Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! After the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on American soil, today’s date (September 12) has become synonymous not only with a profound paradigm shift, but also with historic levels of unity, patriotism, mutual aid, resiliency and resolve that emerged in the wake of the attacks. The sports and entertainment world did a tremendous job in the ensuing days to do their part to lift people’s spirits—whether it be through tribute songs or New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s go-ahead home run in the first game played after 9/11. It is amazing to think that as much as it feels like 9/11/2001 was just yesterday, the polarization, hate and violence we see on a daily basis (in no small part due to mass distortions and disinformation on social media), makes it feel as if we’re a long way off from September 12. It has been said that the best way to honor the lives lost on September 11 is to be the people we were on September 12. So, go take a break from social media (influencer/branded content deals that I have negotiated and dog photos excluded) and be kind -- hold a door for someone, let someone go ahead of you in line, talk to each other and find common ground.

• • Music duo Twenty One Pilots sues online marketplace Temu over peddling of counterfeit, knock-off merchandise—which might explain why I recently received a “Twelve Sailors” t-shirt.
  • Artificial Intelligence company Anthropic enters into a class action settlement to pay a group of book authors $1.5 billion for having pirated works to train its chatbot. That’s a lot of booty.
  • Speaking of boot-y, filmmaker Spike Lee enters an endorsement deal with Timberland to help commemorate the iconic yellow workwear boots’ 50th anniversary.

For inquiries and/or unabashed compliments, please feel free to contact me at josh.bloomgarden@foster.com or add me on LinkedIn.