Suicide Squad game marches on after $200M loss with new, DEI version of character Mrs. Freeze



Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is pushing forward with a new depiction of a classic character.

The game was released in May 2024 by Rocksteady Studios, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games, and was a $200 million disaster. The studio later said revenues for the entire parent company went from a reported $607 million in Q1 2023 down to just $184 million in Q1 2024, a 70% decrease.

However, the studio has seemingly taken zero cues from its audience.

Shortly after the game's freefall, Warner Bros. Games launched a leadership program for women and non-binary individuals aimed at making the video game industry less male. Announced by startup and tech community Built In, the Women and Non-Binary Leadership Program had the stated goal of upending the gaming industry's allegedly male-dominated characterization.

'They perceive femininity and female anatomy as threats to society.'

Weeks later, the Suicide Squad game is moving forward with Season 2, despite fewer than 500 people currently playing the game on the Steam platform, according to PC Gamer. These concurrent gaming stats are absolutely abysmal figures for a project of such a magnitude.

It seems at least one new character is ready for launch in the new season, and it is Mrs. Freeze — not Mr. Freeze — but his wife, whose character name is Nora Fries.

Mr. Freeze was typically portrayed as a bald man with varying degrees of scientist looks and was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1997's "Batman & Robin."

At the same time, there exist near limitless depictions of Mrs. Freeze as a classically beautiful blonde woman. The character was played by model Vendela Kirsebom in the aforementioned 1997 flick.

It seems the video game studio decided not to go with anything in the vicinity of the usual portrayal of Mrs. Freeze. In previous iterations, she was cryogenically frozen by Mr. Freeze in hopes of finding a cure for her illness. Now, she is seemingly portrayed as taking over her husband's role.

One gamer even took it as far as to describe the new character as looking like a "non-binary Karen they/them."

The same account, with over 20,000 followers, suggested the studios sees feminine attributes as a threat.

"I predicted this before the game's release, and the backlash was intense. They perceive femininity and female anatomy as threats to society."

The short-haired depiction is actually so far off that outlets have theorized it must be from an alternate/timeline or universe.

— (@)

The character art follows the recent revelation from a video game artist that it is very difficult get studios to depict beautiful women in modern games.

Del Walker, an artist who has worked on Star Wars and Batman games, said that "after 10 iterations the concept or model comes back without a speck of the original beauty I pitched."

Walker added that it wasn't only the faces of the characters that have been changed but their entire likenesses, ages, and attitudes.

Gamers have pointed out the many examples of dampening beauty, such as Star Wars Outlaws character model Humberly González.

A recent remake of the classic Perfect Dark video game was also dragged for hardening the jawline of beloved hero Joanna Dark.

This appeared to be a similar instance with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as the studio has seemed unwilling to depart from the diversity, equity, and inclusion parameters it set for itself during its production by involving diversity consulting company Sweet Baby Inc.

The game has faced significant backlash and calls for boycotts throughout its time on the market.

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FACT CHECK: No, Warner Bros. Did Not Cancel $10 Million Robert De Niro Project

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Warner Bros. Games launches 'Women and Non-Binary Leadership Program' right after losing $200M on DEI-fueled game



Warner Bros. Games has launched a leadership program for women and "non-binary" individuals aimed at making the video game industry less male.

Warner Bros. Games is fresh off a $200 million loss from its Suicide Squad game, which used diversity, equity, and inclusion consultants to create some of the characters. The same company, Sweet Baby Inc., is known for providing diversity consulting and injecting DEI narratives into video games.

Announced by startup and tech community Built In, the Women and Non-Binary Leadership Program is meant to upend the gaming industry's alleged male-dominated characterization. The organization said that while there appears to be a 70:30 ratio in terms of male video game developers compared to female, the industry still needs to grow in representation.

The course has apparently already begun, with 25 women and alleged non-binary leaders coming together from Warner Bros. Games' 11 studios across the world.

Of course, the program said that it would cultivate career development opportunities for those determined to be underrepresented individuals in gaming. The program used all the right language, stating that diverse voices can shape a more inclusive future in the video game industry.

'The program reaffirmed my commitment to bringing more diversity into the industry.'

The first group of program participants was boasted by the organization and shown to be overwhelmingly composed of women, with at least one likely male (sporting a goatee) tucked behind a statue in the group photo.

Other interesting goals for the program included ideas like self-reflection, candid conversations, and finding a safe space to share experiences and provide support for other group members.

For some reason, the gaming-focused program encouraged participants to prioritize self-care.

Senior director of business development and licensing Kelly Hill, who is a member of the group, gave an interesting answer about how the program has influenced her team.

Despite the program's goal being to increase the number of female game developers, Hill said she left an industry dominated by women to join an industry with the goal of more "diversity."

“I came into games full-time after a career in licensing spaces where women were the majority," she said.

"I already had a sense that it was important for me to show up and to be an example that people like me can and should have a seat at the table. The program reaffirmed my commitment to bringing more diversity into the industry and doing what I can to let people see an alternative to what they may picture as a games executive."

Warner Bros. Games has joined an ever-growing group of diversity-focused gaming and film studios that have a penchant for DEI-fueled self-destruction.

"Game companies are starting to face the music for their poor decisions. Instead of listening to gamers, they decided to destroy beloved IPs with political messaging while delivering less quality gameplay, more bugs, and over-monetization," game designer Mark Kern told Blaze News.

"A $200M loss cannot be ignored, and studio heads at Warner will be looking very closely at what their game developers are doing and will hopefully soon realize the mess that DEI/ESG has created," he added.

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'They’ll leave themselves': Warner Bros. exec endorses ignoring employees who don't follow DEI initiatives



Warner Bros. Discovery's chief diversity officer supported and endorsed the idea of ignoring employees for at least 30 days if they don't support diversity initiatives and to leave them behind in the hopes that they leave a company on their own.

During a digital roundtable titled "The Future of DEI in Corporate America," Warner Bros. Discovery's chief global diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, Asif Sadiq, discussed the methodology of dealing with employees who don't fall in line with the diversity, equity, and inclusion framework.

Sadiq was joined by industry leaders in the DEI space, including Megan Hogan, global head of talent and chief diversity officer for Goldman Sachs.

In a segment of the discussion, Hogan laid out her strategy to deal with those who have resisted DEI efforts in the workplace.

"One of the things that came up was the frustration of having to work with or persuade the most powerful person in your ecosystem that the work is worth it, and they should reveal themselves more, they should take a bigger role, whatever it is. And we came up with this strategy: Find your people, and ignore the person you cannot persuade."

"You know exactly who they are," she continued.

Hogan then floated the method of ignoring an employee for an entire month until they get the unspoken message.

"If you can’t bring yourself to [ignore them] because of your professional orientation, give it 30 days. Ignore them for 30 days. Don’t take the bait, don’t send them the clip, don’t send them the newsletter, don’t send them the [pitch] deck. Just focus on the people who are willing to do the work. The new arrivals to the work, the new leaders who are preparing to be better allies, to be more vulnerable, to communicate better, and find your people even outside of your organization who can help you fine-tune, who can help you make sure you’re not reading the situation wrong, and let you know that you’re not alone."

"30 days. You can do it," she added.

Sadiq then chimed in, agreeing with Hogan's method and adding that if companies are able to change workplace culture to be more DEI-focused, then employees who don't like it would simply leave.

"Even beyond leaders, there’s always those few people you’ll never change," the diversity officer began.

"You’ll never convince them. You can try up until the end of eternity, and it will still not happen. We waste so much energy doing that sometimes, as individuals, whether you’re in a leadership position or in a team and so on," he went on.

"Focus on the ones who want to change, because that way you start changing culture, and if you change culture, often those people who don’t want to come around will start saying 'this place isn’t the way it used to be' and they’ll leave themselves, which is great."

Warner Bros. Discovery Chief DEI Officer Dr. Asif Sadiq promotes not working with, ignoring and discriminating against employees who do not support the DEI agenda.
— (@)

The online event took place through the Aspen Institute, an elite left-wing think tank with strong sentiments surrounding diversity.

The group sought to answer questions surrounding how to handle "DEI programs in the current socio-political climate," while dealing with employee expectations and external pressures surrounding DEI.

In addition, the Warner Bros. Discovery executive also stated that it was a great time to double down on DEI initiatives.

"Rather than focusing on those things you can’t impact or can’t change, focusing on those things you can impact and you can change is so important. Even when we’re trying to look at, potentially, what sort of programs, things we’re doing, I think it’s a great opportunity to double down our efforts on things. To do an audit of what’s worked, what hasn’t worked, where do we put more effort into, where do we reduce effort."

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DEI Jobs Are Drying Up, But Colleges Keep Pushing Diversity Studies

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Warner Bros. may reboot 'Harry Potter' with HBO Max series — and that has trans activists melting down online



Warner Bros. is reportedly in talks with J.K. Rowling to reboot her seven "Harry Potter" books, this time as an online TV series.

The prospect that the author — valued at nearly $1 billion — will make even more money and reach new fans has enraged transsexual activists already upset over the author's past feminist defense of biological women, womanhood, and women's-only spaces.

Making a deal

Warner Bros. Discover Inc. is close to a new deal for a streaming series on HBO Max based on Rowling's books, reported Bloomberg.

While they have yet to seal the deal, the company's CEO, David Zaslav, and HBO chief Casey Bloys have reportedly worked ardently to get Rowling onboard.

Insiders told Bloomberg that each season would be based on a single "Harry Potter" book, meaning the series would run eight seasons long, lest Warner Bros. also re-adapt some or all of Rowling's "Hogwarts library" and "Pottermore Presents" texts.

Unlike the "Harry Potter" reunion, during which Rowling did not make an appearance alongside former child actors Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, the author will reportedly be involved in the series "to ensure it remains loyal to her original material."

This reboot would be in keeping with Zaslav's desire to invest in fewer movies and TV shows and instead produce a handful of filmic heavyweights.

Extra to "Harry Potter," Warner Bros. announced in February that it is developing "multiple" new movies set in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical "Lord of the Rings" universe, "expanding upon the much-loved world and characters of Middle-earth."

Granted Rowling sold over 600 million copies of her "Harry Potter" books and saw the filmic adaptations rake in over $7.7 billion, Warner Bros. likely figures it has a money-maker in its hands.

Making a big deal about the deal

TheBlaze has previously documented Rowling's friction with the LGBT community and how she:

  • blasted a kid-focused transsexual "charity" for mutilating children and having a pedophile apologist on its board;
  • intimated a male transsexual's claim of being "more of a woman than JK Rowling" was dubious;
  • castigated a British politician for refusing to define what a woman is; and
  • exposed trans activists who threatened her with rape, death and bomb attacks.

In these and various other instances, Rowling has roused the ire of activists, particularly those who had grown up fans, and stood her ground.

While those upset over the potential reboot may not have threatened to slit the British author's throat as had transsexual horror author Micah Felker-Martin in February, they have nevertheless expressed their outrage online.

YouTube and film critic Zoë Rose Bryant, a male transsexual, tweeted, "Setting aside how absurdly unnecessary a HARRY POTTER reboot is in the first place, I’d just rather we not continue to give billions to a woman who has made it her life mission to invalidate the existence of trans women & endanger our lives with her unrelentingly hateful rhetoric."

Bryant added, "I liked HARRY POTTER when I was a kid too and then I grew up and now its creator is actively contributing to a culture that wants me dead so."

\u201cI liked HARRY POTTER when I was a kid too and then I grew up and now its creator is actively contributing to a culture that wants me dead so\u201d
— Zo\u00eb Rose Bryant (@Zo\u00eb Rose Bryant) 1680567818

Twitter user Haus of Decline, associated with the scatological webcomic and podcast of the same name, tweeted that in the lead-up to the show's release, Rowling will gradually put "on a full Waffen uniform as WB execs play chicken with the optics."

Echoing similar comments, one pronoun-providing Twitter user wrote, "Quick reminder that even if this series is a part of your childhood (as it was for me) please remember your trans friends and family. You might think that one stream doesn’t matter, but it adds up. Please do not give J*K* your money to harm a minority."

RedState highlighted one particularly extreme reaction, in which a user tweeted, "Harry potter was the 9/11 of literature and we need to put a stop to jk rowling and her devious activities that caused this."

The YouTuber known as Master of the Total Defense Shogun curated a collection of Twitter users melting down over the announcement, including one Twitter user, Sara, who wrote, "Can we please stop giving JK rowling more attention and give this idea to a book series/author that ISN’T openly transphobic."

\u201cHBO has announced a reboot of Harry Potter with J.K. Rowling's involvement & that is enough to make the internet lose their minds.\n\nAt least they are expanding their rage from just being toward Hogwarts Legacy. Next up they all need to never go to Universal Studios #HarryPotter\u201d
— MasteroftheTDS (@MasteroftheTDS) 1680569012


Collider published a polemic, stressing that "companies should not be working with J.K. Rowling."

"Her transphobic rhetoric is harmful and is being used to justify intolerant legislation against trans folks. The bare minimum companies should be doing is not working with people who spread hate. But even if you wanted to block off Rowling’s transphobic rhetoric, the idea of doing a remake of the original Harry Potter novels as a lengthy TV show is downright bizarre and baffling for countless reasons," said the article.

The LGBT activist publication Them similarly denounced Warner Bros. for considering rebooting "Harry Potter" with Rowling on board, claiming, "It’s virtually impossible to separate supporting Potter projects from supporting Rowling and her well-documented transphobia."

Magically undeterred

Dani Di Placido, a film-watcher at Forbes, wrote, "Harry Potter occupies an unusual cultural space, where many of the most dedicated, knowledgeable fans are socially progressive, outspoken about LGBTQ rights, and have largely turned their back on the Wizarding World ever since Rowling scorched her reputation, but still maintain an interest in the franchise."

Louis Chilton, the Independent's culture critic, noted that it doesn't really matter that a fringe group of progressive activists have turned their backs on the children's books.

According to Chilton, the commercial success of the recently released "Hogwarts Legacy" video game revealed that Rowling's reputation amongst LGBT activists as a "transphobe" has not proven a "meaningful financial deterrent."

Den of Geek reported that the game sold over 12 million units in its first two weeks and generated over $850 million in sales during the same period, making it WB Game's biggest video game launch on record.

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CNN Plus Falling Apart After One Month Is A Symptom Of The Network’s Identity Crisis

Where the network will really go remains an open question, but CNN Plus's part in that future is nothing more than a $300 million blunder.

BREAKING: Warner Bros. Discovery shuttering CNN+ amid reports of dismal subscriber numbers



Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down the newly launched CNN+ and is expected to address the closure with staffers on Thursday, Variety reported Thursday morning.

What are the details?

Variety first reported that incoming CNN CEO Chris Licht told staffers on Thursday morning that an "important meeting" was scheduled for noon.

The meeting, according to the report, is "expected to inform employees about the decision." Licht is said to have already notified CNN executive vice president Andrew Morse, who oversees all programming of the newly launched outlet.

Of the news, CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted, "Breaking: CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most signifiant [sic] developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched."

Breaking: CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most signifiant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched. Here's our initial story \u2013 more to comehttps://www.cnn.com/2022/04/21/media/cnn-shutting-down/index.html\u00a0\u2026
— Brian Stelter (@Brian Stelter) 1650556558

Stelter's tweet cited a CNN report that confirmed the news.

"CNN+, the streaming service that was hyped as one of the most significant developments in the history of CNN, will shut down on April 30, just one month after it launched," the outlet reported. "The decision was made by new management after CNN's former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery. David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, has said that he wants to house all of the company's brands under one streaming service. Some CNN+ programming may eventually live on through that service."

What else?

CNN+, the premium news subscription service headlined by former longtime Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, garnered only about 150,000 subscribers, according to a Tuesday report. A previous report claimed the streaming service saw a mere 10,000 viewers on a daily basis.

The service launched on March 29 and charged subscribers $5.99 per month, or $59.99 annually, for its content.

Just days after the launch, Fox Business senior correspondent Charles Gasparino reported that CNN+ employees could soon see mass layoffs.

Gasparino at the time said that the company failed to drive subscriptions and may be hemorrhaging cash.

"@CNNplus employees bracing for layoffs possibly as soon as May amid projections of lackluster sales of new streaming channel," Gasparino reported on Twitter. "CNN employees say new streaming channel could be merged into larger @discoveryplus as early as May unless subscriptions pick up."

This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.

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Andrew Cuomo: Embodying the Media's Criticism of Donald Trump All Along | Ep 229

Andrew Cuomo: Embodying the Media's Criticism of Donald Trump All Along | Ep 229