The daily business briefing: July 14, 2023

A picket line with people holding protest signs supporting Hollywood actors and writers

Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA went on strike at midnight Friday

(Image credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images)

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1. Hollywood actors go on strike, joining writers guild
2. Tucker Carlson reportedly creating Twitter-based media company
3. FDA OKs first over-the-counter oral birth control tablet
4. WHO says aspartame is a 'possible carcinogen' but safe in moderation
5. Stock futures wobble as investors await big bank earnings reports

published 14 July 2023

1. Hollywood actors go on strike, joining writers guild

Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA went on strike at midnight on Friday, joining an ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America as Hollywood grapples with the changes in business and technology from online streaming and artificial intelligence. Talks with the Hollywood studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), broke down early Thursday, when the current contract expired. All work on SAG-AFTRA TV and film projects has halted, and the actors guild, which represents about 160,000 performers, instructed members not to promote finished projects, go to awards shows, or attend film festivals during the strike. The stars of "Oppenheimer" walked the red carpet at the London premier Thursday night, then left. Actors will start picketing Friday morning. The last double writers-actors strike was in 1960.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Daily Caller publisher Neil Patel are seeking investors for a new media company that will use Twitter as a main source of distribution, The Wall Street Journal reported. Carlson and Patel, who were college roommates and cofounded The Daily Caller, are reportedly looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. The media company would use Twitter to post a mix of videos for paid subscribers and all Twitter users. A Carlson spokesman told the Journal they don't want to use YouTube because they fear the content would be censored. Carlson is still under contract with Fox News, which pulled his show in April. Fox sent him a cease and desist letter in June when he started posting videos on Twitter. Carlson responded through a lawyer that he wouldn't "be silenced by anyone."

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it has approved norgestrel birth control tablets for over-the-counter sales, a first in the U.S. The FDA said consumers will be able to purchase the oral contraceptive at drug stores, convenience stores and grocery stores, as well as online. The medicine, branded as "Opill," is expected to be available in early 2024, its manufacturer, Perrigo, told The New York Times. While no price for the medication has been announced, Frederique Welgryn, Perrigo's global vice president for women's health, said the company is committed to making Opill "accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages." Norgestrel was initially approved for prescription use by the FDA 50 years ago.

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Thursday that the popular sweetener aspartame is a "possible carcinogen," based on recent studies that suggest it may be linked to a higher risk of liver cancer. But another WHO agency, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), said it is not changing its guidance that people can safely consume about nine to 14 cans of aspartame-sweetened diet soda a day. "Our results do not indicate that occasional consumption should pose a risk to most consumers," Francesco Branca, director of the department of nutrition and food safety at the WHO, said Wednesday. But the risk isn't zero and heavy aspartame consumers should probably cut back, he added, and everyone would be better off drinking water and eating naturally sweet food like fruit.

U.S. stock futures edged lower Friday morning, with those for the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all down about 0.1%. Investors were waiting for second-quarter earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and other big banks, expected Friday. "Expectations for this season are downbeat," CNBC reported, "with analysts forecasting a roughly 7% year-over-year drop in S&P 500 earnings."

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