*By Alyssa Caverley*
When your approach to life is to always look for the joke, you're bound to find the funny things along the way, even on the bumpy road into the Hollywood Boys Club, said Nell Scovell, a comedy writer and the author of a new memoir.
"My story is kind of like this 'Lean In' case study, but with this pop culture background," said Scovell, a writer for "The Simpsons" and creater of the teen comedy "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
"I tell people 'come for *The Simpsons*, stay for the feminism'," she said in an interview Wednesday with Cheddar.
Scovell helped Sheryl Sandberg write her book, "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead." In Scovell's new memoir, "Just the Funny Parts: And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boy's Club," she details her experiences navigating the entertainment industry at a time when she had to fight to be heard as a woman. The #MeToo movement and TimesUp campaign have made some of her experiences more resonant, she said, and easier to tell.
"I went from being anxious to tell my story and then October hits and just all the stories are exploding and then I was like, I couldn't wait for my book to come out at the end of March," she said. "Because I wanted to add my voice to that chorus because I know not everyone can speak out, but I feel like those of us who can have a responsibility to do it."
Scovell, who has also written for publications such as Vanity Fair, is sharing her experiences in the hope that other women will find inspiration from her story and strive to help one another succeed.
"I do share a #MeToo story, but I think it's funny and I did work with some of the funniest people on the planet," she said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/nell-scovell-is-combatting-sexism-in-hollywood-with-humor).
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Kimberly Paige at TV network BET joined Cheddar News to talk about leadership, the projects she was pivotal in building, and her approach to leadership and "inviting" diverse audiences rather than "targeting" them. "if you think about when someone says, 'I'm targeting you,' you're generally in someone's kind of crosshairs, if you will," she said. "And so I use the notion of who are we inviting to participate in the brand in a meaningful way. I think it's a nuance, but it has huge implications."
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter joined Cheddar News to talk about fatherhood and his solo work on a new crossover song called "Easy," featuring country singer Jimmie Allen. "What I love about country music is the lyrics, the melodies, the stories that are in them as well," he said. "And you know, you hear it's just pretty simple and pretty easy."
Oscar Stembridge, the youngest musician to have signed with Universal Music Sweden, has a passion for spreading awareness of climate activism as well as music. Cheddar News got an exclusive first look at the video for the new song, "Am I the Only One" and spoke with the 14-year-old singer about his young career and advocacy work. "Basically it all kind of started when, inspired from Greta Thunberg, I wrote my first kind of song called 'We March,' which is about my generation not wanting to pay the price of the older generations' inaction," he said.
The office real estate market might be in trouble, as vacancy rates in major cities remain across the country, even as COVID restrictions continue to fall away. Ryan Severino, the chief economist for real estate and investment management firm JLL, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the latest office trends and why some may be concerning for the broader economy. "There are knock-on ramifications for a lot of the ancillary industries that support office workers," he said. "If you think about coffee shops, places that someone might go out to get lunch or a drink or dinner after work, those are obviously still feeling the brunt of people not being physically back in office spaces the way that they were before the pandemic."
More Covid booster shots for more adults, Greenpeace and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen want more eco-friendly bitcoin, and the federal mask mandate for transportation is challenged. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
According to tracking services, Americans get inundated with more than 130 million robocalls every day. One man decided that he had enough and started suing telemarketers. Daniel Graham joins Cheddar News to share how he won more than $100,000 in settlements.
Streaming giant Netflix has thrown its hat into the ring with some video game offerings of its own so far, but the hurdles to gaining market share in the space might be daunting despite recently acquiring its third game development studio. Kenny Rosenblatt, the president and co-founder of casual game maker Arkadium, joined Cheddar to offer his view of where things are headed for Netflix. "Microsoft entered the video game market in 1990, years ago with 'Windows Solitaire. It has taken them that long to become the player that they are today," he said. "So I like what Netflix is doing. Slow and steady wins the race."
