Covid-19: Key Updates From The Global Entertainment Industry!

Amid Coronavirus crisis, here are all the key updates from the Indian and International entertainment industry.

In a post made to Instagram on Monday, actor Kristofer Hivju, who played Tormund Giantsbane on the HBO series, said he tested positive for Covid-19.

The actor and his family are self-isolating upon the news. 

"We are in good health - I only have mild symptoms of a cold," he wrote. "There are people at higher risk for who this virus might be a devastating diagnosis, so I urge all of you to be extremely careful; wash your hands, keep 1,5 meters distance from others, go in quarantine; just do everything you can to stop the virus from spreading.

On Monday, actor Idris Elba also said he'd tested positive for coronavirus. An employee at Hulu’s Santa Monica office has tested positive for COVID-19. All employees who have been in contact with the individual have been notified. They are required to work from home and self-isolate. The floors Hulu occupies have been temporarily closed

Check out Kristofer Hivju's post below:

Netflix has suspended the film and TV production due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

All scripted TV and films in US and Canada are grounded for the next two weeks and among the list is Stranger Things Season 4.

Lucifer, from Warner Bros. TV, has also halted production.

Apart from these series, Supernatural, Young Sheldon, Superstore, Supergirl, and Euphoria are among other series that have also halted production.

Prince Willian and Kate Middleton gave Harry and Megan a reception this week in London and the queen's former press secretary bashed the former Duke and Dutchess.

The former official, Dickie Arbiter, scolded Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for leaving their baby in Canada. 

He said "I’m sorry, there isn’t an excuse for not bringing him. After all, he’s got to meet his family, his family are not going to get a chance to see him for quite some time, because Harry and Meghan are going to be in Canada or the United States."

But there is an excuse. The pair did not bring their child due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

"The decision to leave Archie behind in Canada came not out of petty spite, as reported in some areas, but out of concern for his health during the threat of a global pandemic."

The baby Sussex’s parents were keeping him safe from coronavirus. While the Queen’s former press secretary used that as an opportunity for a cheap swipe, Queen Elizabeth took precautions herself. She canceled all her engagements for the next week.

Even in the midst of a modern-day plague, the family and its agents are quick to attack each other in public. And the Queen’s press secretary went so far as to bash Meghan Markle’s parental instincts.

Celine Dion tested negative for coronavirus; postpones concerts due to "common cold"

"We regret to inform you that due to a cold, Celine Dion will be postponing two performances of her COURAGE WORLD TOUR scheduled this week in Washington, D.C and Pittsburgh, PA. The show dates are being rescheduled as follows: Wednesday, March 11 in Washington, D.C. at Capital One Arena has been rescheduled for Monday, November 16, 2020, Friday, March 13 in Pittsburgh, PA at PPG Paints Arena has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 18, 2020," the announcement read. Attendees are advised to keep their original tickets to use on the rescheduled dates," a portal quoted an official statement. 

'My Heart Will Go On' singer's Courage World Tour is further expected to resume from March 24 in Denver.

With multiple Hollywood sets already impacted by the growing coronavirus pandemic, among them are Riverdale, Grey's Anatomy, Grace and Frankie, Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Tameron Hall Show and The View:

“Out of an abundance of caution, production is postponed on Grey’s Anatomy effective immediately.  We are going home now for at least two weeks and waiting to see how the Coronavirus situation evolves. This decision was made to ensure the health and safety of the whole cast and crew and the safety of our loved ones outside of work, and it was made in accordance with Mayor Garcetti’s suggestion that we not gather in groups of more than 50. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay hydrated, stay home as much as possible, and wash your hands frequently.  Please take care of yourselves and each other. As updates come in, we will keep you informed. Thank you for all that you do! Krista, Debbie, & James, " a statement said by the production of Grey's Anatomy.

Warner Bros. TV pulled the production plug on Riverdale after a member of the production came into contact with someone who recently tested positive for the Coronavirus. The series was in the process of shooting its fourth season in Vancouver. 

“We are working closely with the appropriate authorities and health agencies in Vancouver to identify and contact all individuals who may have come into direct contact with our team member,” read a statement from a WB TV spokesperson.

Shooting on the final season of Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie” has been halted “to ensure the safety of our cast and crew,” per a statement from the show’s producer Skydance Television.

Shooting on the upcoming fourth season of the CBS All Access legal drama, The Good Fight has been suspended, according to sources with knowledge of the production.

Bull has currently aired 16 episodes of its fourth season, but the decision has been made to stop production for the time being.

“NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “NCIS New Orleans” – According to sources, shooting has been temporarily halted on all three “NCIS” shows.

Star Orlando Bloom revealed that production on season 2 of the Amazon series, Carnival Row, which was taking place in Budapest, has been halted. Bloom noted in an Instagram video that he was being sent home to the United States as a result.

According to sources, the CW series 'Dynasty' has suspended production.

The Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Myers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah's Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, and Desus and Mero will forego their inhouse crowds for the time being:

Most programs listed above will put the policy from next week. Although, What What Happens Live and, Desus and Mero will put it into effect on 15th March.

Jimmy Kimmel Live will continue filming with the live audience. 

Karan Singh Grover who was gearing up for his art exhibition, Star Infinity has rescheduled it:

Karan and his wife, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover took to their respective social media handles to let their followers know that they've decided to postpone the art exhibition. This move was in compliance with WHO and the government's guidelines.

"In the wake of the corona virus pandemic, Star Infinity Art Exhibit and its preview has been postponed. This is in keeping with the government's mandate to avoid gatherings. Fresh dates will be scheduled. Most importantly, be careful and stay safe."

As the coronavirus continues to impact the entertainment industry and the world at large, there is one television series that is already well-prepared to handle the global pandemic: The Walking Dead.

The current plot takes place around a decade past the point of the inciting viral outbreak. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the writing team is similarly prepared for current work-from-home conditions.

The producer said "We're well set up to work remotely," she continued "I'm a tech head. We do video conferences regularly. On a normal basis, I'm very stringent about, 'If you're sick, don't come into the office.' The other day, I was on the phone and in meetings from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., all day straight. I did Skype, I did FaceTime, I did Zoom, I did remote reviewing of VFX. We are very well set up to work remotely. That's been fine for us."

"Today, nobody is going to be at the office. The room will continue to run. We're doing it by conference call and we're doing it by video conference. Everything will continue to run, but on a remote basis." With five episodes left to air in season 10, Kang and her writers are already working on breaking story for season 11, which is not yet in production. 

While the series is not currently in production, there are Walking Dead crewmembers actively on the ground in Georgia at the moment. "There are a handful of people, such as the line producer and the production designer, who are on set," says Kang. "The line producer and I are in daily contact about everything as it unfolds right now. We're in daily contact with AMC. Luckily, everyone's working up the plan. We don't have a crew that's shooting right now. In that way, we are not currently impacted."

Singer Gloria Gaynor is urging fans to sing the chorus of her iconic 1978 hit number, "I will survive", while washing their hands, to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Gaynor sings the chorus of the empowering number which lasts 20 seconds -- the amount of time health experts are encouraging people to wash their hands to stay clean amid the ongoing global pandemic, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The singer launched the #IWillSurvive challenge on March 11 by posting a video demonstration of herself washing her hands while singing the 1978 disco hit on Chinese short-video making app TikTok.

She captioned it: "It only takes 20 seconds to survive."

The Ellen DeGeneres Show will 'suspend production' amid coronavirus fears

The production will suspend 'completely until March 30th'.News of the suspension came a day after the talk show announced they would scrap their live audience. 

'With the exception of an already recorded episode airing on 3/19, there will be no new episodes for the time being.'

According to Bravo, 'the situation is being monitored' and the show will 'notify [their] audience' when production decides to resume.   

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, actor Amit Sadh has canceled his New York trip where he's supposed to attend an acting workshop for two months:

"I was looking forward to this trip but health comes first. Before traveling becomes more difficult I wanted to be in my own motherland. There's no way to know how long it will take to contain the pandemic. I think the responsible thing to do now is to follow the precautionary guidelines," Amit Sadh said.

Following the NBA’s decision to suspend the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kevin Love announced that he is donating $100,000  through his foundation to support the staff at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

He wrote “I’m concerned about the level of anxiety that everyone is feeling and that is why I’m committing $100,000 through the @KevinLoveFund in support of the @Cavs arena and support staff that had a sudden life shift due to the suspension of the NBA season,” he added. “I hope that during this time of crisis, others will join me in supporting our communities.” 

Lil Nas X asked his followers to comment with their Cash App handles so that he could “send some of u some money to go get some food then stay inside.” 

Sheryl Sandberg said that she and fiancé Tom Bernthal launched the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Feeding Families in partnership with their local food bank, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. The couple, along with a group of friends and colleagues, pledged $5.5 million

Mark Cuban told reporters that in the wake of the NBA season’s abrupt suspension, he is taking steps to support hourly workers at American Airlines Center. 

“They get paid by the hour, and this was their source of income. So, we’ll do some things there. We may ask them to go do some volunteer work in exchange, but we’ve already started the process of having a program in place. I don’t have any details to give, but it’s certainly something that’s important to me.” he said.

The Oscar-winning Parasite director, Boon Hoon Jo, gave 100 million won ($83,000 USD) to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association to help fund relief efforts in late February. Several stars born in Daegu — the epicentre for South Korea’s Coronavirus outbreak — also donated to the organization, including BTS’ Suga.

Justin Bieber announced that he is donating 200,000 RMB to Beijing Chunmiao Charity Foundation.

Bill and Melinda Gates pledged $100 million through their eponymous foundation to search for treatments, help at-risk communities and expand testing availability.

Donatella Versace donated 1 million RMB (just under $143,500) to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation “to help with the relief effort” in early February.

Zion Williamson announced on social media that he will be covering the salaries for all Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days amid the coronavirus outbreak.

JJ Watt his wife Kealia Ohai donated $350,000 to the Houston Food Bank.

Due to Coronavirus, shoots are at halt and the actors as well as the crew is advised to stay at home. When asked about this,  Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2 actress Erica Fernandes in a conversation with an entertainment portal stated that it is not a forced holiday and rather a safety measure. She also mentioned that she is glad that action has been taken because actors don't have the luxury of taking offs or leaving early so this move is a necessity for them. 

Talking about the move, Surbhi Jyoti said that she supports this move and thinks what the associations and the people are doing is because of the health and safety. She further added that she believes that everyone will understand and support this move and all precautionary methods should be taken because health comes first always. 

The actors on the sets of Naagin- Bhagya Ka Zehreela Khel has also been taking precautionary methods. A doctor has been called on the sets and a basic screening for symptoms and a health checkup was conducted on the sets for the entire crew.

Precautionary method was also taken on the sets of Kundali Bhagya and the shoot was stopped for the same. 

Actress Hina Khan is all set to be seen in a short film titled Smartphone along with Akshay Oberoi and Kunal Roy Kapoor. However, due to the outbreak of Corona Virus, the trailer launch which was supposed to happen on 18th March has been postponed. Speaking to a leading entertainment portal, CEO of Ullu Digital Pvt Ltd, Vibhu Agarwal stated that the health and safety of actors, media people and their PR Team is his priority number one and for this, they have decided to postpone the trailer launch. 

Now, it is reported that an employee of the NBC Today's show has been tested positive for COVID-19. Co-host Savannah Guthrie revealed the news to the viewers this morning and stated that the network learnt about the news overnight.  Both the hosts, Craig Melvin and Al Roker took an off in the morning and Guthrie also revealed that they both are fine but caution is the order of the day. The employee was on the third hour of the show.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has officially postponed its annual television awards and television craft awards due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The official social media account of the awards posted an official statement announcing the news where they revealed it would be postponed. 

"Following the latest government advice on coronavirus (COVID-19), we regret to announce that the British Academy Television Craft Awards and Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards, originally scheduled for 26 April and 17 May respectively, will be postponed until later in the year," reads the statement.

The statement also mentioned the announcement of the nominations, scheduled for next Thursday 26 March, will also be postponed until closer to the ceremony.

Rachel Matthews, the actress who voiced the character Honeymaren in the Disney sequel has revealed on Instagram that she has been tested positive for COVID19 and has been in quarantine for the past month as she waited for her test results. 

Rachel explained: ‘Unsure of what the next step is (been getting mixed info so will keep you posted) but obviously will remain in quarantine until told to do otherwise.’ 

The actress also added that she will keep her fans updated and share useful information. 

‘Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions. I really would love to help in any way I can.’  She added: ‘Again, let’s please be mindful of our decisions – now is the time to be smart and responsible. Let’s take care of one another!’ 

Rachel then shared a diary of her symptoms over the course of seven days, which included a sore throat, fatigue and headache on the first day. 

On the second day, the Disney star was struck down with a mild fever, ‘horrible body aches’ and sharp pain in her lungs, while developing a dry cough and having no appetite.  The pain in her lungs worsened by day three although she had no fever, but she also suffered with major fatigue and shortness of breath. 

Rachel’s symptoms became more mild on day four but still had heavy lungs and shortness of breath.  She added: ‘Day 5, 6, 7: everything has remained more or less the same. Feeling more like myself, still experiencing shortness of breath, loss of appetite, fatigue and no taste/smell but overall, doing okay.’ 

The actress mentioned that the tests are very hard to come by. The actress mentioned that she only got tested because she had been around a confirmed case. 

Rest, drink lots of liquids and SELF QUARANTINE.’ she said