NBCUniversal invested a whopping $500 million in Snapchat parent company Snap's IPO, as "part of a strategic investment and partnership," CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin first reported. (Business Insider confirmed the $500 million number.) 

After Snap popped 44% on day one, that stake is worth around $720 million, a cool $220 million up. Not bad for a single day.

Sorkin noted that NBC appears to be the only media company with a strategic stake in Snap so far — the other strategic investors are tech companies Alibaba and Tencent.

But it certainly isn't NBC's only big strategic investment in digital media. In a note to employees, obtained by Recode's Peter Kafka, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said this investment fit into a $1.5 billion push into digital businesses. The company invested in BuzzFeed for the second time late last year, bringing its total to $400 million in the company, and has put $200 million in Vox.

NBC courted Snap CEO Evan Spiegel "for the past year" CNBC reported. The companies also worked together (with BuzzFeed as well) on the Olympics, which snagged a massive 2 billion views.

"Evan Spiegel and his talented team have done an outstanding job building Snap into an extremely innovative and relevant company, attracting a massive, dedicated and young audience," Burke wrote.

NBC has agreed to hold the shares for at least a year, according to CNBC.

SEE ALSO: There's a way to get YouTube's new cable TV competitor for $12 a month — with a little planning

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NOW WATCH: Sessions recuses himself from future investigations into Trump campaign

Praise for President Donald Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday quickly got swallowed by the revelation this week that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak while a senator and an adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016.

As Trevor Noah pointed out on Thursday's "Daily Show," allegations that Trump's team has been in "cahoots" with Russia have followed him since the campaign — and Noah did not hold back in mocking the latest news.

"No matter how hard the Trump administration tries, Russia just keeps coming back," Noah said. "I'd say that Russia is Trump's herpes."

The bigger problem for Sessions than the meeting is the fact that he did not disclose it when asked about the Trump campaign's potential meetings with Russia during his confirmation hearings for attorney general. Sessions said he had not met with "the Russians."

"He lied under oath while interviewing to be the guy who prosecutes people for lying under oath," Noah said.

A Justice Department official explained that Sessions simply "did not remember" his meeting with the Russian ambassador, which Noah found lacking.

"Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!" the "Daily Show" host said. "I'm sorry, that is not a decent excuse. How do Trump's people keep forgetting that they've met with Russians? This is a thing. Let me tell you something: If you meet a Russian, you'll remember that s---."

Noah even brought out a Russian nesting doll as a visual for how leaks of the Trump team's ties to Russia keep getting exposed.

Watch Trevor Noah's "Daily Show" tackle Jeff Sessions' Russia revelation below:

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

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NOW WATCH: Oscar nominees receive a $100,000+ swag bag — here's what's inside

President Donald Trump's administration received another black eye on Thursday when newly appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a press conference saying he would recuse himself from any future investigations on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia or the country's influence on the 2016 presidential election.

Stephen Colbert broke it all down in his opening of Thursday's "The Late Show," first looking back on what Sessions said during his confirmation hearing — that he had no communications with the Russian government during Trump's campaign for president — versus what he admitted to at his Thursday press conference: He met with the Russian ambassador in his capacity as a member of the Senate's armed services panel.

"Honey, I wasn’t having sex with her as your husband," Colbert joked. "I was humping her in my capacity as a member of the armed services panel."

Colbert then hit Sessions harder for the damaging revelation.

“You called yourself a campaign surrogate, then you lied under oath that you never met with the Russians,” Colbert said of Sessions. “So you don’t have to recuse yourself. You’ve already f---ed yourself.”

Congress has begun its Russia investigation, headed by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. In a statement on the parameters, it notes that the investigation on whether Russia tampered with the election is "on a bipartisan basis" and the committee will "collect and follow that evidence wherever it leads."

"Well, bring a flashlight, cause it’s pretty dark up Putin’s butt," Colbert said, referring to the Russian president.

Watch Colbert's entire opening below:

SEE ALSO: The 22 most exciting new shows of 2017 you have to see

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NOW WATCH: Here's what Johnny Depp reportedly spends $2M a month on

There's a lot to love about the new "Legend of Zelda" game — "Breath of the Wild" — for Nintendo's new Switch console. 

It's beautiful, for starters.

But looks are fleeting, and the real joy of "Breath of the Wild" is its incredible sense of wonder and discovery. Simply put, it's an easy game to fall in love with. Spending hours exploring the genuinely dangerous, delightfully varied, hauntingly beautiful regions of Hyrule is a true pleasure.

And it's an even greater pleasure with some old friends by your side.

That's right! Both Wolf Link from "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and Epona from "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" are in "Breath of the Wild." But where are they? How do you get them?

We've got answers.

SEE ALSO: The first major game on Nintendo's new console is one of the best games I've played in years

First up, let's start with the obvious one: Wolf Link.

The first thing you might notice is that he's adorable. That's because he's adorable.

But more importantly, you'll notice that Wolf Link has hearts — a life meter — on the left side of the screen:

Facebook is asking for pitches for "TV-like" original shows, and it's willing to pay for them, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What does a Facebook show look like?

Facebook is focusing on weekly shows, "with episodes lasting up to 30 minutes," according to The Journal. This could span many genres, from sports to science to gaming — but no hard news.

A source told the Journal that Facebook will offer a “premium digital rate” for scripted shows, "roughly low- to mid-six figures per episode," much less than marquee outlets like Netflix or traditional TV.

"Our focus is on kickstarting the ecosystem here," Facebook CFO David Wehner said last month. To the extent that Facebook would license shows, it would be to seed the ecosystem.

The future of Facebook video

Last month, when Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision for the future of Facebook video, he seemed to be copying YouTube's battle plan.

Zuckerberg said that, despite chatter about longer videos, short-form video — and sharing ad revenue with creators — would still be the focus for Facebook. 

This focus on short-form video distances Facebook from the likes of Netflix, HBO, and cable TV. But Zuckerberg did say he thought there was a big future for "premium" video on Facebook, which signals he is eyeing the large pool of money dedicated to advertising on TV. Now this Journal report suggests Facebook is willing to spend money to attract longer shows that sit somewhere in between the amateur creator, and the high budgets of TV.

It's a space YouTube has tried to navigate as well, both with things like its preferred advertising program, and buying shows for its premium tier, YouTube Red.

Still, so far TV ad budgets have been slow to make their way onto digital platforms. But some, including recently public Snap, Snapchat's parent company, are betting that process will accelerate.

Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat want to be ready to grab some of the $200 billion global TV ad budget if it does.

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg gave his vision of Facebook's video future, and it doesn't look like the new Netflix

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NOW WATCH: Trump's doctor and a hair surgeon explain what's going on with his hair

1994 was a big year for Bill Gates.

The newly-married billionaire landed on top of Forbes' list of the richest Americans. Microsoft was on the brink of becoming the technology powerhouse it is today.

Something else notable happened in 1994: Gates gave an interview to Playboy Magazine in which he correctly predicted the rise of services like Netflix and Facebook.

For context, the internet was a buzz-worthy and somewhat mysterious technology in 1994. Time magazine ran a cover story on the internet and had to explain what it was in the introduction ("the world's largest computer network and the nearest thing to a working prototype of the information superhighway"). The internet was mostly used by scientists and scholars, though computers were becoming more common.

Still, Gates was a visionary.

He told Playboy that in the information age, the primary use of personal computers would shift from creating documents to sharing and accessing electronic media across the Web.

On how people might use the internet in the future, he said:

"Say you want to watch a movie. To choose, you'll want to know what movies others liked and, based on what you thought of other movies you've seen, if this is a movie you'd like. You'll be able to browse that information. Then you select and get video on demand. Afterward, you can even share what you thought of the movie."

What Gates described sounds a lot like Netflix, which launched its online subscription service in 2007. He added that the internet will change the "way we find information and make decisions," even when those decisions are as simple as what to watch.

His prediction that we might someday tap into virtual communities for information hints at the invention of Facebook, which Mark Zuckerberg founded 10 years after the Playboy interview.

Gates envisioned an online community that knows no physical parameters:

"Think about how you find people with common interests, how you pick a doctor, how you decide what book to read. Right now it's hard to reach out to a broad range of people. You are tied into the physical community near you. But in the new environment, because of how information is stored and accessed, that community will expand. This tool will be empowering, the infrastructure will be built quickly and the impact will be broad."

Since its founding in 2004, Facebook has grown exponentially, to say the least. It averages 1.23 billion daily active users and employs 17,000 people around the world.

The Playboy interview has been taken down from the magazine's website, but you can read it in its entirety via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

SEE ALSO: Bill Gates once coyly defended LSD use by saying 'I never missed a day of work'

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NOW WATCH: BILL GATES: A deadly epidemic is a real possibility and we are not prepared

When Jimmy Kimmel asked former President George W. Bush if Will Ferrell's famous impression of Bush on "Saturday Night Live" ever bothered him, Bush said simply "No."

Bush was on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to promote his book of portraits he painted of veterans, and the host took the chance to ask him about ribbing of the president.

It turns out not only was he fine with Ferrell's send-up, he tried to take credit for the writing of his character's botched use of words on "SNL."

Bush told Kimmel of his interaction with "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels:

"I had dinner with Lorne Michaels, the head of 'Saturday Night Live,' and he said, 'I put a great speechwriter on you, and he came up with "strategery."' And I said, 'Wait a minute, I said "strategery."' And he said, 'No, you didn't say "strategery."' I said 'I damn sure said "strategery."' He said, 'We invented it.' I said, 'Well, let me ask you this — did he come up with "misunderestimate"?'"

Bush seemed to get a kick out of the dispute and his own reputation for misusing words, laughing after he told the story.

The former president also told Kimmel, "I love humor, and the best humor is when you make fun of yourself."

"Well, tell that to the president," Kimmel joked of Trump, getting another laugh out of Bush.

Watch George W. Bush on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" below:

SEE ALSO: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you may have missed in the 'Stranger Things' season 2 trailer

ABC's new time-travel show, "Time After Time," which premieres Sunday at 9 p.m., takes a look at the role of technology in the modern era using two of history's most prominent figures.

A remake of the 1979 movie of the same name, "Time After Time" mirrors the film's centuries-spanning chase of the charismatic Dr. John Stevenson, aka Jack the Ripper, by a dashing H.G. Wells, the author of "The Time Machine," "The War of the Worlds," among many other notable novels. The famous 19th Century serial killer has stolen the author's time machine and escapes to modern-day New York City. Wells then ventures after him in order to bring him back to the past.

"I loved the movie so much," show creator Kevin Williamson (the "Scream" franchise, "The Vampire Diaries") told Business Insider. "It was one of those iconic movies I saw as a kid and it's what made me love H.G. Wells and opened the window to him. I started reading all his stuff. It started from that."

When Williamson realized that Warner Bros., which has a TV production deal with the producer, owned both the movie and book rights for "Time After Time," he felt the time was ripe to create the series.

"At its core, all of his stories in some way or another deal with the best and worst of humanity, as it relates to technology," Williamson said of Wells. "And I thought that was really relevant. We're so driven by technology today and I thought we could have some fun with that and tell a nice, escapist story."

How does the show portray Wells' reaction to today's tech? He's actually quite turned off by it.

"Wells is surprised at modern technology, all it's done is make people more disconnected," Freddie Stroma, who played the sought-after bachelor on the first season of Lifetime's "UnReal," told Business Insider about his new character. "Because to him, obviously he's waiting for utopia. He's expecting it. And then he sees all this phenomenal technology. It's very depressing for him."

And on the flip side, Jack the Ripper finds an easy relationship with modern tech.

"Suddenly, he was extremely adaptable to this modern world," Josh Bowman, who previously starred on ABC's "Revenge," told us of his Jack. "He was quick. He changed his look, bought a mobile phone, he cashed in his watch for money, and started to learn about his environment."

"The very first thing Jack does is Google himself. And he doesn't like what he reads," showrunner and director Marcos Siega said.

Watch a trailer for "Time After Time" below:

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DON'T MISS: The surprising earliest TV gigs of 18 Oscar-worthy actors

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NOW WATCH: Reruns on cable are not the same as the originals — check out these differences

Pity the poor Wii U.

When the game console was introduced in 2012 as Nintendo's successor to the smash-hit Wii, expectations were high that the Japanese game company would once again create a monster hit.

Instead, the Wii U has been a huge flop, selling just over 13 million units in the past four years. The original Wii sold about 84 million consoles in the same period.

Today, the final nail is in the Wii U's coffin with the release of the Nintendo Switch— a unique hybrid TV/portable console that's already getting positive reviews.

So let's look back at the Wii U, why it never took off, and why it doesn't really deserve the bad rap it's gotten over the years.

SEE ALSO: REVIEW: Nintendo's new game console is a fast, competent piece of hardware without enough software

The Wii U's whole sales pitch is that its primary controller, the Wii U Gamepad, is also a touch-screen "tablet." But it stops working entirely if it gets too far from the console, so don't get any big ideas.

It means two big things. First, games can get touch-screen controls — games like "New Super Mario Bros. U" for the Wii U let one player touch the screen to freeze enemies or hold moving platforms in place.

Second, it means you can actually play many Wii U games on the smaller screen by itself, no TV required. It's a handy thing if you live somewhere where TV time is hard to come by.

Playing President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" has led to some heated exchanges on Alec Baldwin's own Twitter account.

On Wednesday, Baldwin got into a Twitter feud with fellow Donald Trump impersonator Anthony Atamanuik.

The drama began when Baldwin went on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and hinted that he might do his Trump act at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, as the real Trump has said he's not attending.

"Well, I wouldn’t say I’m not lobbying," Baldwin told Kimmel. "People would say, 'Would you do it?' And there's a couple of guys on the internet who say, 'No, please. I'm the only man who should play Trump.' And there's a lot of Trump competition sucked into this."

Atamanuik felt that was a dig at him, as he's played Trump on the Comedy Central show "@midnight." So he took to Twitter, and Baldwin replied. 

Here's the exchange, with a terse response from Baldwin:

There is a little backstory here. Atamanuik auditioned for "SNL" and did his Trump impersonation. This was before Baldwin began doing his Trump this season. The first time Baldwin did it, some thought it was very similar to how Atamanuik does his Trump. Baldwin has said in interviews that he did little preparation to come up with his Trump.

But comedian James Adomian‏, who has played Bernie Sanders opposite Atamanuik’s Trump in sketches, is calling Baldwin and "SNL" out.

Baldwin has replied to him as well with an insult, saying "the only thing you have is bitterness and obscurity":

SEE ALSO: How the company behind 2 of the year's biggest movies is blowing up the Hollywood playbook

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NOW WATCH: Terry Crews explains how intermittent fasting keeps him in shape

A drive-in movie theater in Alabama announced on its Facebook page Thursday that it will not be showing Disney's upcoming live-action version of "Beauty and the Beast" because it has a gay character.

The Henagar Drive-In Theatre in Henagar, Alabama, came to the decision after "Beauty and the Beast" director Bill Condon revealed that Josh Gad's character LeFou, the comical sidekick to antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans), will be Disney's first-ever openly LGBTQ character.

Here's a portion of what was written on the Henagar Drive-In Facebook page:

"For those that do not know 'Beauty and the Beast' is 'premiering' their first homosexual character. The producer also says at the end of the movie 'there will be a surprise for same-sex couples.' If we can not take our 11 year old grand daughter and 8 year old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it. If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That's fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches."

Condon explained the reason behind LeFou being gay in the live-action "Beauty and the Beast" to Attitude: “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon said. "He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."

At the end of the Henagar Drive-In Facebook post, the theater states: "We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language."

Below is the complete Facebook post:

"Beauty and the Beast" opens in theaters March 17.

SEE ALSO: 100 movies on Netflix that everyone needs to watch in their lifetime

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NOW WATCH: Here's what Johnny Depp reportedly spends $2M a month on

Back in October, Microsoft bought Beam— a fast-growing competitor to Twitch, the live video game streaming company that Amazon bought for $970 million in 2014. 

At this week's Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft outlined its vision for the future of Beam, and explained how this service is going to be coming very soon to a PC and Xbox One console near you, when the Windows 10 Creators Update launches this Spring. 

"We think there's a future for interactivity that hasn't been explored," says Xbox Group Product Manager Peter Orullian. "We're aware that there are now more hours spent viewing than hours playing."

Importantly, Beam doesn't mean that Microsoft is removing support for Twitch or other streaming services from the Xbox One or Windows 10 — it just thinks it now has a better, easier option of its own.

For starters, Orullian says, Microsoft believes that Beam has a significant technology advantage: While other streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch have a live video delay of anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds, Orullian praises Beam for its "subsecond" latency. 

That lower latency means more interactivity with the audience. Later this month, Microsoft will release the second version of its Beam Interactive tools, so game developers can build features into their games that let viewers of a live stream participate in the fun. 

Twitch and others offer similar tools, Orullian notes. Some games, like "Ultimate Chicken Horse," let viewers vote on aspects of the action. But Beam's lower latency gives it an advantage, Orullian says, opening the door to more real-time, action-oriented integrations. Plus, it makes it easier for a streamer and their viewers to hold a conversation without having to account for the lag of that delay.

Finally, Orullian shows off how Beam will be built straight into Windows 10 and Xbox One. Streaming your session to Beam is just a few clicks away, with integration into both platforms' interfaces while playing a game.

And on the Xbox One, you don't even need a Beam account to get started: Click the controller's Home button, and the option is there on a revamped side menu. It'll start the broadcast to your Xbox friends, and even auto-generate a URL for you to share so anyone can tune in.

"All of a sudden, I'm a streamer now," says Orullian.

That ease of access, plus what he sees as the platform's superior technology, will give Microsoft a real foothold in the market that Amazon's Twitch currently dominates, Orullian says. The fact that it only took them a few months from buying Beam to getting it just about ready for gamers shows how ready Microsoft is to compete, he says.

"I think that probably speaks to how important Beam is," Orullian says.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft is taking on Amazon’s $970 million Twitch acquisition — here's why it’s a smart move

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NOW WATCH: 20,000 gamers turned out for Twitch’s first convention — here’s what it was like

Arnold Schwarzenegger has told NBC he's leaving "The Celebrity Apprentice" after only his one season hosting the show, according to a New York Times reporter.

In the statement from Schwarzenegger posted by New York Times TV reporter John Koblin, the actor says that he "loved every second of working with NBC and Mark Burnett." He goes on to praise the celebrity stars and crew, and says he would like to work with them "again on a show that doesn't have this baggage."

The "baggage" he's referring to is almost certainly the fact that "The Celebrity Apprentice," an offshoot of the original "The Apprentice," was previously hosted by President Donald Trump.

"The Apprentice" has seen its ratings sink since Schwarzenegger took over hosting duties from Trump for the new season. Trump has also mocked the lowered viewership, saying the movie star-turned-reality host got "destroyed."

SEE ALSO: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

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NOW WATCH: Terry Crews explains how intermittent fasting keeps him in shape

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven't caught up with "The Walking Dead."

Fans are still processing the sudden departure of Sherry from last week's episode of AMC's "The Walking Dead," but the star behind the role, Christine Evangelista, says she expected that her time on the zombie show was limited.

Sherry was Dwight's (Austin Amelio) ex-wife and later, one of murderous Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) many reluctant wives. Despite the danger, she was kind to Daryl (Norman Reedus) and helped him escape from Negan. After that, Evangelista said she began preparing herself to leave the show.

"I knew from earlier in the season that she was the one that helped Daryl," Evangelista told Business Insider at an NBC Universal event on Thursday. "So I knew that her time was limited. I was curious as to what she was going to do next. Sherry is always a step ahead in some ways. She always has some sort of plan. And I think that once Negan found out that she’s the one that let Daryl out, which I’m sure he would’ve, she would’ve been dead. So I think she had no choice but to go."

Sherry escaped from the Sanctuary, but not before leaving Dwight a harsh, yet heartfelt, goodbye letter. The show seems to leave the door open for her coming back.

"I mean it was a sad letter that she wrote him, but she’s a badass," Evangelista said. "She’s running right now. She’s doing her thing. I have a lot of faith in her."

Fans of Evangelista don't have to wait long to see her on TV again. She stars on the new E! drama "The Arrangement," in which she plays an up-and-coming actress who's offered a wedding contract to a famous Hollywood leading man, who's played by former "Dallas" reboot and "Desperate Housewives" star Josh Henderson.

"It happened within a couple of days," the actress said of going from "The Walking Dead" to working on "The Arrangement," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. "I think I literally went from one set to the other, which was awesome. You know, it’s a completely different world. It was definitely a sharp transition."

SEE ALSO: The most shocking 'Walking Dead' death probably isn't who you think it is

DON'T MISS: 8 TV shows you need to watch if you love 'The Walking Dead'

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NOW WATCH: ‘The Walking Dead’ fans think they uncovered something huge in this scene from the latest episode

After a week of tense examination of how the wrong best-picture winner envelope got into the hands of presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway at Sunday's Oscars, leave it to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to put a bow on the whole thing with a funny YouTube video.

The superstar actor is not just the king of the box office, but he's also an expert at viral videos.

On Friday, he posted a video on his YouTube channel that breaks down "what really happened" after Dunaway said the best picture was "La La Land," rather than the real winner "Moonlight."

It consists of a narration of the now-famous still photo of the star-studded audience reaction (including Johnson's) once it was clear a mistake was made. We hear Johnson trying to decide if he has to get onstage and use his powers to "help or destroy." Then we move around to other famous faces in the shot (thanks to voice impersonations), like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck having an argument, Mel Gibson trying to stay calm, Sting singing all of his hits, and Meryl Streep pondering if she in fact won the best-picture Oscar.

Watch the hilarious video from The Rock below:

SEE ALSO: Meet all the breakout stars in the horror movie everyone is talking about — "Get Out"

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NOW WATCH: Oscar nominees receive a $100,000+ swag bag — here's what's inside

Christine Evangelista made the leap from badass Sherry on "The Walking Dead" to starring on E!'s new drama "The Arrangement," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m.

"It happened within a couple of days," the actress told Business Insider at an NBC Universal event on Thursday of going from the zombie hit to working on the E! show. "I think I literally went from one set to the other, which was awesome. You know, it’s a completely different world. It was definitely a sharp transition."

On "The Arrangement," Evangelista plays an up-and-coming actress, Megan Morrison, who's offered a wedding contract to Kyle West, a famous Hollywood leading man and member of a cult-like religion, who's played by former "Dallas" reboot and "Desperate Housewives" star Josh Henderson.

The audition process for Evangelista mirrored that of her character on the show, in which a spark between the actors was important if they were to pull off a fake relationship.

"Josh and I got the roles the old-fashioned way. We both auditioned for it," she said. "And it was very important that the two of us had great chemistry. We did have a couple of readings together, so they can see us. So we met very similarly to how Megan and Kyle met on the show. We met in a screen test and we got along really well. And a couple weeks later, we’re filming the pilot."

Many in the media had wondered if the show's producers found inspiration in the alleged wedding contract between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, which was reportedly controlled by Scientology. During the Television Critics Association press tour in January, executive producer Jonathan Abrams shot down the comparison.

"Even if I could legally do it... I don’t have the authority to do it,” Abrahams told a room of skeptical journalists about whether he could confirm that Cruise and Holmes were an inspiration for the show. "It doesn’t matter, because it really isn’t."

In light of the producer's denial, Evangelista pointed out that fake romantic relationships have always been a part of the fabric of Hollywood.

"We’ve all heard of rumors. You read any tabloid, right?" she said. "That’s what a marketing team does. There’s strategy involved with promoting a movie. I don’t personally know anyone that’s been forced into a contract marriage. I think if you think back to the old Hollywood studio days, back when Paramount had players and you worked for one studio lot, of course there was some kind of internal matchmaking involved to promote things. So this has been around for a really long time. And I’m just very surprised that there’s never been a TV show about it."

Evangelista thinks that the time is right for a show like "The Arrangement," since the amount of information the public knows now and expects to know about celebrities has become so broad.

"I think with reality shows, people want to know what happens behind closed doors," she told us. "And I think that’s kind of what the show is about. It’s revealing what’s behind the curtain, how do things play out, how do things get made, how are things dramatized, and that’s what the show really is. It’s very intriguing."

Watch a trailer for "The Arrangement" below:

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' star Christine Evangelista weighs in on Sherry's sudden exit

DON'T MISS: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

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NOW WATCH: 7 famous people reveal why they are Scientologists

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "Get Out."

Jordan Peele's directorial debut, "Get Out," has enthralled audiences and critics with its examination of racism through a pulse-pounding thriller that follows a black man who's visiting his white girlfriend's parents for the first time.

Peele cast "Girls" star Allison Williams (also the daughter of news anchor Brian Williams) to play the girlfriend, Rose. It was a savvy move. Williams crafts a character who will not soon be forgotten by horror-movie fans.

At first, Rose looks to be learning, like Chris (played by Daniel Kaluuya), about the strange things going on in her parents' home. But when it's finally revealed that not only is she in on her folks' twisted brain-swapping of white elderly people into virile African-American men (and women), but she's the attractive bait used to lure the black victims in, it's one of the shocking twists of the movie.

Peele talked to Business Insider before the movie opened and explained why Williams was perfect for the role.

"With her work on 'Girls,' I think the wonderful risk she took with 'Peter Pan,' she just felt like the part," Peele said. "She felt cosmopolitan but also undeniably Caucasian."

That last part Peele and Williams execute to perfection when we see how Rose spends her time after Chris has been captured by her parents. She's sitting in her room, which is filled with framed photos on the wall of her past "relationships," eating Froot Loops, sipping a glass of milk through a straw, and listening to the 1980s classic "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," all while searching NCAA prospects on her laptop, presumably for her next catch.

It doesn't get more white than that.

“That scene is one of my favorites,” Peele told the The Los Angeles Times. “It’s one of those moments, like a good ‘Key & Peele’ sketch, when you know you’ve got it — this is going to work. There’s no dialogue in it — just this beautiful, psychotic image that gives me glee when it happens in the film."

Taking a beautiful actress like Williams known for gracing the covers of glossy magazines and doing ads for Keds and making her a milk-sipping, "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack-listening racist psycho is just one of the reasons audiences can't get enough of this twisted, disturbing, hilarious, brilliant movie.

"It's a very important character," Peele told Business Insider of the Rose part. "Because the love story in this movie is what drives us through it."

After a pause, Peele couldn't help himself and let out a giggle.

"Get Out" is currently playing in theaters.

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"Logan" is finally out in theaters this weekend, and the R-rated film is already getting high praise from critics and audiences alike. Critics are impressed with the script: It's gritty, violent, and balances the intense action sequences expected from a superhero movie with the quiet drama expected from a completely different one.

The risks director and cowriter James Mangold took with Hugh Jackman's final performance as Wolverine is a completely satisfying end to his 17-year portrayal of the character. It also stands out amid the X-Men franchise and superhero movies in general, and is likely to change them for the better. 

See why critics are calling "Logan" one of the best superhero movies ever — even the best — below:

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It’s dark and risky.

"It is uncompromising in its brutality and fearless in its reverence of these iconic characters. It's a testament to the power of storytelling, and what creative freedom can produce. Goodbye bub. You've changed superhero movies forever." —Hindustan Times 

"The film celebrates the medium by taking itself seriously, with an added hint of apology for the genre's earlier sins. Best of all, there's an element of risk." —San Francisco Chronicle

It’s so good, you might forget it’s a comic-book movie.

“The only problem with calling it the boldest and most affecting superhero flick in many years is that it's barely a superhero movie at all.” —NPR

“The best superhero movie ever is more about the curse of super powers than super powers. Maybe that's why it's the best superhero movie ever.” —Tri-City Herald

Hugh Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine is incredibly satisfying.

“Jackman's performance is Clint Eastwood-esque, and the lines in Jackman's face tell the story of his worn character; he plays Wolverine as a man at the end of his line, adding at least a decade to his 48 years.” —Detroit News 

“'Logan' is as understated a masterpiece as there's ever been, delivering the Wolverine film we've all been waiting for, and if this truly is Hugh Jackman's final time playing him, he has definitely left the series on a high note.” —Starburst

Burnie Burns, one of pioneers of digital video and the cofounder of 250-person studio Rooster Teeth, is “overjoyed” by YouTube’s new $35-a-month cable TV competitor. He thinks it's big for YouTube's top talent.

YouTube TV, which was unveiled on Tuesday, delivers around 40 TV channels to your smart TV, phone, laptop, and so on. It’s the latest “skinny bundle” meant to appeal to people who want to dip their toes back into the world of pay TV, or get a premium package for the first time.

But while YouTube TV mostly tries to streamline the traditional TV package, Burns told Business Insider that it’s also a big step forward for YouTube’s most prominent creators.

YouTube TV will be a totally separate app from YouTube: It will include shows and movies from YouTube Red, the company’s $9.99-a-month premium service, which houses YouTube-funded original content from the platform's heavyweights like AwesomenessTV, Lilly Singh, Joey Graceffa, The Fine Brothers, and so on.

That’s a big deal, according to Burns, whose company Rooster Teeth has a movie “Lazer Team” on YouTube Red, with a sequel in production.

For Red, YouTube tapped its top talents and gave them the budgets to make premium shows and movies. On YouTube TV, that Red content will live alongside established channels like ESPN, even as “regular” YouTube videos live in a totally different app.

“It goes to show the quality of production,” Burns said. It's a vote of confidence from YouTube. 

It’s also a continued blurring of the line of "what is a TV show," versus a web one, and what that denotes in terms of quality. With Netflix shelling out billions of dollars for original shows, and streaming TV packages like Sling adding digital-first channels such as Cheddar, the difference between linear and digital TV is only getting more complicated. And Burns couldn’t be happier because it means more opportunities for companies like Rooster Teeth.

The YouTube Generation

YouTube has said it is targeting young people with YouTube TV.

“This is TV reimagined for the YouTube generation,” Christian Oestlien, the director of product management at YouTube, told Bloomberg.

While that might sound like marketing spin, Piper Jaffray's last semi-annual survey of 10,000 US teens showed a whopping 26% of teens watched YouTube every day, putting it over cable TV for the first time (at 25%).

And Burns recalled his own experience on traditional TV, on a recent season of the CBS show “The Amazing Race.” He said he actually had to explain to some of Rooster Teeth’s younger fans how to watch him on the show. They simply weren’t used to watching anything on linear TV.

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Some book characters really stick with you. 

In fact, almost all readers say they hear the voices of characters as they read (in fiction and non-fiction) at least sometimes, according to a survey conducted by researchers from Durham University in the UK in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival and The Guardian.

Perhaps more interestingly, almost a fifth of readers said they hear the voices or thoughts of characters in regular life even when they aren't reading the book, something the researchers call "experiential crossing."

Perhaps you've heard Gandalf or Dumbledore give a wise perspective on a real-life scenario; perhaps the voice of Ivan Karamazov saying "I most respectfully return him the ticket" has been your reaction to injustice in the world; perhaps — like Science of Us's Melissa Dahl— reading "The Catcher in the Rye" as a kid made you feel you could see the "phoniness" in everything. 

"If the 'voice' of a good book gets into my head, it can seep into my own experience of the world and I find myself thinking in that voice, as that character, while carrying out normal activities," one survey respondent reported.

Another study participant described their reaction to reading Virginia Woolf:

"Last February and March, when I was reading “Mrs. Dalloway” and writing a paper on it, I was feeling enveloped by Clarissa Dalloway. I heard her voice or imagined what her reactions to different situations. I'd walk into a Starbucks and feel her reaction to it based on what I was writing in my essay on the different selves of this character."

So if you've ever found yourself perceiving a situation the way a character from a book would, you aren't alone. 

This doesn't necessarily mean that most people hear voices as if they were spoken aloud. One in seven respondents reported that the voices they hear are so clear to them that it feels as if someone were in the room. But in the rest of cases, it's less vivid than that.

Film versions of a story also seem to influence the way readers imagine and hear characters. "Usually if I have watched the film version before reading, the voices will be those of the actors when I read the book," one respondent noted.

It's worth noting that survey participants may have been more interested in reading than the general population, since respondents were recruited from a project website, at a book festival, and via ads in the books and science sections of The Guardian. Survey respondents reported being 75% female, 24% male, 1% other; with a median age of 38.8; and came from a variety of English-speaking countries.

In many ways, it's not surprising that readers "hear" characters. It makes sense that in an immersive narrative, the voices of all involved come to life — that's what "The Neverending Story" was all about, after all. When a good book is in your head and you are thinking about the "voices" involved, it seems logical that those voices would add new perspective to what you see around you.

But the study does add weight to the idea that in our brains, even fictional characters can seem real. In fact, the authors write that previous neuroscience research has found that the parts of the brain associated with hearing voices become active when people read dialogue.

This illustrates a power of literature that might be unique to the medium.

"It gives you the interiority of characters' minds," Novelist Edward Docx tells The Guardian. "The greatest film can't do that, and neither can a computer game. Only the novel can give you an intimate portrait of the complex cross-currents of human psychology, to the extent where you know another person’s soul. And that's the most intimate thing in the world."

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