promoting Sarandos, its longtime content chief, to co-CEO.
Hastings, a 66-year-old billionaire, stepped down in 2023 as co-CEO, leaving his lieutenants in charge.
Hastings did not respond to a request for a comment.
Sarandos, 62, was known for making splashy bets on programming that paid off, including agreeing to pay $100 million for the first two seasons of a political drama, “House of Cards,” starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright that turned into one of Netflix’s first big TV hits.
Peters, 55, who was previously chief operating officer, has a tech background that complemented Sarandos’ entertainment industry insights. He holds a bachelor degree in physics and astronomy from Yale University and was taught code by his mother, a computer programmer.
Under Sarandos’ leadership, Netflix grew its presence in Hollywood and created content teams internationally. With Hastings no longer in the day-to-day mix, the power tilted toward Hollywood and Sarandos, who oversees the bulk of the company’s $20-billion programming budget.
“Over time, the center of gravity moved to L.A.,” one industry executive said.
The company expanded its business, including offering customers a cheaper subscription plan with ads. It also pushed into live sports, which Bajaria championed, and games.
The Dallas Cowboys’ Gene Jones, left, and Jerry Jones chat with Netflix executive Ted Sarandos during a 2025 premiere at the Egyptian Arena Theatre in Hollywood.
(Amy Sussman / Getty Images)
Escalating tensions
But as Netflix expanded and diversified, internal divisions intensified over operations and strategy.
In one instance, tech employees were surprised when Sarandos’ team signed a deal to release 2024 NFL Christmas Day games on Netflix without consulting tech and product executives, whose staffers would be responsible for providing the tech support for such a key event, two people familiar with the matter said. Those concerns were magnified after Netflix experienced widespread technical difficulties during the streaming of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight that November, though the NFL broadcast was largely free of glitches.
Disputes also emerged over how best to promote and market shows and movies on the platform. Under Hastings, the trailers and thumbnails of programs were overseen by the product team, who analyze consumer behavior. But Sarandos has given the company’s marketing team more control over the promotional assets of programs, leading to disagreements with the product team over how to best to represent programs and engage viewers, two people familiar with the matter said.
Another source of internal friction has centered on Netflix’s aggressive venture into games that Peters championed, as part of a strategy to diversify its business and retain subscribers.
The streamer acquired several game studios beginning in 2021, investing billions into the space, sources said.
But the effort has badly misfired. In August, Netflix announced it was closing Hollywood-based gaming studio Night School and shuttering Finland-based gaming studio Moonloot. It previously shuttered Allen, Texas-based Boss Fight Entertainment.
The focus on games also sparked disagreements between Peters and Sarandos, who believed the tech and product teams were giving too much attention to games, creating confusion among teams over how they should operate, said a source with knowledge of the matter.
The leaders also disagreed in other areas as well, including over a 2025 deal with French broadcaster TF1 to bring its free channels into Netflix in France as a way to draw more viewers to both services.
Peters pushed for the deal, which Sarandos initially opposed, and the debate delayed an effort that could have helped the business sooner, according to three people familiar with the deal who were not authorized to comment. The TF1 partnership was a success that Netflix wants to replicate with other partners.
Sarandos and Peters also raised eyebrows when they appeared to send conflicting signals on the company’s interest in buying Warner Bros. During an Oct. 8, 2025, conference appearance, Peters said Netflix had a deep heritage of being a builder rather than a buyer.
“One should have a reasonable amount of skepticism around big media mergers,” Peters said. “They don’t have an amazing track record over the history of time.”
Netflix executives Greg Peters, left, and Ted Sarandos, right, visit a studio lot with Warner Bros. Discover chief David Zaslav.
(Joe Pugliese and John Nowak / For Warner Bros. Discovery)
A week later, Sarandos called Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to express interest in acquiring Warner’s streaming and studios business, according to regulatory filings. Netflix in December unveiled its $82.7-billion proposal, which Peters also supported, according to knowledgeable sources.
But, after spending months touting the benefits that Warner assets would bring, Netflix abruptly pulled out of the auction in late February when Paramount’s Ellison upped his company’s offer. Warner executives expected Netflix to go the distance, but they soon recognized deep anxiety within Netflix’s board, according to an executive who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Netflix’s stock hasn’t recovered. Its shares traded for $109 before the Warner bid. On Friday, the stock closed at $65.85.
Netflix is profitable, with net income increasing 44% to $3.7 billion in the third quarter and revenue up 12% to $12.87 billion from the third quarter a year ago, but the company remains under scrutiny by Wall Street.
Sarandos in an earnings call last week there is “no need for a fundamental shift in the strategy” but said the company needs to develop more hit shows in the U.S. that can “travel around the world.”
Netflix projected its revenue would come in the lower range of its estimate for the year, citing a lower ad revenue forecast.
“Their advertising growth has been very slow … and the video game business has been disappointing,” Martin, the analyst, said. “The problem is that the market is maturing and they need a Plan B, and they don’t really have a Plan B right now.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been relocated to a new prison, following reports of lavish prison perks and a head injury that saw him hospitalized.
The 56-year-old was transferred on Friday from FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey to FCI Allenwood, a low-security prison in Pennsylvania, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed with The Times.
Combs’ representatives welcomed the change.
“We appreciate the Bureau of Prisons taking the safety and security of Sean and everyone involved seriously,” Combs’ spokesperson said in an email to The Times on Friday. “His transfer from one low-security facility to another is an important distinction, and while we cannot speak to the BOP’s specific reasons for the move, it is consistent with a decision made with safety and security in mind. We are grateful for the attention being given to his well-being and hope he can continue serving his time without unnecessary disruption.”
Although the Bureau of Prisons is not at liberty to disclose the reasons for the transfer, it has been a hectic series of weeks for the disgraced music mogul, who was convicted in July 2025 of transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances known as “freak-offs” and sentenced to 50 months in prison in October that year.
During his time at FCI Fort Dix, Combs was reportedly living a pampered lifestyle behind bars. Combs paid inmates to clean and cook special meals for him, including curry chicken, pizza and empanadas, and that the hip-hop artist also received Chinese-style massages, four sources told NBC News. They also reported that the hip-hop and R&B music producer obtained a contraband phone, had access to a “jailbroken” tablet and had smuggled an illegal stash of alcohol.
To pay for the labor, individuals outside of the prison were allegedly paying thousands of dollars into the commissary accounts of those serving the “Bad Boy for Life” rapper, the sources claimed.
Reports of his posh prison life emerged on Sept. 29, just as news of Diddy’s shortened prison stint made headlines. His release date had moved up to Jan. 21, 2028, a September search of the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database showed. Following the prison perk allegations against the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer, however, an updated search on the database revealed that his release was pushed to March 2, 2028.
Combs also was reportedly placed in solitary confinement on Sept. 30 shortly following the report of his prison perks. The producer remained in the special unit as late as Oct. 8.
But extra solitary time in the slammer wasn’t the last blow for the singer: Combs was rushed to the hospital Oct. 10 with a non-life-threatening head injury. Despite reports that Combs sustained the injury in a retaliatory attack by another inmate, a Federal Bureau of Prisons representative said that the reported fight is “false and did not happen,” according to Page Six.
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities investigating Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar seized the Democratic lawmaker’s phone and have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to a person briefed on the probe.
The subpoenas were issued for a grand jury collecting evidence in Minnesota as federal authorities probe potential fraud in Omar’s immigration paperwork, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. The investigation led to federal agents searching Omar’s Washington, D.C. home on Monday just weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking reelection.
The scope of the investigation into Omar is unclear, though Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has suggested that authorities were examining potential crimes related to her family’s immigration paperwork.
On Tuesday, Washington D.C. U.S Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a Fox News interview that “there are several investigations going on” related to Omar and that her office is also probing issues concerning the lawmaker’s financial disclosures.
“If there was a crime that was committed, it will be prosecuted,” Pirro said.
The search of Omar’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests that will determine control of the House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by Democrats, who accused the administration of targeting the Democrat for political purposes. Omar, in a statement on X, called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”
“For 10 years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said. “I will not be silenced.”
A phone message seeking comment was left Wednesday with a representative for Omar.
Though the Republican focus on Omar’s background dates back years, the search notably took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking reelection. The Justice Department has historically sought to avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a primary or general election.
Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota’s 5th District, including Minneapolis. She is part of The Squad of progressive lawmakers who are a vibrant political force on the left wing of Congress but have also endured repeated attacks from President Trump, dating back to his first term. She was one of the first two Muslim-American women in the House and the first African refugee to be elected to Congress.
Netflix plans a substantial round of layoffs as the streaming giant faces rising competition and pressure to retain its subscribers, according to people familiar with the job cuts.
The cuts are expected to affect 5% of the company‘s workforce, which could be 800 employees, according to one of the sources who was not authorized to comment. The job losses will affect the creative team including those working on features, the source said.
Netflix declined to comment. The planned cuts are believed to be the biggest at the Los Gatos company since 2022. The news was first reported by news outlet Puck.
Netflix has been under scrutiny from investors over how much time its subscribers spend on the streaming service. View hours rose only about 2% in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as content spending climbed.
“Overall we’re not growing as fast as I want us to, and we’re working on making that move faster,” said Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos at the Bloomberg Screentime event last week.
Netflix has noted how engagement can be measured in different ways. For example, its investment in live programming helps spur significant subscription sign-ups, even though it represents a small percentage of watch time on the streaming service, the company has said.
But some investors remain skeptical about the company’s future growth. Rival YouTube remains the leader in streaming viewing hours in the U.S. on TVs, representing 14.2% versus Netflix’s 7.8% in July, according to Nielsen. Netflix stock has also declined 43% compared to a year ago. On Friday, the stock closed at $70.30, down about 2%.
Netflix last conducted major layoffs in 2022 after the streamer reported subscriber losses for the first time in more than a decade. In May that year, the company laid off 150 workers and dozens of contractors and part-time workers in areas including its social media teams. The following month, it laid off 300 people or roughly 3% of its staff.
Recently, Netflix made changes to its games division. In August, the company closed its Hollywood-based gaming studio Night School and said it was in the process of closing its Helsinki-based gaming studio Moonloot.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ release date has been pushed back following allegations of a plush prison lifestyle.
The disgraced music mogul is currently serving a 50-month sentence after he was convicted of transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances known as “freak-offs.”
While earlier October reports indicated that the artist and producer would be released on Jan. 21, 2028 — which shaved months off his original June 2028 discharge — an updated search on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database reveals his new revised date as March 2, 2028.
News of his release date comes as the “Bad Boy for Life” singer was reportedly placed and remained in solitary confinement at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey, following allegations of a pampered prison lifestyle.
On Sept. 29, an NBC report detailed the accounts of four anonymous inmates who claim that the 56-year-old had been paying men for special services.
Sources told NBC News that Combs paid inmates to clean and cook special meals for him, including curry chicken, pizza and empanadas, and that the hip-hop and R&B music producer also receives Chinese-style massages.
To pay for the labor, inmates allege that individuals outside of the prison are depositing thousands of dollars into the commissary accounts of those waiting on the “Satisfy You” singer.
The news outlet also published an image of Combs using a contraband phone, a prohibited item across state and federal prisons; multiple inmates said that he uses it to scroll Instagram and view explicit nude content shared by an old girlfriend.
Two sources also shared that Diddy has access to a “jailbroken” tablet where he watches movies and documentaries, including “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” the Netflix docuseries produced by his adversary Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Sources also allege that Combs is smuggling an illegal stash of alcohol and purchasing an antidepressant drug known as Remeron, or “rem-roms,” from other inmates.
“This is not some normal s— you see in jail. This is some rich s—. It looks crazy, but again, it’s Diddy,” one source told NBC.
The Times reached out to Combs’ representatives, but did not hear back.
A representative from the Federal Bureau of Prisons said they “do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individuals, including quarters assignment, release plans, or whether a particular individual is the subject of allegations, investigations, or sanctions.”
Legal troubles hit a high note last year for Combs when he was involved in a lengthy and public trial involving allegations of sexual assault and other violence. His former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones lodged civil complaints against the music tycoon.
In July 2025, Combs was found guilty on two counts of a prostitution-related charge, but not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, which carried heavier penalties, including a maximum sentence of life in prison.
