SHOW BIZ

The technologist and professor Mindy Seu was having drinks when her friend casually referred to the phone as a sex toy. Think about it, her friend, Melanie Hoff, explained: We send nudes or watch porn, it’s vibrating and touch-sensitive — it’s practically an appendage.

“What exactly is sex, and what exactly is technology?” Seu wondered. “Neither can be cleanly defined.”

Around the same time, in 2023, Seu had just published “Cyberfeminism Index,” a viral Google Sheet-turned-Brat-green-doorstopper from Inventory Press. Critics and digital subcultures embraced the niche volume like a manifesto — and a marker of Seu’s arrival as a public intellectual whose archiving was itself a form of activism. The cool design didn’t hurt. “If you’re a woman who owns a pair of Tabis or Miistas, you are going to have this tome,” joked comedian Brian Park on his culture podcast “Middlebrow.”

Still, the knot between sexuality and technology tugged at her. “Recently, my practice has evolved toward technology-driven performance and publication,” she said. “It’s not exactly traditional performance art, but I believe that spaces like lectures and readings can be made performative.” Though she wasn’t yet finished exploring this theme, she wasn’t sure how to approach it next — until an experiment by Julio Correa, a former Yale graduate student, sparked an idea. Correa had devised an Instagram Stories-based lecture format, and she immediately saw its potential. She reached out to ask if she could “manipulate” his idea into a performance piece, and would he like to collaborate?

• Share via Close extra sharing options

Thus, “A Sexual History of the Internet” was born. The work is two things at once: a participatory lecture-performance conducted through the audience’s phones, and an accompanying, palm-sized, 700-plus-page “script” examining how our devices serve as bodily extensions.

The book isn’t exhaustive but instead a curated miscellany of non-sequiturs and the kind of dinner-party lore Seu delights in. Did you know that the anatomical structure of the clitoris wasn’t fully mapped until a decade after the invention of the World Wide Web? Or that the first JPEG — introduced in 1992 at USC — cribbed a Playboy centerfold nicknamed “Lenna,” which journalist and the author of the 2018 “Brotopia” Emily Chang called “tech’s original sin.”

The metaverse, web3 and AI — none of this is new, Seu said in her loft this past Saturday, hours before her West Coast debut at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. “But understanding the arc is helpful, especially how it’s tied to militaristic origins rooted in power, and how those same people were also confronted with sexuality.”

She’s just returned from a whirlwind tour — Antwerp, New York, Oslo, Madrid — with Tokyo next month. She splits her time between L.A. and Berlin, where her boyfriend lives, but for now, she’s staying put in what she calls her “bachelor pad on the set of a ‘90s erotic thriller,” inherited from a friend, the artist Isabelle Albuquerque.

The floor-to-ceiling windows high in a historic Brutalist artists’ complex overlook MacArthur Park and the downtown skyline. She’s offset the building’s cement with a childhood baby grand piano and her grandmother’s lacquer vanity with pearl inlay. That Seu marries the feminine and the spartan in her space feels intentional — a reflection of the dualities that animate her life and work.

“A Sexual History of the Internet” by Mindy Seu

(Photography by Tim Schutsky | Art direction by Laura Coombs)

Though she moved from New York three years ago, she resists calling herself an Angeleno — partly, she admits, because she never learned to drive despite growing up in Orange County. Her parents ran a flower shop after immigrating from South Korea. The household was conservative, Presbyterian and promoted abstinence. Like with many millennials, her sexual awakening unfolded online.

“I asked Jeeves how to have an orgasm,” she writes. “I sexted with classmates on AOL Instant Messenger. Any curiosities were saved until I could sneak onto my family’s shared ice blue iMac G3 in the living room.”

At 34, the very-online academic holds a master’s from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and has taught at Rutgers and Yale before joining her alma mater, UCLA, as one of the youngest tenured professors (and perhaps the only one who has modeled for JW Anderson and Helmut Lang). Her first three years at UCLA have each had their crises — encampments, fires, ICE raids — yet her Gen Z students give her hope. “They’re so principled and motivated, even if it’s in a nihilistic way,” she said.

Online, fans declare their “brain crushes” on Seu, whose ultra-detailed spreadsheets have become unlikely catnip for TikTok. Vanity Fair dubbed her the rare cybernaut who “lands soft-focus photoshoots in niche lifestyle publications.” Her unusual power is the ability to move through different fields, Trojan-horsing her theories across academia, the art world, the lit scene, tech, fashion, et al. Seu’s notoriety continued to swell after appearing on the popular internet talk show “Subway Takes” with the standout zinger: “Gossip is socially useful, especially to women and the marginalized.”

“Mindy’s really good at bridging different audiences who might not read an academic text about the history of the internet but are interested in Mindy’s practice,” said Correa, Seu’s student-turned-collaborator. When the two workshopped their performance last year on their finsta (a.k.a. fake Instagram), they encountered one major hurdle: censorship. They had to get creative with their algospeak (like changing “sex” to “s*x”) to keep from getting banned.

Mindy Seu in her MacArthur Park loft.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

“A Sexual History of the Internet,” designed by Laura Coombs, carries that collaborative ethos into its financial structure. Seu’s first book went through traditional publishing, where authors often receive about 10% and contributors receive fixed fees. This time, she wanted a citation model that compensated the 46 thinkers who shaped her understanding of the subject.

She approached Yancey Strickler, director of Metalabel, “an indie record label for all forms of culture,” and co-founder of Kickstarter. Seu’s original proposal waived all profits to collaborators. “Everyone got paid but her,” Strickler said. If she wanted the model to be replicated, he told her, it needed a capitalist backbone.

They landed on Citational Splits, where everyone who was cited joined a 30% profits pool, in perpetuity, across future printings (27 opted in). The remaining 60% goes to Seu and five core collaborators. Strickler likened it to music royalties or company shares: “Your presence increases the project’s value, and some of that value should flow back to you.”

Neither can name a publishing precedent. “It shows a profound, practical morality that underlies her work,” he said.

At MOCA, about 300 Angelenos braved an atmospheric river to sit in the darkened former police car warehouse bathed in red light. No projector, no spotlight. A pair of Tabis winks at her all-black-clad friend; a couple holds hands as Seu moves through the room. (“I intentionally wear very noisy shoes,” she said earlier.)

With the calm cadence of a flight attendant, Sue instructs everyone to put their phones on Do Not Disturb, sound and brightness to max and open Instagram to find @asexualhistoryoftheinternet.

The audience reads in unison when their designated color appears. What follows is a chorus of anecdotes, artworks and historical fragments tracing the pervasive — and sometimes perverted — roots of our everyday technologies. Hearing men and women say “click and clitoris” together is its own spectacle.

“From personal websites to online communities, cryptocurrencies to AI, the internet has been built on the backs of unattributed sex workers,” one slide notes. Sex work has long been an early adopter of emerging technology — from VHS to the internet — and the present is no exception. Two years ago, OnlyFans creators made more money than the total NBA salary combined; today, the company now generates more revenue per employee than Apple or Nvidia.

Seu ends with the widely known dominatrix Mistress Harley’s concept of data domination, a subset of BDSM in which her “subs” (a.k.a. submissives) grant her remote access to their machines. Seu tells the crowd that she has essentially done the same, “viewing the voyeurs” and taking photos of us throughout the performance, which are already posted to Instagram.

We walk out into the dark rain, wondering what exactly we witnessed — and realizing, perhaps, we’ve been witnessing it all along.

Dick and Angel Strawbridge shared an exciting filming update as fans react to how grown up their children Arthur and Dorothy look in new pictures

The Strawbridge clan have shared an exciting filming development.

Dick and Angel Strawbridge are recognised for featuring on the restoration programme, which debuted in 2016 following the pair’s acquisition of a French château in 2015.

The reality TV series documented Dick, Angel and their brood as they purchased and refurbished the 19th-century estate in France, whilst bringing up two youngsters and launching a venture hosting nuptials and various occasions.

Throughout the years, audiences adored witnessing the household transform the residence to their taste.

Supporters were thrilled last month when it was revealed the programme would be making a return with series 10 currently being produced, reports the Liverpool Echo.

A fresh development has been shared by the household ahead of the upcoming instalments.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday (November 23), the official profile of the Strawbridge family posted a photograph of Dick and Angel positioned in the snow, before their French residence and additional images of their offspring, Arthur and Dorothy.

The post was captioned: “Hello to you on this Super Sunday! Christmas came early this weekend at the Chateau…Not only did it snow and Arthur and Dorothy got to catch snowflakes with their tongues.

“We got to film something rather special with the perfect weather conditions! We can’t wait to share it with you. Have a lovely evening!”

Viewers of the Channel 4 programme shared comments and demonstrated their backing for the family. Numerous fans were astonished by how mature the children had become, having first graced our screens as youngsters.

One viewer remarked: “Oh my goodness how grown up are the kids now” whilst another contributed “Such beautiful pictures, Arthur and Dorothy are growing up so quick.”

An additional response quipped “Are you two shrinking, or are these kids getting real grown up” while others penned “Your family is growing up. Happy Holidays” and “Cannot wait to watch the Strawbridge Family Christmas magic again! ! ! Thank you so much for coming back to us!”.

Revealing the news of series 10 last month, the family declared: “We are delighted to announce that we are officially back in production for Escape to the Chateau, Series 10!”.

“It’s been wonderful welcoming back our Escape filming family – the unsung heroes behind the cameras. Since we first fell in love with the Chateau in 2014, it has taken us on the journey of a lifetime.

“In 2022, we made the important decision to take a break from filming and concluded Series 9 with the most incredible and magical celebration we could have ever imagined.”

The announcement shared by the family continued: “Now, as a family, we’ve stepped into a new era. With Arthur and Dorothy happily settled into college, Series 10 brings more change and growth than the Chateau has ever seen!

“We promised that when the time was right for our family, we’d invite the cameras back in to give you an update – and maybe even a Christmas Special…and that time is now! Thank you for being part of our story – we can’t wait to share this next magical chapter with you.”

Dick and Angel along with their two youngsters, Arthur and Dorothy, have called the estate home for over 10 years and continue to make their mark on the magnificent property. The pair frequently post pictures of their breathtaking grounds on social media and offer glimpses into parts of the château that viewers seldom saw during the programme.

Escape to the Chateau is available to stream on Channel 4 online

ICONIC Hollywood actor Udi Kier has tragically died aged 81.

The veteran German star, who appeared in popular movies like Ace Ventura and Blade, passed away just weeks after his birthday.

Delbert McBride, Kier’s partner, revealed that the legendary actor passed away on Sunday. He did not reveal the cause of death.

Photographer Michael Childers, who was a friend of Kier’s, has revealed on Facebook that he died in a hospital in Palm Springs, California.

Kier rose to fame after playing villains and monsters across Hollywood and European films, including popular collaborations with Andy Warhol.

Throughout his career, which spanned more than six decades, Kier acted in more than 200 movies.

But his breakout collaborations with Warhol are among his most celebrated.

He starred in the titular roles in both 1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein and 1974’s Blood for Dracula – both produced by Warhol.

Kier once told The Guardian: “I like horror films, because if you play small or guest parts in movies, it is better to be evil and scare people than be the guy who works in the post office and goes home to his wife and children. Audiences will remember you more.”

In 1991, the German actor went on to debut his US role in My Own Private Idaho, which also starred Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix.

His successful Hollywood career included films like End of Days, Blade, Johnny Mnemonic, Armageddon and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

The actor’s final role was 2025 historical political thriller The Secret Agent, in which he played Jewish Holocaust survivor Hans, who gets mistaken for a Nazi fugitive.

Kier was born on 14 October 1944 in Cologne, towards the end of World War II.

His hospital was bombed during the war, and he and his mother were reportedly dug out from rubble.

Kier moved to London at the age of 18 to learn English before starting his successful movie career.

He moved to Palm Springs, California, in 1991.

It comes just days after actor Spencer Lofranco died at the age of 33.

The Canadian film star was best known for playing the lead role of James Burns in 2014 crime drama Jamesy Boy.

Before I moved to L.A., I’d spent pretty much my entire professional life working for New York-based publications. One of the primary reasons I decided to take this job and transfer my life to the West Coast was because it seemed to me that California was at both the spear point of climate risk and the cutting edge of climate adaptation.

I didn’t expect the peril of climate change to rear its heads as quickly, and as close to my new home, as it did when the January fires became one of the biggest stories in the nation just a month after I started at The Times. I was less surprised to see how widespread a sophisticated understanding of climate issues was at the publication — an expertise borne out by the exemplary coverage of the fires and their aftermath.

The same, I think, can be said for most of the people I know or have recently met who live in L.A.: There is very little sanguinity about what’s happening here, climate-wise, among Angelenos, regardless of where they work or come from.

So maybe I should have expected that an exhibit of recent work by L.A. artists would be similarly, logically, oriented toward these same (largely home-grown) anxieties around our place in a world increasingly shaped by the developing climate crisis.

Nevertheless, it struck me how many of the artists centered the interface between the built and “natural” environments at the Hammer Museum’s biennial “Made in L.A.” exhibition when I visited last weekend.

Many of the artists seemed to be grappling with how we situate ourselves in a climate-changed world.

From Alake Shilling’s uncanny cartoon bears driving buggies and mowing down weeping, humanoid sunflowers to Kelly Wall’s installation of glass swatches painted the color of toxic L.A. sunsets displayed, for tourist consumption, on an erstwhile pharmacy rack, the exhibition communicates Los Angeles as a place of largely unresolved conflict between human beings and whatever we define as “nature.”

Part of Kelly Wall’s installation, “Something to Write Home About.”

(Elijah Wolfson / Los Angeles Times)

I thought that as a climate journalist, I might just be primed to see such things, but Essence Harden, who co-curated the biennial, noted that “concerns around the environment are historical, they’re rooted. They’re not ahistorical. They don’t come from nothing or nowhere. I think art produced in Los Angeles has a relationship to the site specificity and the dynamic of architecture and history which grounds it.”

Harden said that she and her co-curator, Paulina Pobocha, didn’t seek out artists grappling with climate specifically for the seventh edition of Made in L.A. But after scouring dozens of local galleries, they found that climate and environmental anxieties permeated the scene.

Much of this Anthropocene-angst is “rooted in a sort of longer history of capital,” Harden said. Indeed, as a relative outsider, I have always sort of felt that L.A. wears its supposed climate excellence a little too loudly on its sleeves — or maybe, on its postcards and souvenir T-shirts. The iconic palm trees, for example, are transplants, forced to live in neighborhoods that don’t want them.

“The idyllic palm trees sight line of Los Angeles comes from these neighborhoods that were historically Black and Japanese and Latinx,” Harden said. “They are rooted in these places that people who are buying the product of Los Angeles don’t want to go.”

There are no palm trees in the Hammer biennial. At least, none that I remember. What there are instead are painted cinder blocks and hunks of glass, graffiti and rutted acrylic paint, twisted tubes of neon and roughly formed clay.

Anthropocene Landscape 3 by Carl Cheng

(Hammer Museum)

It was refreshing to see a show that grappled with the environment but was not didactic. Describing her curatorial process, Harden said she is mostly attracted to “people who are more ethereal and capture dreams and sensation.” If they also happen to be engaging with climate change, all the better.

More recent news and ideas on climate and culture

Writing for The Guardian, Beth Mead — a star forward on England‘s national soccer team for nearly a decade, with the all-time most assists in the history of the Women’s Super League — shared how climate change has changed the game she loves over the last decade. For professionals on her level, yes, but more importantly, for the many kids around the world who are now less likely to be able to regularly play what she calls “the world’s most accessible sport” thanks to extreme heat, droughts and flooding.

A “milk apocalypse” is coming for your burrata, reports Motoko Rich for the New York Times. Cheesemakers and dairy farmers in Italy, which produces and exports some of the most popular cheeses in the world, report a declining supply of milk, thanks to rising temperatures.

And if you wanted to pair your favorite Oregon pinot with that cheese … well, better do it now. The Willamette Valley has long had a nearly perfect climate for growing pinot noir — to the point where “Oregon wine” is often shorthand for the varietal. But as Branden Andersen reports for the local outlet Newsberg, thanks to changes in temperature and humidity, the region may need to rethink what’s been practically a vineyard monoculture.

In Belém, Brazil, COP30 is coming to a close. I’ve always been drawn to the art and performance at past COPs, and was glad to see some examples from this year’s climate conference. But what was even more interesting to me was Spanish artist Josep Piñol’s performance piece, in which he was commissioned to produce a large-scale sculpture in Belém and then canceled, saving what he said would have been the emissions equivalent of 57,765 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The past week in broader climate news

Melody Gutierrez has been in Belém reporting on COP30 for The Times, and this week, she wrote about an image that has come to represent the socio-economics of this year’s events: two gigantic diesel-powered cruise ships, used as temporary housing for the global elite that comprise much of the COP delegations, docked at the mouth of the Amazon River, whose rainforests and people have felt much of the brunt of fossil fuel-driven climate change.

Meanwhile, the California Air Resources Board is expected to vote today on new measures to address methane leaks and underground fires at landfills which — unsurprisingly — are more likely to impact poorer Californians. As my colleague Tony Briscoe reports, landfills are a climate change and environmental health menace, and updates to the rules governing California’s are long overdue.

Earlier this week, a U.S. appeals court put a hold on a California law set to go into effect in January that would require any company that makes more than $500 million annually and does business in the state to report, every two years, the financial impact of climate change.

Finally, there was a lot of talk this week about how the build-out of data centers is driving up energy costs across the U.S. I found this Pew Research article to be a useful one-sheet to get a feel for what we know to be real when it comes to AI’s impact on the energy sector, what is hyperbole and what we still don’t fully understand.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

An extra live public vote on the night will hand fans more power – putting the audience at the heart of the biggest night in British sport

Gabby Logan has worked in live sports broadcasting for nearly 30 years and is riding high, having recently bagged a permanent presenting role on Match of the Day.

Now she’s gearing up for her 13th stint as host of Sports Personality of the Year next month alongside Clare Balding and Alex Scott, the annual two-hour TV extravaganza in which the sporting triumphs of the previous 12 months are celebrated.

Gabby, married to former rugby player Kenny Logan, says that despite having absolutely loved watching her BBC pal Clare on Celebrity Traitors, she’ll have to rule herself out of any cloak-themed action herself – for now, at least. “We had Tom Daley, Clare and Joe Marler representing sport, so it felt like we had a three-pronged attack,” she says, admitting that she’d been glued to every episode.

READ MORE: BBC Blue Lights stars rush to save man’s life as he suffers heart attackREAD MORE: David Attenborough’s ‘saddest TV moment ever’ will leave fans shaken after brutal attack

Having seen Clare make a big mistake in the Trojan Horse mission at the very start, Gabby said she didn’t have the heart to message her initially, knowing that she’d have felt “devastated” over the blunder. But when she did send a text, it was to point out that it didn’t really matter. “The one thing I did say to her was, look, you normally get everything right in life. I don’t think there’s any harm in showing people you’re human.”

So would Gabby, 52, fancy her chances in the castle? “I don’t think so,” she admits. “Not because it doesn’t appeal, I just know the time of year they film it would mean an enormous amount of time for me away from sport.

“And I feel like I’m just bedding in to Match of the Day and I still do the Six Nations, so that would take me away for a few weeks, which wouldn’t necessarily be a very good move in terms of my day job.”

Perhaps she might consider it a few years down the line? “At the age when you can go on and just fart willy-nilly, you mean?” she laughs, referring to Celia Imrie’s famous cabin parp. “That was one of the great moments.”

Gabby took over on Match of the Day from departing host of 26 years, Gary Lineker, in August, alongside Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates, and says that no backlash has ever arrived. “I’m sure there are people who had their grumbles, but the other day I had someone who said to me, ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, I was a bit concerned that there were gonna be two women on Match of the Day. But actually it’s great. I really like it.’”

Laughing, she adds: “And then he went ‘I’m sorry, that sounds like a backhanded compliment’. But he was obviously a fan of the show and that kind of feedback actually means a lot really, because the fact this guy felt confident enough to express it, was good.”

A former gymnast, Gabby says she achieves balance in her life by never compromising on her exercise regime, by sleeping and eating well and by not going crazy with the booze.

Having fronted a podcast about midlife, The Mid-Point, for the past five years, there is not much she doesn’t know about the issues affecting both men and women in their fifties. “I have absolute commitment to my training sessions and have really ramped up doing weights, which is so good for bones,” she says. “And obviously, muscle density is so important; being strong is such a predictor of longevity. It’s so important.”

She says that even when on the road for work, she will locate a place for a workout, which is how she ended up in a £9-a-session cage-fighter gym in Manchester’s Moss Side earlier this month. “It was a kind of spit and sawdust type gym, and there were no showers,” she laughs. “But it had all the equipment I needed, it was great. I did it in 50 minutes, and I walked back to my hotel afterwards.”

She runs her diary with a rod of iron to ensure that she finds time for three weekly weights sessions, plus two pilates classes for flexibility, and then a run or a walk. “I have one rest day,” she says.

Gabby, whose 20-year-old twins, Lois and Reuben, with husband Kenny Logan, have now left home, keeps her sleep pattern regular and eats a healthy, balanced diet. “You do your own elimination of things and work out how you react to foods which make you feel a bit bloated or a bit sleepy or are driving your insulin up,” she explains. “That’s definitely something that I’ve noticed – sugars are the enemy.”

With booze, she says that it’s rare for her to have more than one drink. “Lee Mack is teetotal and he came on the podcast and said that after the first drink, you’re just chasing that feeling of the first drink,” she says. “I love having a gin and tonic on Friday when I’m cooking. But actually, what I’ve noticed is, he’s right. The first one does the trick, I don’t need the second one.”

She said that having seen her father, former footballer Terry Yorath, fight his own battle with booze, she was inclined to be careful. “I’ve got a dad who’s had a problem with alcohol and so I’ve seen the damage that it can do,” she says, admitting that there was “a bit of vanity” involved in the decision to be a moderate drinker too. “There’s a lot of sugar in alcohol and it generally doesn’t do much for your your looks to drink too much of it. So I think that kind of keeps me definitely on the right side of a healthy relationship.”

Looking ahead to SPOTY, Gabby says that despite her long service to the big night of live TV, it’s still her most nerve-wracking gig of the year. “You just wanna get that first intro section nailed, you know? And then you feel like you’re up and running. I remember Gary once saying, he was quoting Des Lynam, that SPOTY was the best laxative known to man. Thanks Gary! So even with all Gary’s experience, with all Des Lynam’s experience and for anybody else who’s hosted it down the years, it does send the nerves to a different level and the butterflies go a little bit harder.”

This time around she is thrilled that Rory McIlroy has already confirmed his attendance, with the golfer being a dead cert for the shortlist when it comes out this week. One change for this year’s event is that the Team of the Year Award will be voted for by the public, just like the main award, rather than being decided by a panel of experts – in a move designed to entice younger viewers to engage.

She’s hoping to remember this year’s show for the right reasons rather than for any gaffes. “I’ve had a few moments where I nearly took a tumble down the stairs,” she recalls. “And then when Mo Farrah won, the line went down – it really does test your live telly chops when things like that happen. She said that Mo’s reaction was priceless. “He was obviously just thrilled to be held in that esteem by the population, that people had picked up their phones and tapped in the numbers to vote. It’s that proactiveness which we really encourage because we want the audience to feel they are part of the directional travel of that award.”

Her most emotional moment came when a close family friend, Doddie Weir, was honoured, amid his ongoing battle with motor neurone disease. “That was very emotional because Doddie was a fantastic friend of our family, he and Kenny had been mates for 30 years.” They had both helped him to fundraise for more research into MND. “To see him honoured on stage for the work he’d done, which saw him selflessly giving up, pretty much, the last five years of his life – that was really emotional. His family, his beautiful sons were in the room. And I look back on that as a moment that definitely sticks out.”

She says that the job, while stressful, is also one of her favourite. “It’s the joy that you remember the most, and seeing people celebrated. It’s the feeling that you’ve reached out and touched people and made a difference to their lives. And that’s what sport does.”

– Sports Personality of the Year, Thursday 18 December, 7–9pm on BBC One and iPlayer

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

ZOOTROPOLIS 2 star Ginnifer Goodwin says her kids would mock her for saying she voiced the main character, rabbit Judy Hopps, and refused to believe it was really her.

The actress, who attended the London premiere of the Disney animated adventure yesterday, previously spoke to Bizarre’s Jack at Walt Disney World in Florida, while she was at the launch of the park’s new Zootopia attraction – the film’s name in the US.

Ginnifer, who is married to Josh Dallas, her co- star in TV fantasy series Once Upon A Time, said: “My kids still don’t feel comfortable with watching me on screen.

“Even though they are obsessed with Disney, they have never seen more than the pilot of Once Upon A Time, which they did love but they said it was weird for them – even though Mummy and Daddy are together in the show.

“A few years after, I showed them Zootropolis.

“Someone said to them, ‘That’s your mum’, and they were like, ‘That is a rabbit and it’s not our mum’.

4 become 5

All the clues that prove Victoria Beckham IS finally rejoining the Spice Girls

NEW HOPE

Holly Hagan announces pregnancy and reveals she told sister before teen’s death

“My eldest replied, ‘I know Mum thinks she sounds like that rabbit but she doesn’t’.”

And Ginnifer said of the sequel to the 2016 original, which opens in cinemas on Friday: “I was ecstatic to grow with the character and it may be a bit weird to say about your own product, but I do think it’s outrage-ously good.”

Michael B. Jordan, 38, has given awards-worthy performances since he was a teenager. He now appears poised for his first Oscar nomination for playing twin bootleggers in frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.”

15

Age when Jordan delivered an indelible performance as the softhearted, conflicted teen drug dealer Wallace on HBO’s “The Wire.”

2

Despite being considered one of the finest television shows of all time, “The Wire” received only two Emmy nominations — both for writing — and won neither.

20+

“Breakthrough” awards and other mentions poured in for Jordan’s nuanced portrayal of Oscar Grant, a real-life Bay Area man killed by transit police, in Coogler’s 2013 debut feature “Fruitvale Station.”

1

Although none of the top awards bodies recognized his “Fruitvale Station” performance, Jordan received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best male lead.

2016

The prestigious National Society of Film Critics named Jordan best actor for his portrayal of boxer Adonis Creed in “Creed,” Coogler’s expansion of the “Rocky” franchise.

0

Despite the NSFC signaling his arrival as a bona fide movie star, Jordan was left off the Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA nominations lists.

2018

Jordan’s performance as complex antagonist Erik Killmonger in Coogler’s “Black Panther” drew widespread awards attention from critics groups, and the film’s cast won the SAG ensemble prize — Jordan’s highest acting honor to date.

4 (ish)

Although the data is shaky, it appears Jordan would be the fourth lead actor nominated for playing multiple characters in a movie if he gets the nod for “Sinners,” after Peter Sellers (“Dr. Strangelove”), Lee Marvin (“Cat Ballou”) and Nicolas Cage (“Adaptation”).

1

Only Marvin won, in 1966, for playing two gunmen — one far more broadly than the other.

The wait is almost over as the second series of ITV’s Red Eye is set to begin very soon.

There’s good news for fans of the thrilling drama Red Eye as another season is fast approaching.

Last year, ITV viewers were on the edge of their seats as they watched Richard Armitage take on the role of Dr Matthew Nolan, who was being escorted back to Beijing by DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi) for a crime he didn’t commit.

However, their journey wasn’t smooth sailing as Hana found herself embroiled in an escalating conspiracy, along with a growing number of murders.

As the show came to a dramatic end, fans were eager to see the series return, which ITV announced back in May this year.

Although Richard Armitage won’t be back in action, Red Eye is welcoming another well-known face to the explosive thriller, Line of Duty star Martin Compston.

Martin said of joining the show: “I had a blast making it! I had big shoes to fill, literally with the size of Richard! He did such a wonderful job, leading with Jing in the first series.

“It’s great to come onto a job when you know there’s nice pressure on it because the first season was such a success, so well done, so well received.

“Your job is to help take it to the next level. It was a lovely pressure to have and a lovely returning team; the crew were all brilliant. It was great, we had a lot of fun.

Speaking about the series, Martin teased that it gets ‘more outlandish’ and ‘more wild’ as the episodes progress, although he was tight-lipped on what people can expect to see.

Praising his co-stars, the actor added: “People want to be entertained, it was great fun and getting to work with Jing, she’s so proud of the show and so committed to it.

“She’s really protective of it and she’s surrounded by a wonderful cast, Jem (Jemma Moore) and all these actors.

“She won’t thank me for saying it but Lesley (Sharp) is British acting royalty. So getting to share some screen time with her was really appealing.”

Also joining Martin on the second series of Red Eye will be Isaura Barbe-Brown, Nicholas Rowe, Danusia Samal, Trevor White and Guy Williams.

Speaking about the show’s return, Jing commented: “I’m incredibly excited to return to the world of Red Eye, and thrilled to be sharing this rollercoaster with the brilliant Martin Compston.”

It’s not yet known when the second series will air on ITV.

AN AUSSIE superfan who lunged at Ariana Grande on the red carpet has been kicked out of Singapore and banned from returning to the country for life.

Johnson Wen, 26, was jailed for nine days for being a public nuisance and has now been officially “barred from re-entering Singapore”, the country’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority confirmed.

Wen sparked chaos at the Asian premiere of Wicked: For Good on 13 November when he shoved past photographers and charged straight at Grande as she arrived at Universal Studios Singapore.

Her co-star Cynthia Erivo immediately rushed in and physically wrestled him away.

The prankster has a history of disrupting concerts and celebrity appearances, including jumping on stage at Katy Perry’s Sydney concert in June.

Fans online accused Wen of re-traumatising Grande, who has spoken about suffering PTSD after the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, which killed 22 concertgoers and injured hundreds more.

4 become 5

All the clues that prove Victoria Beckham IS finally rejoining the Spice Girls

NEW HOPE

Holly Hagan announces pregnancy and reveals she told sister before teen’s death

The court heard Wen had tried twice to force his way into the premiere.

After being removed the first time, he made a second attempt to jump the barricades before security pinned him to the ground.

He later posted bizarre videos thanking Grande “for letting him on the carpet” and declaring he was “free”, only to be arrested the next day.

Wen pleaded guilty to the public-nuisance charge.

Judge Christopher Goh said Wen was “attention seeking” and foolish to believe he wouldn’t face consequences.

Grande has not commented, but Erivo later told NBC she stepped in instinctively: “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe … You never know with those things.”

“Can you just give me one of your leftover sharks?”

It was early in Jay Stein’s tenacious pursuit to turn a throwaway business into a sweet spot for Universal Studios, then owned by Lew Wasserman’s powerhouse entertainment firm MCA.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” was a cultural sensation and Stein wanted to capitalize on the movie’s success. He asked his colleagues in film production for props so his crews could re-create the fictional Amity Island coastline in the studio’s hilly back lot miles from downtown L.A.

“He convinced them: ‘Can you just give me one of the leftover sharks and I’ll put it on the studio tour, and we’ll get some promotion out of that,’ ” author Sam Gennawey told The Times, recalling Stein’s brilliance and his pioneering use of intellectual property.

Jay Stein with his wife, Connie, in Oregon.

(Connie Stein)

Stein died Nov. 5 at his home in Bend, Ore., according to his wife, Connie Stein. He was 88 and had been suffering from complications related to Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer.

“He left a big hole — but he also left a wonderful legacy,” she said in an interview Sunday. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to leave a legacy that touches generations. But he’s still making people smile every day.”

The tram tour’s shark attack, which terrified tourists when it debuted in 1976, has long been a staple. It was among Stein’s many theme park enhancements during his more than 30 years as a top MCA executive, which included Universal’s push into Florida to compete with Walt Disney Co.

The “Jaws” attraction helped cement Universal’s decades-long relationship with Spielberg, a span that would include such films as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List” and “The Fabelmans.” It also spawned other movie-themed attractions that included a “Waterworld” live show and a “King Kong” ride.

Stein insisted that the ape would spew “banana breath,” his wife said.

Within Universal, such jolts and flourishes became known as “JayBangs,” which Gennawey used as the title for his 2016 book about Stein’s contributions to the industry, “JayBangs: How Jay Stein, MCA, & Universal Invented the Modern Theme Park and Beat Disney at Its Own Game.”

“Jay wanted to put you in the movie,” Gennawey said. “He wanted to grab you by the collar and shake you a bit.”

The “Runaway Train” attraction on the Universal Studios backlot tour, one of its many exhilarating “JayBangs.”

(NBCUniversal Archives & Collections)

Stein was born in New York City on June 17, 1937, to Samuel and Sylvia “Sunny” (Goldstein) Stein.

His father was a watch salesman who moved the family to Los Angeles when Stein was young. As a teenager, he occasionally skipped school to go to Hollywood Park Racetrack to bet on horses. He had finagled some blank report cards and used them to bring home self-inserted high marks.

But the scam was revealed when the family briefly moved back to New York and Stein was nearing the end of high school. His parents were summoned for a conference, where they learned Stein lacked the credits to graduate. Summer school remedied that.

The family returned to L.A. Stein attended UC Berkeley, majoring in political science, but he left about a semester shy of graduating.

He served in the Army National Guard and, near the end of his service, in 1959, began working in MCA’s mailroom. Initially he wanted to get into film production, but by the mid-1960s, he was steered into the fledgling tour unit.

The company had launched the tram tour in 1964 to make a little money from its ample real estate. But some executives viewed the endeavor as tacky. Its prospects looked dim.

“It started out as two trams and a Quonset hut on Lankershim Boulevard,” Stein told The Times in a 2023 interview. “Quite frankly, the tram was considered something that interfered with television production.”

“I worked for the production office and was given the task of trying to coordinate how close we could come on the backlot without interfering. Everyone I worked for said it was an annoyance and disruptive and will not ever be welcomed.”

Stein was able “to convince others of the benefits of having the studio tour,” Gennawey said. “That’s what saved it.”

Early signage advertising Universal Studios as a tourist attraction.

(NBCUniversal Archives & Collections)

Gennawey considers Stein a key pioneer of U.S. theme parks.

“He was remarkably competitive. He recognized that Disney had its thing — but Universal could create something different and complimentary, particularly in the early days,” Gennawey said.

Disneyland was, of course, a top draw.

“But if you are a Los Angeles resident and had relatives coming in town, you knew they [also] wanted to see Hollywood,” Gennawey said. “But Hollywood was kind of scary, so you took them to Universal Studios.”

Stein’s contributions have only recently been appreciated, according to Gennawey. That’s largely because Stein subscribed to Wasserman’s edict that the “stars were the stars,” and executives should blend into the background. Stein also retired early, leaving Universal by the mid-1990s, after Japanese electronics giant Matsushita bought MCA.

Visitors line up for the studio tour of Universal Studios.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Stein worried that Universal’s new owner (and a string of subsequent buyers) would fail to recognize the value of the theme parks, Gennawey said, an observation that proved correct.

That changed in 2011 when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal and began investing heavily.

The company opened its $7-billion theme park, Universal Epic Universe, near Orlando, Fla., to raves earlier this year.

The theme park unit — which includes destinations in Los Angeles, Florida, Japan and China — has become one of the most reliable profit engines for NBCUniversal. Last year, Universal theme parks produced $8.6 billion in revenue.

“Jay was the visionary behind Universal’s expansion from the Studio Tour in Hollywood to the creation of our world-class theme park destination at Universal Orlando and beyond,” Mark Woodbury, chairman and chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said in a statement.

“He had tremendous creative instincts and defined our style of immersive storytelling, making us the brand that brings great movies to life for generations to come,” Woodbury said.

Stein is survived by his wife, son Gary Stein, daughter Darolyn Bellemeur, and their spouses, children and grandchildren, his brother Ira Stein, a nephew, cousins as well as Connie Stein’s children and grandchildren.

Viewers have been waiting patiently to catch a glimpse of the flame-haired villain

*Warning: Contains minor spoilers for Episode 5 of IT: Welcome to Derry*

The suspense is building in the Stephen King-inspired series IT: Welcome to Derry, as fans eagerly anticipate the grand reveal of the infamous horror villain, Pennywise.

The terrifying child-snatching clown, first introduced in King’s acclaimed 1986 novel, It, has been lurking in the shadows throughout the initial four episodes.

So far, viewers have witnessed unsettling events unfold across Derry, with local children tormented by horrifying visions and the military planning to excavate an ancient burial site in a bid to capture the creature, aided by the unique abilities of Dick Hallorann.

With the fifth episode dropping today (November 24) for UK viewers, fans are left wondering when they will finally see Pennywise on-screen. Fortunately, the wait won’t be much longer, reports the Daily Record.

The dramatic unveiling of the clown takes place in Episode 5, as Derry’s children and its secretive military venture into the town’s sewers. This will mark the first time audiences get a close-up view of the villain, apart from fleeting glimpses of it’s glowing eyes.

Bill Skarsgard returns to his role as the shapeshifting entity that assumes the form of an individual’s deepest fear. However, it seems to predominantly take on the guise of the frilly-collared clown, the reasons for which remain a mystery.

The series takes place 27 years before the events depicted in the original IT film, drawing inspiration from five interlude tales within King’s IT novel told through the eyes of character Mike Hanlon.

Love all things horror? Sign up for our free weekly film and TV newsletter Scream Society

The adaptation has been brought to the small screen by sibling pair Andy and Barbara Muschietti, who previously delivered the tale to cinemas with 2017’s IT Chapter One and 2019’s IT Chapter Two.

“One of the great things about the book is no one ever gets to know the truth about It-and that’s where our curiosity goes,” Andy Muschietti revealed during a conversation with Esquire regarding the series.

“The purpose [of the show] is shedding some light onto those mysteries.”

New episodes of Welcome to Derry are released every Monday on Sky an NOW TV

FREDDY Brazier has bravely opened up about his mental health struggles in a new TikTok video. 

The 21-year-old model and TV star, who is currently getting ready to welcome his first child, took to the social media platform today with a video sharing moments of his life over the past three years. 

Using an AI voiceover, Freddy made a number of startling claims, including alleging that he spent his 18th birthday “in a psychiatric ward” after “wanting to end it all” 

Videos connected to the clip include showing Freddy blowing smoke at the camera, walking the streets in a dressing gown, and mirror selfies of him looking thin. 

Text across the photo says he was “starving himself and replaced food with green” – a slang term used marijuana – and had deliberately crashed his car. 

Another photo shows his grandmother, Jackiey Budden, poking her tongue out at a store iselling wheels of “weed cheese”. 

PARENTS TO BE

Freddy Brazier loved-up with pregnant girlfriend as they pose on red carpet

COUCH SURFING

Freddy Brazier reveals he’s homeless as he counts down to  first child

He wrote on the picture: “Prioritised my relationship with my mum’s mum not knowing she has been lying to me for years!” – though didn’t clarify what he meant by the allegation.

However, the video then takes a positive turn, with photographs sharing he had started focusing on bettering himself once he realised “something needed to change”. 

As the video continues, new pics show him sharing pictures of salad, videos of boxing at the gym, surfing and attending events with his loved ones. 

“Something clicked in my head,” the text on the images read. “I needed to change.” 

Among the list of things he credits is a small circle of friends, getting out of London more, training at the gym, skincare and self-love. 

In the caption, Freddy wrote: “It’s been a bumpy journey and it’s still ongoing! HEALING IS THE NEW HIGH.” 

He added hashtags for “sobriety”, “addiction recovery” and “healing journey”. 

Freddy is the second son of Jade Goody, who died from cancer when he was just four years old, and Jeff Brazier. 

His older brother, Bobby, is now best known for his role on EastEnders. 

He has openly spoken in the past about his mental health, admitting in August he had spent time in a psychiatric facility and been to rehab. 

He’s also admitted to smoking marijuana as a teenager.

Earlier this year, he had a public fallout with his father, but they have since reconciled amid the news he is set to become a dad for the first time. 

He has since stepped out with girlfriend Holly, who showed off her baby bump at the Pride of Britain Awards. 

testing times

THIRD Strictly star suffers nasty injury that threatens place on the show

‘SHE’S CHANGED’

Lucy Letby’s shock reaction after barrister said ‘I know you’re innocent’

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.

The Huntington has acquired a rare Civil War-era painting by American master Winslow Homer. “The Sutler’s Tent” was made in 1863 when Homer was traveling with the Union Army as an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly. The title refers to a type of transitory store that sold goods to soldiers when they were out in the field, and the canvas shows a soldier eating bread and cheese while another soldier rests beside him.

The acquisition is the Huntington’s first oil painting by Homer. The museum’s other holdings include his watercolor, “Indians Making Canoes (Montagnais Indians)” (1895), and several prints, including “The Life Line” (1887). The pieces show the artist’s journey from commercial illustrator to celebrated painter.

“The Sutler’s Tent” will be unveiled to the public on Dec. 7 in the Huntington’s Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. It was acquired through a partnership with the Ahmanson Foundation — which seeks to help boost the notable holdings of the museum — and marks the fifth major acquisition made through the program.

The gift is intended to honor the country’s upcoming semiquincentennial, and will anchor an ongoing reinstallation of the galleries as the Huntington seeks to expand the multicultural narrative of American art. It will also be integral to the Huntington’s “This Land Is …” initiative, which works to examine the country’s history through its metaphorical and literal landscapes as it approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding.

“The Sutler’s Tent” will be placed in conversation with works about the Civil War and Reconstruction, including Eastman Johnson’s “Sugaring Off” (1865), Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s “Why Born Enslaved? “(1868, cast 1872), and a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

“The Ahmanson Foundation’s partnership with The Huntington has allowed us to bring works of profound artistic and historical resonance into our collections and into public view,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence, in a statement. “Winslow Homer’s ‘The Sutler’s Tent’ — a meditation on the experience of war — embodies our mission to connect art, history, and literature in ways that deepen understanding of the American story.”

The Huntington Library is known for its vast scholarly trove of Civil War ephemera. Its United States Military Telegraph archive includes ciphered communications between Abraham Lincoln and the Army command, and soldiers’ letters and diaries. It also holds the James E. Taylor Collection of scrapbooks documenting the war through photographs and newspaper clippings, and two of the most significant known Lincoln archives.

The art museum’s director, Christina Nielsen, said in a statement that the acquisition of “The Sutler’s Tent,” “deepens our representation of the Civil War era and expands the dialogue between our art and library collections. As we look toward the 250th anniversary of the United States, the painting invites reflection on a pivotal chapter in our nation’s history — one that continues to shape the American experience.”

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, looking forward to taking a deep dive into all that can be learned about our present from our past. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.

Dispatch: Pulitzer Prize-winning Times art critic Christopher Knight to retire

Times art critic Christopher Knight.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

After 45 years, 36 of them at The Times, art critic Christopher Knight is retiring from daily journalism. His final day at The Times is Nov. 28. In 2020, Knight won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, and was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Art Journalism from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation.

It’s impossible to overstate the loss Knight’s departure represents for the paper and Los Angeles, or what a tireless, generous, inspiring colleague he is. He possesses a quiet, encyclopedic knowledge of art, and in column after column he connected the dots of culture, history, folklore, civics and psychology in razor-sharp assessments of what a piece of art really means, or how a particular exhibition is poised to change the narrative around a longstanding or misguided idea. In short, he is everything a truly excellent critic should be.

He is also endlessly supportive of arts writers like me who look up to him — will always look up to him.

Thank you, Christopher, for all your words.

On our radar

Janai Brugger as Mimi and Oreste Cosimo as Rodolfo in L.A. Opera’s 2025 production of “La Bohème.”

(Cory Weaver)

La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera remains one of the most popular works in the Italian canon. Its doomed romanticism among struggling artists in 1830s Paris has a particular appeal to young people and became the inspiration for Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent.” Lina González-Granados conducts the L.A. Opera orchestra. Brenna Corner directs this revival of the late Herbert Ross’ enduring production.
Saturday through Dec. 14. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org

Roberto González-Monjas conducts the L.A. Phil this weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

(L.A. Phil)

Elgar’s Enigma
Roberto González-Monjas conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program featuring Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Themes and Variations, Op. 42,” Edwin Elgar’s “Enigma Variations, Op. 36,” and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s performance of the world premiere of an Edmund Finnis concerto. 
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Robert Therrien, “No title (plaster snowman),” 1982-98, plaster

(Douglas M. Parker Studio)

Robert Therrien: This Is a Story
A quintessential artist’s artist, internationally admired Los Angeles sculptor Robert Therrien (1947-2019) made eccentric objects in two and three dimensions that seem strangely familiar when they are wholly abstract, and strangely abstract when they are instantly recognizable as representations of known things — a tall pillar of giant dinner plates, for example, or a simple little snowman. Often the materials are unusual, like zinc over bronze, buffed plaster or tempera on silver, adding to the sense of mysterious specificity. With more than 120 works spanning five decades, this should be the most compelling museum solo show of the season.
— Christopher Knight
Saturday through April 5, 2026. The Broad, 221 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. thebroad.org

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY
Fall of Freedom
In a unified act of creative resistance, hundreds of galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, concert halls and individuals across the nation will host exhibitions, performances and public events, asserting the power of free expression to mount a response to escalating authoritarian threats and censorship in the U.S.
Friday and Saturday. There are dozens of local events in Southern California, please check the website for details. falloffreedom.com

¡Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad!
The Old Globe Theatre will present two performances of the world premiere of a new version of the Dr. Seuss classic with your favorite songs in Spanish. And for the 28th year, the Old Globe will also be doing its traditional holiday musical of “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Nov. 21-28.
7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. Saturday. Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego. theoldglobe.org

From “The Dying World” by Lauren Tsai.

(Josh White)

The Dying World
Lauren Tsai’s solo exhibition, an installation utilizing drawing, painting, sculpture, puppets and projected stop motion imagery, explores the liminal space between worlds: subject and object, fiction and maker. Final two nights.
6-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Hollywood Forever, the Cathedral Mausoleum Courtyard, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. hollywoodforever.com

Amy Engelhardt in “Impact,” a solo one-act at the Fountain.

(Peter Serocki/peterserockivisuals.com)

Impact
Composer/lyricist/performer Amy Engelhardt’s one-act solo show (with musical accompaniment) probes the 1988 terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles. fountaintheatre.com

SATURDAY
Animal Instinct
Chinese American artist Kristen Liu-Wong’s solo exhibition of vibrant paintings with slightly macabre narratives highlights her varied influences from American folk art, the cartoons she watched as a kid, Japanese erotic art and an appreciation for architecture.
Opening reception, 7-11 p.m. Saturday; noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Jan. 3, 2026. Corey Helford Gallery, 571 S. Anderson St., Los Angeles. coreyhelfordgallery.com

A Brahmsian Affair
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra presents a program featuring two sextets by Brahms, plus the world premiere of Julia Moss’ “(Please Don’t) Look Away.”
7:30 p.m. Saturday. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org

Corita Day
Corita Art Center celebrates L.A.’s favorite artist/nun with an afternoon of art activities for all ages, live screen printing by Self Help Graphics, holiday shopping, food, music by KCRW, and a performance by Bob Baker Marionette Theater at 2 p.m. Visitors can also reserve spots from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. to see the exhibitions “Corita Kent: The Sorcery of Images” and “Irregularity: Corita and Immaculate Heart College’s Rule Breaking Designs.”
1-4 p.m. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. marcianoartfoundation.org

Grief Bacon and Other Holiday Treats
Melanie Mayron and Sandra Tsing Loh deliver “old and new humor for trying times.” Part of the Odyssey’s “Thresholds of Invention” series.
8 p.m. Saturday. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com

Tom Wesselman, “Bedroom Face,” 1977, color aquatint

(Palm Springs Art Museum)

Mapping the Female Body: Tom Wesselmann and Mickalene Thomas
An unexpected juxtaposition of two very different painters from the end of one century and the beginning of the next is set to consider dissimilar representations of the contemporary female nude. In the 1960s, the famous “Great American Nude” series by Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) applied commercial advertising techniques to painterly traditions in Western art familiar since the Renaissance. Fifty years later, Mickalene Thomas applies commercial craft techniques to vibrant paintings of queer Black women — a subject previously absent from Western art history. Questions of gender, sexuality and their depictions are the exhibition’s focus.
— Christopher Knight
Through April 6, 2026. Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive. psmuseum.org

Venice Winter Fest
Chill out SoCal-style with artisan markets, hot cocoa, live music, festive bites and interactive winter-themed activities for all ages.
10 a.m.-6 p.m. 12257 Venice Blvd. thevenicefest.com

SUNDAY
Habsburg Harmonies: Haydn, Ligeti, and Brahms
Violinist Martin Beaver, flutist Demarre McGill, cellist Clive Greensmith and pianist Fabio Bidini team up for an evening rooted in Austro-Hungarian musical tradition.
4 p.m. Thayer Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu

TUESDAY
Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern
Three adventurers need your help on an epic quest to save the world in this interactive fantasy inspired by the immensely popular role-playing game.
Through Jan. 4, 2026. The Montálban, 1615 Vine St., Hollywood. broadwayinhollywood.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

The Palm Springs Art Museum, founded in 1938, has a small board of 22 trustees.

(Lance Gerber / Palm Springs Art Museum)

Speaking of Christopher Knight’s tremendous skills as a critic, did I mention he’s also a phenomenal reporter? In one of his final columns, Knight chronicles the many financial travails of the Palm Springs Art Museum based on internal documents obtained by The Times. “Recent developments have opened a Pandora’s box,” Knight writes of an accounting firm’s annual audit of the museum’s 2024 books. The audit revealed that there is a “reasonable possibility that [the museum’s] internal financial statements are significantly out of whack,” Knight wrote before detailing the fallout leading to a trustees revolt.

Knight also delighted us with a list of “22 essential works of art at the Huntington and the surprising stories behind them.” No one can highlight what should be considered essential viewing at a museum quite like Knight, who takes readers on a virtual tour of the storied San Marino museum and its exquisite holdings, including Sir Joshua Reynolds’ “Portrait of Samuel Johnson (‘Blinking Sam’),” which Knight writes was not favored by its famous subject.

Times theater critic Charles McNulty once again checks in on Broadway, this time with a review of Robert Icke’s “Oedipus,” a modern retelling of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King.” McNulty notes that the play “must be the buzziest, if not the chicest, Broadway offering of the fall season.”

Cher Alvarez, who reprises her role at the Ahmanson, in “Paranormal Activity” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

(Kyle Flubacker)

Closer to home, McNulty reserved high praise for the spooky “Paranormal Activity,” now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre. “I caught myself wondering during the first act, ‘Is this the best staged production of the year?’,” McNulty writes of the show, which is based on the horror film franchise of the same name and just completed a run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Director Felix Barrett, playwright Levi Holloway and Tony Award-winning illusion designer Chris Fisher are “masters of misdirection,” McNulty concludes.

McNulty also wrote a news dispatch that Jessica Stone, “a Tony-nominated director (‘Kimberly Akimbo,’ ‘Water for Elephants’), has been named the new artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, succeeding Christopher Ashley at the helm of one of the nation’s preeminent regional theaters.”

I had a great Zoom call with Shaina Taub about the inspiration behind her musical, “Suffs.” Taub is only the second woman, after Micki Grant, to star in a Broadway musical for which she also wrote the book, music and lyrics. The show is about the women’s suffrage movement leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. It opened earlier this week at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre as part of the show’s inaugural national tour.

Daniel T. Gaitor-Lomack in his studio.

(Daniel Tyree Gaitor-Lomack / Night Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo by Tomasa Calvo.)

Interdisciplinary Los Angeles–based artist Daniel T. Gaitor-Lomack is staging a solo exhibition, “You Can Hate Me Now,” at Night Gallery. This marks the artist’s second solo show at the space. Much of the new work was informed by Gaitor-Lomack’s life in his MacArthur Park neighborhood. A rep for the gallery wrote in an email that Gaitor-Lomack describes the exhibition “as a kind of ceremony, a gathering of ideas and emotions that have been unfolding across his work over the past three years. Guided by intuition and lived experience, he continues to use found and everyday materials to reflect on the innumerable systems of the world around. The exhibition’s title, long held in his mind, frames the presentation as a meditation on anticipation, transformation, and resilience.” The show will be at Night Gallery through Feb. 14.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has made what it is calling the first-ever restitution of artwork to the descendants of an enslaved artist. The artist, David Drake, was born around 1800 in Edgefield, S.C. He is known for signing his vessels and inscribing them with poetic verses, including one that read, “I wonder where is all my relations.” Fifteen of Drake’s descendants recently traveled to Boston from various states for a ceremony during which MFA returned one of Drake’s stoneware jars to them, and purchased a second back. An L.A.-based attorney named George Fatheree represents Drake’s family and help shepherd the transaction. “This is a day we hoped and prayed for,” said Pauline Baker, the third great-granddaughter of Drake, in a news release. “To see it realized is almost overwhelming. On behalf of our family, we express our deepest gratitude to the Museum of Fine Arts for its courage and integrity. Most importantly, this ceremony restores not just his work, but his humanity.”

A Gustav Klimt painting, “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” recently sold for $236.4 million, including fees, making it the most expensive modern work to be sold at auction. The 71-by-51-inch painting, created between 1914 and 1916, portrays the 20-year-old daughter of the Viennese art collectors who commissioned the work. The portrait was sold during a Sotheby’s auction in New York and was part of the private collection of cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, who died in June. According to the Washington Post, a 19-minute bidding battle catapulted the painting “far beyond its $150 million estimate, with two bidders competing over the phone via their auction representatives.”

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

The unfettered, stand-up kindness of Keanu Reeves has become the stuff of legend thanks to legions of fans who faithfully recount the actor’s good deeds on social media. Most recently, Reeves penned a handwritten letter of gratitude to the FBI after it recovered a stolen Rolex watch used in “John Wick.”

Kelly Brook celebrated her 46th birthday on Sunday – but had seemingly forgotten about it until Jack Osbourne reminded her during a conversation on I’m A Celebrity

I’m A Celebrity star Kelly Brook was surprised to find out it was her birthday today after a date mix-up while in the Australian jungle.

The model turned 46 on Sunday but had seemingly forgotten about her special day. As celebrities gathered around the campfire for their morning meeting, Jack Osbourne was emotional as he said he had “a good cry” with Eddie Kadi when he realised Saturday marked four months since his legendary father, Ozzy Osbourne, passed away.

“Yesterday was a bit of a delicate day for me…I was doing okay, and then I realised it was the four months since my dad died,” Jack said. “Had a good cry with Eddie…but ultimately I’m happy, I’m really happy I’m here.” Campmates showed their support for Jack, as Angry Ginge told him: “Men cry too.”

READ MORE: Kelly Brook’s housekeeper hits back at I’m A Celeb ‘bully’ claims

The conversation then moved to a lighter topic – birthdays – as Kelly exclaimed: “Oh my god! It’s my birthday tomorrow.” However, after she revealed her birthday was on November 23, Jack was quick to point out: “It’s the 23rd today.”

The pair then went through the days together, which is when Kelly realised: “It’s my birthday.” Fellow celebrities then cheered and celebrated with her as Kelly joked: “I honestly thought it was tomorrow!

“Jack even had to figure out when my birthday was, is there nothing this guy can’t do?! How am I gonna navigate life without him!” It comes after Jack’s sister, Kelly Osbourne, accused his campmate, Kelly, of being a “bully” after she said he had pushed his way into taking over preparing the campmate’s dinner of eel.

On the ITV show earlier this week, Jack offered to help Kelly after seeing she was gagging and retching over the smell while preparing the meal.

But despite accepting, Kelly later told the camera she felt Jack had “elbowed” his way into taking over the cooking for camp. Jack’s elder sister then took to her Instagram Stories to say: “Kelly Brook… I don’t think I like you. Elbowing out of the way to get to the fish… you’re so performative, with all the gagging and the over‑dramatics. You bring out my big‑sister vibes where I want to attack you because I feel like you’re a bit of a bully.”

After Kelly’s stepdad described the accusations as “a load of rubbish”, her former housekeeper Gemma Daniels also spoke out in defence of the former model. Gemma, who worked at the star’s £1million Kent farmhouse – which she sold in 2023 – for nearly a decade, said I’m A Celeb is painting the star in a wrong way.

Speaking out on TikTok, Gemma, who described herself as “just a girl from a council estate”, said: “In the nine years that I’ve known Kelly Brook, I’ve never felt the need to stick up for her more than I do now.” She described Kelly as “a really lovely down-to-earth woman” who always treated her well.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! airs nightly at 9pm on ITV1, STV, ITVX & STV Player.

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

TO the deafening screams of 60,000 fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Noel and Liam Gallagher took their final bow on the last night of their epic, 41-date Oasis reunion tour last night.

And now all us fans are talking about is what will come next for the brothers — with rumblings about possible shows at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester and Knebworth, Herts, along with ­whispers about a new greatest hits album.

Noel had previously put a record together featuring Oasis classics and B-sides from the band’s four albums released between 2000 and 2009.

But Liam put paid to his plans for the release, with Noel later admitting in 2023: “He wouldn’t have it in the end — I don’t know why.

“I gave up f***ing arguing.”

Insiders said reprising this project is among plans being floated behind the scenes.

OASIS FLARE-UP

Liam Gallagher lets rip at fan who fired flare into crowd during Oasis gig

SOME MIGHT PAY

Guitar smashed by Liam Gallagher on the night Oasis split sold for HUGE sum

“This tour has gone better than anyone could have imagined,” my source tells me.

“Noel and Liam will both be taking a long break to compute the magnitude of this tour.

“Being back together on stage has been incredible for both of them, and to have guitarist ­Bonehead back with them for the last shows has been nothing short of phenomenal.

“They’re aware of what their fans want and know the demand would be there if they did decide to put out a new greatest hits album — or to play more shows.”

So far, five separate music insiders have told me about the proposed Etihad residency next summer, along with a slew of shows at Knebworth.

Offers have also been made to Oasis to play Coachella in the US and Benicassim in Spain.

My insider added: “Steven Knight’s film from behind the scenes of the tour will give fans something to look forward to while they wait for Noel and Liam to decide what is coming up next.

“The offers are theirs for the taking.”

Those close to the pair insist there are no plans on the table right now.

But given how quickly the ­initial reunion came to pass, I’d put nothing past Noel and Liam.

The latter is definitely keen to keep the momentum, posting on X last week: “We need to sit down and discuss these things.

“If it was all up to me then you know we’d be touring till the day we die as it’s the best thing in the world but unfortunately it’s not.”

Noel, you know what you have to do.

SZA AND SHABS’ SWEET MUSIC

HER two studio albums have been packed with songs about love, loss and everything in between, so I’m sure SZA will have plenty to write about on her next record, as she is dating again.

The Kill Bill singer, who headlined Glastonbury last year, is believed to be secretly seeing Shaboozey, who is best known for his No3 hit A Bar Song (Tipsy) which soared up the charts last summer.

While she previously dated rapper Drake, Shaboozey was linked to model Emily Ratajkowski last year.

And now they have grown close and are constantly liking each other’s posts on social media.

They attended a GQ Men of the Year party together in Los Angeles earlier this month, but made sure to maintain their distance, in a bid to keep their romance quiet.

However, they’ve both got eager fanbases who are over the moon about the prospect of these two becoming an item.

One thing’s for sure: if they make a song together, it will be fantastic.

KATY’S LIMB AND A STAIR

KATY PERRY prompted a few stairs from people as she fooled about on an escalator.

The singer did practically everything but stand politely to one side as she performed the splits both the right way up and upside down.

She then appeared to take a snooze on the handrail in snaps taken on the set of the video to her latest single Bandaids.

Katy, whose shoelace is seen getting stuck in the moving staircase in the promo, wrote on Instagram: “Doing all the things your mom said not to do on the escalator but also: myth-busting a childhood fear. You’re welcome.”

Myths busted or not, I think I’ll stick to using them as intended.

DENISE: I’LL SLAYYY TOP TEN

DESPITE five No1 albums, THE 1975 have never topped the singles chart.

Now frontman Matty Healy’s mum, actress Denise Welch, is aiming to rub their noses in it by trying for the Christmas No1.

Yes, you did read that right. Today she has surprised the nation with an unexpected festive hyperpop single titled Slayyy Bells.

Described as “part carol, part club classic”, the song is being released in collaboration with choccy brand Celebrations.

Loose Women star Denise, above, said: “I love Christmas, but sometimes I want to shake things up a bit.

“We don’t always have to have turkey, or do charades.

“We can celebrate this special holiday our way. This remix, apart from being cool, catchy and a sure-fire hit, is all about having fun.

testing times

THIRD Strictly star suffers nasty injury that threatens place on the show

‘SHE’S CHANGED’

Lucy Letby’s shock reaction after barrister said ‘I know you’re innocent’

“So stay in your PJs, have your dinner at night if you like, and dance around the tree with a Celebrations box on your head.

“Once you’ve eaten them, that is.”

Elphaba and Glinda have changed the box office, at least for this weekend.

“Wicked: For Good” — the conclusion to Universal Pictures’ two-part film franchise — hauled in an estimated $150 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, marking the second-highest domestic opening this year, trailing only blockbuster hit “A Minecraft Movie.” Globally, the film grossed about $226 million.

The opening weekend audience for “Wicked: For Good” skewed even more female (69%) than the first film, which counted 61% of its viewers as women, according to data from EntTelligence.

Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” came in a distant second at the domestic box office with $9.1 million. The third installment of the illusionist franchise has now brought in a cumulative $36.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and a total of $109.4 million globally across its two weekends.

Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ “Predator: Badlands,” Paramount Pictures’ “The Running Man” and “Rental Family” from Searchlight Pictures rounded out this weekend’s top five.

The Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-led film was bolstered by a massive marketing push that began early last year before the first “Wicked” movie debuted. Though the films are based on the hit Broadway play, Universal wanted to expand awareness of the story to markets that had been less exposed to the theatrical show.

As a result, the franchise has partnered with more than 100 brands, including toy companies like Lego and Mattel as well as more unexpected firms such as household goods giant P&G and online Asian supermarket Weee!, where director Jon M. Chu serves as chief creative officer.

The film’s opening weekend success also points to a demand for female-focused franchises.

After 2023’s “Barbie” grossed $1.4 billion at the global box office, there were countless calls for more films geared toward women. But this year, many of the big-budget movies were male-leaning, and the narrower returns at the box office have prompted questions about whether films were reaching all possible demographics.

“Women continue to be a really underserved audience,” said Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of the website Box Office Theory. “In terms of large blockbusters, it’s been a minute since there’s been a female-skewing movie on the scale of ‘Wicked’ or ‘Lilo & Stitch.’”

Viewers of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! have been quick to issue the same complaint, but now presenters Ant and Dec have had their say on the divisive matter

Ant and Dec have addressed one of the major complaints from viewers of this year’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! The Geordie duo, both 49, have returned to screens once again, this time to put stars like Emmerdale legend Lisa Riley, rapper Aitch and actress Ruby Wax through their paces in jungle life.

The programme has become known for putting famous faces in gruelling circumstances normally a million miles away from their usual lifestyles, and as such, they have to compete in grisly Bushtucker Trials to earn meals for camp. Panto legend Christopher Biggins, who won the programme in 2007, spoke about the weight loss he achieved whilst in the jungle due to the food conditions, and Nick Knowles managed to shed more than two stone following his 2018 stint in the outback.

Sometimes, the celebrities have to live on rice and beans, especially when contestants struggle so much in the trials that they return to camp with little to no stars. In the past, contestants like former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan, model Katie Price, and presenter Gillian McKeith were regularly voted to participate in the trials and often returned to the camp empty-handed.

READ MORE: I’m a Celeb Angry Ginge lined up for astonishing new job after frantic bidding warREAD MORE: Vogue Williams shares why she joined I’m A Celeb and calls the jungle a ‘sadistic retreat’

But so far this year, the celebrities have been scoring consistently high in the trials, and a group of them were recently rewarded with a luxury breakfast less than a week into the show’s run.

This has prompted fans to complain on social media and, during an appearance on Saturday night’s Unpacked, former Byker Grove stars Ant and Dec hit back as they wondered what the problem was.

Dec explained: “I saw a couple of people online during the show go urgh they’re had marshmallows, they’ve had hot chocolate, they’ve had breakfast and it’s only been a week. What are they moaning for?

“But when you think of that expansive time over a week, and most of it has been rice and beans, to go out for that breakfast must have been a taste sensation.”

Insisting that the stars are still surviving on less food than usual, Ant added: “Yeah, because most people eat what they’ve eaten in a week in a day. So they are hungry.

“This year, what they’ve been given [to cook] hasn’t been awful. Even octopus, if you cook it right, is nice. They just cooked it badly!” It all comes after fans took to social media in their droves to moan about the situation.

One wrote on X: “S*** trials, too much food,” whilst another said: “Drinking tea, which used to be a treat. Access to treats daily, pretty much, easy tasks to get 12 stars.”

A third added: “They won 10 stars and that’s the food they get?” But a fourth weighed in with: “The state of the food. i’d find a corner and cry!”

Earlier this week, the news was delivered that those who had received a badge from the then-camp leaders – Vogue and Tom Read Wilson – would be enjoying a cooked breakfast away from the camp, but EastEnders star Shona McGarty and Lioness Alex Scott were left out.

“We promised you would be rewarded for your badges – you will be heading out of camp for a delicious, slap-up breakfast,” the duo revealed, to cheers from the campmates. However, Alex and Shona were the only two not to receive a badge, which meant that they had to take part in the next Bushtucker trial with Vogue and Tom.

“However, Alex and Shona, unfortunately for you, you weren’t awarded with a badge, which means there’s no breakfast for you, and you have to take on today’s trial,” they added. Shona and Alex looked disheartened upon hearing the news, with Alex saying: “No way.”

Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.