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   Daily Mail

Children who watch more than two hours of TV a night are more likely to be addicted to gambling, cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol when they grow up.

Researchers in New Zealand looked at data from 1,000 people from when they were children to over 45 years of age. Surveys were carried out every two to six years about their TV use, whether they gambled, and what drugs they took.

   Vulture

HBO Max is cutting back on the smokes — in the movie posters it displays on the service, that is. Twitter users first spotted the missing cigarettes on HBO Max’s feeds, seemingly edited and masked out of iconic movie posters for McCabe & Mrs. Miller and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. In the edited posters, stars Warren Beatty and Paul Newman no longer hold cigarettes between their fingers but instead appear to be gesturing at something — perhaps a vape shop? Cinephiles and film buffs are annoyed.

   CBR

The original Pinocchio had Geppetto smoking a pipe and wielding a gun at the start, thinking an intruder was around. Additionally, Pinocchio also got drunk with the other boys at Pleasure Island, and there was the offensive Tobacco Row that depicted Native Indians dispensing cigarettes. The new film removes all of these, with Pinocchio drinking root beer and actually not engaging in hooliganism with the others.

   Variety

“I remember saying, ‘He smokes in the book. I need to smoke. He needs to have cigarettes. He’s a bad boy,” Elordi said, adding that his repeated requests to smoke in the movie were turned down by Netflix.

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today sent a letter to Netflix, urging the company to take steps to decrease young people’s exposure to tobacco, nicotine, and vaping imagery in video content. 

   The Sydney Morning Herald

Once the epitome of Hollywood glamour, cigarettes were all but snuffed out in films and TV shows by the turn of the millennium. Now they’re making a comeback. Plot-driven or something more sinister?

   Geek Tyrant

Warner did not allow Colin Farrell to smoke as The Penguin in "The Batman"

   Truth Initiative

This year’s Oscar nominations, including PG-13 rated West Side Story and its onscreen smoking, come at a time when tobacco in movies remains a pervasive problem. More than a third — 38% — of top newly released movies in 2020 depicted tobacco, according to an analysis by the independent research institution NORC at the University of Chicago that is included in the latest Truth Initiative report on tobacco imagery in entertainment.

   The Guardian (Nigeria)

A Non-Governmental organisation (NGO), Smoke-Free Nollywood, and the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), have launched a digital media campaign to discourage smoking scenes in home movies watched by children.

   USA Today

It’s no surprise that 2020 was a big year for streaming — in a scary, unprecedented year, entertainment provided viewers with a source of escape and comfort while staying at home. But a new report from Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking group, says that watching some of the year’s biggest TV shows, movies and music videos also exposed young people to frequent scenes of smoking and vaping imagery, which studies have proven increases the likelihood of them trying some form of tobacco. 

   New York Times

One aspect of Cruella’s look that didn’t make the leap to live action was her iconic cigarette holder. Was that one of those things that doesn’t quite feel family-friendly anymore?

That is not allowed in 2021. [Laughs.] We are not allowed to smoke onscreen in a Disney film. It was difficult to not have that cigarette holder.

But did you feel, spiritually, that you were still brandishing a long cigarette holder?

Yes! I was so excited to have that green plume of smoke in there, but it was not possible. I don’t want to promote smoking, but I’m also not trying to promote skinning puppies.

   People

"I don't want to promote smoking, but I'm also not trying to promote skinning puppies," Emma Stone joked of her character

   Variety

If there’s one thing Cruella de Vil likes, it’s stealing puppies. If there are two things Cruella de Vil likes, it’s stealing puppies and taking drags from her opera-length cigarette holder. Yet the infamous Disney villain is ditching her favorite accessory in the upcoming film “Cruella,” which stars Emma Stone and centers on the early life of the notorious fur-obsessed antihero.

   The Tide

As more youths take to smoking cigarettes, a civil society organisation (CSO) Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Thursday, demanded a total ban on smoking in Nollywood movies as they directly and indirectly, advertise products of Tobacco Companies.  This was stated by the Executive Director CAPPA, Akinbode Ohiwafemi, at a media briefing held in Abuja. He said tobacco companies in Nigeria have over the years exploited the entertainment industry, films and music videos to entice and force young Nigerians into smoking tobacco without telling them the health dangers that could kill them and jeopardise their future.

   Truth Initiative
Exposure to smoking imagery through episodic [TV] programming triples a young person’s chances of vaping initiation.
   USA Today
When young viewers see smoking on television, it can increase the likelihood they will try e-cigarettes, according to a first-of-its-kind study, part of a new report on tobacco and smoking imagery on TV…[The Truth Initiative report] also finds tobacco and smoking depictions in the most popular shows for young people appear to be rising since the group's first While You Were Streaming reports in 2018 and 2019.
   The New York Times
Hollywood has been unable to restart production on its own soundstages in California because of surging infections in the state, plodding negotiations with unions over protocols and the time it takes to get test results. So big movie studios, under pressure to get their production assembly lines running again, have focused on overseas shooting. The “Avatar” sequels are filming again in New Zealand. Sony Pictures has “Uncharted,” its adaptation of a popular video game, going in Berlin.
   Stanford Medicine
Among young people who were tested for the virus that causes COVID-19, the research found that those who vaped were five to seven times more likely to be infected than those who did not use e-cigarettes.
   San Francisco Chronicle
Smoking was the most common risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications among otherwise largely healthy young people, the study found.
   Research Matters
Currently, government intervention in regulating digital content is still minimal. “There is a lack of a governing or certifying body or even a law to regulate the content shown in online platforms,” laments Dr Arora.