A number of staffers at CMT, the Nashville-based country music and lifestyle programming network, have been let go as part of a broad swath of staff cuts taking place at Paramount Global.

Billboard has learned that among the music and talent team leaving are Stacey Cato (director of music and talent), Quinn Brown (vp of production), Ray Sells (senior director of production), Jennifer DeVault (senior producer), Jordan Walker (senior manager of music and talent), Abbi Roth (senior manager of music and talent) and Bryana Cielo (executive assistant), as well as Heather Graffagnino, vp of production management.

Among those remaining are Margaret Comeaux (senior vp of music and events production), Donna Duncan (vp of music and talent), Melissa Goldberg (vp of digital and social), Yasmin Mohammed (producer) and David Bennett (creative director).

Sources say that Paramount will continue to support CMT and is positioning the outlet for the future, but what that looks like is unclear.

This week, Paramount Global began a second round of staff cuts, as it continues its aim of reducing its U.S. workforce by 15%, seemingly in preparation for the company’s planned merger with Skydance Media. In a memo to staffers on Monday (Sept. 24), Paramount’s co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins stated, “Like the entire media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses. In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions. Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions.”

The cuts come as the company, like many legacy media companies, is seeing a decline in linear television viewership and advertising, and consumers continue to move toward streaming video and digital.

In June, Paramount cut nearly all the content roles across its CMT, MTV, Comedy Central and TV Land websites, while storied news site MTVnews.com was taken down. During a town hall on June 25, McCarthy noted that Paramount’s revenue had grown by 13% between 2018 and 2023, while the company’s operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) has fallen 61% during that same time frame. Thus, they are aiming at cutting $500 million in costs.

Country radio trade publication Country Aircheck first reported a number of the layoffs.

Reps for Paramount Global had not responded to Billboard‘s request for confirmation by press time.

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ColourPop is entering the Upside Down with its newest collaboration inspired by Season 1 of the Netflix series, Stranger Things.

Announced on Wednesday (Sept. 25), the ColourPop x Stranger Things collection features mystical shades in a Chapter One Eyeshadow Palette, pH Changing Instant Crush Cream Blush, a waffle-scented Waffle Lip Mask and other makeup essentials for soft glam and retro looks.

ColourPop’s Stranger Things collection ranges from $12-$26 each and $99 for the full collection.

What’s in the collection? The Chapter One Eyeshadow Palette features 16 supernatural shades inspired by the show’s first season. The top half of the palette is a nod to Hawkins and the bottom half represents the Upside Down.

The collection’s pH-powered, matte cream blush turns from smoky blue to a custom pink shade and the waffle-scented lip mask comes in adorable, Waffle-shaped packaging. According to ColourPop, the lip mask has a “buttery, maple waffle” scent and features Squalane, a saturated oil that aids in hydration. Other ingredients include Shea Butter and Vitamin E to moisturize and soften your lips.

Also featured, the Monster Chrome Liquid Eyeshadow Duo, Liquid Lite Glow Drops and Talk to Me Ultra Lip Trio, which takes inspiration from the Stranger Things Christmas Lights scene.

The limited collection will be available at ColourPop.com starting on Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET and Ulta Beauty on Sept. 27.

Stranger Things, starring Milly Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Walford, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, became an instant hit after debuting on Netflix in 2016. Season 5 is expected to arrive sometime next year.

A new production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet will be soundtracked by Radiohead’s 2003 album Hail to the Thief.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief will see “Shakespeare’s words and Radiohead’s album illuminate one
another in thrilling new ways as the music becomes a critical part of the narrative” a press release reveals. The production will include a cast of 20 musicians and actors performing the album live onstage during the play.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has collaborated with Tony and Olivier award-winner Christine Jones and Olivier award-winner Steven Hoggett for the production.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief will premiere at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, in Manchester on Apr 27 and will run there until May 18, 2025. The production then transfers to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon, England from June 4 – 28, 2025. Tickets for the production go on sale on October 2; more details can be found here.

Speaking about the new arrangements of Hail To The Thief, Yorke said in a statement that it was an “interesting and intimidating challenge”. He added: “Adapting the original music of Hail To The Thief for live performance with the actors on stage to tell this story that is forever being told, using its familiarity and sounds, pulling them into and out of context, seeing what chimes with the underlying grief and paranoia of Hamlet, using the music as a ‘presence’ in the room, watching how it collides with the action and the text. Ghosting one against the other.”

Hail To The Thief was released in 2003 by the British band amidst the fallout of the invasion of Iraq and was critical of President George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’ following 9/11. The album landed at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and at No.1 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts and its artwork, which is incorporated in the play’s promotional poster, was created by frequent collaborator Stanley Donwood.

Speaking in 2003, Yorke said that the album’s lyrical content was influenced by “the rise of doublethink and the rise of general intolerance and madness, and feeling very much like individuals were totally out of control of the situation” and that “the force of the music gave me licence I think to explore all these things, really”. It spawned three singles, “2+2=5”, “Go To Sleep” and “There, There”.

Jones, who has previously collaborated with Hoggett on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the stage adaptation of Green Day’s American Idiot said that William Shakespeare’s play, written between 1599 and 1601, aligned with their love of Radiohead’s record.

“Paying attention to the lyrics, I became aware of how many songs from Hail to the Thief speak to the themes of the play,” Jones says. “There are uncanny reverberances between the text and the album. For years I’ve wanted to see the play and album collide in a piece of theatre; eventually I shared the idea with Thom, who was intrigued.

Radiohead released their most recent album A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016 and the band members have worked on new projects ever since. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s The Smile will release their third studio album Cutouts on XL Recordings on Oct 4.

The band’s bassist Colin Greenwood recently revealed that the band had recently reconvened to rehearse but shared no news of imminent music.