Welcome back to ON THE LOT.

In today’s edition: Academy Awards warm-ups with Conan O’Brien, the Rebel Wilson case with a Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni connection, a new Netflix docuseries from Liz Garbus that will make you glad you’re not a Murdoch, and this week’s recommendations from industry insiders.

Got tips (on where David Zaslav will celebrate after the Oscars, or how to stay cool on an 80-degree red carpet)? You can reach me at rebecca.keegan@nbcuni.com or on Signal at thatrebecca.82.

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

It’s our Super Bowl. Our Olympics. Our World Cup. For the kind of people who have strong opinions about Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael B. Jordan, or “Sentimental Value” versus “The Secret Agent,” our day is finally here. Yes, the Oscars happen this Sunday, and I’ll be there at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, covering my 15th show, miraculously carrying the same handbag from my first (thank you, Michael Kors).

We’ve gotten some hints of what to expect from those who work behind the scenes to bring the show to life. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer told me in a recent interview that one of their biggest challenges has been crafting the oft-discussed and debated In Memoriam segment, which inevitably sparks an outcry when someone is left out. This year, the Oscars producers have to fit a large number of industry greats, including Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Catherine O’Hara and Rob Reiner, among many others.

In a news conference on Wednesday, host Conan O’Brien also touched on how he plans to navigate the delicate task of amusing people amid the ongoing tense events in the Middle East.

“My job is to always try and hit this very, very thin line, I think, between entertaining people and also acknowledging some of the realities,” the comedian said. “So it is a dance. It’s a dance that goes on up until the show begins.”

Two movies from Warner Bros. — “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — have dominated awards season up to now, and are likely to do so again on Sunday night. But many categories, including best actor, still feel wide open.

We all tune in for our own reasons. Senior reporter Daniel Arkin said he is watching for the best international feature category, where a win for Iranian director Jafar Panahi (“It Was Just an Accident”) could set the stage for one of the night’s most topical acceptance speeches. Mike Calia, managing editor of NBC News’ Business and Economy Unit, will be watching how well horror movies do after a breakthrough year for the genre, between vampire flick “Sinners,” the witchy “Weapons” and “Frankenstein” in all its gothic glory. Entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas is rooting for “Hamnet” for best picture because she loves a good cry. Producer Lauren Wilson is hoping Timothée Chalamet will win best actor so she can inch closer to winning her personal movie fantasy league.

As for me, I’ll be buzzing around the Dolby Theatre keeping my eyes peeled to report back what you can’t see on TV. But I’ll be sure to be in my seat for the performance of the original song from “Sinners,” “I Lied To You,” which will feature Miles Caton and songwriter/producer Raphael Saadiq, alongside Blues legend Buddy Guy, ballet dancer Misty Copland, country/hip-hop artist Shaboozey and more.

And if you’d like to dive into more of our Oscars coverage ahead of the show, tune into a special episode of NBC News’ “Here’s the Scoop” podcast on Saturday. Host Yasmin Vossoughian, Chloe Melas and I chat about this year’s front-runners, the future of the show (which moves to YouTube in 2029) and the possibility of an awards campaign someday for AI “actress” Tilly Norwood.

Rebel Rebel

A key element in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni case that is marching toward a May 18 trial is Lively’s allegation that Baldoni’s PR team waged an online campaign to smear her reputation. Baldoni’s team, including publicist Melissa Nathan of TAG PR, has denied those allegations.

But discovery filed in court this week in another Hollywood case seems to shed more light on the practice of this alleged tactic — including how it may have worked at TAG PR.

In 2024, Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden, three U.K-based producers of the indie movie “The Deb,” sued their director, Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson, for defamation. The producers alleged that the “Pitch Perfect” star, angry over the fact that she didn’t get a writing credit on the film, falsely accused them of embezzlement and sexual harassment in a social media video.

Case documents filed on March 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court include a Word document the producers allege Wilson wrote as a template for a website she wanted TAG PR to create in order to malign Ghost.

“This website is dedicated to telling the world the truth about Amanda Ghost who has maliciously tried to destroy the lives of countless artists,” the Word doc reads. “She cannot hide like a cockroach from the light this website will provide… her behavior has escalated into unwanted sexual advances on young women. She is the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell…”

According to the three producers, Wilson gave the Word doc to her publicist — Nathan, the very same publicist who was working for Baldoni. The producers also claim that another TAG PR executive then edited Wilson’s Word doc, a version of which later appeared on the websites “amandaghost.com” and “amandaghostsucks.com.”

Wilson is also represented by the same attorney as Baldoni, Bryan Freedman. Freedman, Nathan and a representative for Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wilson has not yet filed an answer to the complaint. The case does not yet have a trial date.

Dynasty

If you miss HBO’s “Succession,” or just want to spend time with a family that will make your own seem more functional, documentarian Liz Garbus has a doozy for you.

“Dynasty: The Murdochs,” a four-part docuseries that dropped on Netflix today, delves into the Murdoch family empire, from its global expansion under patriarch Rupert Murdoch to the bitter legal fight that saw Rupert and his oldest son, Lachlan, pitted against Lachlan’s siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James.

“It’s a family that looks like it has everything,” Garbus told me. “And then when you dig down, you think, ‘Oh, they’re just like me. They fight with their siblings.’ But as you keep digging, you’re like, ‘No, actually they’re not at all like me. The dysfunction is profound. And the stakes of these squabbles are unlike anything the rest of us are familiar with.’”

No one from the Murdoch family participated in the series, but Garbus, who previously directed Netflix’s “Harry & Meghan,” has plenty of material. She relied on text messages, emails and reports of intimate family conversations that emerged in the legal battle, which was unfolding as she shot the series. The family fight ended in September 2025 with a settlement giving Lachlan control of the trust that holds Fox Corp and News Corp., and Prudence, Elisabeth and James roughly $1 billion each to walk away.

The revelations in the legal case, Garbus said, gave her “firsthand insight into the struggles that were going on there and how hard they were for people, how deeply upsetting. It’s business, but at the end of the day, it’s about love and family. “

The Dialogue

“I’ve actually gotten a few scripts, nothing that I feel is right yet, but I 100 percent want to do more. I really like comedy. I think I’m good at it.” — Reality star and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner in her cover interview with Vanity Fair.

“I cannot stand that he has been given a hall pass. It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.” — Actor Rosanna Arquette on director Quentin Tarantino’s use of racial slurs in movies. (He subsequently called her out for bashing his film).

“I was told I wasn’t enough of one thing for ‘West Side Story’ and too much of another for ‘Snow White’ … but I do think there’s an argument to be made that, in the public eye at least, when you’re two things, you’re simultaneously nothing. But I refuse to assimilate for anybody else’s comfort.” — Actor Rachel Zegler in an interview with Harper Bazaar.

The Hype

Why get your recommendations from an algorithm when you could get them from an “SNL” alum, a SXSW filmmaker and an actress in a post-apocalyptic political thriller.

Bowen Yang, “SNL” alum and “Las Culturistas” podcast co-host, told my colleague Tony Lee at the 2026 Unforgettable Awards on Saturday that he’s been playing Pokémon Pokopia on his Nintendo Switch 2 because “it’s really scratching a nostalgia itch.”

Director Rachel Mason, whose new film, “My Brother’s Keeper,” premieres at SXSW today, has been watching “Severance,” for just pure “visual inspiration — the cinematography, production design, direction. It is a true work of art, that show.”

Actress Enuka Okuma, of Hulu’s “Paradise,” has been listening to the audiobook of Lisa Jewell‘s “Then She Was Gone,” because she loves getting her steps in “with a good, domestic noir story in my headphones.”

That’s a wrap — see you Monday, with a special, post-Oscars edition of On the Lot!