SHOW BIZ

As the media industry took stock of Paramount Skydance’s startling acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, one question lingered on the minds of many in the news business and beyond: what will this mean for CNN?

The iconic 24-hour cable news network is among the various Warner Bros. assets that would be scooped up by Paramount in a deal announced Thursday that could transform the media landscape.

Paramount has undergone a swift transformation under Chief Executive David Ellison following his family’s acquisition of the company last summer. These changes reached CBS News almost immediately with the appointment of Bari Weiss, the controversial Free Press co-founder, as its new editor in chief.

Bari Weiss moderated a town hall with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

(CBS via Getty Images)

Weiss’ tenure so far has been rocky.

Her decision to pull a “60 Minutes” story about conditions inside an El Salvador prison that housed undocumented Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. received widespread criticism and accusations of political motivation. The network said the story was held for more reporting, and the segment eventually aired.

There was more upheaval last week at the news magazine, when “60 Minutes” correspondent and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper announced that he’d be leaving to spend more time with his family.

And earlier this year, a veteran producer at “CBS Evening News With Tony Dokoupil” was fired after he expressed disagreement about the editorial direction of the newscast.

Now, the concern is that similar changes could be in store for CNN, which has long been a target of President Trump’s ire. He has personally called for the ouster of hosts at the network who have questioned his policies.

CNN Worldwide Chief Executive Mark Thompson tried to quell some of those fears, particularly inside his own newsroom.

In an internal memo dated Thursday and obtained by The Times, Thompson urged employees not to “jump to conclusions about the future” and try to concentrate on their work.

“We’re still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad,” he wrote in the note. “Let’s continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world.”

Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide Mark Thompson and media editor for Semafor, Maxwell Tani, speak onstage.

(Shannon Finney / Getty Images for Semafor)

CNN declined to comment beyond Thompson’s memo.

Ellison has said his vision for a news business is one that is ideologically down the middle.

“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” he said during a Dec. 8 interview on CNBC, shortly after Warner said it had chosen Netflix as the winning bidder for its studios, HBO and HBO Max. “And we believe that by doing so that is for us, kind of doing well, while doing good.”

Ellison demurred when asked whether Trump would embrace him as CNN’s owner, given the president’s past criticisms of the network.

“We’ve had great conversations with the president about this, but … I don’t want to speak for him in any way, shape or form,” he said.

First Amendment scholars have raised concerns about press freedom and free speech rights under the Trump administration, particularly after last month’s arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon and the Federal Communications Commission’s pressure on late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Press freedom groups have long asked questions in other countries about how authoritarian regimes use their power and “oligarchical alliances to belittle, silence, and punish independent journalistic voices, or to steer media ownership toward … a preferred version of the truth,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a 1st Amendment scholar and distinguished professor in the college of law at the University of Utah, in an email.

“We see them asking at least some of these questions about the U.S. today,” she wrote.

Apprehension about the merger also extends beyond its implications for CNN and the media business.

Lawmakers such as Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have raised concerns about how the consolidation of two major Hollywood studios could affect industry jobs and film and television production — which has significantly slowed since the pandemic, the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 and corporate cutbacks in spending.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the deal an “antitrust disaster” that she feared could raise prices and limit choices for consumers.

“With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,” she said in a statement.

Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has said the merger isn’t a “done deal,” adding that he is in communication with other states attorneys general about the issue.

“As the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition,” he posted Friday on X.

Ellison addressed some of these concerns in a statement Friday.

“By bringing together these world-class studios, our complementary streaming platforms, and the extraordinary talent behind them, we will create even greater value for audiences, partners and shareholders,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.

Today it’s an Italianate apartment building wedged between an Indian restaurant and a Target. But what stood half a century ago at 1454 5th Street in downtown Santa Monica was the Beach Boys’ Brother Studio, a former porn theater turned recording complex where the preeminent American rock band of the 1960s sought to coax its resident genius, Brian Wilson, back into the fold after a long stretch in the wilderness.

Nobody would consider the albums the Beach Boys made at Brother in the mid-70s — among them “15 Big Ones,” “The Beach Boys Love You” and the long-shelved “Adult/Child” — the band’s most successful. (Well, nobody except for Wilson, who frequently cited the synthed-up “Love You” as his fave.) A decade after 1966’s “Pet Sounds,” which so blew the Beatles away that they had to answer with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the burly, bearded Beach Boys were far from the center of pop music; Wilson, in particular, had largely withdrawn from public life as he struggled with the effects of drugs and his fragile mental health.

Yet Brother offered the setting for a creative reflowering — arguably the band’s final moment of unity before the start of years of more serious infighting.

“It was like we all got back together and became Beach Boys again,” says Al Jardine, who founded the group in suburban Hawthorne in 1961 with Wilson, Wilson’s brothers Dennis and Carl and the Wilsons’ cousin Mike Love. Now, eight months after Brian Wilson’s death in June at age 82, a new box set looks back at the era as an expressive outpouring led by the band’s rejuvenated visionary.

“We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years” collects 73 tracks from 1976 and ’77, including outtakes, demos, a remastered version of the “Love You” LP and the first official release of the widely bootlegged “Adult/Child,” which puts Wilson’s touchingly emotive singing amid orchestral arrangements in a glossy big-band style. Among the set’s highlights are a voice-and-piano rendition of “Still I Dream of It,” which, according to legend, Wilson wrote in the hopes that Frank Sinatra would perform it, and a majestic take on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” that shows how brilliant a record-maker Wilson remained despite all the well-documented turmoil.

“Brian was healing from his personal life, and he was ready to go in the studio again,” says Jardine, 83, whose latest tour with the members of Wilson’s road band will stop Friday night at L.A.’s United Theater on Broadway for a complete performance of “The Beach Boys Love You.” With quirky but heartfelt tunes about Wilson’s daughter Carnie (“I Wanna Pick You Up”) and Johnny Carson (uh, “Johnny Carson”) — not to mention the propulsive “Honkin’ Down the Highway,” on which Jardine sang lead — “Love You” has become something of a cult classic among Wilsonologists.

Says Jardine of the LP: “Brian’s spirit — his songwriting soul — is really strong on that one.”

The Beach Boys opened Brother Studio around 1974 near the corner of 5th Street and Broadway, just a few blocks from the beach. They’d traveled to the Netherlands to record their most recent album, “Holland”; before that, they cut several records at Wilson’s home on Bellagio Road in Bel-Air, though the group’s erstwhile mastermind spent as much time upstairs in his bedroom as he did recording music with his bandmates.

Wilson’s retreat after the flameout of his notoriously ambitious “Smile” project made space for the other Beach Boys to shape the band’s music, as on 1970’s fondly remembered “Sunflower.” But the lack of hits eventually took its toll: With a laugh, Love, 84, says one reason they started up Brother was that Wilson’s wife, Marilyn, eventually “threw in the towel after years of having her house flooded with people” to less-than-spectacular returns. “It was sort of like a self-preservation thing,” he adds.

The Beach Boys backstage at New York’s Central Park in 1977.

(Richard E. Aaron / Redferns)

In “We Gotta Groove’s” liner notes, engineer Stephen Moffitt, who designed Brother after working earlier at L.A.’s Village Recorders, recalls clearing out “all the porn crap” from the building and installing a circular stained-glass window to establish the right vibe. A vintage magazine ad boasts of the studio’s high-end gear as well as its “large screen video lounge” and “a playroom with pong, pinball and bumper pool.”

“It was a respite,” Love says. “A place to go and be creative.”

Just as the band was getting Brother up and running, the Beach Boys scored an unexpected smash with 1974’s “Endless Summer,” a double-LP compilation of the group’s early material — “Surfin’ Safari,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “California Girls” — that topped the Billboard album chart on its way to sales of more than 3 million copies. A similar hits collection issued in the U.K., “20 Golden Greats,” did just as well there. “An enormous success,” says Love. “One in every five families had it.”

Suddenly, having more or less ignored group-minded efforts like “Holland” and “Carl and the Passions — ‘So Tough,’ ” the world remembered what it loved about the Beach Boys, and that was songs written and produced by Brian Wilson.

The band got to work at Brother recording “15 Big Ones,” which featured a mix of Wilson originals and covers of oldies like “Chapel of Love” and “Blueberry Hill.” The first Beach Boys album since “Pet Sounds” to carry a solo production credit for Wilson, it came accompanied by an aggressive marketing campaign known as “Brian Is Back!”; Wilson appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone — “The Healing of Brother Brian,” the cover line read — and took part in a Beach Boys television special that showed his return to the concert stage at Anaheim Stadium.

Earle Mankey, an engineer at Brother in the mid-70s, says “15 Big Ones” was less Wilson’s attempt to relight the flame than it was “everyone else’s attempt to relight the flame.” He recalls Wilson looking like a “scared rabbit” when he walked into the studio to find some of the session musicians who’d worked with the Beach Boys back in the old days. (This was the time of Wilson’s first dalliance with the psychologist Eugene Landy, who would reenter Wilson’s life to much controversy in the early ’80s.)

Fans watch the Beach Boys perform at Anaheim Stadium on July 3, 1976.

(Tony Korody / Sygma via Getty Images)

Even Love admits that “Brian Is Back!” was a little overblown. “Brian was back to some degree,” Love says now. “One hundred percent? Perhaps not.”

Yet the campaign worked: “15 Big Ones” went to No. 8 on the Billboard 200 — the highest for a Beach Boys studio album in more than a decade — while the LP spun off the band’s first Top 5 single since “Good Vibrations” with a rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Roll and Roll Music.”

More important, the commercial success set up Wilson for a true artistic comeback with “The Beach Boys Love You,” which can still startle you with the purity of its emotion and the strange textures of Wilson’s production. Check out the beautifully lopsided groove of “Mona,” which Dennis sings with a bleary smoker’s rasp, or the lonely-sounding electric-guitar lick floating over the Wilson brothers’ harmonies in “The Night Was So Young”; listen to Brian and Marilyn trading marital assurances in their almost painfully guileless duet, “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together.”

“Of all Brian’s stuff, I’d say it’s his most personal album after ‘Pet Sounds,’ ” says Darian Sahanaja, who played with Wilson for the last couple of decades of his life. “Maybe even more than ‘Pet Sounds,’ because Tony Asher wrote most of the lyrics on ‘Pet Sounds’ and Brian wrote most of the lyrics on ‘Love You.’ The Brian that I knew is very much living and breathing in these songs.”

Unlike “15 Big Ones,” “Love You” was not a hit, peaking at No. 53 — even lower than “Holland.” As much as he adores the album, Sahanaja finds it amusing that anyone in the Beach Boys’ camp might have expected Wilson to try to give rock fans what they wanted.

“He wasn’t listening to the Top 40 at the time,” he says. “He just wrote whatever came out of him. There was no, ‘I wonder what Fleetwood Mac’s up to…’ ”

Indeed, Wilson went even further out with “Adult/Child,” for which he commissioned orchestral arrangements by Dick Reynolds, who’d worked in the ’50s with Wilson’s beloved Four Freshmen. Both Love and Jardine say they can’t quite remember why the album didn’t come out; Love says “it may not have suited the record company at the time” and points out that even “Pet Sounds” got the group’s A&R rep wondering “if maybe we could do something more like ‘I Get Around.’ ”

Whatever the case, “Adult/Child’s” mothballing led to another withdrawal by Wilson, who had far less to do with the band’s next few records and who eventually turned to a solo career. In 2012, Wilson produced a so-so Beach Boys reunion record — minus Dennis, who died in 1983, and Carl, who died in 1998 — but for much of the ’00s he and Jardine toured under Wilson’s name while Love toured as the Beach Boys. (Love’s band will play three shows at the Hollywood Bowl in July.)

Asked what it’s been like performing with Wilson’s band since his death, Jardine says, “I just feel like he’s still around.” Sahanaja says he’s seen Jardine tear up as they’ve been working up songs from “Love You” on the road ahead of Friday’s show. But he’s also been gratified to see the excitement among younger fans regarding what he views as the Beach Boys’ last great album.

“The reaction has been more insane than I’ve ever seen for any of the shows we ever did with Brian,” he says. “It’s like they feel they found this secret thing that they really identify with.” He laughs. “I’m telling you, these kids are freaking out — jumping up and down, singing along to all the words. They’re, like, pogo-ing.”

Neil Sedaka, an irrepressible songsmith who parlayed his compositional skills into pop stardom during the height of the Brill Building era in the 1960s and later staged an easy-listening comeback in the 1970s, has died at age 86. No cause of death was immediately available.

A chipper melodicist who never attempted to disguise his sentimental streak, Sedaka emerged at the moment rock ’n’ roll’s initial big bang started to fizzle. As a songwriter and performer, Sedaka treated rock ’n’ roll as another fad to be exploited, crafting cheerful, vivacious tunes targeted at teens who’d bop along to “Stupid Cupid” and swoon to “Where the Boys Are,” to name two songs he and lyricist Howard Greenfield wrote for early-’60s pop idol Connie Francis. Sedaka himself became a star through such bright confections as “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” the 1962 chart-topper that became his signature song.

Already falling out of fashion by the time the Beatles arrived in the United States, Sedaka didn’t weather the rise of the British Invasion: By the end of the 1960s, his lack of a record label caused him to leave the States for England. Unlike his Brill Building peer Carole King — he wrote “Oh! Carol,” his first big hit, about her — Sedaka wasn’t able to refashion himself as a hip singer-songwriter. Instead, he relied on showbiz hustle and savvy commercial instincts, teaming up with the musicians that became the iconoclastic hitmakers 10cc on records that positioned Sedaka squarely in the soft-rock mainstream. Elton John signed the veteran vocalist to his fledgling label Rocket and Sedaka immediately had two No. 1 hits with “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood,” a success compounded by Captain & Tennille taking “Love Will Keep Us Together,” a tune from one of Sedaka’s albums with 10cc, to No. 1 in 1975.

Sedaka’s second stint in the spotlight didn’t last much longer than his first flush of stardom — by 1980, he was no longer a Top 40 artist — but his ’70s comeback cemented his status as a showbiz fixture, allowing him to carve out a career onstage and, at times, onscreen. Occasionally, the world would turn and place Sedaka back in the mainstream, as when he appeared on “American Idol” in the early 2000s or when his 1971 composition “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?” was rejiggered into the World Cup novelty anthem (“(Is This the Way to) The World Cup”) in 2006.

Neil Sedaka in 1960.

(Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

A descendant of Turkish and Ashkenazi Jews, Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on March 13, 1939. Growing up in Brighton Beach, Sedaka exhibited a musical proclivity at an early age, earning a piano scholarship to Juilliard’s children’s division when he was 8 years old. He studied classical piano for the next few years, his ears being drawn to pop music all the while. At the age of 13, he happened to meet a neighbor when they were both vacationing at a Catskills resort. She brought him to meet her son, an aspiring lyricist named Howard Greenfield, and the pair quickly became a songwriting team, with Greenfield writing the words and Sedaka handling the music.

As Sedaka and Greenfield developed their creative partnership, Sedaka sang in the Linc-Tones, a vocal group that evolved into the Tokens just prior to his departure; he left them prior to their hit single “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Although he didn’t abandon his dreams of performing, Sedaka concentrated on songwriting with Greenfield. Attempting to gain a foothold in the Brill Building, the pair first caught the attention of Jerry Wexler, who had Clyde McPhatter and LaVern Baker cut a couple of their tunes. Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus suggested to Sedaka and Greenfield that they would have better luck at 1650 Broadway, where Al Nevins and Don Kirshner had just opened their publishing company Aldon Music.

Aldon signed Sedaka and Greenfield to a publishing deal — still a minor, Sedaka needed his mother to sign in his stead — and the pair had their first big hit when Connie Francis took “Stupid Cupid” into the Top 20 in 1958. Not long after, Sedaka signed with RCA Records as a performer. “The Diary,” inspired by Francis refusing Sedaka and Greenfield access to her diary, became Sedaka’s first hit single in 1958 after the doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials passed on the chance to record it first. Sedaka had difficulty delivering a successful sequel to his initial hit for RCA, so he constructed “Oh! Carol” to mimic the lovelorn yet sweet sounds filling the charts in 1959. Sedaka’s gambit paid off: “Oh! Carol” was a Top 10 hit, popular enough to generate an answer record — King’s husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote “Oh! Neil,” which failed to be a hit for King.

With many of rock ’n’ roll’s initial stars waylaid — Elvis Presley was in the Army, Chuck Berry was embroiled in legal problems, Little Richard left the music behind for church, Jerry Lee Lewis’s career imploded — Sedaka stepped into the breach, offering well-scrubbed, buoyant tunes designed to mirror teenage concerns. “Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Next Door to an Angel” all bounced to a bright beat and boasted ornate arrangements that highlighted Sedaka’s youthful cheer.

While he was ensconced in the Top 10, Sedaka continued to write hits for other artists, remaining a regular composer for Francis but also reaching the charts with Jimmy Clanton. He’d occasionally moonlight in the studio too: He plays piano on “Dream Lover,” one of Bobby Darin‘s biggest hits.

By the time the Beatles and the British Invasion took over teen bedrooms and the pop charts in 1964, Sedaka’s hit-making streak had run dry. Panicked, he recorded “It Hurts to Be in Love,” an operatic pop song co-written by Greenfield and Helen Miller. Rushing into a nearby demo studio, Sedaka cut a version that was ready for radio, but RCA refused to release it, on the grounds that it only released records made in its studios. Gene Pitney took the track, subbed his vocals for Sedaka’s and wound up with a Top 10 hit at a time Sedaka couldn’t break the Top 40. Sedaka later claimed, “It was horrible. That would have been my No. 1 song, my comeback song.”

After his deal with RCA expired in 1966, Sedaka started playing hotels in the Catskills and clubs on the East Coast, venues that grew progressively smaller with each passing year. He continued to get work as a songwriter, penning songs for the Monkees (“The Girl I Left Behind Me,” “When Love Comes Knockin’ at Your Door”) with lyricist Carole Bayer, and the 5th Dimension (“Workin’ on a Groovy Thing”) with Roger Atkins.

Faced with dwindling prospects in the United States, Sedaka began to regularly tour England and Australia in the late 1960s. By the dawn of the ’70s, he realized that the times had changed around him: “The era of the singer-songwriter had begun and I was being left behind. I needed to be part of it. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted it with a vengeance!” He returned to RCA with “Emergence,” a mellow record designed to follow King’s “Tapestry” onto the radio, but that airplay never materialized: Sedaka was still seen as a relic of the early ’60s.

Olivia Newton-John and Neil Sedaka performing in a BBC television studio in 1971.

(Warwick Bedford/Radio Times via Getty Images)

Frustrated with the disinterest in “Emergence,” Sedaka decamped to the U.K., working its club circuit until he was introduced to Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley, a group of British pop veterans who soon would form the art-pop outfit 10cc. The quartet brought Sedaka into their Strawberry Studios — a place where they recorded a number of bizarre bubble-gum hits under such pseudonyms as Crazy Elephant and Hotlegs — and backed him on 1972’s “Solitaire” album, whose title track was his first collaboration with lyricist Phil Cody; it’d later be covered by Elvis Presley.

“Solitaire” gave Sedaka his first U.K. hit in nearly a decade with “That’s When the Music Takes Me.” Encouraged, the singer-songwriter reunited with 10cc in 1973 for “The Tra-La-La Days are Over,” an album that featured the bubbly “Love Will Keep Us Together.” By the time Sedaka released “Laughter in the Rain” in 1974, he had severed ties with 10cc and found a new benefactor in Elton John.

Then at the height of his phenomenal 1970s popularity, John signed Sedaka to his recently launched American imprint Rocket Records. Rocket repackaged highlights from the 10cc records as “Sedaka’s Back,” adding “Laughter in the Rain” for good measure. The lush number slowly worked its way up the charts, eventually reaching No. 1 on Billboard in 1975. “Bad Blood,” a lively duet with an uncredited Elton John, followed “Laughter in the Rain” to the top of the pop charts later in ’75, arriving just after Captain & Tennille had a No. 1 with “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Elton John and Neil Sedaka in 1975.

(Richard E. Aaron/Redferns via Getty Images)

Sedaka’s comeback cooled as quickly as it had ignited. He reached the lower rungs of the Top 40 a couple of times in 1976, parted ways with Rocket, then signed to Elektra in 1977, releasing a series of records that found him countering his satiny easy listening with a louche streak on such songs as “Sleazy Love,” “One Night Stand” and “Junkie for Your Love.”

“Should’ve Never Let You Go,” a duet with his daughter, Dara, became his last charting hit in 1980. He published a memoir, “Laughter in the Rain: My Own Story,” in 1982 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. By the mid-’80s, he had drifted toward the oldies circuit, revisiting his hits in the studio and onstage, turning his songbook into stage productions: The jukebox musical “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” arrived in 2005, and the musical biography “Laughter in the Rain” followed five years later. He returned to classical music for 1995’s “Classically Sedaka.” He recorded a collection of Yiddish songs, “Brighton Beach Memories,” in 2003, and a children’s album, “Waking Up Is Hard to Do,” in 2009.

Neil Sedaka performing in 2014.

(Robin Little/Redferns via Getty Images)

Occasionally, Sedaka would reemerge on a bigger stage. In 2003, he showed up as a guest judge on the second season of “American Idol,” declaring its runner-up Clay Aiken was “ear delicious.” A few years later, “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?,” a bubble-gum song Sedaka wrote and Tony Christie recorded in 1971, was revived in 2006, when it was used as the basis for the novelty “Is This the Way to the World Cup?”

On Oct. 26, 2007, Lincoln Center honored Sedaka’s 50 years in showbiz with a gala concert featuring Natalie Cole, David Foster and Clay Aiken. He continued to work steadily over the next two decades, releasing a handful of new records but focusing on concerts. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he took his show online, holding mini-concerts on social media.

Sedaka is survived by his wife, Leba, daughter Dara and son Marc, and three grandchildren.

GEORGE Michael’s pal Kay Beckenham has died — triggering a sale of lavish gifts he sent her.

The British model was dubbed the pop star’s “mystery girl” when they were regularly seen together in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2019 we reported that Kay, then 54, was shocked to learn she was a beneficiary of his £98million will following his death three years earlier.

Kay’s death was revealed as her daughter auctioned presents her mum received from George, including a pair of his Cutler and Gross wraparound sunglasses, which sold for £5,700.

Other precious gifts included his engraved silver Faith tour belt buckle, which fetched £700.

A Cartier watch went for £1,900 while a Bulgari 18ct gold ladies’ timepiece was bought for £1,200.

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Kay is believed to have been in her early 60s when she died, and her daughter has paid tribute to “kind” George.

She wrote in a letter of provenance for the sale at Omega Auctions: “My mother and George shared a strong, loving and enduring bond that began at the very start of his career.”

She said the singer became her godfather after her birth in 1999, and he helped host her parents’ wedding on Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

She went on: “I have vivid memories — formed later through photographs — of George travelling with my parents, clambering into private jets, and setting off on adventures together.

“As a child, I ran around the house blissfully unaware of the global stardom surrounding me. To me, he was simply a familiar, kind presence in our lives.”

Kay’s friendship with George helped him put together the supermodel line-up of Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington Burns and Cindy Crawford for his 1990 Freedom video.

The Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go star — who died at his home on Christmas Day 2016 — divided his fortune between his sisters, dad and friends.

Omega said: “These pieces tell a story of loyalty, trust and the man behind the icon.”

Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville appeared on Friday’s The One Show to talk about their new production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Lyttelton Theatre in London

Rivals star Aidan Turner left The One Show host, Clara Amfo, floored on Friday’s episode as he revealed his past career.

During the latest instalment, host Clara, 41, and co-host JB Gill welcomed Aidan, 42, Lesley Manville, and James Buckley to the iconic green sofa.

Aidan and Lesley, 69, appeared on Friday’s episode to talk about their new production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Lyttelton Theatre in London.

However, chat soon got onto Aidan’s career before acting, leaving Clara stunned. Clara said: “Now, Aidan, I didn’t know this until today, that you, Mr Turner…”

To which Aidan interjected with: “What are you going to say? I have no idea…” before adding: “Are you the last person to ever hear about this?

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

Clara then revealed: “I was today years old learning that you had a former career as a ballroom dancer!”

To which Aidan explained: “I don’t know if you’d call it a career. I mean, I started when I was eight and finished when I was about 17. But, yeah, I danced. I was a ballroom and Latin American dancer from Dublin!”

It comes as the second series of Disney+’s 80s bonkbuster Rivals is to launch on May 15, complete with big hair, huge moustaches and acres of shoulder pads.

David Tennant is set to declare war in a sneak peek trailer for the eagerly awaited second series as his character television tycoon Lord Tony Baddingham survives from series one’s cliffhanger.

The trailer opens with the Doctor Who actor, 54, emerging from a helicopter and quipping: “Sorry I’m late, darling. I’ve had a terrible headache.”

This follows a suspenseful cliff-hanger at the end of the previous series, which left audiences questioning the fate of Lord Baddingham after Cameron Cooke (Nafessa Williams) struck him on the head to prevent him from assaulting her, leaving him lying motionless in a pool of his own blood.

Elsewhere, Irish actor Aidan – playing journalist Declan O’Hara – can be heard commenting: “It’s entertaining. In the most delightful way.”

Billy Idol’s Mony Mony provides the soundtrack to the trailer, giving viewers a taste of the drama to come, which includes updates on Danny Dyer’s character businessman Freddie Jones, Alex Hassell’s character Rupert Campbell-Black and Bella Maclean’s Taggie O’Hara.

The One Show continues on weeknights at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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Death in Paradise is set to welcome some very exciting guest stars on Friday’s episode including a The Crown actor

Death in Paradise series 15 launched earlier this year and in Friday’s episode five, the BBC show is set to welcome a The Crown star.

In an exclusive first look obtained by the Mirror, Friday’s episode will see a touring theatre company in town for their final performance of Shakespeare’s Tempest on one of Saint Marie’s pristine beaches.

It comes as a Death in Paradise star has shared their delight at returning to a beloved role on the BBC crime series, calling it “wonderful”.

During a raucous drinking scene, one of the leads keels over dead after drinking from a bottle of red wine. Later, tests worryingly reveal that the liquid contained a lethal quantity of cyanide.

However, in a confusing development, two other actors drank from the same bottle both before and after the victim yet emerged unscathed. So how on earth did only one person perish?

To solve the case, DI Mervin Wilson, played by Don Gilet, and his team must grapple with the grand egos of this ‘motley group of thespians’.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Mattie Fletcher, played by Catherine Garton, is troubled when one of the cast members pursues a very personal vendetta against her.

Also during the episode, Mervin is informed that his half-brother, Solomon, is set to inherit everything from their deceased mother and promptly sell it off.

Mervin is desperate to hold onto some kind of memento of her. However, Solomon will not return any of his calls and with time slipping away, Mervin may need to go to unexpected lengths to reach his brother.

In an exclusive first look clip, it sees one of the theatre members, Jez Gorman, pester Mattie. Jez is played by actor, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, who is best known for playing Mark Bolland in The Crown. Other roles include Sanditon, The Next Level, I Fought the Law, Industry, and film Me Before You.

Jez is waiting for Mattie after work as he offers her a drink, saying: “I thought I could help you wind down after a hard day’s policing the streets. I’ve got some beers, a picnic blanket, and thought we could find a quiet beach… get to know each other!”

However, Mattie is quick to say: “Mr Gorman, did we not already have this conversation?” to which Jez replies: “We did, yes, but I thought what was happening was you were on duty, you had your colleagues around you, and I think you were saying what you felt you had to say.

“Come on, I’m not on this island for very long, how often do you get to do this with someone like me? Let’s just have some fun!”

At first, it seems as though Mattie is accepting the drink as she sits down next to Jez and takes the bottle of beer.

However, in a hilarious twist, she soon pours the beer over him and says: “Actually, now that I think about it… I did say that I was going to meet my friend… what’s the time?”

After pouring her beer over Jez, she exclaims: “Oh, what a shame! I do have somewhere to be right now though… do not bother me again unless it’s related to the case, Mr Gorman, you understand? Good, enjoy the rest of your evening!”

Death in Paradise airs on Fridays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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A HOLLYWOOD beauty whose resurgent career saw her bag a Golden Globe last year looked unrecognisable at Milan Fashion Week today.

The 80s and 90s pin-up wowed in a sexy all-leather look with an on-trend short hairdo and oversized shades.

She sat on the front row of a star-studded Gucci show and held her tiny pet chihuahua on her lap.

On the catwalk itself, Kate Moss and Emily Ratajkowski led the glam, while Brit actor Bobby Brazier also modelled.

Joining the Hollywood star on the sidelines was Romeo Beckham, Donatella Versace and Paris Hilton.

So who is the rock chick turning heads in Italy?

LESS IS MOORE

Age-defying Demi Moore wows in plunging see-through playsuit at TV premiere

GIMME MOORE

Demi Moore’s X-rated sex confessions, from pre-wedding romp to celeb threesome

Well it’s age-defying Demi Moore, 63.

Just months ago, Demi capped off a stellar career comeback by being named Glamour’s Woman of the Year.

She was interviewed by her Substance co-star Margaret Qualley for the mag and said: “With everything I’ve been through, which has been a lot, I wouldn’t trade where I am today.”

She added a difference with her younger self is the “freedom to know I don’t have to have the answer, and life is not going to be completely stolen from me if I somehow don’t know”.

During Demi’s emotional Golden Globes acceptance speech last year, she spoke of having been at a “low point” and not thinking she was “enough”.

The actress has battled countless traumas and rejections during her life – including her biological dad leaving before she was born, saving her drug addicted mum from suicide, two spells in rehab and being raped aged 15. 

The star of Ghost, Indecent Proposal and A Few Good Men’s return to form in the satirical horror movie The Substance is one of the greatest Hollywood comebacks of all time.

Having struggled to land a hit movie over the past couple of decades, Demi thought “this was it.”

In her speech, Demi said: “In those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough, or pretty enough, or skinny enough, or are basically just not enough, I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know you will never be enough but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’”

Demi didn’t follow up her win by bagging an Oscar, that award went to Mikey Madison, however she wasn’t upset by it.

She told Time: “I didn’t feel gutted.

“I didn’t feel any of those kinds of things.

“I just trusted, and am in trust of, whatever is going to unfold.”

She is set to present an award at this year’s ceremony on March 15 in LA, alongside other A-list talent lie Javier Bardem, Adrien Brody and Zoe Saldaña.

IT was supposed to be the glittering triumph of Lacey M’ ‘s very short, but highly lucrative career. 

A lavish, red-carpet bash at Boxpark Liverpool, complete with DJ sets, special guests, and endless designer makeup, all to celebrate the young beauty influencer’s 12th birthday. 

But less than a month later, the glitter has well and truly settled, and the reality of internet fame has come crashing down. 

Lacey M – the self-described “Queen of Chaos” who gained 1.7 million followers since launching in 2024 – has been unceremoniously banned from TikTok.

Now, a bitter war of words has erupted online. The internet finds itself divided between loyal super-fans who believe a talented young girl’s dreams are being crushed, and deeply concerned critics who fear this is a textbook case of child exploitation in the digital age.

And if you thought a permanent ban would be the end of the drama, think again. 

Within days of her original account vanishing from the platform, lo and behold a brand-new profile – @Laceym.xandmum – popped up. 

Billed as a “joint account” and stamped “PARENT MANAGED,” Lacey is back on our screens, this time flanked by her mother, Laura, and her auntie, Natalie.

But behind the scenes, tech bosses are seething. For TikTok insiders have pulled no punches regarding the controversial comeback, warning that the family is walking on very thin ice.

One source told me: “TikTok bosses are really not happy with the way the Lacey M drama played out.”

“They take a very dim view of people trying to break their rules, particularly when the company is being scrutinised amid concerns about child safety.

“They are keeping a really close eye on this new account with Lacey and her mum Laura, and also her aunty Natalie. They are pushing their luck and TikTok are ready to step in and shut them down if they keep abusing the system. Enough is enough.”

The stark warning highlights a massive headache for social media giants as they wrestle with the dilemma of how to police the murky world of child influencers. 

TikTok’s terms of service are clear. They strictly dictate that users must be at least 13 years old to hold an account. 

Also amid politicians calling for the age to be lifted to 16, TikTok confirmed that they are launching new technology “to help us better detect people who may not be old enough to use our app.” 

‘Boiling point’

Yet, loopholes involving “parent-run” accounts have long been exploited by ambitious families eager to cash in on their children’s viral appeal.

And cash in, they have. Lacey M is not just a kid making lip-sync videos in her bedroom. She is a bonafide brand ambassador. 

She is closely tied to the wildly successful UK cosmetics giant P. Louise, run by businesswoman Paige Williams – who herself boasts 4.3 million TikTok followers on her personal and business account. 

She signed up Lacey to be an “official P.Louise Bestie”, and now the youngster even boasts her own custom makeup bundles including a Lacey In A Sticky Situation with my Bestie Box. 

The pack sells for £55 and features customisable drink cups alongside high-end cosmetics. 

For a child to be the face of a brand that also sells items with risqué names like “Bad B*tch Energy” lip kits, certainly raises some ethical questions. 

The backlash reached a boiling point following Lacey’s recent birthday extravaganza – tickets for the party cost £38, and organisers reportedly raked in £54,000 after thousands attended.

For a child to be the face of a brand that also sells items with risqué names like “Bad B*tch Energy” lip kits, certainly raises some ethical questions

Critics accused P. Louise of inappropriately sponsoring a child’s party – something she denies – and turning a young girl’s birthday into a corporate branding exercise.

Taking to Instagram, the beauty mogul was forced to address the scandal and defended her relationship with the young influencer and slammed the “assumptions” made by online trolls.

She wrote: “This is exactly what’s wrong with the internet, assumptions being made instead of truth being checked.

‘Cash cow’

“So let me be clear: I never took a penny from Lacey’s party, and I did not sponsor the event. What I did do was gift goody bags to a little girl who has shown nothing but loyalty, love, and passion for my brand over the years. She’s someone who dreams big.

“Someone who supports every launch, never misses a moment, always pays in full, and proudly shares my brand because she genuinely believes in it.”

The makeup boss went on to argue that ambition should not be gatekept by age. Then baffled fans by saying it was an issue of female empowerment rather than child safety.

She said: “That kind of dedication deserves to be celebrated, not questioned.”

“Dreams don’t come with an age limit. There is no expiration date on hope, ambition, or becoming the person you’ve always imagined. Whether you’re young or grown, you deserve encouragement, support, and people who believe in you.” 

“Supporting dreams will always matter to me. And once again, it’s disappointing to see women in business judged by a different standard, measured with a different ruler simply for showing kindness, generosity, and heart. We rise by lifting others. Always.”

She’s 12 years of age and she’s making money for her parents, for her auntie and her mom. And P. Louise is using her as a cash cow

User

While many applauded P Louise for her fiery stance, many accused her of ignoring the core issue for child safety and exploitation. 

One wrote: “I think it’s absolutely amazing that Lacey’s got banned because she shouldn’t be on here.”

“She’s 12 years of age and she’s making money for her parents, for her auntie and her mom. And P. Louise is using her as a cash cow.”

Another chimed in: “She’s twelve. Twelve year olds cannot sign contracts, fully understand brand exploitation, consent to any legal or long term digital footprint.”

“So why are we acting like she’s a 25 year old influencer who has lost her livelihood?

“She’s a child. And if she’s devastated. I do feel for her because that emotion will be real. But the responsibility, that sits squarely with the adults, parents, guardians, managers.”

And the hurt of the ban was not just felt by Lacey, but also her very large, young fanbase. One teenager named Riley, who attended Lacey’s birthday party, started a petition to get her reinstated. 

He said: “Let’s get her account back, cause honestly, she actually worked so hard for them. She’s got 1.7 million followers at the age she is. She built such, like, a community and such, like, a massive following, and we can’t let her account stay banned.” 

Others rallied to “show their support” by inundating P Louise website with orders for Lacey’s make-up bundles. 

The controversy surrounding Lacey M taps into a growing, global anxiety about ‘sharenting’ and the monetisation of children. 

I think it’s absolutely amazing that Lacey’s got banned because she shouldn’t be on here

User

Experts point out there are no limits on how many hours a child can spend filming content, no psychological support for dealing with online trolls, and crucially, no legal framework in the UK to ensure that children actually see a penny of the revenue their faces generate.

Critics point out that while Mum Laura and Auntie Natalie are officially “managing” the new @Laceym.xandmum account, it is ultimately Lacey’s face, Lacey’s personality, and Lacey’s childhood that is being sold to the masses. 

For now, Lacey and her mum are continuing to post on their new joint account, which has amassed 50,000 followers in a week, while trying to stay one step ahead of the moderators. 

But with insiders saying TikTok are “ready to step in and shut them down,” the clock is ticking.

As a powerful blizzard blankets the East Coast in snow, another force of nature is preparing to take over the chilly streets of Manhattan.

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno will make her Broadway debut as Persephone, the leading lady of Anaïs Mitchell’s Tony Award-winning musical “Hadestown,” beginning Tuesday at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City.

Exploring themes of climate change to a New Orleans jazz- and American folk-laden soundtrack, “Hadestown” — a retelling of the Greek myths of Hades and Persephone, as well as Orpheus and Eurydice — will open just as New York transitions out of the harsh winter. Moreno, 44, takes a video call from The Times during her second day of rehearsals, as she is learning how to play Persephone, goddess of spring — and in this play, a wine-drunk lush.

“For the first few minutes I was like, ‘Can I do this? I feel like a klutz,’” she says of her character’s flailing steps, meant to distinguish the inebriated goddess, who splits her time between the underworld and the surface of the Earth.

“I’ve never been drunk because I don’t like the taste of alcohol,” says Moreno, giggling. “But there’s a lot of numbers where I’m drunk-singing and dancing around, so that’s the acting part.”

As a theatrical performer of her own songs, Moreno feels firmly in her element on Broadway. But she arrives as a decorated musician who has woven Latin American, blues and soul traditions into nine bilingual albums — including her 2024 Grammy Award-winning acoustic album “X Mí.”

For Moreno, who was born in Guatemala City, passion for musical theater was seeded during a trip to New York City with her family when she was 13 years old. That’s when they saw “Les Misérables” and “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway.

“I went back home [to Guatemala] thinking, this is a dream of mine,” she recalls.

But the trip to the Big Apple also illuminated another path for Moreno. Then just a starry-eyed Catholic schoolgirl, she remembers walking down Times Square and hearing a woman singing in the streets in a style unknown to her. Curious, she went up to the busker to ask her what type of music she was singing; it was the blues, she says.

Moreno scored blues compilation albums she would bring back to her native Guatemala. Locked in her bedroom, the first track that played was Koko Taylor’s 1965 rendition of “Wang Dang Doodle,” the party anthem originally composed by Willie Dixon.

“That’s the moment I’ll never forget,” says Moreno.

She would absorb every cadence of the African American folk genre, transfixed by the bewitching vocals of 1920s blues icons like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, as well as luminous jazz ballads by  Ella Fitzgerald,  Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.

“Every musician should always try to find the roots to see where all that comes from,” says Moreno of her early musical explorations. “You might discover something completely new.”

Growing up as the proud daughter of Lucy Bonilla, one of Guatemala’s most charming radio broadcasters, Moreno starred alongside her mother and sisters in a series of cheeky Salvadoran seasoning commercials. She even recorded voice-overs for Central America’s most beloved chicken restaurant chain, Pollo Campero.

At 10 years old, she performed as an opening act for Ricky Martin in 1991, to the credit of her father, a concert promoter who reeled international stars to Guatemala.

“It was such a wonderful experience. I got to discover that I loved singing on stage,” says Moreno, who sang Disney songs as well as her own compositions. “I felt right at home.”

Yearning to start a music career in the States — “that’s where the [music I like] comes from,” she says — Moreno recorded a cover of a popular Guatemalan waltz called “Luna de Xelajú.” Her mother sent her demo to a producer in Miami, who then linked the young singer to a music manager in Los Angeles.

At 18 years old, she signed a recording contract with Warner Brothers and moved to L.A. There she enrolled in the Musicians Institute’s Vocal Certificate program, which allowed her to apply for a student visa and remain in the U.S.

With a deep passion for American blues and folk traditions, Moreno wondered if she could integrate those sounds with elements of Latin American folk music. But her label discouraged her from doing so, believing it would “confuse [the] audience,” she says.

“It took a while for me to find my own voice and to find where I belonged in this music world,” says Moreno. “Because at the beginning, [labels] were telling me you can’t sing in both languages — you gotta pick a lane.”

Following a disastrous 2001 merger between AOL and Time Warner, Moreno’s recording contract fell through. She later signed with Epic Records under Sony Music Entertainment — then run by Chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola — but they dropped the singer, following the decline in CD sales and rise of digital file-sharing sites like Napster and Limewire.

“I didn’t even get past recording an album,” she says of this period in her life.

Behind the scenes, Moreno formulated her own Spanish-language takes on jazz, which listeners can hear in the 2006 funky, spy-like chromatic track “Escondidos” — which includes a kazoo solo in its outro. The enigmatic song earned her the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest that year, making it the first time a Latin category took home the top prize.

“People kept telling me what to do, how to sound, what kind of music I should do, how I should dress. Blah, blah blah,” says Moreno when she was under a label. “At some point I said, ‘Screw it.’”

With nothing to lose — and no label looking to strip her of tender heart and free spirit — Moreno saw an opening to release music independently on MySpace, where she uploaded her 2008 debut album, “Still The Unknown.” (Much of Moreno’s music is still archived on the social network.)

“If all should fail you, there’s still the unknown,” sang Moreno with a warm, coffeehouse-friendly cadence in the title track.

“Maybe it’ll work out, maybe it won’t, but at least I’ll be doing something that I really love,” she adds, looking back on that time. After its debut, she says she gave a copy to her friend, composer Patrick Warren, who was touring with Tracy Chapman. The “Fast Car” singer heard the LP and asked Moreno to open for her Our Bright Future tour in the summer of 2009.

“It was just me and my acoustic guitar, going with [Chapman] for three weeks all over the U.S.,” says Moreno.

Moreno’s ingenuity as an independent bilingual creative allowed her to freely partake in various opportunities in entertainment. Some might recognize her bubbly folk theme from the NBC mockumentary sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” which stretched across seven seasons between 2009 and 2015.

Others might recall her smokey vocals in the song “Mal Hombre,” as featured in Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” — or in the final season of Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” which featured her heart-wrenching cover of the traditional Mexican huapango “Cucurrucucú Paloma.” She can also be heard in the 2022 animated film “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” singing a swooning ballad titled “Por Que te Vas.”

Still, Moreno declares she hasn’t found mainstream success as a musician.

“I’m perfectly fine with that. I am so happy at this point in my life where I can make music for a living, [which is] hard to do as an independent artist,” she says.

For an indie artist, Moreno boasts an impressive slate of accolades. She’s earned three Grammy nominations, including in the category of Latin pop album in 2017 for “Ilusión” and Latin rock/alternative album in 2022 for “Alegoria.” In 2024, she finally took home the gramophone for Latin pop album for her album “X Mí (Vol. 1),” an acoustic medley of all her previously recorded songs, including the song that started it all: “Luna de Xelajú.”

“She’s powerful the way that water is flowing and it’s light, but it’s unstoppable and effervescent,” says award-winning actor Oscar Isaac.

A Guatemalan-born musician himself, Issac befriended Moreno in 2013. Emmy-nominated for his role in “Scenes From a Marriage,” the actor was in town for the 2022 awards show when he and Moreno recorded “Luna de Xelajú” at the Palace Theater in downtown L.A. The two would later perform the ballad live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2024.

For Isaac, the stresses of everyday life melted away when the two got to jam together. They’ve performed a handful of times over the years, including live at the Lincoln Center for its American Songbook series in 2019.

“When I think of her, she feels very much like home,” he adds.

Guatemala — which is also known as the “Land of the Eternal Spring” — is always on Moreno’s mind.

Last year, she starred in “Lamento,” a musical short film made inside an abandoned Guatemalan beach resort; once a popular seaside destination known as Turicentro Likin, it is now tucked away behind the mangroves. Starring a stacked Guatemalan cast, including actor Tony Revolori, the project underlined the encroaching impacts of climate change that corrode once treasured memories, including those of Moreno, who grew up visiting the vacation destination.

“It’s something that brings me joy to work with people from my country,” she says.

It was only fitting that the folk-soul singer would be selected to represent Persephone in “Hadestown” — a victim of environmental destruction, yet whose duality brings life and prosperity back to a world that is constantly freezing or aflame.

Yet before she can truly represent both the queen of the underworld and goddess of spring, Moreno must first survive the gauntlet that is the New York winter.

“One thing I can tell you is: I cannot wait to bring on the spring,” she says.

When Dalia Stasevska heard opera music for the first time, it was a moment of profound self-revelation. She was 13, growing up in the factory town of Tampere in the south of Finland, and her school librarian gave her a CD of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” along with a translation of its Italian libretto.

“As a teenage girl, this dramatic story touched my soul,” Stasevska says, adding that she still remembers the experience and thinking, “ ‘This music understands me, this is exactly how I feel.’ And that was…when I knew that I wanted to become a musician.”

Stasevska is now chief conductor of Finland’s Lahti Symphony Orchestra and a prodigious conductor of orchestral music in all forms. A busy guest baton with companies around the globe, she will make her L.A. Opera debut this Saturday with a production of “Akhnaten” by Philip Glass, running through late March.

John Holiday in the title role of L.A. Opera’s 2026 production of “Akhnaten.”

(Cory Weaver)

The seminal work by Glass lands at L.A. Opera just a month after the world-famous composer abruptly canceled June’s world premiere of Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “While Philip Glass has pulled out of Kennedy Center, his music will be front and center at our production,” a rep for L.A. Opera wrote in an email.

Stasevska, with her razor-sharp appreciation of the power of Glass’ work, is the ideal conductor to bring it there.

Stasevska, 41, walks from the ornate foyer of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with its emerald green carpets and gleaming chandeliers, to the more ordinary hallways and cubicles of L.A. Opera’s offices. She’s been in town rehearsing for a few weeks and jokes with some of the show’s jugglers in a kitchenette, where she makes herself a machine pod coffee.

The conductor is petite with large, expressive eyes and a Cheshire cat’s smile. Her mouth often pulls to the right when she speaks, her admirable non-native English tugged easterly in a Finnish accent.

Opera remains her great love, and it seems a perfect twist of fate that Stasevska was tapped to conduct “Akhnaten.” She saw it for the first time in 2019 at a Helsinki cinema, in a global broadcast of a production by the Met. She couldn’t believe her friend dozed off.

“I was like, ‘How could you fall asleep? This was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I would do anything to conduct this opera,’ ” she recalls saying.

Stasevska was born in 1984, the same year that Glass’ hypnotic, ritualistic opera, about an Egyptian pharaoh who dared to push monotheism onto his polytheistic culture, debuted in Stuttgart, Germany. Eight months later, Stasevska entered the world in the Soviet-controlled city of Kyiv, the child of a Ukrainian father and Finnish mother.

Conductor Dalia Stasevska, who is making her L.A. Opera debut with Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten,” says that opera is her first great love.

(David Butow / For the Times)

It was a fluke that she was born in Ukraine. Her parents, both painters, were living in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, also under Soviet rule, but found themselves in a Kyiv hospital close to family when Stasevska arrived. She’s never lived in Ukraine — she spent her first few years in Tallinn before moving to Finland at age 5— but her life has been infused with its heritage.

Her father, who as a teenager in Tallinn began to rebel against Sovietization, insisted on teaching Stasevska and her two younger brothers to speak Ukrainian at home. Her grandmother, Iryna, lived with the family and was an important caretaker for much of her childhood. Stasevska grew up hearing fantastic stories filled with dreamlike imagery of the homeland.

“She was such a civilized, cultural person,” Stasevska says of her grandmother, adding that she taught her grandkids everything she knew about her home country. That’s why, even though Stasevska was raised in Finland, she grew up eating Ukrainian food and hearing Ukrainian folk tunes. “I know the language and understand the culture,” she says.

Stasevska grew up poor, but music education was mandatory for her and her brothers: “My father said, ‘This is going to be your profession.’ It was no question that this is not a hobby. So we started practicing immediately, very determined. There was maybe some forcing involved,” she says, laughing.

She played the violin from age 8, but it was only after she heard Puccini at 13 that she fell in love with classical music. She became obsessed with the opera and orchestral repertoires and was immediately determined to play in an orchestra. She approached the headmaster at her conservatory who placed her in a string ensemble before advancing her to the symphony orchestra as a violinist.

At 18, Stasevska entered the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, which is named after Finland’s most famous composer, Jean Sibelius. She couldn’t stop herself from stealing a peek at the school conductor’s score, copying bowings and poring over the details, but she didn’t indulge any dreams of taking the podium herself. “I was going every week to the concerts,” she says, “but it took me so long to see somebody that looked like me.”

She was 20 when she saw a female conductor for the first time, calling it “the second big moment in my life.” When Stasevska expressed interest in trying it herself, she was referred to Jorma Panula, a legendary conductor and teacher in Finland. Panula invited her to attend one of his masterclasses, and on the first downbeat of her first experience conducting, “I knew immediately that this was beyond anything I’ve experienced in my life,” she says. “It became this kind of madness moment.”

She loved the sheer physicality of it, she says, but also “that I can affect the music, and that I can affect the interpretation, because I had so much in my heart that I felt about the music.”

After completing her conducting studies in 2012, Stasevska assisted Panula — who emphasized discovering unique “gestures in such a way that the orchestral musicians know what you mean,” she says. She also worked with her fellow Finn, Esa-Pekka Salonen. Stasevska became principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2019 and chief of the Lahti Symphony in 2020.

When she’s not globetrotting, Stasevska lives in Helsinki with her young daughter and her husband, Lauri Porra — a heavy metal bassist who is also the great-grandson of Sibelius.

She likes to champion new music — her 2024 album, “Dalia’s Mixtape,” featured works by Anna Meredith, Caroline Shaw and other contemporary composers. She is also a vocal supporter of the land where she was born and has spoken out against Russia’s war in Ukraine.

John Holiday as Akhnaten, with So Young Park, at right, as Queen Tye, in L.A. Opera’s 2026 production of “Akhnaten.”

(Cory Weaver)

Stasevska’s L.A. Opera debut arrives on the same week as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Both of her brothers — one a film director, the other a journalist — moved to Ukraine and have borne witness to the war, which has given her “another level of experiencing this horror,” she says.

Stasevska has made it her mission to raise funds — more than 250,000 euros to date — to provide basic supplies particularly for children and elders who are without power and huddling in freezing cold homes. She has even driven in supplies herself by truck.

She has also conducted concerts there — and her next album will celebrate the country’s composers in a meaningful way. “Ukrainian Mixtape,” which she recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, features works by five composers who range from the 19th century to the 1960s. Three are premiere recordings of artists who have been completely forgotten, which required a year of searching for materials.

“I think that it will not leave anybody cold,” Staveska says, “and I hope that it will inspire everybody to discover Ukrainian music more, and that we will hear it more on main stages of the world — where it deserves to be.”

For now, though, her focus is on ancient Egypt and Philip Glass — and opera. She says her goal, in every concert, is to give audiences the same experience she had when she was 13, that remarkable feeling that the music uniquely understands them.

For the trendiest tenants in Hollywood office buildings, it’s the latest fad that goes way beyond designer furniture and art: mini studios

To capitalize on the never-ending flow of stars and influencers who come through Los Angeles, a growing number of companies are building bright little corners for content creators to try products and shoot short videos. Athletic apparel maker Puma, Kim Kardashian’s Skims and cheeky cosmetics retailer e.l.f. have spaces specifically designed to give people a place to experience and broadcast about their brands.

Hollywood, which hasn’t historically been home to apparel companies, is now attracting the offices of fashion retailers, says CIM Group, one of the neighborhood’s largest commercial property landlords.

“When we’re touring a space, one of the first items they bring up is, ‘Where can I build a studio?’” said Blake Eckert, who leases CIM offices in L.A.

Their studio offices also serve as marketing centers, with showrooms and meeting spaces where brands can host proprietary events not open to the public.

“For companies where brand visibility is really important, there is a trend of creating spaces that don’t just function as offices,” said real estate broker Nicole Mahalka of CBRE, who puts together entertainment property leases and sales.

Puma’s global entertainment marketing team is based in its new Hollywood offices, which works with such musical celebrity partners as Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Dua Lipa, Skepta and Rosé, said Allyssa Rapp, head of Puma Studio L.A.

Allyssa Rapp, director of entertainment marketing at Puma, is shown in the Puma Studio L.A. The company keeps a closet full of Puma products on hand to give VIP guests. Visits to the studio sanctum are by invitation only, though.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood is a central location, she said, for meeting with celebrities, stylists and outside designers, most of whom are based in Los Angeles.

The office is a “creation hub,” she said, where influencers can record Puma’s design prototyping lab supported by libraries of materials and equipment used to create Puma apparel. The company, founded in 1948, is known for its emblematic sneakers such as the Speedcat and its lunging feline logo, and makes athletic wear, accessories and equipment.

Puma’s entertainment marketing team also occupies the office and sometimes uses it for exclusive events.

“We use the space as a showroom, as a social space that transforms from a traditional workplace into more of an experiential space,” Rapp said.

Nontraditional uses include content creation, sit-down dinners, product launches, album listening parties and workshops.

“Inviting people into our space and being able to give them high-touch brand experiences is something tangible and important for them,” she said. “The cultural layer is really important for us.”

The company keeps a closet full of Puma products on hand to give VIP guests. Visits to the studio sanctum are by invitation only, though. There’s no retail portal to the exclusive Hollywood offices.

Puma shoes are on display in the Puma Studio L.A.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Puma is also positioning its L.A studio as a connection point for major upcoming sporting events coming to Los Angeles, including the World Cup this summer, the 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics.

In-office studios don’t need to be big to be impactful, Mahalka said. “These are smaller stages, closer to green screen than a massive soundstage.”

Social media is the key driver of content created by most businesses, which may set up small booth-like stages where influencers can hawk hot products while offering discounts to people watching them perform.

Bigger, elevated stages can accommodate multiple performers for extended discussions in front of small audiences, with towering screens behind them to set the mood or illustrate products.

Among the tricked-out offices, she said, is Skims. The company, which is valued at $5 billion, is based in a glass-and-steel office building near the fabled intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

The fashion retailer declined to comment on the studio uses in its headquarters, but according to architecture firm Odaa, it has open and private offices, meeting rooms, collaboration zones, photo studios, sample libraries, prototype showrooms, an executive lounge and a commissary for 400 people.

Pieces of a shoe sit on a workbench in the Puma Studio L.A.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

The brands building studios typically want to find the darkest spot on the premises to put their content creation or podcast spaces, Eckert said, where they can limit outside light and sound. That’s commonly near the center of the office floor, far from windows and close to permanent shear walls that limit sound intrusion.

They also need space for green rooms and restrooms dedicated to the talent.

Spotify recently built a fancy podcast studio in a CIM office building on trendy Sycamore Avenue that is open by invitation-only to video creators in Spotify’s partner program.

“Ambitious shows need spaces that support big ideas,” Bill Simmons, head of talk strategy at Spotify, said in a statement. “These studios give teams room to experiment and keep pushing what’s possible.”

GORDON Ramsay has splashed out on a £9.65million home in Cornwall.

The celebrity chef, 59, has purchased the most expensive property in the coastal village of Rock, where he previously clashed with neighbours.

In fact, Gordon’s new four-bedroom home is on the same road, and just a few doors down, from the house he built in March 2021.

At the time, more than 20 neighbours objected to his plans and branded it a “monstrosity”.

This prompted Gordon to respond in an interview not long after, saying: “‘I absolutely love Cornwall. It’s just the Cornish I can’t stand.”

The Mail has now reported that Gordon and wife Tana Ramsay purchased the 19th century house via Rocky Bay Estates and that Land Registry documents show that bought it with a mortgage from bank Coutts.

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His neighbours may not be best pleased as Gordon is also said to have bought the two-acre plot next to the house.

This could cause problems if the telly chef plans on doing any major renovation work on the property.

The Sun has reached out to Gordon’s rep.

It is not known yet if Gordon plans to keep both properties in Rock.

The first was bought for £4.4million in 2015.

In 2022, the Michelin star chef sold another property in Daymer Bay for a record £7.5million.

At the time, that was the most expensive house ever sold in Cornwall.

Gordon was blasted by locals for spending time at the pad during the very first lockdown.

The superstar telly chef had previously been at the centre of a storm with his neighbours in Rock – after a series of huge renovation works.

He was accused of bringing “Legoland to Cornwall” after he called in builders to create a mega-home with incredible views of the sea.

Gordon’s plans included knocking down a 1920’s property to build a new, modern pad – complete with a second smaller property which was known as “The Garden House”.

One of his neighbours moaned at the time: “I urge you to insist that this house is not bulldozed and its façade be maintained or at least some of its character be retained rather than the short-sighted house which is currently proposed.

“The council will come to regret having allowed such traditional houses to be destroyed with impunity.”

Gordon, who has five children with his wife Tana, previously hit back at his Cornish critics and made light of their dislike of him.

Speaking about their claims he was endangering Cornish people after going there at the start of the pandemic, Gordon said: “God knows why we took so much s**t from the Cornish.

“We lived down there; we just hadn’t been down there for a long time. We didn’t sneak down there at all.

“We got there at an appropriate time and had an absolutely amazing time. And a time like that – we’ll never get back again.”

And earlier that year he told Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2 that he could not abide the locals who live around him in Cornwall.

Laughing, Gordon said: “Trust me I absolutely love Cornwall, it’s just the Cornish I can’t stand.”

RUTH Langsford helped herself to a £585,000 pay day last year, new figures have revealed

The telly star runs a firm called Hey Ho Limited to take in cash from her TV work and endorsements from firms like Tesco.

Accounts for the 12 months to the end of May 2025 show Ruth, 65, paid herself a dividend of £585,000. In 2024, she took £770,000.

The figures show the firm retained £741,000 in cash.

The Sun has contacted Ruth’s representative for comment.

And she’s on course for another big payout  because her new book is already a best-seller just hours after it was published.

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The memoir – called Feeling Fabulous – shot to number 11 in the Amazon book charts and was number 1 in the Beauty and Fashion category.

Publishers said of the £11 work: “Up and down the country, people love Ruth Langsford’s zest for life and ability to find the humour in any situation. Every day through her work at Loose Women, she meets people who have been through the most astonishing highs and lows. Her warm and open interviewing style has made her one of the UK’s favourite broadcasters.

“Now, in her first-ever book, she’s opening up about her own ups and downs like never before.

“From her rebellious school days to starting out in telly, Strictly Come Dancing and her close bond with her family, she’s sharing the experiences that have shaped her and the lessons that she’s learned along the way.

“Throughout everything, Ruth has retained her trademark humour and sense of fun, and now she wants to share how she’s found her way back to feeling fabulous, no matter what.”

The popular presenter split from husband Eamonn Holmes in May 2024.

She said the breakup was “devastating”, admitting it felt “impossible to survive” in the initial period.

In her book, she revealed she would often cry in the shower before work following the separation.

She expressed a “deep loss” and found it “incredibly hard to come to terms with” the end of their 26-year relationship, having expected to be with Holmes “forever”.

Ruth stated she has accepted the end of her marriage, despite not being happy about it, finding that fighting against the inevitable was “exhausting and pointless”.

The Loose Women presenter, who is not ready for a new relationship, also acknowledged that the public nature of their divorce was the “hardest” aspect.

Lorraine Kelly stopped her ITV daytime TV show to deliver some breaking news about this year’s Eurovision Song Contest

The ITV show Lorraine was abruptly interrupted by its host, as Lorraine Kelly delivered a “breaking news” announcement. She interrupted her conversation abut spring dresses with Mark Heyes as she received breaking news through her ear piece.

While they spoke, the host’s hand flew to her ear. “Mark, they’ve just said ‘breaking news’,” she said. She spoke quickly to the person talking to her to say that she had stopped the show and then revealed the news to the audience.

“Boy George is not Italy,” Lorraine said. Earlier in the day, it had been revealed that Boy George was make a surprise bid with an Italian singer to compete for a European nation in the Eurovision Song Contest, but the country he was hoping to compete for was not known, until Lorraine’s announcement. “It’s not us either, it’s San Marino.”

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San Marino is a small nation in Europe that is landlocked by Italy. It is situated on Mount Titano and is one of the world’s oldest republics. As of 2024, it’s population was said to be only around 34,000. The nation has competed in Eurovision 15 times, debuting in 2008 and making its first appearance in the final in 2014. The nation has never won.

After revealing the news, Lorraine seemed nonplussed by it. Shrugging, she said to the camera: “He’ll win.” Mark then added that he was “glad” that Boy George would not be performing for the UK, as “we never win”. Lorraine added: “Yeah its a bit embarrassing.”

The UK is always in the final of the contest, as we are one of a few nations whose financial contribution guarantees them a place. However, the last time we won was over 20 years ago, in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves’ Love Shine A Light.

Ordinarily, the UK finish near the bottom of the leaderboard but in 2022, Sam Ryder’s Space Man got the UK to second place, finishing behind Ukraine. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the nation was unable to host the following year’s contest. As such, the UK was able to host for the first time since 1998.

This year, Youtuber Look Mum No Computer will compete for the UK at the contest in Vienna. This is the third time the city will host Eurovision and comes after Austria’s JJ won the competition last year.

There are several countries that will not compete this year. Five have decided to boycott the competition over the continued allowance of Israel to take part. These countries are Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands, all of whom have said that they do not think it is appropriate to take part if Israel are.

Israel’s participation in Eurovision has been a source of tension due to the war in Gaza. The war has resulted in the deaths of at least 50,000 children and is widely considered a genocide of the Palestinian people, including by the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

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A beloved BBC expert made a heartbreaking admission during Friday’s episode of Morning Live

A BBC expert has revealed a “devastating” childhood trauma that left him with nothing.

During Friday’s (February 27) edition of Morning Live, hosts Louise Minchin and Greg Rutherford updated viewers on the latest news from across the UK.

At the start of the show, Louise and Greg introduced a segment on electric blankets, after many have failed basic standards with “serious consequences”.

In a pre-recorded segment, consumer expert Harry Kind, who regularly offers advice on the show, shared his own personal trauma, after a fire destroyed his childhood home.

“They’ve become a popular staple in British homes during the winter months, being both cheap and run and cosy to snuggle up into. But across the UK every year, dozens of domestic fires are caused by faulty, damaged, and incorrectly used electric blankets,” Harry began.

“I know from personal experience just how devastating a house fire can be. When I was 14, our family home completely burnt down, and we lost pretty much all of our possessions.

“In my case, the fire started in the chimney, but last year, house fires caused by electric blankets in England hit a five-year high.”

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Two episodes have currently been released as a brand new series of Scrubs has finally returned

*Warning: contains spoilers for new Scrubs reboot*

Scrubs fans have been left in “tears” as they asked the same question about Dr Perry Cox following the return of a brand new series.

After almost two decades, a brand new season of Scrubs has finally been released to Disney Plus. Fans saw the return of familiar faces such as Zach Braff as John ‘J.D’ Dorian, Donald Faison as Christopher Turk and Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid.

Despite only two episodes being released so far, the Scrubs reboot has delivered bombshell moments such as the revelation that JD and Elliot are now divorced with two kids, with Carla and Turk, who remain happily married, have four children.

However, it was the end of the first episode that left viewers stunned after Dr Cox’s unexpected revelation. After convincing JD to return to Sacred Heart, he revealed he would not be working with his mentor, but instead will be replacing him.

In emotional scenes Dr Cox said: “You’re not going to be working with me. You’re going to be me.”

He continued: “This particular world has passed me by. You are the only one I trust to do better and try harder.”

Fans were worried what this means for Dr Cox now as they took to social media to ask what will happen to the favourite character. One person wrote on X: “Wait Dr. Cox isn’t going to be regular, or Carla? Oh, no.”

Another said: “If Dr. Cox comes back to #Scrubs as a patient I will riot!!!”

A third penned: “I really enjoyed the revival #scrubs on Wednesday night. Was it perfect? Hardly. Did I feel jaded when Dr. Cox disappeared after episode 1? Yes. But watching the premiere felt nostalgic from a time where we could just watch a comedy and chuckle.”

A fourth worried: “They took Dr. Cox picture down. @scrubsabc DO NOT do us dirty and kill him off or something. He needs to be around.”

One person simply added: “I feel robbed of Dr Cox oh well.”

Over on Reddit, one worried user asked: “Is Cox going to retire, or is he going to get a new job in the show?” However, many agreed they would see Cox “retire” as they “demand answers”.

In an interview with Deadline, creator Bill Lawrence previously spoke about Cox’s retirement adding: “Dr. Cox is a huge character on the show. He comes back at the end of the year and will continue on next year.”

As the brand new series returned, many fans have been “in tears” as one person wrote: “I’m not ashamed to say I cried a few tears in the first episode.”

Another said: “I missed seeing JD day dream #Scrubs shedding tears as I’m watching.” A third replied: “Just watched the first episode. It was great. Got me right in the feels..”

Scrubs is available to stream on Disney Plus. For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

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Robbie Williams is set to take to the stage at the Brit Awards to pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne as the late singer has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award

Ozzy Osbourne is set to be honoured at this year’s Brit Awards – with Robbie Williams fronting a super group paying tribute to the star. The ceremony, which is taking place in Manchester for the first time in its history, will see the Prince of Darkness receive the posthumous award for Lifetime Achievement.

It comes seven months after the Black Sabbath frontman died aged 76. Now, to commemorate his outstanding contribution to music, the rocker who is known as the “godfather” of British heavy metal will receive the honour at Saturday’s event.

An all-star rock tribute performance will pay homage to Ozzy as they close the show on the night at Co-Op Live. The performance will be a special arrangement of ‘No More Tears’ – the title track from Ozzy’s multi-million selling 1991 album of the same name.

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It has been curated by Ozzy’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, and will boast a phenomenal line up of British and international musical talent. It will feature musicians that played as part of Ozzy’s band over the years, including Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo , Tommy Clufetos and Zakk Wylde.

The makeshift group will be fronted by Robbie Williams, who was invited personally by Sharon to be part of this special moment. The invite comes as the former Take That man is a long-standing fan of the music, and is also a friend of the Osbourne family.

As well as being one of the most influential music figureheads and rock icons of all time, Ozzy hosted The BRIT Awards in 2008 along with his family Sharon, Kelly and Jack.

Speaking of the accolade, the Chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee and Co-President of RCA Records at Sony Music UK, Stacey Tang, said: “Ozzy Osbourne has been a mighty force in modern music. Possessing an unmistakable voice and unique presence, he reshaped the sound and spirit of rock, inspiring generations of artists who followed.

“This Lifetime Achievement Award recognises a remarkable legacy built on originality and enduring influence, that continues to connect with fans worldwide.”

Among the accolades Ozzy won during his career that spanned over five decades included five Grammy awards, induction into both the UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, in separate years) and the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement (with Black Sabbath).

Last year saw him take to the stage for the final time just weeks before his death. His Back To The Beginning concert at his beloved Villa Park saw celebrities from across the globe unite to give Ozzy the perfect send off.

At the end of the day, which saw the likes of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, YungBlud and Guns N Roses take to the stage, Ozzy reunited with his old bandmates to bring the house down one last time. Despite concerns over whether he would make the show, a determined Ozzy gave fans a show to remember. Sadly, he died just weeks later.

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ROBBIE Williams will pay tribute to late rocker Ozzy Osbourne at the Brit Awards. 

The singer, 52, will perform a special arrangement of Ozzy’s 1991 track No More Tears alongside some of the Black Sabbath rocker’s former bandmates and musician pals. 

It will celebrate the posthumous Lifetime Achievement award being made to Ozzy, who died in July aged 76, at tomorrow night’s ceremony. 

His wife, Sharon, 73, will be in the audience at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena.

A source said: “Sharon personally asked Robbie to perform the tribute to Ozzy. He is a huge Ozzy fan and has been a friend of the family for decades. 

“For Sharon, Robbie seemed the perfect person to perform this song for him. She has curated the special arrangement for No More Tears. It will be a performance that goes down in the Brits’ history books and will be a very special moment.” 

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A Brits insider added: “Robbie’s performance with some of Ozzy’s closest friends will celebrate his legacy as one of the most influential rock icons of all time. 

“The Brits have a special relationship with Ozzy. He hosted the ceremony with Sharon and his children Jack and Kelly in 2008. 

“This will be an incredibly emotional and fitting way to celebrate the impact he had on not only British music, but globally, too.” 

Others who died in the past year will also be remembered during an In Memoriam segment. They are expected to include Stone Roses bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield. 

Ozzy, who died just five days after after giving his final concert, joins music royalty John Lennon and Freddie Mercury in being posthumously honoured. 

The awards will be hosted by Jack Whitehall and will air on ITV and ITVX from 8.15pm. 

Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, Raye, Wolf Alice, Sombr, Alex Warren and Mark Ronson will perform. 

ANT McPartlin says he and co-presenter Declan Donnelly never want to host the Brits again because: “Everybody in the room just wants to get drunk.” 

Jonathan Majors is ready to stage his comeback — by teaming up with the Daily Wire.

The actor is reportedly filming his first movie since being found guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend in 2023. According to Deadline, production on the untitled action movie from the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend begins this week in South Carolina.

Written and directed by “Run Hide Fight” filmmaker Kyle Rankin, the movie is described as “in the vein of ’80s and ’90s action movies ‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Toy Soldiers,’ ” per the outlet. In addition to starring in the film, Majors will also serve as an executive producer, the entertainment outlet reported.

“You’re not going to BELIEVE what we’re doing,” right-wing pundit and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shaprio said in a Thursday post on X sharing the news. On Facebook he claimed, “This movie is going to be WILD.”

Majors was a Hollywood star on the rise when he was arrested on charges of assault, strangulation and harassment in March 2023. The “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actor was swiftly dropped from projects, his management company and his public relations team. Once poised to be the next central villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was also dropped by Marvel Studios following his conviction.

Majors avoided jail time and has since married fellow actor Meagan Good after a brief engagement.

In addition to Shapiro, who will be producing for the Daily Wire, Dallas Sonnier will be producing for Bonfire Legend. Neither company has shied away from courting disgraced Hollywood talent trying to revive their careers.

Among the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legends’ previous joint projects is “Terror on the Prairie,” the 2022 western starring Gina Carano. The “Mandalorian” actor was fired by Disney in 2021 for “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” that the company called “abhorrent and unacceptable.” (Carano filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging wrongful termination in 2024. The lawsuit was settled in August.)

JESY Nelson has shared an adorable new video of her giggling twin girls.

The pop star’s mum Janice can be seen holding one of the twins who erupts into laughter as her nan nuzzles her face into her neck.

In another clip, Jesy, 34, can’t help but chuckle about her daughter’s little mullet hairstyle, while she likens the other to a Cabbage Patch doll as she runs her fingers through her hair.

Nine-month-old sisters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe look happy and well-loved in the sweet footage on Instagram.

The singer gave birth to her little girls prematurely at 31 weeks and is no longer with their music producer dad Zion Foster.

Last month, Jesy bravely revealed the tots have been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA1).

brave mum

Jesy Nelson reveals new video of twins holding hands after breaking down in tears

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Jesy Nelson bursts into tears over struggle her twins are facing

The incurable condition causes muscles to waste away, but early detection and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. The girls have had gene therapy infusion to prevent their muscles from deteriorating, but damage already suffered cannot be reversed.

If untreated, the life expectancy of a baby with SMA Type 1 is two years.

Jesy and Zion have been told it is unlikely the girls will ever walk and may face serious breathing and swallowing difficulties.

Only around 50 children in the UK are born with the condition a year.

The former Little Mix star and mum-of-two has seen her Amazon documentary on her parenthood journey hit number one spot while continuing her fight for life-saving SMA tests.

Recently, she became emotional about the struggles her twins will face growing up.

Jesy revealed she “burst into tears” after receiving the special feeding chairs her daughters will need.

She admitted the arrival of the equipment brought home the reality of their condition.

She posted a photo of one of the special feeding chairs to her Instagram story.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Signs and symptoms

Spinal muscular atrophy is a disease which takes away a person’s strength and it causes problems by disrupting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord.

This causes an individual to lose the ability to walk, eat and breathe.

There are four types of SMA – which are based on age.

• Type 1 is diagnosed within the first six months of life and is usually fatal.
• Type 2 is diagnosed after six months of age.
• Type 3 is diagnosed after 18 months of age and may require the individual to use a wheelchair.
• Type 4 is the rarest form of SMA and usually only surfaces in adulthood.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of SMA will depend on which type of condition you have.

But the following are the most common symptoms:

• Floppy or weak arms and legs

• Movement problems – such as difficulty sitting up, crawling or walking

• Twitching or shaking muscles

• Bone and joint problems – such as an unusually curved spine

• Swallowing problems

• Breathing difficulties

However, SMA does not affect a person’s intelligence and it does not cause learning disabilities.

How common is it?

The majority of the time a child can only be born with the condition if both of their parents have a faulty gene which causes SMA.

Usually, the parent would not have the condition themselves – they would only act as a carrier.

Statistics show around 1 in every 40 to 60 people is a carrier of the gene which can cause SMA.

If two parents carry the faulty gene there is a 1 in 4 (25 per cent) chance their child will get spinal muscular atrophy.

It affects around 1 in 11,000 babies.

It showed a pink cushioned chair with straps, a headrest, a tray, a foot stand, handlebars, and wheels.

She wrote: “So the girls need special feeding chairs that came yesterday, and I couldn’t help but burst into tears yesterday when I saw them.

“It just made me feel so sad as it’s just another reminder of another obstacle we have to tackle. Do any other SMA mummies feel this way?”

In her first TV interview since revealing the twins had SMA, Jesy tearfully told This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “I just want to be their mum. I don’t want to be a nurse. It’s hard.

“They’ve had their treatment, thank God. A one-off infusion. That puts the gene back in their body that they don’t have. It stops the muscles still working from dying. Any that have gone, you can’t regain them back.

“Now it’s down to constant physio. We’ve been told they’ll probably never walk or regain their neck strength. They’ll probably be in wheelchairs.”

Jesy revealed how the twins were going to Great Ormond Street Hospital twice a week.

“They’re still smiling, they’re still happy, and have each other. That’s the main thing I’m so grateful for because they could be doing this by themselves,” she continued. “All I can do is try my best to be there for them and give them positive energy, keep doing physio.

“My whole life has completely changed. If you came to my house, it looks like a hospital. My whole hallway is filled with medical stuff. It’s crazy how you can go from one extreme to the next.”

Since revealing her twins’ diagnosis, Jesy has called on the NHS to expand the standard heel prick test to screen for SMA1.

Large-scale trials are currently taking place, though Jesy is pushing Health Secretary Wes Streeting to speed up the process.

THE Wire star Bobby J. Brown has died after sustaining injuries in a barn fire.

Bobby, 62, who portrayed Officer Bobby Brown in the HBO drama series, passed away on Wednesday.

The actor’s daughter revealed he died of inhalation, according to TMZ, which first reported the news.

His cause of death was ruled diffuse thermal injury and smoke inhalation, per the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

His death was determined to be an accident.

The blaze reportedly started when Bobby went inside the barn to jump-start a vehicle.

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He then called out to a family member to fetch a fire extinguisher, but the flames had already engulfed the barn by the time they returned.

Bobby appeared in many other TV and film projects, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Veep, and We Own This City.

According to his IMDb page, Bobby originally was a professional boxer and won five Golden Glove Championships before transitioning to acting.

His first recurring role was on Law & Order: SVU, where he portrayed an NYPD officer.

The former athlete has also shared the screen with Academy Award winners Robert DeNiro, Renee Zellweger, and James Franco.

In April 2022, the TV star’s son, Bobby Brown II, shared snapshots from the premiere of We Own This City.

He posed with his father and the show’s lead, Jon Bernthal, outside the event.

“It always great to celebrate my dads accomplishments. He always set the bar high and he still inspires me to this day,” Bobby’s son sweetly wrote in his caption.

Actor Shia LaBeouf’s raucous Mardi Gras episode in New Orleans earlier this month has now earned him court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment.

A New Orleans judge on Thursday ordered the former Disney Channel star, 39, to begin substance abuse treatment and undergo weekly drug testing after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in the city’s famed French Quarter. He was charged with two counts of simple battery, the Associated Press reported.

“Transformers” and “Honey Boy” actor LaBeouf agreed to the updated terms of his release, including posting bond of $100,000, and underwent a drug test during his court appearance on Thursday. His attorney said the test did not show illegal substances in the actor’s system.

Orleans Parish Criminal Court judge Simone Levine criticized LaBeouf for his behavior during the Mardi Gras celebrations. In addition to striking the two men at a bar, LaBeouf allegedly yelled homophobic slurs. Levine expressed concern for “the safety of this larger community” and said LaBeouf “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”

A legal representative for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said during the actor’s court appearance that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime.”

The actor has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges.

The New Orleans Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an assault in the 1400 block of Royal Street. The former “Even Stevens” child star was “causing a disturbance” at the business, leading staff to remove him from the premises, police said. The actor allegedly “used his closed fists” on one of the victims “several times.”

Authorities said LaBeouf left the business but returned, “acting even more aggressive.” According to the incident report, an unspecified number of people tried to subdue him and eventually let him go “in hope that he would leave.” Instead, police said, LaBeouf began assaulting the same man as before, hitting his upper body with closed fists. The actor is accused of punching the second man in the nose.

People held down LaBeouf until officials arrived. He was transported to a hospital and treated for unknown injuries and was arrested and charged upon his release.

An additional police report identified a local entertainer as one of LaBeouf’s alleged victims. The “Megalopolis” actor, whose history of violent behavior has led to previous arrests and other legal troubles, allegedly threatened the man’s life and shouted homophobic slurs.

Levine ordered that LaBeouf refrain from contacting the two victims and visiting the bar at the center of the brawl. She also denied his travel requests.

Hours after news of the brawl and his arrest spread, LaBeouf issued a brief statement on social media.

He posted to X: “Free me.”