Hollywood Reporter
US entertainment trade publication (est. 1930, Penske Media); covering SAG-AFTRA AI royalty negotiations in 2026.
Last refreshed: 23 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
As SAG-AFTRA fights AI in Hollywood, how does The Hollywood Reporter cover a fight that affects its own industry?
Timeline for Hollywood Reporter
Mentioned in: SAG-AFTRA opens the AI royalty fight
AI: Jobs, Power & Money- Who owns The Hollywood Reporter?
- Penske Media Corporation has owned The Hollywood Reporter since 2020. PMC also owns Variety, Rolling Stone, and Billboard.
- What is The Hollywood Reporter covering in the SAG-AFTRA AI negotiations?
- THR has covered SAG-AFTRA's demand for 'airtight AI protections' as a precondition for its 2026 AMPTP deal, including the proposed 'Tilly Tax' royalty on AI-generated performers.Source: ai-jobs-power-money Update 7
- Is The Hollywood Reporter the same as Variety?
- No — they are rival US entertainment trade publications. Both are owned by Penske Media Corporation but operate independently and compete for scoops.
Background
The Hollywood Reporter was cited in April 2026 coverage of the SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP contract talks as one of the primary trade publications covering the resumption of negotiations on 27 April 2026, when SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland publicly stated that 'airtight AI protections' were a precondition for any longer-term deal. The publication's reporting on the 'Tilly Tax' — SAG-AFTRA's proposed royalty on AI-generated performers — has been part of the core source pool for the ai-jobs-power-money story's entertainment industry thread.
The Hollywood Reporter was founded in 1930 by William R. Wilkerson as a daily trade newspaper covering the US film industry. It has operated continuously since, expanding into television, streaming, digital, and awards coverage. Penske Media Corporation acquired it in 2020, bringing it into the same ownership group as Variety, Rolling Stone, and several other major entertainment-adjacent titles. The publication's daily news operation and its annual ranking franchises (The Power Lists, The Next Gen) give it a dual identity as a breaking-news trade and a prestige industry authority.
The Hollywood Reporter occupies a specific position in the AI-and-labour story: as a trade publication covering the entertainment industry, it is both a chronicler of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA negotiations and a company whose own content could, in principle, be used to train the AI models its sources are negotiating protections against. Its competitor Variety is owned by the same parent company.