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AN AMERICAN heavy metal group has confirmed they are locked in a legal battle with the estate of their late bandmate.
The Blood and Thunder hitmakers have been forced to release a statement to their Instagram page addressing the previously-unearthed feud and how they will proceed.
An American heavy metal group has confirmed they are locked in a legal battle with the estate of their late bandmateCredit: GettyGuitarist Brent Hinds passed last August, but a lawsuit has been filed from his family’s estateCredit: Getty
Oblivion singers Mastodon, a Grammy-nominated band formed in Atlanta, told how what they deem a “meritless lawsuit” is centred on their late Brent Hinds.
The band’s guitarist Brent quit the group in March 2025 after 25 years together, prior to his death in a motorcycle crash in the August.
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The group’s founding member passed aged 51, after his Harley-Davidson collided with a BMW SUV.
Prior to his death it appeared there were frictions between the musician and the band, and this only seems to have developed a year since the tragedy.
Brent quit the group in March 2025 after 25 years together, prior to his death in a motorcycle crash in August 2025Credit: GettyRepresentatives for his estate also suggest Brent’s image was also used to present the band’s Marrow Deep album, in the same legal challengeCredit: Getty
Mastodon have now told of the fresh legal woe and uploaded a statement which read: “Sadly, a private business dispute with the estate of our dear departed friend Brent Hinds was made public.
“We strongly deny allegations of ill intent on our part and intend to vigorously defend what we believe is a meritless lawsuit.
“We don’t intend to speak publicly on this going forward, as we feel this wouldn’t honour Brent’s memory or the legacy of his musical gifts”.
Fans were quick to respond to support the group, who now are formed of Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher, Brann Dailor, Nick Johnston and João Nogueira.
One wrote: “Nobody’s business but yours. The fans are here for the music my guys. Congrats on the excellent new album”.
A second put: “We love Brent, we love Mastodon”.
A third posted: “This is really disheartening. Hoping things can be resolved”.
Last year, Brent told Billboard that his departure from the group was not mutual.
He then said the remaining members “kicked me out”.
This came after the band said they had “mutually decided to part ways”.
The new lawsuit has seen a civil complaint filed by the Hind estate, against the band’s members, on behalf of the late musician on September 3 according to loudwire.com.
As per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the lawsuit claims Mastodon failed to pay Brent for his share of the business after his exit.
It claims although the wheels were in motion for the group to buy him out of his share in “band related business” he had not in fact signed the paperwork prior to his passing.
As such, it claims his stake remains valid.
Representatives for his estate also suggest Brent’s image was also used to present the band’s Marrow Deep album, in the same legal challenge.
The lawsuit claimed: “Defendants selected and placed a recognizable image of Brent on the album cover of Marrow Deep and disseminated that cover to advertise, market, distribute and sell physical albums, digital downloads and streams, merchandise and related goods or services”.
Montana Brown has baffled fans again when it comes to her parentingCredit: TikTokThe star revealed she wanted an EpiPen for her son Jude – despite him not being diagnosed with an allergyCredit: Instagram
Speaking in her latest TikTok video, Montana began: “Guys, I’m about to have a rant, so beware.
“I went to the GP last week because basically Jude had this really random skin reaction, it was an allergic reaction, but we hadn’t actually given him any food.
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“So I was like, This is weird,’ like his eyes were like swelling out of his head. I was like, He’s definitely allergic to something, but not sure what it is because we haven’t given him any food?
“So I went to the GP to basically say, ‘Look, I’ve got a nut allergy. You can see that on my records. I have anaphylaxis, so I’m worried that he’s now developed an allergy to something that I’m not quite sure what it is yet.
“I’d like to get two kids’ EpiPens so that I can be prepared if he does have a worse reaction to whatever it is. Like in the meantime, like before we figure out, you know, get him allergy tested.”
Continuing her story, the reality star said: “Guess what they said? ‘No’.
Montana often ruffles feathers with her social media postsCredit: InstagramMontana shares two children with her partner Mark O’ConnorCredit: Instagram
“I was like, ‘Why? It’s just so painful.’ Like, I understand that there is a process to these things. But to me, I’m like, what am I going to do with an EpiPen apart from be safe with it?’
“Like, what are the dangers of me having an EpiPen? And I’m like, am I going to have to try and get an EpiPen off the deep dark web?
“Is that what this is coming to? I’m trying to safely protect my child in case he has an anaphylactic shock in my care to buy him enough time to get him to hospital. Like, is it me? Is it me?”
However, fans couldn’t believe what they were hearing, with one said: “They can’t just give you a medication without a diagnosis.”
A second shared: “Are you actually for real?”
A third added: “She’s is honestly on another planet!”
This isn’t the first time Montana has ruffled the feathers of fans.
Former newsreader and Strictly Come Dancing star Katie Derham is hosting the BBC Proms
Katie Derham has opened up on her grief(Image: Getty Images)
BBC host Katie Derham received a marriage proposal on a first date.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star is a former ITV news presenter but in 2010 she announced she was returning to the BBC where she started her career as a researcher.
Since then she’s worked extensively across radio and she was one of the contestants on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 when she was partnered with Anton Du Beke and impressed both the judges and viewers, topping the leaderboard and making it through to the final. She returned for the Christmas special two years later which she won with Brendan Cole.
As she teams up with Celebrity Traitors star Nick Mohammed to present the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms on Saturday, September 12, which will feature a Dolly Parton tribute, we take a look at her life offscreen.
Katie Derham’s heartbreak
Katie, who was born in Kent, is now 56 and she admits that her last birthday was a poignant moment for her because her mother Margaret was the same age when she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.
Margaret died aged just 61, from complications of pancreatitis. Opening up to HELLO! magazine’s Second Act podcast Katie said: “I’ve stopped being quite so angry (over her death) as I was for many years. She never met my second daughter, and she had such a bright and interesting mind.”
She added: “It seems particularly cruel. She was 61 when she died – that’s nothing is it?” Katie also spoke about how she felt she had to “step up” and be the “mother of the family” after Margaret died.
The mother-of-two continued: “I don’t know how she (Margaret) responded to the menopause, I don’t know what she was like as a young grandma – I don’t know what she was like as an older grandma.”
Marriage proposal
Katie met her husband, John Vincent, now the chief executive and co-founder of fast food chain Leon Restaurants, when he caught her gatecrashing the Cambridge University May Ball – and proposed to her.
“It sounds so bad now, in retrospect. But with a big smile and a big twinkle, he said “Well, you know, give me a snog and I won’t throw you out,” she revealed to HELLO!
“It did make me laugh. And we spent the night dancing around, but I thought (proposing) was a joke, I genuinely never thought I’d see him again. But he told his mum and dad ‘I met this girl at this ball and I’m pretty sure I’m going to marry her.’”
They met up again when John took the plunge and called the BBC switchboard during her shift as a financial news researcher in 1992. They went on to marry seven years later and they are the proud parents of two daughters.
Last Night of the Proms: The Finale is on BBC One on Saturday, September 12 from 9pm
THEY were the cool Brit pop duo that broke onto the music scene in 2007 with a number one album and chart-topping smash hit.
And almost two decades later, the husband-and-wife pair are still releasing new music – though their look is worlds away from their noughties heydey.
The husband and wife band rose to fame in the early 2000s – but are rocking a very different look these daysCredit: InstagramThe female star – one half of the pop duo – has ditched her rock chic era and instead appears to be channeling Dolly PartonCredit: Instagram
The Ting Tings, comprised of married couple Katie White and Jules De Martino have taken to TikTok to share a clip of them singing their brand new song Home.
In the video, rock chick turned boho babe Katie can be seen showing off her impressive vocals, while hubby Jules plays guitar.
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They look world’s away from their earlier rock and roll vibe with Katie in particular then known for her heavy eye make-up and platinum blonde Debbie Harry-esque locks.
They wrote over their new video: “Hey, we’re Katie & Jules from a band called The Ting Tings and you might remember us from our song That’s Not My Name.
The duo were all the rage in the noughtiesCredit: HandoutThey scored a number one hit with That’s Not My Name back in the dayCredit: GettyBut their style has changed a lot from their noughties heydeyCredit: thetingtingsofficial/TiktokKatie belted out vocals for new single Home while cradling the couple’s daughter in her lapCredit: thetingtingsofficial/Tiktok
“This is us, 18 years on singing Home from our latest album with our daughter. A lot has changed since 2008.”
The caption read: “18 years & 5 albums later… we are back in the studio, song writing and working on our 6th record.”
The iconic band made a shock comeback to the music industry back in January 2024.
In a cute video posted to Instagram, they added the caption: “Where have we been? Here, making the record of our lives. Get ready. J K x”
The scenes showed a blonde-haired toddler strolling around, leading one fan to quiz: “Is that a baby Ting Ting?”
During a chat with the BBC in 2022, they confirmed their happy news – with the tot dubbed “mini Ting” aged one at the time.
Katie admitted: “We never particularly spoke about it.
“We always wanted to keep it quite separate from the music, but it’s quite hard when you have literally a mini person.
“We’ve been together a long time now.”
The Salford-based duo formed in 2007, with their debut album We Started Nothing topping the UK charts just a year later.
Their iconic track That’s Not My Name became a huge success and has been streamed more than 1.1million times.
The group then fine-tuned their material in New York, yet a tour scheduled for three years later was scrapped after Katie suffered a hand injury.
Following their comeback, they went on to release their fifth album Home and are now gearing up for their sixth offering.
Olivia Attwood has hit back after being accused of lying about her booze brandCredit: InstagramThe savvy businesswoman launched her canned cocktails this summerCredit: olivia_attwood / instagram
However, there had been some criticism of her involvement, after Olivia called the company her “baby”.
But not taking this lying down, the successful businesswoman has now hit back and set the record straight.
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“My brand, Savano, my baby. It was acquired by my partners, it existed as Tom Savano, and then with me, we relaunched it,” Olivia told her fans in her latest Instagram video.
“We remarketed it, we renamed it, we repackaged it, and we developed signature flavours. For example, my Moscow Mule. Guys, do you even understand how many Moscow Mules I had to drink to get that right? And it’s perfect.”
Olivia revealed how she is a majority stakeholder in the booze brandCredit: Instagram/SavanoIt comes after Olivia and her boyfriend Pete were a huge success at the NTAs this weekCredit: Getty Images for The NTA’s
The new couple went down a storm when they presented an award at the glitzy bash, marking their first live TV appearance together.
Nearly 30 years after Judy Sheindlin launched a career that made her TV’s most widely recognized judge — first on the syndicated small claims series “Judge Judy,” which premiered in 1996 and ran for 25 seasons; then on Amazon Prime’s streaming show “Judy Justice” starting in 2021 — she’s passing her gavel to a fitting successor: her son, Judge Adam Levy.
The 83-year-old Sheindlin told People magazine that when “Judy Justice” wraps in October, she’s moving away from on-camera work to focus on other endeavors, including afternoon naps and developing the animated series “Judyverse” based on the “Baby Judge Judy” videos circulating social media.
Created with AI, the videos feature a toddler version of Judge Judy overseeing cases with her signature New York accent and no-nonsense barbs.
“I don’t want to do hair and makeup anymore, but I still want my message to get out there,” she told the outlet.
Sheindlin will also produce her son’s syndicated court TV show, “Adam’s Law,” which debuts Monday.
“There aren’t a lot of people who can carry a half-hour on their own, unscripted,” Sheindlin continued, adding that Levy has what it takes.
The 58-year-old earned his law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1992. This isn’t his first foray into TV, as he joined a panel of judges on Prime’s “Tribunal Justice” in 2023. After three seasons, Sheindlin said he’s ready for his close-up.
On Sept. 22, CBS will air a 30th anniversary special looking back on Sheindlin’s career, “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable.”
“I don’t think that I’ve ever been this content before,” she told People of entering the next era of her life. “I don’t have to prove anything else. I did it.”
Mother Monster has reportedly welcomed her first baby.
Pop singer Lady Gaga and her fiancé, tech investor Michael Polansky, were recently photographed with a newborn child during an outing in Northern California, according to Page Six.
The “Bad Romance” singer and 16-time Grammy winner was seen wearing a large ring and holding the child, supported by a baby wrap, tightly to her chest, according to photos published by the outlet.
A representative for the singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
She confirmed her engagement to Polansky at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she was said to have introduced him to then-French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
The pair was first spotted together kissing at a Las Vegas party in 2019.
THE daughter of late actress Dame Diana Rigg has admitted to an unusual tribute of eating her ashes prior to live shows.
Rachael Stirling, 49, followed in her acclaimed mother’s footsteps by becoming an actress.
Diana Rigg’s daughter has revealed an unusual tribute to her late motherCredit: GettyRachael Stirling followed in her mother’s footsteps by also becoming an actressCredit: Steve Meddle
Viewers may have seen Rachael pop up in shows including The Bletchley Circle, Detectorists and an episode of Doctor Who alongside Diana.
In her new book, All About My Mother, Rachael opened up about a surprising pre-show ritual.
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She wrote, as quoted by Daily Mail: “I would love to have a nightly glass of champagne before going on stage, but these days it would equate to a drinking problem.”
Rachael’s alternative on a new play’s opening night, however, is “a grain or two of my mother’s ashes“.
GEMMA Collins’ fiancé Rami Hawash has admitted to having a drinking problem.
Gemma, 45, has revealed viewers will see how Rami’s alcohol dependency impacted their relationship in Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once.
Gemma Collins’ fiancé Rami Hawash has opened up about his alcohol dependencyCredit: Instagram/@rami_hawash_Her reality series Gemma Collins: Everything. All At Once debuts on September 15Credit: Getty
The upcoming reality series officially debuts on Sky and NOW on September 15.
Speaking at the show’s launch, Rami shared: “I drink, I’ve got a drink problem and I don’t want to hide it.
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“I wanted people to know it is a problem. I’ve got a problem and life is not that great.
“I don’t know why, but I find the drink, it was like, kind of my friend. You know, I have a few drinks and I’m forgetting everything.”
The couple originally met in 2011 and got engaged in 2013, but this was later broken offCredit: InstagramThe couple are thought to have gotten back together in 2023Credit: Getty
Meanwhile, Gemma said of her experience in the documentary: “You can see I’m unwell.
“You can see I’m not in my best, and life just got progressively worse as I let the cameras in. It was hell.
“But you know, one thing my mum taught me wasresilience, I’m resilient to get through all this really.
“It can get better. So let’s hope everything starts to get better now because I can’t take any more. I need a break.”
Former Little Mix star is reportedly in talks to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and bosses are “thrilled” that the singer could be about to appear in the jungle
22:14, 11 Sep 2026Updated 22:14, 11 Sep 2026
Jesy Nelson is said to be “in talks” to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
Prior to that, Jesy gave birth prematurely to their twin daughters Ocean and Story in March 2025, and both of them were born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 1, and neither of them are likely to ever walk.
Jesy then successfully lobbied the government and joined with the Mirror to campaign to have all newborns tested for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) when her twin girls were diagnosed too late after irreversible nerve damage.
Now, though, it’s thought that Jesy is up for a new challenge and could be about to head Down Under to take part in the upcoming series of Ant and Dec’s reality survival show.
A source said: “Jesy has been negotiating with ITV for weeks and now the talks are at a very promising stage. For Jesy, doing I’m A Celebrity would be a huge boost for her professionally as well as personally.
Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “Continuing to raise awareness around SMA for her girls is something Jesy is very keen to do, and she knows she can use a platform like I’m A Celebrity to reach millions.”
Jesy is said to be a “big fan” of the show to begin with and wants to show the “public a different side to her” if she makes it onto the show.
The source said: “She has been open about how she has struggled with anxiety in the past — and there’s no better way to challenge herself than going on a show like I’m A Celebrity. She’s had a really hard time in the last couple of years but she’s ready to grab life by the horns and get on with things.”
The insider then added that a “complete change of scene and a fresh start” is what Jesy needs right now. Even though it would be “hard” for her to be away from her children for up to three weeks, it’s said that she just wants to do them proud.
According to the outlet, bosses are hopeful that Jesy will be signing her contract in a matter of weeks and are “thrilled” that they have got this far. It’s reported that producers would be keen for her to speak about her time in Little Mix and her decision to suddenly quit in 2020 when she is in the jungle.
The hit reality show, which began in 2002, usually airs for three weeks in November and sees Ant and Dec broadcast live from the Gold Coast in Australia. A spokesperson said: “Any names suggested for I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! are just speculation.”
Her friends and fans flocked to the comments, with Saffiya Vorajee writing: “so so happy for you.” While another wrote: “so happy for you!! you deserve all the happiness in the world xx” A third commented: “Wow u look incredible and what a stunning couple.”
Stars and directors visit the L.A. Times Studio at RBC House during opening weekend at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Check back regularly for new additions.
What do you do when a creative team mounts an acclaimed production of a beloved play, breaking box office records as one of the most successful shows in your theater’s more than 100-year history? For the Pasadena Playhouse, the answer was clear. You get them back on the boards as soon as possible — say, six months later.
Which is how it came to pass that more than a dozen creatives behind Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus,” including director Darko Tresnjak and actor Jefferson Mays, have returned to the historic theater for a new production of Swiss dramatist Fredrich Dürrenmatt’s revenge tragicomedy “The Visit,” running through Oct. 4.
“It feels like we just cleaned out our dressing rooms and we’re moving back in,” notes Mays.
The cast and crew of the adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “The Visit,” at the Pasadena Playhouse. Many have returned to the venue after helping stage the hit production of “Amadeus” there in April.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“Amadeus,” which ended its run in April, was a critical and box office hit, so popular that after tickets were gone, additional shows were added — which also quickly sold out. Danny Feldman, producing artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse, puts it simply: “Theater is a team sport, and when you’ve got a winning team, you want to keep playing together.”
It was during tech for “Amadeus” that Tresnjak told Feldman of his love for “The Visit,” which he first directed in college. “I quite literally found my calling in life because of it,” says Tresnjak.
Feldman was also a fan — of both the play and working with Tresnjak — and quickly scheduled the show for the new season.
“Our job is to give artists a home where they can stretch and take risks,” says Feldman. “Audiences got to experience this artistic synchronicity during ‘Amadeus,’ and we’re so excited they get to deepen their relationship with these artists as they watch ‘The Visit.’ ”
The respect is mutual. Mays, who has won almost every major theater award in existence including a Tony and an Obie, says the Playhouse is one of the best he’s ever worked at. “It’s certainly the most healthy,” he notes. “They are unabashed theater fans and lovely people.”
Only days earlier, Mays had given what could be perceived as a backhanded compliment. “I said, ‘You don’t run a theater at all, you run a high school drama club,’ ” Mays recalls. “I meant that in the way it’s infused with joy and a sense of play and support and that we can do anything with impunity and embarrass ourselves and they will be there to pick us up and dust us off. It’s just a gorgeous feeling.”
While Mays brought Tresnjak to “Amadeus,” this time the director asked the actor to join “The Visit.” Mays admits he wasn’t very familiar with the text. Tresnjak’s production, which utilizes the 1956 adaptation by Maurice Valency, centers on the small town of Güllen, which is facing financial ruin.
Actors Jefferson Mays and Melinda Page Hamilton star in an adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “The Visit,”at Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
The townspeople are preparing to welcome back former resident and potential patron Claire Zachanassian (Melinda Page Hamilton), who has become the richest woman in the world since leaving. It turns out, Claire is more than happy to help. But there is one condition: Someone must kill her former lover Anton Shill (Mays), who impregnated and abandoned Claire in their youth.
Audiences expecting an easy villain and a clear case of right and wrong will be surprised as the narrative unfolds with an examination of community, complicity and corruption within institutions of power.
Tresnjak says “The Visit” can’t be described as one thing. “I don’t want to call it a feminist revenge fantasy because that belittles it,” he says. “It’s also an inversion of a medieval mystery play where the Earth Mother is not benevolent. It’s also a fun, nifty stage thriller.”
And as relevant as the day it was written, Tresnjak adds. Dürrenmatt penned “The Visit” as a critique of Switzerland’s neutrality after World War II, which he saw as an abandonment of ethics driven by capitalism.
Tresnjak says he recently directed a scene where one townsperson urges the others to hold out against Claire’s proposition of murder, on the same day news broke that the U.S. Department of Education had pressured the American Bar Assn. to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. “It made me think how in some ways, the citizens of Güllen are better off than we are,” Tresnjak says
“It really is more timely than ever,” agrees Mays, who wonders if that might keep audiences away. In 2007, he starred in the World War I drama “Journey’s End,” which went on to win a Tony Award for best revival. “It was a beautiful play, but nobody came,” he says. “We were at war with Afghanistan and Iraq, and people had enough of war. Sometimes you hold the mirror up to the world, and it reflects it too well.”
Mays jokes he said yes because “it was only fair after I hornswoggled Darko into ‘Amadeus.’ ” The actor is known not just for his versatility but for displaying it in rapid succession. He won the 2004 Tony Award for playing more than 40 characters in “I Am My Own Wife,” and his 2022 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” saw him take on more than 50 characters.
Mays admits the role of Anton is “a strangely passive and reactive role that I’m still not sure I’m entirely right for,” even going so far as to say, “I can name 10 actor friends who would be better.” But he was bowled over by the director’s passion. “It’s so thrilling when someone approaches you with something they are burning about, and I couldn’t say no.”
Indeed, Anton has a lot to react to; Hamilton’s Claire is the proactive role, forcing the action at every turn. Hamilton is known to TV audiences for her roles on “Mad Men” and “Desperate Housewives,” but she previously worked with Tresjnak on “Bell, Book and Candle” and “Rear Window” and is a big admirer of his work.
Melinda Page Hamilton plays Claire in an adaptation of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “The Visit.” She is one of a handful of cast and crew that didn’t appear in “Amadeus” this spring.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“I also tried to see ‘Amadeus,’ but I couldn’t get tickets,” she says with a laugh. She was thrilled to get a call from Tresnjak, who felt it was important to cast L.A. actors and enjoys working with previous collaborators — to the point where he didn’t hold auditions.
“I think traditionally Claire has been portrayed as crazy and evil, and that didn’t interest Darko,” Hamilton says. “I also think post-Epstein, post-#MeToo, post sheer volume of terrible behavior that men get away with, it has a different resonance today.”
Tresnjak says the role of Claire has long been special to him. “This is a woman who owns everything she is, who never tells a single lie or tries to obscure what she wants,” he says. “She is simply making society look at itself.”
Tresnjak’s upbringing was largely influenced by his mother, Maria, an immigrant from Yugoslavia (now Serbia) who served as a military skydiver in World War II. “My mother was a very strong woman, a woman who fought for what she believed in,” he says. “I have no interest in doing something like ‘Streetcar,’ where a woman is being driven out of her mind. I enjoy characters with agency.”
Director Darko Tresnjak has long wanted to stage a production of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “The Visit,” a play dear to his heart for many years.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
And he’s thrilled to have found a home that supports his vision, praising Feldman and associate artistic director Jenny Slattery, who was his student when he taught at UC San Diego. “They’re not afraid of big swings and of taking chances, and not only do people seem to appreciate that, they’re coming to see it,” he says.
With two productions in a year, is it too early to hope that this team has found a recurring home at the Pasadena Playhouse? Tresnjak demures, “I wouldn’t want to put that pressure on Danny and Jenny,” but admits he would be thrilled to return. “Of course, I’m very happy here.”
Mays is equally game. “It’s such a rare and wonderful thing in this country to have a sense of company,” he says. “To have so many actors and designers back from ‘Amadeus’ and to return to a place of such support; it feels like something that rarely exists anymore.”
The Visit
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; 7:30 pm Sept. 22; and 7 p.m. Oct 4. Ends Oct. 4.
SHE described the year her father Ozzy Osbourne died and her subsequent split from fiance Sid Wilson as the “hardest” and “worst” of her life.
But things are looking up for Kelly Osbourne, as we can reveal she has been secretly dating a tattooed OnlyFans model, 13 years her junior.
Kelly Osbourne has grown close to OnlyFans star Brad NorthCredit: Amir Ravazi/The SunThe pair attended a Bon Jovi gig together before being seen cuddlingCredit: Instagram
The Sun can reveal mum-of-one Kelly, 41, has been spending time with hunky Brad, 28, for months after connecting online.
Brad, who goes by the name Uglynorth on the over-18 platform, charges fans £10 to view his racy content, telling them: “If you like a man who’s loyal, eager, and easy to please… I’m right here. Just say hi, or slip something into my tip jar.”
Other posts are much more explicit and he offers followers the chance to collaborate with him and film sexual acts together.
His big-money earner, however, is selling his used underwear to his fans. In January, he sold off 12 pairs.
Alongside another saucy snap, the model, who is also a tattoo artist, added: “If you want exclusive attention… show me you’re serious. I treat daddies very well.”
He has been described as “insanely hung” online.
His Instagram account is however much tamer, mostly showing off his tattoo work. Kelly has been showing her appreciation by liking his recent posts.
Kelly – who split from former Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson in March – was seen linking arms with Brad in a hotel lobby.
The pair looked smitten at a restaurant launch party at Manchester’s Treehouse Hotel on Wednesday night.
They then joined the boozy bash upstairs, spending time together in a private area where she placed her hands under Brad’s T-shirt and up his back.
One onlooker said: “There were hundreds of people around them but that didn’t seem to bother Kelly.
“They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Kelly is clearly really happy with him.
Just months after splitting from Sid, Kelly is said to be unconcerned about Brad’s racy side hustle.
The onlooker added: “Some people might be snooty about dating someone who does adult work, but Kelly isn’t worried.
“It has raised a few eyebrows amongst her close friends, but she doesn’t care.
“She’s been through so much with Ozzy dying and her split from Sid, so it’s lovely to see her smiling again.”
TV star and singer Kelly spent around three hours at the party before being driven home to Buckinghamshire.
And it seems Kelly could be gearing up to hard launch her new man as last week, Kelly shared a snap online of them together watching Bon Jovi at Wembley.
Brad has built up a following on OnlyFans and sells his old pants on thereThe pair were seen being flirty on a night outCredit: Amir Ravazi/The SunKelly could be seen smiling broadly in his companyCredit: Amir Ravazi/The Sun
Sources say Kelly started chatting to Brad, from Doncaster, South Yorks, online following her split from Sid, 49, and things became flirty between them.
Kelly and Sid began dating in 2022, having been friends for more than 20 years before that.
She gave birth to their son Sidney in November of that year.
During the proposal, Ozzy jokingly told Sid: “F**k off, you’re not marrying my daughter!”
Ozzy, who had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for years, died of a heart attack 17 days later aged 76.
Kelly and Sid split earlier this year, with insiders claiming he “has a lot he needs to work through on his own”.
They also said that Kelly “doesn’t want the drama in her life right now”, and that her priority is being there for her mum Sharon, 73.
Onlookers said Kelly didn’t mind who saw themCredit: Amir Ravazi/The SunKelly looked happy and healthy at the event in Manchester this weekCredit: SplashThe hunk also works as a tattoo artist alongside his side hustleCredit: uglynorth_/ Instagram
After the split, Kelly was romantically linked to non-binary LA-based hairdresser Kiinicki, 37.
But in July of this year, the star swore off men and dating, declaring: “Dating is the last thing on my mind. I love being single.”
“I’ve got my baby. I’m ambivalent. All men are the same. It’s rough.”
She spent the summer concentrating on herself and her well-being.
Kelly sparked concern earlier this year following her drastic weight lossCredit: GettyShe split from her partner Sid Wilson earlier this yearCredit: instagram
It came at the right time – Kelly had sparked concern with her increasingly tiny frame since her father Ozzy’s death last year.
It seemed overnight the once bubbly star had drastically shrunk in size, which led to her receiving thousands of cruel comments about her appearance online.
She admitted earlier this month that she was gobsmacked when she saw a picture of herself from the Brits.
“I looked like the f****** Crypt Keeper. I said, ‘This is scary. I didn’t know I looked like this.’ My spine – you could see every single bone,” Kelly admitted.
She added: “I couldn’t see what other people saw because I was in so much pain. I just saw a broken person.”
But since then Kelly has gained weight again and is starting to look happy and healthy once more, proving there is light after the deepest grief.
She might have declared herself off men, but after a tragic twelve months, no one can blame her for her romantic U-turn, or for enjoying every second of it.”
A representative for Kelly said: “Kelly and Brad are not dating.
“They share a close friendship and their relationship is entirely platonic.”
FORMER glamour model Katie Price has shared a worrying health update about her mum, Amy, amid her terminal illness battle.
Amy Price was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) back in 2017 with the irreversible scarring of the lungs making it difficult for her to breathe.
Amy Price Katie Price posed up together at the screening of her Sky documentaryCredit: PAAmy Price has been in and out of hospital amid her ongoing battle with a terminal diseaseCredit: Instagram
During a Good Morning Britain interview in May, Katie, 48, told how her mum was “really not well.”
The admission came two months afterAmy washospitalised in Marchafter being diagnosed with an infection.
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Amy has been in and out of hospital, battling the cruel disease for years.
Now, Katie has shared a health update on her mum and it doesn’t sound positive as she’s made a return to the hospital.
The glamorous 74-year-old made sure she was right by her daughter’s side for her big night.
Katie told how her mum enjoyed seeing her, Princess and Junior Andre on TV at the NTAsCredit: GettyKatie and her sister Sophie believed her mum was going to die while filming her documentaryCredit: Instagram
She wore a beautiful white and blue floral dress and was seen posing up for snaps with a beaming Katie.
There is a lost EastEnders Christmas special which showed groundbreaking gay character Barry Clark come out to his homophobic dad.
In 1986, bosses on the BBC drama cast the first ever gay couple on the soap with Michael Cashman and Gary Hailes playing Colin Russell and Barry.
The two characters were the first openly gay couple to share a kiss in a British soap. Gary Webster joined EastEnders in 1987 playing Barry’s protective older brother Graham Clark who accepted his sibling was a homosexual man.
Former Minder star Webster has now revealed that an entire Christmas episode was filmed in 1987 around Barry emotionally revealing his sexuality to their father, who hated homosexuals.
Webster insists the unique episode was in the can and due to air on Christmas Eve but when he sat down to watch it, bosses had lost their nerve and left it on the cutting room floor instead airing an episode forcing on Pauline and Arthur Fowler’s broken oven and Sharon Watts coping with Christmas with her parents Angie and Den separated.
None of the scenes were ever shown on the soap.
Webster said: “I was very proud to be a part of that storyline, absolutely. “That was really groundbreaking writing. Not only having Colin and Barry’s relationship out there, accepted or not accepted. It wasn’t for effect it was a reflection of what was happening to people in those relationships.
“It was fantastic writing, the idea that his brother would be fully accepting of it as well, when everyone thought the brother would find it unacceptable. At that time they could have gone further. I remember we shot a whole Christmas episode of the father of Barry and Graham – my character – finding out his son was gay, and he wasn’t accepting of it. It had all been building to that culmination of the father coming into the pub.
“We filmed 15 scenes and it was a whole episode at Christmas. I sat down to watch it at Christmas and they had pulled it and had shot something else. I think they just lost their bottle a little bit at that time.
“No, never broadcast. I don’t what happened to it. All I know is that my parents were sitting down with my aunt and uncle, my current girlfriend at the time was sitting down with her parents on Christmas Eve. I’d told them I’m featured in this episode a lot, this is going to be a big episode. I was sat down on my own, I saw the opening scene and I suddenly realised, ‘Oh my god! This has changed. This is not the episode that we shot.’
“Back in those days if you got an episode on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day it was the pinnacle of your career. Then I thought, ‘I just look like I’m a big liar. Now I’m going to have to take the flak of people going, ‘Right, so you were going to be in a big episode?’ Everyone doubted me for years afterwards.”
Webster – who stars in new independent British horror movie Harbinger – believes the episode was dropped because bosses on EastEnders feared the British public weren’t ready for it.
Despite that history-making episode never making it to television screens, Webster says being a part of the Colin and Barry story is one of the proudest acting jobs of his long career.
He said: “To be a part of that storyline, to work with Gary Hailes and Michael Cashman who played Barry and Colin – I still keep in contact with them both – I look back on that and I am proud of my part of that storyline. It was EastEnders at its very best. “What everyone forgets, people in my industry and in that London scene, we probably lived in a bit of a bubble than what was going on in the rest of the country.
“I felt that maybe people at that time weren’t ready for that yet. But I think people are ready for it at any time. You have to have more faith in the public.”
Webster made a return to EastEnders in 2016 as new character Neville Peacock. The actor still watches the soap and insists it is vital it remains on screens as it is a hotbed of new talent.
He said: “EastEnders is in a battle but I still think the basics and foundations are great, the same with Coronation Street and all the soaps. They are a great breeding ground for great talent whether it’s in front of the camera or behind the camera. People still like that regularity of storyline and characters they now and love. It’s just getting it out there, because there are so many other platforms.
“I did about four episodes of EastEnders as a different character in 2016. There was some hope that I might return. Hope is one thing, reality is another. It doesn’t bother me if something doesn’t quite work out, that’s just the nature of the business we’re in.
“If they called me again I would be thrilled and honoured to be in the show. “I still think there is a lot of value to the soap operas. In this country we do them extremely well. It’s a hot bed for new talent, discovery of new talent across the board that we would lose at our peril. If we allow that to just slip away I think the industry would suffer across the board. I’m a great advocate of retaining all those returning dramas.”
The BBC declined to comment but a soap source said EastEnders had “a rich history of championing LGBTQA+ storylines and characters over its 41-year tenure”.
The victory marks one of the biggest wins in the show’s 17-year history, leaving host Bradley Walsh beaming
Bradley congratulated the team following a huge win on The Chase (Image: ITV)
The Chase has delivered one of its most unforgettable episodes, with four contestants securing a jaw-dropping prize.
Earlier this week, The Chase returned to ITV with a brand-new series, with returning host Bradley Walsh at the helm, and it was Friday’s episode (September 11) that left viewers on the edge of their seats.
Paul, a seasoned quizzer with a background as both a doctor and comedian, gave the game his all but fell short in the final moments.
The contestants began with a 19-point lead after correctly answering a broad range of questions, including naming Laurel and Hardy as the subjects of the film Stan & Ollie, and identifying “running” as the sport associated with the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers.
Paul was tasked with answering more than 19 questions in two minutes, with the team successfully gaining four out of five pushbacks. The Chaser was eliminated after answering 16 questions before the timer ran out.
As the buzzer sounded, Tom, Beth, Rohit, and Chloe were declared the winners of the £80,000 pot, with each contestant walking away with £20,000.
The team hugged one another as one player could be heard saying, “I can’t believe it,” as Bradley congratulated them. “Well played, £20,000 each, congratulations”, the host added.
Chloe shared her wishes to spend her winnings on equipment for dogs at her local park, while Beth wants to share her cash with her grandparents on “lots of trips”.
Other huge wins on The Chase
Tom, Beth, Rohit, and Chloe’s win now stands as one of the largest in the show’s history. Last year, contestants Karen and Ian won an equal split of £100,000 after Paul failed to catch the players in the final chase.
The Chase saw another record-breaking moment when three contestants split £120,000, each taking home £40,000 after defeating Mark Labbett, also known as The Beast.
In 2018, another memorable wins, including a £100,000 victory in 2018 shared by a team of four consisting of Gayna, Tim, Luca, and Diane.
Meanwhile, Eden, a 20-year-old contestant, holds the record for the largest single-player win, having taken home £75,000 in 2021.
After Brian Koppelman and David Levien wrapped their hit Showtime series “Billions,” the co-creators were undecided about where they would go next. A more than hourlong visit from a Netflix executive settled it.
Netflix had been developing a Las Vegas drama with Martin Scorsese, who is executive producing through his Sikelia Productions. The streamer brought in Koppelman and Levien, and the pair pitched a present-day casino story. Jinny Howe, Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series, went to their office to make the case.
“When she left our office, we looked at each other and said, ‘Well, whatever we do, we want to do it with her,’” said Koppelman, recalling their meeting from two years ago. Their new Las Vegas series, “The Roman” starring Oscar Issac as a casino president, is expected to be released year. Netflix ordered it in December.
Howe has one of the hardest jobs in Hollywood — finding must-see scripted programs that keep Netflix’s subscribers watching. The company said it had over 325 million paid subscribers worldwide at the end of 2025. Her instincts for creators, combined with years as an entertainment executive and a lifelong viewer have given her a track record of championing hits, including thriller “The Night Agent,” drama “The Diplomat” and Regency-era romance “Bridgerton.”
That led to her promotion last year as head of U.S. and Canada scripted series — her fourth advancement in four years. She succeeded Peter Friedlander, who left after nearly 14 years, and reports to Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria.
“In my role, I feel I am really ear to the ground, really listening to what audiences are asking for, and really trying to understand where the culture is, where the conversation is, to really make sure we’re giving these audiences what it is that they want and they crave,” said Howe, 48.
The pressure is on. Key franchises are in their final seasons. “Stranger Things” ended in December, “Outer Banks” concluded with its fifth season last month and “Emily in Paris” finishes with its sixth season in December. Netflix has confirmed that the fifth season of legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” will be its last.
Wall Street has soured. Netflix shares, which closed Thursday $76.01, are down 39% over the past 12 months, a slide that began with its $83-billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in December — a deal it later walked away from — and continued through 2026 when the company lowered its growth projections.
Analysts have also flagged sluggish engagement growth. View hours rose about 2% in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as content spending climbed.
After graduating from UCLA, Jinny Howe worked at Brillstein Entertainment Partners and John Wells Productions before joining Netflix in 2018.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Nonetheless, Howe is confident that Netflix continues to outshine its competitors, noting that the streamer is still in a “growth mindset” that bets on original ideas. The streamer also has franchises that continue to pull in large audiences, such as the fourth season of “Bridgerton,” she said.
“We’re not slowing down at all,” Howe said.
This year her department has a slate of 44 new and returning scripted series from the U.S. and Canada, excluding stand-up, comedy formats and adult animation. They span genres and mix seasoned showrunners and bets on emerging talent. Six are run by first-time female showrunners, a notable number at a time when the industry has cut back and women have historically had fewer chances to lead series. Those programs include “East of Eden,” a series based on the popular John Steinbeck novel; YA drama “The Body” and “A Different World,” a sequel series based on the NBC sitcom about Black students at a fictional college.
Howe leads a team of people spanning the U.S. and Canada, with hubs in Los Angeles and Toronto. While she is accountable for the U.S. and Canada scripted slate, the decisions are made in partnership with her team.
Scripted series out of the U.S. and Canada remain central to the business. Many of Netflix’s most-watched shows of all time come from the region, which accounts for about 40% of global revenue — the streamer’s largest market. Netflix reported 89.6 million memberships in the U.S. and Canada at the end of 2024, the last time it broke out regional numbers.
“There’s so many amazing creators and stories to be told from the U.S. and Canada and historically, English language scripted television for many, many years has traveled to lots of different countries around the world,” Bajaria said.
The region also drives Netflix’s awards profile. The streamer collected 111 Emmy nominations in July, second to HBO Max’s 122. Netflix says 83 of them came from scripted series and variety specials under Howe’s slate. “Beef” season 2 led Netflix’s titles receiving Emmy recognition with 16 nominations.
Competition for attention is fierce. Rival streamers are investing in live sports, and YouTube continues to take a significant share of TV viewing time in the U.S. Netflix has responded by adding video podcasts, sports and games to its lineup. It also lacks the deep historic library some competitors hold — the gap its failed Warner Bros. bid would have closed.
Then the Duffers agreed to produce a show created by Haley Z. Boston, the horror series “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen,” about a woman who is cursed and could die if she doesn’t marry her soulmate. Other studios didn’t see Boston as the showrunner, but Howe and Netflix did.
“We need people to take chances on us,” 31-year-old Boston said. “There is still a glass ceiling … I’m excited about new future where you don’t have to have done the job already to do it. All you need is the right support.”
The series debuted at No. 2 on the streamer’s global top 10 English language shows and reached 20.3 million views on Netflix in the first half of this year, according to the streamer.
“Netflix had the confidence that we can find the right audience for this,” she said.
Connecting with a range of storytellers early is part of the strategy. Howe’s relationship with creator Molly Smith Metzler goes back about a decade, to when Metzler submitted her play “Elemeno Pea” while Howe was working at John Wells Productions. Howe was impressed and recommended her for the “Shameless” writers room. Metzler went on to lead the critically acclaimed 2021 limited series “Maid” for Netflix, her first job as a showrunner, and signed an overall deal with the streamer in early 2022.
One of Howe’s ideas was to build a series out of “Elemeno Pea.” That became the drama “Sirens,” starring Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock and Julianne Moore. Released in 2025, it debuted at No. 1 on Netflix’s global top 10 and earned four Emmy nominations, including a surprise lead actress nod for Fahy.
“We spent so many cups of coffee and walks talking about what that could be and what it could look like, and we really built it from the ground up,” Metzler said. “She is very hardworking, and she’s extremely committed to the projects she does. That commitment and that rigor is contagious.”
Jinny Howe, who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, is one of the few prominent Asian American content leaders in Hollywood.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
In her soul, Howe said, she’s a producer first. Koppelman and Levien said she was instrumental in the casting “The Roman,” including speaking with some of the leading actors. Alongside Isaac, the series stars Betty Gilpin, Alec Baldwin, Jimmy O. Yang and Jason Schwartzman.
“This would not have come together had Ginny not rolled up her sleeves,” Koppelman said. “When we look at this cast, sometimes we can’t really believe what got put together.”
Howe and Netflix also supported showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine’s push to make a version of “Little House on the Prairie” that includes more of the Osage perspective.
“She was very open to a vision that explored all the things that we wanted to explore in this show,” Sonnenshine said.
Howe grew up in Walnut, in the San Gabriel Valley, a self-described latchkey kid and the daughter of a residential real estate agent and a women’s clothing store owner. She was born in Seoul and immigrated to California when she was 15 months old.
“So I really am a California girl, I grew up just adjacent to the glittering lights of Hollywood, but close enough to know that there was a real business there,” Howe said.
While her parents worked, she and her brother watched a lot of TV, sitcoms like “Diff’rent Strokes” and “Small Wonder” and soaps like “Dynasty” and “Dallas.” That turned into a career. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor of arts degree in theater, film and television, worked in the talent division at Brillstein Entertainment Partners and rose to executive vice president of television at John Wells Productions before joining Netflix in 2018.
She is one of the few prominent Asian American content leaders in Hollywood, in a position that helps shape what the world watches.
“I definitely do feel it’s not something I take for granted to be in these rooms and to know that my voice matters,” Howe said. “I get to be a decision-maker in a lot of these conversations. It’s really gratifying, and it’s something that I think is not lost on me at all.”
When her home burned down in the Eaton fire, artist Susannah Mills felt lost and adrift — but never alone. Her home was part of an Altadena artists collective called JJU, or John Joyce University, named after a beloved carpenter who lived there for 26 years. And although the residents were forced to scatter in the wake of the January 2025 devastation, they remained in contact, looking for ways to support one another through what is still an ongoing process of recovery.
A few months after her loss, Mills was accepted into an artist residency at BKN, a retreat in the northern Stockholm Archipelago, where she expanded her watercolor practice from relatively small works to large scale, and explored installation. Like JJU, BKN prides itself on building community, and while there Mills began talking with BKN curator Anna Viola Hallberg about bringing other L.A. fire survivors to Sweden to experience the same sense of connection and relief Mills was feeling.
Hallberg had already been thinking along those lines and suggested they create another residency to do just that. In the fall of 2025, Mills and Hallberg, with the help of another L.A. artist, Rick Gradone, started an organization named Los Angeles Wildfire Survivors, or L.A.W.S., and raised the funds to send 13 Eaton and Malibu-based artists to BKN for two months.
The result was life-altering for the artists, most of whom were still working to rebuild from the devastating loss — and some of whom had been so occupied with the logistics of recovery that they had not been able to make time to work.
“It creates a network, and people who work together in the residency continue to help each other,” said Hallberg in a recent interview. “So there’s a really true new arts community that lingers beyond the residency.”
It soon became clear to the team behind L.A.W.S. that more needed to be done, and they solicited another round of applications for a residency, set to begin later this month at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state. Eight Eaton fire survivors have been selected in a competitive process, and plans are in the works to bring another cohort of artists to Sweden next Spring.
“We want to expand this outside of Los Angeles ultimately, because there are fires everywhere and there is climate disaster everywhere,” Mills said, explaining that the group’s mission is growing as changing weather patterns result in escalating cataclysm and displacement of artists globally.
“The media focuses on the disaster really fast, and they don’t understand just how long the recovery takes,” Gradone said in a recent interview. “So this puts some kind of resource in place where people can continue to to get help, especially artists who lose everything that they’ve made, lose their studio spaces and homes. That can’t be recovered in six months.”
L.A.W.S. operates as a not-for-profit and has applied for official nonprofit status, a process that can take some time in California. It is also actively looking for fiscal sponsorship. Up until now the group has relied on its personal connections to raise money to support its artist residencies. Mills’ partner, Brian Huskey, is a comedian and actor who has rallied celebrity friends to auction off small pieces of art on cards in support of L.A.W.S. But there is a need for more help as the group grows.
“Word has really caught on with people who want to have this experience, which I’m really happy about,” said Mills.
I’m arts editor Jessica Gelt, wishing I could turn back time, Cher-like, to an era before the world fast-tracked climate change with its laissez faire approach to global warming. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Bruce Willis, left, talks with director M. Night Shyamalan on the set of the 2000 film “Unbreakable.”
(Frank Masi / Touchstone Pictures)
Unbreakable M. Night Shyamalan’s 2000 superhero thriller with a twist stars Bruce Willis, Charlayne Woodard, Robin Wright, Samuel L. Jackson and Spencer Treat Clark. 7 p.m. Vidiots, The Eagle, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
SATURDAY
“the wheat leaping constantly from the shute,” Marley Freeman (2026). Oil, acrylic on linen, 58 by 54 inches.
(Marley Freeman / Parker Gallery)
Marley Freeman The artist’s new exhibition of paintings, “worthless serpentine,” takes its title from the writings of Joan Didion. Opening, 6-8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday, through Oct. 31. Parker Gallery, 6700 Melrose Ave. parkergallery.com
SUNDAY
Doyle Lane: Master Of Clay The first major museum retrospective of the Los Angeles ceramic artist features more than 100 works from the 1950s through the 1980s, from functional pottery to monumental murals, as well as archival documents. Through Feb 22. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. huntington.org
Marie Atoinette A 20th anniversary screening of the semibiographical period film with a postpunk- and new wave-fueled soundtrack with writer-director Sofia Coppola and star Kirsten Dunst in person. Coppola and photographer Andrew Durham will sign copies of their new book, “Making Marie Antoinette,” at the Academy Museum Store in a separately ticketed event prior the screening. 6:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
TUESDAY
Andrea Bocelli performs live in Vienna on Aug. 22.
(Thomas Kronsteiner / Getty Images)
Andrea Bocelli The Italian tenor arrives at the Hollywood Bowl for two nights on his Romanza 30th Anniversary World Tour. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
WEDNESDAY
Elliott Hundley “Book of Sand” is an exhibition of new paintings, sculptures and tapestries focusing on the artist’s “own exuberant internal universe” created through compiling paint, paper cutouts, string, encaustic and other found materials. Artist led walk–through, 11 a.m.; opening reception, 6-8 p.m.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Oct. 24. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. regenprojects.com
The Peterson Show The world premiere of Janine Nabers’ play about a group of former child stars from a beloved TV show about a Black family come together after a scandal entangles their famous TV father. Directed by Michelle Bossy. Previews, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, opens, 8 p.m. Saturday (sold out), runs through Oct. 26. Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. echotheatercompany.com
THURSDAY
The Case-Book of C. Auguste Dupin The world premiere of a new play adapted and directed by John Strysik, based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 18. Mary Levin Cutler Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills. theatre40.org
The Ford/Hill Project A Waterwell Production created by Lee Sunday Evans and Elizabeth Marvel, this documentary theater piece is based on the verbatim Senate testimony of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court confirmation hearings, 30 years apart. The cast includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Betty Gabriel, Dulé Hill and Jerry O’Connell. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
The SoCal scene
A view of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles from a garden.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
Hey, have you heard? The Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts will open Sept. 22 and began member previews late last week. Just kidding. Of course you have heard, because hot takes currently abound on the new $1-billion museum. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay, and Team Arts spent the week rolling out a spate of stories explaining how we got here, as well as what you can find in the shiny new 300,000-square-foot Ma Yansong-designed building.
Randolph Thompson, Desiree Mee Jung, Adam J. Smith, Nicole Javier and Julanne Chidi Hill in “Pericles” at Boston Court Pasadena.
(Brian Hashimoto)
Times theater critic Charles McNulty spent an evening at Boston Court Pasadena watching Ellen McLaughlin’s modern verse translation of Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” which takes place at a disaster relief center, where anxious evacuees improvise a play to escape their fear of the storm they are fleeing. “It’s hard to allow yourself to fully believe in the incredible turn of events when the prevailing attitude is so emphatically tongue-in-cheek,” McNulty wrote of the West Coast premiere.
McNulty also had lunch in Manhattan with playwright Samuel D. Hunter, who has two plays running in L.A.: “Grangeville,” which McNulty calls “Los Angeles’ most acclaimed theatrical offering of the summer” and has been extended at Ruskin Group Theatre through Sept. 21; and “A Case for the Existence of God,” in a recently opened Rogue Machine production at the Matrix Theater’s Henry Murray Stage. “Drama in Hunter’s hands is built around an encounter. He doesn’t force his characters to jump through hoops,” writes McNulty in a profile. “He listens to them, as they navigate their complicated feelings, closely tracking the way their intersecting paths lead them toward incremental revelation.”
IAMA Theatre Company is set to launch its ninth annual New Works Festival, which will take place Sept. 14-28 at Atwater Village Theatre, and will feature staged readings of six new plays. Tickets are $18 for each reading and can be found at iamatheatre.com. This year’s festival includes “The Half-Sibling Play” by Agyeiwaa Asante; “All Remaining Assets” by Serena Berman; “The Starters” by Laura Winters; “Betta Mus Come” by Alicia Carroll; “Werewolves” by Liba Vaynberg; and “The Great Florida Python Challenge” by John Lavelle.
Additional tumult is coming for the Smithsonian Institution as secretary Lonnie Bunch announced he will step down from his leadership position. The news comes in the midst of President Trump’s pressure campaign on the organization and his administration’s attempts to alter what Smithsonian museums include in their exhibitions.
“It felt like a movie” — that’s what we all said in the days and weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, when a Michael Bay action film slammed uncomfortably into real life. But with the perspective of 25 years, what’s lingered for the most part aren’t the most literal depictions of the day, but oblique dramas that capture something more subtle: the free-floating anxiety of a nightmare. In our list, you’ll find titles that confront Sept. 11 directly, but others that bring to mind a deeper, broader canon of trauma.
‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)
Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko.”
(NewMarket Films)
Going to the movies in the fall of 2001 was a solace and escape for many New Yorkers, though the films themselves often had an eerie, unplanned timeliness that made them resonate in an unshakable way. You could ache for the cozy city of the past in “The Royal Tenenbaums” or grapple with the schism of everything suddenly feeling different in “Mulholland Drive.” Or you could envelop yourself in Richard Kelly’s moody “Donnie Darko,” a teen drama touched by metaphysical doominess in which plane engines fall from the sky and death wears a rabbit costume. The movie has since become an unexplainable piece of comfort for a spooked generation. In its weather, its soundtrack and the haunted stare of Jake Gyllenhaal, it evokes the weeks after 9/11, even if it anticipated them. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘25th Hour’ (2002)
Edward Norton in the movie “25th Hour.”
(David Lee / Touchstone Pictures)
Only months after the attacks, Spike Lee took on 9/11 with a boldness that only 15 years of provocative filmmaking — and a lifetime of loving New York — could sharpen into an artist. This interpersonal drama, about the fallout of a drug dealer (Edward Norton) going to prison, was deep in development when real-life events altered its trajectory. Lee insisted on including the American flags dotting lawns, the general sense of unease and, in a somber touch, a credits sequence featuring the Tribute in Light. Overwhelmingly, one scene takes place in a Tribeca hi-rise with a view of ground zero, and even though the conversation itself concerns a friend in trouble, it quickly shifts onto metaphorical grounds of guilt, responsibility and rage. There still may not be a better 9/11 film than this one. — J. Rothkopf
‘Munich’ (2005)
A scene from the movie “Munich.”
(Karen Ballard / Universal Pictures)
On the surface, Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds,” released earlier in 2005, may seem like his more obviously 9/11-coded film (“Is it the terrorists?” Dakota Fanning’s character asks). But “Munich,” which followed six months later, goes straight to the questions of terrorism and endless cycles of retaliation that hung over the period. Eric Bana plays Avner, a Mossad operative sent to hunt down the Palestinians whom Israel holds responsible for the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. As the revenge killings mount, the mission begins to eat away at him — and Avner’s belief in closure is shaken. Spielberg makes the contemporary connections hard to ignore. In a final scene, set in mid-’70s New York, after Avner and his handler Ephraim, played by Geoffrey Rush, argue over what they have done, the camera pans across the Manhattan skyline southward, toward the Twin Towers, which Spielberg had digitally added to the shot. — Josh Rottenberg
‘United 93’ (2006)
A scene from the movie “United 93.”
(Jonathan Olley / Universal Pictures)
Five years after 9/11, it still wasn’t clear whether audiences were ready for a Hollywood movie that directly re-created the attacks. Director Paul Greengrass, then most recently of “The Bourne Supremacy,” took on the hijacked flight whose passengers fought back before it crashed in Pennsylvania. He used a largely unknown cast and shot with an almost documentary immediacy, cutting between the plane and air-traffic controllers trying to make sense of what was happening. There’s no movie star to take charge, and Greengrass doesn’t inflate the passengers into larger-than-life heroes. We simply watch as they piece together the situation from phone calls and scraps of information and realize what they have to do. We know from the beginning that none of them will survive. Watching them slowly come to that realization is what makes “United 93” so devastating. — J. Rottenberg
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
Christian Bale in the movie “The Dark Knight.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
It was probably inevitable that the anxieties of the post-9/11 era would find their way into a Batman movie. In “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan fills Gotham with bombings, acts of mass surveillance and questions about how far is too far. Heath Ledger’s Joker is an enemy who doesn’t play by the rules, attacking the city with no clear political goal beyond creating panic and chaos. Christian Bale’s Batman, meanwhile, builds a Patriot Act-like system that turns every cellphone in Gotham into a tracking device and uses increasingly brutal methods to stop him. Nolan folds all of that into a hugely entertaining superhero movie without turning it into a lecture. — J. Rottenberg
‘Man on Wire’ (2008)
Philippe Petit, as seen in the documentary “Man on Wire.”
(Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris)
By the time James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary arrived in 2008, the Twin Towers had been gone for seven years. The film recounts French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s astonishing 1974 stunt, in which he and a small band of co-conspirators secretly rigged a cable between the towers, allowing Petit to walk high above lower Manhattan. The movie never needs to mention 9/11 to feel devastating. We already know what became of those buildings. Watching Petit step onto the wire lets us see them differently, not as the site of catastrophe but as the setting for something beautiful and absurdly daring. A ghostly montage of the Twin Towers being constructed, set to composer Michael Nyman’s “Fish Beach,” brought New Yorkers to tears. For me, that feeling is also personal. I was living in New York on 9/11 and had been at an outdoor concert in the plaza beneath the towers just weeks before the attacks, so there was something especially moving about seeing them again as part of the city’s everyday life. — J. Rottenberg
‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009)
Anthony Mackie, left, and Jeremy Renner in the movie “The Hurt Locker.”
(Jonathan Olley / Summit Entertainment)
Has there ever been a better cinematic metaphor for the War on Terror than Jeremy Renner in a bomb suit, kneeling over a device in a Baghdad street while everyone around him scans the rooftops for danger? Kathryn Bigelow’s film narrows the Iraq War down to the nerve-shredding work of an explosives-disposal unit, with Renner’s Staff Sgt. William James almost eerily comfortable in situations that terrify everyone around him. The suspense often comes down to the simplest question: Is this thing going to blow up? Bigelow, the action expert behind “Point Break” and “Strange Days,” mostly leaves the larger politics offscreen and stays with the men doing the dangerous work, their detachment a survival tactic. Though initially little-seen, “The Hurt Locker” pulled off its own improbable feat, becoming, at the time, the lowest-grossing movie to ever win Oscar’s best picture — while Bigelow became the first woman ever to win best director. — J. Rottenberg
‘Margaret’ (2011)
Anna Paquin and Matt Damon in the movie “Margaret.”
(Myles Aronowitz / 20th Century Fox)
Kenneth Lonergan shot this seething, richly authentic New York City drama in 2005, when the rawness of post-9/11 NYC was already a part of everyday life. But the trauma feels ingrained in every frame, and there are shots of wary street life — an occasional flinch or look upward — that New Yorkers could watch and think: Yes, that’s what it felt like. The plot itself concerns a teenage girl, Lisa (Anna Paquin, never better), whose hyperdramatic tendencies are both recognizable and lovable. She is involved in a bus accident that results in a fatality and, with the crusading passion that so many people felt after 9/11, decides to get involved as a witness and truth-teller. The need to fix things — amid so much that was unfixable — is a marker of all the movies on this list. — J. Rothkopf
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012)
Jessica Chastain, center, in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty.”
(Jonathan Olley / Columbia Pictures)
Perhaps the most explicit film on our list, Kathryn Bigelow’s daring military procedural about the 2011 midnight raid that took out Osama bin Laden was a political hot potato in its moment. Now with distance, it impresses as a skilled piece of political moviemaking, one that captures the era’s sense of moral compromise and queasy vengeance. It contains scenes of torture and goes deeply into the CIA’s planning and execution of the operation — choices that remain provocative. But the movie’s most lingering piece of drama is a silent shot of one woman crying in a cargo plane: a high-level analyst played by Jessica Chastain, who has accomplished the unthinkable but doesn’t feel relief. The fight will not end. Only a filmmaker who had just won Oscars and made history would have been granted the artistic freedom to make this movie, arguably Bigelow’s finest. — J. Rothkopf
The biggest news to come out of two film festivals this week stemmed from documentaries about tech moguls gone bad.
When Alex Gibney’s film production “Musk” premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, it received a five-minute standing ovation, shouts of “thank you” from the audience and endless play across social media. The nearly four-hour production chronicles the rise of the world’s first trillionaire out of the dot-com boom, and lays bare the dangers that the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive now presents as a plutocrat with questionable judgment and unchecked power.
Closer to home, at the Telluride Film Festival, it was comedian Nathan Fielder (“The Rehearsal”) and Lance Oppenheim’s “You Can See Everything” that made breaking news. Their film features unfettered access to former Theranos Chief Executive Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before she reported to federal prison to serve a sentence of 10 years and three months. She rode the early 2000s wave of venture-capitalism consumer-tech hype, defrauding investors and the public with a bogus new way to test blood. By 2014, she was the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
A couple of decades ago, films about Musk and Holmes probably would have framed the pair as forward-thinking entrepreneurs and architects of a new era. Today, the pitchforks are out, and who else better represents the hubris and greed of late-stage capitalism?
There’s plenty of buzz around both films ahead of their October releases, yet the richest man in the world is helping promote the “Musk” doc by incessantly posting about Gibney and his “hit” piece.
Musk’s X posts have referred to the filmmaker as a “horrible human” and a “bitter old man” and declared, “Dogs— is worth more respect.” Always looking for a conspiracy to explain away the perfectly explainable, he wrote that the film was a “psy op.” He included in the post an image of Gibney as a puppet of the Democratic Party and George Soros. Musk also offered Trumpian prose: “Gutless Gibney’s fatal flaw of fabricating a false film.”
“Musk” is due for a theatrical release in the U.S. on Oct. 16 followed by a streaming launch on HBO Max.
Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro is threatening a lawsuit. He sent a letter to the Gibney-led Jigsaw Productions accusing the filmmaker of misrepresenting facts about the mogul. Spiro says the filmmaker suggested that Musk used his Starlink satellites to bend the 2024 election in favor of his friend and ally Donald Trump.
“You are … on notice, before release, that the insinuation is false, that the material refuting it is public, and that you chose not to be told the rest,” Spiro wrote. Spiro claimed he contacted the production “multiple times” and “requested an opportunity to present the facts in the normal fact-checking process that is the hallmark of ethical journalism. You have refused to engage.”
Gibney says Musk declined to be interviewed for the film. In his absence, the documentarian created a digital avatar of the Tesla CEO and used statements pulled from decades worth of the entrepreneur’s interviews and public appearances. The film chronicles his childhood in South Africa and his time in Silicon Valley, and suggests that Musk’s genius is not as an inventor but as an investor. His talent, the film contends, is stock-pumping.
“Musk” also reportedly explores how the trillionaire had access to sensitive techno-surveillance data when he ran the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Trump in 2025. Geoffrey Hinton , often referred to as the Godfather of AI, is interviewed in the film and explains why Musk’s potential access to the data is such a problem: “It’s fairly clear to me that Trump is hell-bent on corrupting the midterm elections,” Hinton says. “If you wanted to corrupt those midterm elections and you wanted to use AI, all you needed to do was get detailed information on U.S. citizens. And what DOGE did looked like just what you would do.”
Gibney in interviews about the film has warned that Musk’s widespread, unchecked power is “extremely dangerous to world democracy.”
“What I discovered was that the story of Musk was not [a] new tech story,” Gibney said in a news conference at the Venice Film Fest. “[It’s] really the story of an old wine in a new bottle. His story turns out to be the story of the confidence man, the stock pumper, his wealth and power comes from inflated stock, and so I had told that story before with Enron and with Elizabeth Holmes, and so it was a story that was oddly familiar to me.”
Gibney is renowned for taking on big money, corruption and anything else that reeks of injustice. He’s tackled Wall Street, big pharma, Scientology, Guantanamo, and even Theranos founder Holmes.
The new film about Holmes, “You Can See Everything,” offers a quirkier, up-close take on Holmes. Produced by A24 and set for an Oct. 16 theater release, it follows the disgraced CEO post-conviction, and she appears more than comfortable in front of the filmmakers and their cameras. Audiences at Telluride were surprised by the access she gave to the filmmakers, and that Holmes spoke openly about her plans to launch a biotech comeback and revive Theranos from her cell in a Texas prison camp.
Forget the celebrity glitz of high-profile film festivals. In these eat-the-rich times, it’s the dark side of wealth, fame and alleged genius that satiate audience appetites. Enter two new documentaries that feed the beast.
ITV is set to broadcast a 24-hour live stream from the Big Brother house ahead of the new series
Big Brother is returning to our screens in just a few days(Image: Vianney Le Caer/Shutterstock for Big Brother)
Big Brother fans have been begging ITV to resurrect the show’s beloved round-the-clock live stream.
It appears show bosses have finally listened, but there’s a brutal catch that has left viewers fuming. Rather than giving fans unfiltered access to watch the Housemates in their new home, ITV is handing the keys over to content creator crew The Bov Boys.
The social media influencers will occupy the property for a full 24 hours before this year’s contestants walk through the door. The broadcaster confirmed the twist on Thursday (September 10), revealing that the Manchester lads will move in on Saturday (September 12) as producers apply the finishing touches ahead of Sunday’s official series launch.
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The stream will run continuously on Twitch and YouTube, giving viewers a preview of the brand-new house. The official synopsis promises plenty of entertainment, teasing: “Viewers can watch the takeover unfold live for the full 24 hours, with the action streaming continuously across Twitch and YouTube.
“From the moment they arrive until they’re finally sent packing, viewers will have an exclusive, around-the-clock look at all the drama, antics and action inside the House.”
ITV viewers will no doubt recognise The Bov Boys member Angry Ginge, real name Morgan Burtwistle, following his triumphant appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! just last year. The rest of the crew consists of Tays, Jakey Davies, Heinz Baines and Chazza.
However, Heinz Baines will not be taking part in the stream due to a “family commitment,” reports OK! The popular social media group won’t be the only influencers getting a sneak peek at the iconic house, they have also extended invitations to fellow creators Adeola Patronne, Mariam Musa, Shauna Games, Scouse Mali and Pieface.
The announcement has been greeted with some excitement, with one Instagram fan gushing: “This feels like Christmas came early,” and a second agreeing: “THIS IS INCREDIBLE! “Let’s go lads this is huge”
Someone else raved: “OMG my 2 favourites together can’t wait BIG BROTHER BOV HOUSE.” However, other viewers have labelled the twist a “slap in the face”, given that fans have been pleading with producers to bring back the show’s much-loved 24-hour live stream feeds of the actual Housemates.
A furious fan posted: “Load of c**p. You can’t give us live feed for the main series but will stream the dry run,” with a second adding: “Sorry but are you actually trying to annoy your fans @bbuk?! You’ll do a 24/7 live stream for a bunch of randoms testing the house, but won’t do any live stream at all for the actual show?!”
Yet another viewer critiqued: “I find it really wild that the Big Brother producers promote a pre-series live stream with content creators going in, but can’t invest in a consistent series long live stream. It’s really sad. #BBUK.”
Big Brother x Bov Boys 24-Hour Takeover will be a live co-stream on The Bov Boys’ individual Twitch accounts, plus a live stream on BBUK and ITV YouTube accounts from Saturday 12th September at 12pm.
The series launches on Sunday (September 13) at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
Today marks 25 years since the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York City
11:51, 11 Sep 2026Updated 11:51, 11 Sep 2026
Janice struggled to hold back tears as she recalled what happened on 9/11(Image: BBC)
A woman who was inside one of the Twin Towers during 9/11 said she can still hear the “screams”.
On Tuesday, 11 September 2001, hijackers seized US passenger jets and crashed them into two New York skyscrapers, killing thousands of people. Two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, with the second strike 17 minutes after the first.
During a pre-recorded segment on BBC Breakfast, Janice Brooks shared her account of a day that she will always remember.
“I moved to New York on the 23rd of August 2001. I arrived in New York with the dog under one arm, a suitcase under the other, ready to begin the biggest adventure of my life,” Janice began in the interview.
Janice had only been in New York for a couple of weeks before the attack. She was working for a company called Euro Brokers, with offices on the 84th floor.
Recounting her steps on that day, Janice continued, “I left home at about probably 7.30am. Was at my desk by 7:45 at the latest. There was a bit of a bang, and I saw kind of like paper and dust swirling in the air. Suddenly, a man’s voice, top of his lungs, ‘Everybody out!’”
Janice didn’t know it, but a plane had just flown into the tower next to her. New York was under attack. As people looked on in horror, Janice was making her way down the steps. She’d reached the 70th floor when the second plane hit.
“I took two steps into the staircase, and there was this almighty thud,” she said. “The lights flickered on and off. Part of the ceiling came down. I was covered with dust and dirt. A couple of the girls at the front fell down to the floor. I was kind of like jostled against the wall.
“Then suddenly there was a scream-a woman screaming, one of those horror-filled screams that kind of lives in my head. ‘I can’t see! I can’t see!’ And all her eyes were covered with blood.
“She had long dark hair, and once she shook her head, glass covered everyone. Looked down at my shirt, and I had blood all over it. And I remember just standing there and pulling my shirt, looking at my shirt, and I’ve got blood on my shirt, and I started to cry.
“One of the brokers came running up, he took me by the shoulders and said, ‘It’s not your blood. We have to keep going. We have to get out of here’. I don’t even know your name. His name was Bob.”
As she finally reached the ground floor, Janice saw for the first time what had happened to the Twin Towers. “I looked up at the buildings, and where our floor should have been, there’s a big gaping hole, and I can see bits of building falling down,” Janice shared as she began to choke back tears.
“I can see flames. I can hear this awful bang-bang sound and this awful kind of twacking sound. And I just sat down and cried. Janice battled through the crowds and made it back to her apartment. She was in shock, completely traumatised.
After a little while, there was a huge bang. The whole building had collapsed. Janice added, “There was this billowing cloud going around my windows. One by one, the windows were blacked out until I was in the apartment. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.”
Janice eventually battled her way out of her apartment and, with help from strangers’ kindness, took the subway to a friend’s house.
As people around the world mark the 25th anniversary of the attack, Janice emotionally said, ” All those years have passed, and their faces start to blur in my memory. So I do my best to hold on to them, because 2,753 people were killed in the attack on the Twin Towers.”