fan

MADONNA appears to have outed herself as a fan of The Durrells, after taking over a tiny village made famous by the ITV drama to celebrate her 68th birthday.

After I revealed how Madge had spent the start of her celebrations flying to the monasteries of Meteora in Corfu over the weekend, stunned locals now tell me how she and her entourage descended on Kouramades for a very special party this week.

The tiny community, which has just 180 residents, was one of the locations used on the hit show, which starred Keeley Hawes.

Madge, boyfriend Akeem Morris, her family and entourage booked out tiny taverna Atzaro for a meal, complete with a child choir, who locals told me were specially flown over from Italy to perform.

An onlooker told me: “No one could believe Madonna was coming until she actually turned up.

“The security measures were pretty intense and there was a police presence, as well as Madonna’s security to keep her safe.

A BIT UNORTHODOX

Inside Madonna’s 68th birthday bash as she flies family to Corfu for party

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“She wanted to visit the central church but they cancelled it because there was quite a crowd gathering. They headed to Atzaro for dinner and that was really special. Singers and a children’s choir from Italy performed as they ate traditional meals.

“Just before midnight, the group started dancing to the Zorba The Greek song and a birthday cake came out. They sang the birthday song three times and then danced until 2am. Once they left, the crowds that had gathered outside started clapping and chanting her name.”

Madonna’s visit to the village has now gone down in folklore — and I’m told the Material Girl superstar lapped up the attention.

“As she drove away, Madonna seemed to love everyone cheering so she popped her hand out and waved a bit like a member of the royal family,” a local added.

Her birthday isn’t the only thing she has to celebrate, as last night it was announced Madonna is the most nominated artist for the 2026 MTV VMAs, taking place on September 27.

She leads the pack with 11, including Video, Artist and Song of the Year for Bring Your Love, while Taylor Swift is just behind with nine nods.

Jesy’s Ben in rooftop rift

JESY NELSON had to play peacekeeper during a night out after boyfriend Ben Davies was caught up in a ruckus.

Onlookers told me the former Little Mix star and her new man were asked to leave the posh Madison rooftop bar in London on Saturday night after it all kicked off.

One told me: “Ben was getting in people’s faces when he was out with Jesy at Madison.

“Something had been said and he didn’t seem to be happy about it. He looked like he was about to get in a fight before all the bouncers swooped in.

“It was all pretty uncomfortable to watch. Jesy was amazing and kept her cool. She was trying to de-escalate the situation and appeared to be keen to get out of there.”

It’s not the best start to their romance. I revealed earlier this month how Jesy had started dating landscape gardener Ben, who counts Towie’s Lydia Bright among his exes.

They were spotted on a night out in London, before being snapped this week holding hands and snogging in the street, inset.

To avoid Ben digging any more publicly embarrassing holes, I think a quiet night in should be their next date.

Ronan abs go down a Storm

RONAN KEATING marked his 11th wedding anniversary to remind all his fans just how hot he is.

He revealed his gym-honed body with this snap on Instagram, posing alongside his equally fit missus Storm.

The Boyzone singer wrote: “We have the most incredible life and it’s all down to you. God I love ya.

“Thank you for loving me through the good and the bad versions of myself. You make me a better human and I thank you for it all.”

Green Day give us Glasto

GREEN DAY want to headline Glastonbury – but insist they have never been asked.

The American band, who have more than enough hits to top the bill, will be celebrating 40 years since they formed next year, so the timing couldn’t be better for organiser Emily Eavis to get on the blower.

Asked if they would like to do it, drummer Tre Cool said: “Yeah. If they ask us. It’s the last great festival we haven’t done.”

They have just released a comedy movie called Nimrods, which is loosely inspired by the band, but insisted a biopic won’t happen until they’re older.

He told NME: “A biopic is more of a retirement plan. We’ll do that when we’re actually old and we’re doing our residencies in Las Vegas or something.”

Spotify is planning Home Run

SPOTIFY has announced a new live music series, Hometown, which will celebrate artists and the places that shaped them.

Next month, Jorja Smith, Nemzzz and Beabadoobee, will return to the communities where their musical journeys began for intimate, one-night-only performances.

Jorja, who releases her new album What Are The Odds this Friday, will play her gig on September 6.

She said: “Walsall is where I first started writing and recording music as a teenager. It’s where my love of music began and the people, experiences and sense of community there continue to influence my creativity today.”

Nemzz will perform in Manchester on September 12, while Beabadoobee is scheduled to play a concert in London on September 17.

Noel: My reunion doubts

NOEL GALLAGHER had reservations about reuniting with brother Liam for their sold-out Oasis tour last year.

In the first trailer for Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger, in cinemas from September 9, Noel said: “I just don’t see myself on stage with Liam. I really don’t want to be going back with the tension. Will it fall apart?”

But Liam, who’d pushed for a reunion for years, made it clear he wanted to get back on board with Noel, saying: “The way it finished, unacceptable. It didn’t sit right with me, man.”

Looking back on their rows, which caused Oasis to split in 2009, Liam said: “We all said s**t we didn’t mean. I feel like I am exorcising demons, getting it all out. The rage. I need to calm the f**k down.”

Before the first show at Cardiff’s Principality stadium last July, Noel added:

“One of the biggest moments of our lives, right?

“I’d forgotten what [Liam] means to people. I certainly wasn’t prepared for the intense outpouring. A sense of what it meant to people. You’ve got a chance to change the narrative of the band.”

Isla’s red-hot

YOU can take it as read . . . Isla Fisher is definitely a fiery redhead.

On the promo trail in New York for new movie Spa Weekend, which is out on Friday, she said: “I’m a real redhead and I feel like I’ve earned the right to be red because I was bullied at school and I had all of the usual stuff that redheads go through.

“I always get mad when people just dye their hair red, I’m like, ‘You don’t know what we went through at school to be redhead!’”

THE WANTED are working on new music – but without half of the original line-up.

Max George and Siva Kaneswaran are writing new material as a duo after Nathan Sykes and Jay McGuiness decided not to return following Tom Parker’s death in 2022.

Siva told Culture Fix: “We’ve been writing for the past few months, so we want to carry on.

“The essence of The Wanted was pop/dance and I think we’re going to lean a bit more towards dance.

“I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to do for us.”

In 2007, the actor Felicia Day debuted “The Guild,” one of the first works, maybe the first, to demonstrate that the web could be a legitimate platform for full-blown, character-driven, narrative comedy. (YouTube was only two years old at the time.)

Online since there was a line to be on, Day — also known also for “Supernatural,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Eureka,” “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and as the female lead in Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion — played Cyd, a.k.a. Codex, a young woman at loose ends who finds community with a group of gamers whose quirkiness puts her own into perspective. The series, which she created and wrote, from experience, grew more ambitious and technically impressive across its six seasons, with cameos by the likes of Fillion, Zachary Levi, Stan Lee, Brent Spiner, late Mythbuster Grant Imahara and Wil Wheaton. There was a cultural specificity to the setting and storytelling — lots of gaming jargon and jokes — but the humor in the characters was universal, and the show, for all its well-proportioned silliness, felt very alive.

Now, as the series’ 20th anniversary approaches, Day is reviving “The Guild” as a feature, “The Guild: Ren Faire’d,” through a Kickstarter campaign due to end Friday. By the time I pledged, early on the first day of fundraising, the campaign had already met its initial $1.5-million goal — the minimum required, Day calculated, to pull off a version of her script. As of this writing, with just a few days to go, the campaign has raised more than $5 million. Everything over $4.5 million will go to making the film even better, but also support “Conludo,” a new game-playing series with Wheaton along the lines of their “Table Top,” created in 2012 for the Day-founded YouTube channel Geek & Sundry.

Day is also the author of a charming memoir, “You’re Never Weird on the Internet,” and a mental exercise book, “Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity.” Earlier this year, Simon & Schuster published “The Lost Daughter of Sparta,” her graphic novel (with illustrator Rowan MacColl) about Philonoe, Helen of Troy’s lesser-known fourth sister, an on-brand tale of self-determination and embrace of one’s difference.

I interviewed Day by email as she traveled the convention circuit.

Day’s Kickstarter surpassed $5 million, allowing her to make not only “The Guild: Ren Faire’d” but also a new game-playing series. (Parker Burr / For The Times)

How does it feel to be back wearing, or about to wear, the character of Codex?

It’s so empowering to go back to this world that I crafted and this character that means so much to me and my fans. She and I have diverged a lot over the years, but her voice is still strong and clear in my ear, and I’ve had so much fun writing for her again. I haven’t been in charge of my own stories on this scale in a long time, so this all definitely feels like coming home.

It was an offer to turn “The Guild” into a television show that prompted you to get the film going. Had you thought of the possibility of bringing it back before then?

Early in 2025, I’d been thinking about the 20th anniversary of the show and how to celebrate it, but a movie is a huge project, one I was wary of committing to. A phone call with a very nice Hollywood executive wanting me to reboot the show with younger actors was the kick in the pants I needed. The business has been so hard on me, and a lot of people, especially these last five or so years. To even think about having the one project I held dear taken away from me? That got my fire lit.

How did you know to hang on to your IP?

I had met a few people in the early web days who’d sold their show to producers and networks, only to have them buried in development hell and never be seen again. My audience meant, and still means, so much to me, that I didn’t see the point in losing control of the show when it felt like we were doing all the right things on our own. The fans’ support gave me that confidence, and thank goodness for it, or I wouldn’t be able to make a movie today.

How did you cast the original show? Were any of the actors already gamers?

I wrote two of the main parts for improv friends, Zaboo (Sandeep Parikh) and Vork (Jeff Lewis), and I found the rest of the actors from a Backstage casting call. Several of them were already gamers, but a few were anything but (namely, Amy Okuda, who played Tinkerballa — she took some arm twisting). Over the years, though, they’ve all turned into gamers. We’ve enjoyed many a Fortnite session together, especially during COVID times.

Felicia Day as Codex. Other characters returning for “The Guild: Ren Faire’d” are Zaboo (Sandeep Parikh) and Vork (Jeff Lewis).

How has your reunion been going?

I had to make sure the script was good enough before I asked my fans to support it, so in February I had a table read with the main cast. Truly, it felt like no time had passed. We were all laughing so hard, ribbing each other on any little mistakes. It was so much fun to rediscover our characters together again. What we have together as a group is magic, and I can’t wait to get the band back together on set again.

You have a “no AI” sign on the Kickstarter page. What are your thoughts about artificial intelligence versus human creativity?

I look at AI as a great robber of humanity. Not only in the sheer existence of the AI itself, which is comprised of literal stolen material, but in robbing creators of their process. Because process is everything. It’s the whole point, in my opinion. That challenging struggle to write a first draft is how you discover who you are as an artist. But if you don’t do the work, you’ll never truly find out what you want to say to the world. You can’t create anything truly unique to yourself. It just makes me sad. To use a tool filled with other people’s stolen ideas in order to fast forward to an end result for attention, well, that isn’t art. That’s a cheap dopamine hit. And you’re no better a creator for having done it. Please don’t rob yourself like that.

The movie will be set at a Renaissance Faire. What’s your own history with them? Do you go in costume?

I’ve gone to Ren Faires for over a decade. We have a few great ones in SoCal I encourage everyone to explore. The costumes, the vendors, the food — all of it transports you to another world in such a magical way. I want to celebrate everything I love about the setting in our movie. I often go in costume, now with my 9-year-old daughter. It’s actually our Mother’s Day tradition and very dear to my heart.

Day on her work and motherhood: “I’ve learned that, especially as an artist, you have to be your own protector, own advocate, and give yourself unconditional love to be able to tap into what makes your art your own.”

(Parker Burr / For The Times)

Has motherhood changed how you work?

Absolutely. I had no idea how to parent myself before I parented another person. I’ve learned that, especially as an artist, you have to be your own protector, own advocate, and give yourself unconditional love to be able to tap into what makes your art your own. My experience writing this movie has been entirely different from in the past, when I let fear and outside pressure take the fun out of creating. This time, I allowed myself room to play and to make mistakes, just like I encourage my daughter to do. I think my work has benefited greatly from that gentle parenting.

The original “Guild” and the way you’ve mounted this campaign feels like the work of friends, like Mickey and Judy getting the gang together in a someone’s uncle’s barn to put on a show. (Which isn’t to say “amateur.”)

The heart of everything I do is this: I just want to play with my friends and my fans. I want to delight them with new ideas. I want to surprise them with laughs. The industry often divorces us from what got us into the business in the first place: making believe. Creating together. I like my work to embody the kind of spirit you can’t have in more mainstream media where there are levels of approvals over everything and the budgets are so high that the pressure takes the fun out of it. Yes, it’s challenging to make anything with fewer resources, but the community can see the ins and outs of my process and I hope that empowers them, in turn, to create their own things with their own friends one day.

What inspired your new graphic novel?

Being cut off from Hollywood over COVID made me brave enough to write a story I knew wouldn’t be anything an executive would care about if I pitched it. For many years, I didn’t allow myself to develop ideas like that. What was the use if they didn’t find it useful? But in allowing myself the space to write this story set in the world of Greek mythology, I’ve found new confidence as a writer. I want to keep telling stories only I can tell, in whatever format I can. I never want to discard them again because other people won’t find them useful. I hope that anyone reading the book feels the same encouragement to follow their inner muse. Because everyone deserves to be loved for exactly who they are, even our stories.

The Disney theme parks are entering their fan feedback era.

This past weekend’s all-things-Disney fan event at the Anaheim Convention Center was the first with Josh D’Amaro installed as CEO. And D’Amaro’s message to fans was clear: We’ve heard you, we know what you want and we’re working on it.

That means Disneyland Park is at long last getting its Tomorrowland makeover, a top fan request for much of the last decade-plus. Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom is fixing its broken yeti, the star of thrilling roller coaster Expedition Everest that has been busted for about 20 years. Epcot’s fan favorite purple dragon Figment will soon be starring in a brand new attraction that resurrects his bearded creator, Dreamfinder, saving fans from suffering through its current half-hearted iteration in which “Monty Python’s” Eric Idle essentially treats the beloved character as a pest. (I ride it because I adore Figment, but I cringe throughout, and not just because at one point we’re annoyingly blasted with the smell of a skunk.)

And Disneyland Paris is yanking the marketing-driven “Star Wars” overlay Hyperspace Mountain from Space Mountain to return the coaster to its superior Jules Verne-inspired original. Disneyland officials take note: We don’t want Hyperspace Mountain here, either, but at least ours isn’t semi-permanent.

The long-broken yeti on Walt Disney World’s Expedition Everest will eventually be fixed. The above is an artist rendering of the attraction released by Disney Experiences.

(Disney)

It’s a sharp move, and may seem like a no-brainer, but following fan feedback doesn’t come without some risks. Fans, after all, rarely know best, often prioritizing nostalgia and lore over evolution. And Walt Disney Imagineering has remained one of the most respected corporate creative institutions for a reason. In short, fans, don’t let this go to your head.

But D’Amaro is also showing that he understands something not all Disney leaders have appeared to be well-versed in. And that’s the fact that the best IP of the Disney theme parks are the parks themselves.

Disneyland Park’s biggest selling point is not “Star Wars,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Princess and the Frog” or “Peter Pan.” It’s Disneyland itself, a temple dedicated to our narrative myths and communal play.

For too long Disney parks seemed to be, if not led, steered by its marketing teams. A franchise here, a franchise there. That thinking led to lesser designs such as a misguided remake of Paradise Pier into Pixar Pier at California Adventure, in which Pixar characters are basically treated as decals. It’s led me to argue in the past that Disney’s IP was squeezing the theme out of its theme parks.

Tomorrowland in its current state is a mess of ideas with a number of underutilized buildings.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Disneyland last attempted to revamp Tomorrowland in 1998, and while the concept was on point — a retro-futuristic, Verne-inspired look of sci-fi fantasy — the company didn’t fully commit to it and the land has largely been a mess of ideas since. Space Mountain remains a symbol of optimism dedicated to the joy and unpredictability of galactic exploration. But the rest of the land, save for the monorail, one of Disneyland’s most recognizable monuments, should be considered fair game.

Tomorrowland has become such an eyesore that even Disneyland President Jill Estorino recognized its negative press at a pre-D23 media event. “Painful to read,” she said to the assembled media as she rattled off stories observing the “little tomorrow in Tomorrowland” and describing the land as “tired.” Estorino conceded it was “all true.”

That made this past weekend’s announcement even more of a surprise. The reimagining, as Disneyland is calling it, is in good hands. Imagineer Emily “Emo” O’Brien, the creative producer overseeing the Disneyland Resort, recently worked on Fantasy Springs at Tokyo Disneyland, a highly acclaimed modern take on a Fantasyland-like area home to fresh takes on “Frozen,” “Tangled” and “Peter Pan.” O’Brien has been with Imagineering for about 30 years, and one of her first projects was hand-shaping the armrests of the approximately 2,000 seats of Disney California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater. The little details at a Disney park matter.

Promotional art for a reimagined Tomorrowland released by Disney. The project, according to Imagineers, is in its infancy.

(Disney)

“I grew up in my career with this legacy,” O’Brien said. “I understand the kind of gravitas and the responsibility that I have with our team to guide us through this journey of reimagining the only Tomorrowland that Walt [Disney] actually envisioned, designed and walked in.”

A remade Tomorrowland, to be clear, is years away. No questions were answered on Tomorrowland at D23, so fans will have to wait to hear what this means for the long out-of-work PeopleMover. And as previously reported, Estorino said the reworking of the original Disneyland area will come after California Adventure opens its “Avengers” and “Coco” attractions. The former two were given a 2028 date, while “Coco” still does not have an opening window. After Tomorrowland, the resort intends to tackle “Avatar.”

The fan favorite purple dragon known as Figment at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. The attraction Journey Into Imagination With Figment has been earmarked for renovations.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

At a Disney parks presentation Saturday evening, the Tomorrowland announcement received arguably the largest applause. But it was closely followed by the reveal of a reworking of what is currently known as Journey Into Imagination With Figment at Epcot. That ride has been a shadow of its former, glorious self since the late ’90s, even as the squeaky-voiced Figment has remained a popular mascot for the park. That’s no real surprise, but I, of course, am biased, as I have a Figment tattoo and the character was my childhood favorite.

Figment is a dreamer, his very existence the result of a dreamer. While I don’t necessarily trust the memory of my 10-year-old self, I remember Figment becoming an astronaut one moment and pretending to be a ship’s captain in the next. Visions of that ride are burned into my brain. Figment was a reminder to a video-game-obsessed kid that while you can’t do everything, you can at least envision anything.

And Imagineering appears to be doing just that at the moment. The projects, of course, will have to be conceptualized, designed and built, and there’s still time to make mistakes, such as attaching a known IP to the reimagined Imagination (don’t do it).

Concept art for the Maleficent attraction coming to Villains Land.

(Disney)

Tomorrowland has been flawed since the early 2000s and Disney can survive without touching it. Its attractions — Star Tours, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters — still, after all, draw crowds. The commitment to redesign it may be a crowd-pleasing one, but it’s also a reminder, a symbol of understanding.

If something’s broke, you correct it. You don’t let it sit in a derelict state simply because the financial math doesn’t justify new guest spending or increased crowds. The Disney parks are a home away from home for many a visitor, and they should be treated as such.

D’Amaro, of course, as CEO will be evaluated on much more than simply how he leads the parks. But he and and his partner Thomas Mazloum, the chairman of Disney Experiences, came to this D23 with one message: We’re one of you. Expect the Disney die-hards to hold them to it.

One more D23 thought

An Imagineering research and development project in which Grogu and the character of Hugo are represented as robotic figures serving guests.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

The Imagineering booth on the convention floor was full of delights and wonders, especially in its research and development section. I tend not to devote a ton of newsletter space to R&D, only because I’d rather focus on what guests can or will be seeing in the future, but the two “Star Wars” attractions shown not only deserve their props, but belong in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

One is a no-brainer, and it’s a snack stand featuring Grogu and Hugo from “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” The latter, voiced by Martin Scorsese in the film, is largely asleep and snoring in the food truck-like stand, while Grogu uses the Force to whisk orders across the counter. Fan were transfixed. And this seems like the perfect mix of corporate and creative desires, as no doubt many a Disney guest would order an extra soda if it came with a show featuring “Baby Yoda.”

An Imagineering research and development project featuring robotic Anzellan mechanics that can interact with guests.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

The other was an Anzellan work bench. Anzellans are tiny creatures introduced in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” known for their engineering skills, and here they were seen working on droid parts. But they also interact with guests.

Get close enough, and they’ll stop what they’re doing to quizzically look at you, ask you a question or maybe even repeat what you said to them. They’re as lifelike a robotic as Disney ever created, and the 14-acre Galaxy’s Edge is never not in need of more activity. Here’s hoping these little guys find a destination in the parks soon.

This week in SoCal theme parks

The vibrant, dance-focused “Magic Happens” parade will return to Disneyland in 2027.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

• Halloween is here! While the temperature may not feel like it, the fall Halloween season has arrived, and the Disneyland Resort’s Oogie Boogie Bash begins Tuesday evening. Additionally, the resort-wide Halloween Time launches Friday. There are still tickets available for many an Oogie date, and new this year is a Haunted Mansion-inspired street festival as well as the arrival of Yzma, the villain from “The Emperor’s New Groove.” Oogie is a good time, especially if you haven’t done it before.
• Looking ahead to Disneyland in 2027. With the new Avengers Campus not opening until 2028, the Disneyland Resort in 2027 will rely heavily on entertainment to lure locals back to the park. That means the fantastic “Magic Happens” parade is returning before next summer season. While it has the requisite mix of Disney characters, it’s also notable for its use of contemporary dance. Also returning is the original “World of Color” to Disney California Adventure and a refreshed version of the fireworks show “Remember… Dreams Come True” at Disneyland Park. Both are expected in February, shortly after the holiday season concludes.
• A blow to the in-park games of Disneyland. Reports surfaced Monday that the Walt Disney Co. was killing the Play Disney Parks app, which is home to the enjoyable Star Wars: Datapad game Batuu Bounty Hounters. The app was largely designed to give fans activities while they waited in lines, and was also meant to turn Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge into a live-in video game. The app will go offline Sept. 16, according to Disneyland officials.
• A new window on Main Street. Former Disney CEO and future Los Angeles Lakers co-owner Bob Iger has received a window on Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A. The honor is reserved for those who have heavily impacted the Disney parks, and Iger certainly qualifies, as his many acquisitions — Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm — changed the tenor of Disneyland and beyond. Look for Iger’s window above the Emporium gift shop, where he is heralded as a “new century builder.”
• Good news for Disneyland’s ‘Monsters, Inc.’ fans. With the announcement that Disney California Adventure’s “Avatar” experience won’t arrive until after Tomorrowland’s redo, the attraction Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! will get to remain open a little longer. Previously, the attraction was supposed to close in early 2027, but Disneyland officials now say the dark ride will remain open for the foreseeable future. A closing window will be announced at a later date.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

A still from the Smugglers Gambit game in Fortnite.

(Image from Disney)

The Disney theme parks this past weekend deepened its connection to “Fortnite” as part of a partnership with Epic Games. The latter’s Unreal Engine already fuels Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, as well as a new Pirates of the Caribbean audio-animatrionic. And now guests who utilize the Disneyland app and connect it to their Epic Games account can receive in-game rewards for experiencing the Millennium Falcon attraction, including the recovery of a unique crate on the ride.

I had a chance to play the “Fortnite” experience inspired by the ride, “Smugglers Gambit,” and appreciate the way park worlds are being used to fuel connection to them at home. “Fortnite,” admittedly, is not my game of choice, but “Smuggler’s Gambit” was more robust than I expected, and I’m happy see aspects of the fictional planet of Batuu represented in the digital space. Business writer Samantha Masunaga has more on Disney’s relationship with Epic Games.

NEW YORK — It was 2023 when Laufey, the Icelandic singer-songwriter known for her neoclassical jazz-pop, decided to create a global fan event. Her second album, “Bewitched,” was soon to be released and she wanted to do something big to celebrate it. But more than that, she says, she “wanted to find a way to get my fans out of their homes, and to really follow an itinerary of my perfect idea of a day and have the music from ‘Bewitched’ follow it.”

And thus, “A Very Laufey Day” was born. Each year, the Grammy-winning singer curates itineraries for different locations across the globe for her listeners to follow. It’s “anywhere I have been and loved,” she says. It allows them to live what she refers to as “a perfect day,” but also to connect with their community offline and in person. And as she approaches its fourth edition, it has only grown larger.

“It became much bigger than I anticipated, really,” she says. She sought to inspire her audience to find “third spaces,” and explore some of her favorite locales: museums, bookstores, cafes, concerts and the like, and foster community in the process. And each year, it has only grown bigger, with fans dressing up in their favorite Laufey-themed vintage fashions to celebrate the unofficial holiday.

And Aug. 23 will mark the fourth annual “A Very Laufey Day.”

“It is a fun puzzle every year,” she says.

‘A Very Laufey Day’ 2026

This year, “A Very Laufey Day” will include experiences in 75 cities across 25 countries, centering on the theme of “A Celebration of the Arts.”

“Wherever in the world you’re spending your day, I hope you feel inspired and invigorated,” Laufey wrote in a note on her “A Very Laufey Day” website.

Fans can expect performances spanning symphony orchestras, ballet, jazz, opera and theater as well as events with libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, yogurt/ice cream shops and more. Her concert film, “A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl,” will be screened at select theaters. And she’s partnered with many museums around the world, including New York City’s Guggenheim, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, London’s Tate Modern and National Gallery, Chile’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Seoul’s Daelim Museum and more. At some participating businesses, fans will be able to acquire limited-edition merchandise and Laufey-themed specialty drinks.

LACMA is offering a discount code, AVLD, for museum visitors on Aug. 23. As of Aug. 16, the code took $2 off tickets. “Come spend the day enjoying something beautiful,” LACMA wrote on Instagram.

“This year it was really about focusing on the arts and culture and finding ways to bring this barrier of entry down between my audience — which is mostly Gen Z and Gen A — and these kind of so-called high cultural experiences,” she says. “Whether it’s going to see an orchestra show … museums or galleries, we really want to find ways to connect with those institutions.”

Some of these spaces can be intimidating for younger fans, and Laufey says this year was all about making these rooms, some of her favorites, inviting to her audience.

“It doesn’t have to be this scary thing. And so, I’ve kind of made it my life’s mission to make spaces like that fun and accessible,” she says.

Sherman writes for the Associated Press.

Sixth in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Godschoice Eboigbodin, JSerra defensive lineman.

“Bro, we need you.”

That was the heartfelt message from JSerra High football players directed toward Godschoice Eboigbodin as he walked around campus looking like a high school version of Thor with his bulging muscles.

He played basketball for the Lions, but after his sophomore season he decided to try football, since his physical play in basketball led to fouls, something that was legal in football.

“People say I’m aggressive. I fit in with football,” he said.

He has grown to 6 feet 5 and 260 pounds. He still has trouble putting on football pads — “I’m still trying to figure it out” — but as an edge rusher, there’s no telling how far his journey will take him. He committed to UCLA during the summer. He works relentlessly in the weight room gaining strength.

Godschoice Eboigbodin of JSerra makes a shot against Rolling Hills Prep.

(Craig Weston)

“The guy can move,” coach Hardy Nickerson said. “He’s an athlete at defensive end. You see that talent playing on Sundays.”

He could be the next success story from Nigeria, where he was born and lived until coming to the area as a freshman while living with a host family, the Franklins. He is the sixth of seven siblings.

He got his first name from the woman who delivered him as a baby while his mother was in labor. He made his first dunk in his backyard when he was 12. The rim didn’t last long.

He has been a very good basketball player for JSerra. Last season, he had a 46-point performance.

But football is the sport he intends to master. He came in as a blank sheet last season and tries to learn every day. He had 2 1/2 sacks in his first season.

“He’s growing as a football baller,” Nickerson said. “He’s made tremendous strides this offseason. He’s going to get turned loose.”

Imagine being a quarterback and seeing Eboigbodin charging ahead with his size and agility.

“I’ve learned you’re fighting against time,” Eboigbodin said. “You got to go fast and get the quarterback before he passes. You got about three seconds.”

He enjoys the Friday night football atmosphere and is fueled by fans cheering.

“The football stands and fans are a different feeling,” he said.

He’s had so many people helping him and rooting for him during his stay. That’s because of his friendly demeanor. He might look intimidating, but his smile and willingness to participate in school gatherings propels others to immediately embrace him. He’s always looking to learn on and off the field.

“I’m excited to just get better,” he said.

And that’s what is exciting about Eboigbodin. He’s not a finished product, but the signs of progress and what he can do with his body on a football field have everyone predicting big days ahead.

“I’m trying to ball out,” he said.

Monday: De’Andre Kirkpatrick, Crenshaw linebacker.

Defensive linemen to watch

Hunter Eligon, Western, 6-3, 285, Sr.: Vanderbilt commit helped Los Alamitos win D2 title last season

Godschoice Eboigbodin, JSerra, 6-5, 260, Sr.: UCLA commit is stronger and learning game fast

Marcus Fakatou, Sierra Canyon, 6-7, 275, Sr.: Ohio State commit is a high school version of Aaron Donald

Sione Felila, Oak Hills, 6-3, 290, Sr.: Had 18 tackles for losses

Elija Harmon, Inglewood, 6-3, 280, Sr. Oklahoma commit coming back from injury

Miles Schirmer, Corona Centennial, 6-5, 280, Sr.: Cal commit is disruptor for QBs and running backs

Kingston Sula, Carson, 6-2, 205, Jr. Had 16 sacks as a sophomore

Elyjah Staples, Marquez, 6-3, 205, Sr.: Cal commit is the City Section’s sack machine

Alifeleti Tuihalamaka, Oaks Christian, 6-4, 260, Sr. USC commit causes lots of problems for blockers

Isaia Vandermade, Santa Margarita, 6-2, 290, Sr.: USC commit couldn’t be blocked during D1 playoffs

The Olympics have soared before in Los Angeles. In less than two years, the Paralympics will take flight from L.A. for the first time.

LA28 hopes to raise the bar for the Paralympic movement when the Paralympic Games open in SoFi Stadium on Aug. 15, 2028. The city that already changed the Olympic movement by hosting the most commercially successful Games ever in 1984 could leave an equally indelible mark on the Paralympic movement.

“In the opening ceremony in two years’ time, we will be about to witness the Paralympic Games that can really put our movement in a higher step,” International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said, “in a higher position as a sport movement.”

While the Olympics were blossoming in L.A. in 1984, the Paralympics that year were hosted in New York and Stoke Mandeville, England in a patchwork plan that came to be known as the “Last-Minute Games” because a U.S.-based organizing committee failed to secure funding to host the Paralympic Games at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The LA28 Olympics and Paralympics logos are featured on a sign outside an event in 2024.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Forty years later, the Paris Paralympics solidified the movement’s position as one of the largest sporting events in the world. The 2024 Paralympics sold 2.5 million tickets, the most for a Paralympic Games, and had a record 12,941 global broadcast hours. The overall live audience for the Paris Paralympics grew by 40% compared to 2021 and 117% from 2016.

Seeing the Paralympics leaves a lasting impression on fans. A Nielsen Sports study commissioned by the IPC found that 73% of people thought the Paris Paralympic Games positively changed their attitudes toward people with disabilities.

LA28 wants to build on that momentum.

“I really would love to see the change of perception of what people with disabilities can do, but also most importantly see the athletes perform,” said Ileana Rodriguez, the LA28 vice president of Paralympic strategy and relations and a 2012 Paralympic swimmer. “Because oftentimes we forget the sport side of the athletes and put the disability in front, and I really hope that this is reversed in our Games.”

American Alexandra Truwit competes during the women’s 400-meter freestyle during the Paralympics on Sept. 5, 2024, in Nanterre, France.

(Adam Pretty / Getty Images)

It didn’t take long for Ali Truwit to see the Paralympic standard. The former Yale swimmer had always respected Paralympians for their grit, courage and strength, but after she lost the lower part of her left leg in a shark attack in 2023, Truwit had her own Paralympic awakening.

She realized that to even make the U.S. team for Paris, she needed to swim faster with one leg than she did with two.

“A lot of people would come up and say, like, “Oh well you could do the Paralympics,’” said Truwit, who had 15 months between having her leg amputated on her 23rd birthday and the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics. “I’m like, ‘Well, you can’t just do the Paralympics actually!’ It’s elite and it’s fast.”

Her American record time of 1 minute, 8.98 seconds seconds in the S10 100-meter backstroke at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic swimming trials was faster than the times she was putting up to be recruited for Division I schools. Also the U.S. record holder in the S10 400-meter freestyle (4:31.39), Truwit won silver medals in both races in her first Paralympic Games.

But as she starts training for 2028, Truwit knows even her national record times might not be enough to get on the podium in L.A.

In Paris, 175 world and 218 Paralympic records were broken across 22 sports. The quality of the performances are better than ever, Parsons, the Paralympic president, pointed out. Athletes have become more refined with their training techniques.

“If you raise the expectations for what high performance is, for what an athlete is, then gosh, that’s just going to open up so many more opportunities,” said Brent Hardin, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Alabama and director of Alabama Adapted Athletics. “The Paralympics has the ability to do that like no other sporting event in the world for athletes with disabilities.”

The last time the Summer Paralympics were in the United States, in 1996, the event was run by a separate committee from the Olympic organizers. Disorganized and under-publicized, the event was underwhelming, Hardin said. Since 2002, organizing committees have been required to put together joint bids to host both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, using the same venues, facilities and infrastructure.

LA28 will rely on mostly existing venues for both the Olympics and Paralympics, relieving many of the biggest headaches that have plagued previous organizing committees. But hosting 4,480 Paralympians in one village is an especially unique challenge.

UCLA students walk up and down stairs on a campus that features many hills. The school is scheduled to host the athletes’ village for the 2028 Paralympics.

(Al Seib/For The Times)

LA28 will host the Olympic and Paralympic villages at UCLA. While renowned for its red brick buildings and lush green lawns, UCLA’s campus is also notorious for its steep hills. In 2025, two students who used wheelchairs sued the university and the UC Board of Regents for discrimination, citing, in part, elevators that are often out of service, insufficient signage and dangerous conditions in pedestrian paths of travel.

Rodriquez recognized the campus’ geographical challenges that organizers can’t change. LA28 said in a statement it is focused on building upon UCLA’s existing accessibility foundation while exploring additional modifications and services to support Paralympic athletes and team officials, such as temporary ramps and modified restrooms. Construction is expected to begin this year, trying to minimize impact on normal campus activities.

“One solution is not going to solve it for everyone, but a system of different ones hopefully will for most of them,” said Rodriguez, an architect consulted on previous Games before working with LA28. “We’re aiming, of course, for 100% of the users, but it doesn’t mean that there might be challenges in some points.”

The Games will also need to accommodate millions of fans traveling around Southern California. The FIFA World Cup tested the transportation system and it was largely a success, but it presented problems for some fans.

Kate Scott, founder of Only Everywhere, a directory providing accessibility information about more than 400 venues in California, heard from fans who paid hundreds of extra dollars for accessible parking and a shuttle to the stadium only to learn later that a free shuttle option was available. Fans struggled to secure wheelchair accessible seats, especially after they were sold at astronomical resale values, and couldn’t get clear answers about what accommodations would be available in the stadium.

Fans pack SoFi Stadium during a World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on June 12.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

SoFi Stadium aced the physical infrastructure with working elevators, wheelchair escorts and accessible seating with clear sightlines on every level. It was mostly an information gap that left fans wanting.

“It’s not a problem if you say there’s no way to get to the cafe on the second floor. It is a problem if they find that out at the bottom of the stairs,” Scott said. “They can plan ahead if you just give them the information. It’s not about perfection. It’s about telling people what to expect.”

Of the 400 California venues Scott has added to Only Everywhere’s directory, more than half don’t publish anything online about accessibility. Only 7% cover accommodations for mobility limitation, hearing disability, vision impairment and sensory disabilities.

Disability advocates hope the Paralympics can lead to improved access to social services and structures for people with disabilities during and after the Games.

“Not just a one-in-every-four-years kind of event,” said Juliann Anesi, an associate professor of gender studies at UCLA and an affiliate faculty member with the disabilities studies department.

After the 1984 Olympics helped fund youth sports in L.A. for decades with a $230-million surplus, the 2028 Games have already jump-started adaptive sports opportunities as part of the PlayLA program.

Hunter Woodhall from the U.S. wins the men’s 400-meter T62 final at the 2024 Paralympics on Sept. 6, 2024, in Paris.

(Thibault Camus / Associated Press)

The program is run by L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks and will have 12 adaptive sports (adaptive archery, athletics, kayaking, skateboarding, lacrosse, pickleball, para swimming, blind soccer, goalball, para surfing, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis) for the 2026-27 season. The program is on track to reach 5,000 total adaptive sports program enrollments in 2027, LA28 said.

“LA28 is an opportunity not only to think about people with disabilities as part of [society], but instead to really reshape the conversation around disability, especially in sport,” Truwit said. “… We don’t look at Paralympians as an inspiration or as something where they’re overcoming a limitation, but rather as just part of human diversity and potential.”

At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennial, Truwit is already dreaming about L.A. The Connecticut native can picture the opening ceremony in SoFi Stadium, where she will be flanked by her fellow American Paralympians. That group could even include several athletes who received grants from her nonprofit Stronger Than You Think, which helps provide prosthetics to girls and women experiencing limb loss. Being at the Paralympics together would be a dream, Truwit said.

Parsons will open what will be the final Paralympic Games of his IPC presidency. He envisions going out on a high note.

“The best Paralympic Games,” Parsons said of his 2028 expectations, “ever.”

In his first address to the Disney faithful as chief executive, Josh D’Amaro pledged that Walt Disney Co. would create new stories and experiences at the D23 fan event Wednesday night in Anaheim.

D’Amaro was greeted like a rock star during the Burbank media giant’s film and TV presentation as the assembled crowd of more than 12,000 Disney super fans at the Honda Center gave him a rousing round of applause and cheers. He beamed at the audience, while clasping his hands together in front of him.

“I believe that in order to lead this company, you have to understand what it actually feels like to be a fan,” he said onstage. “And, I do. ”

D’Amaro is no stranger to the D23 stage; in his past role as parks chief, he would give updates on the latest news for the experiences division.

But now, as CEO, he said the company would deepen its connection with fans by continuing to develop fresh stories and new experiences.

“We are not here waiting for the future,” he said. “We’re building it … we’re actually building it right now.”

While Disney unveiled several upcoming original stories, including an animated supernatural flick from Pixar called “Ghost Market” set for release in spring 2028 and “Clay,” a Disney Animation film coming later that year about a mentor-mentee relationship, many of its projects are related to existing franchises.

The company unveiled details about Pixar’s “Coco 2” and “Incredibles 3,” both of which got huge applause from the audience, as well as a live-action “Lilo & Stitch 2.” Fans cheered for the return of the Jonas Brothers reprising their original Disney roles in “Camp Rock 3.” Even a teaser from “The Bluey Movie” elicited screams from the largely adult audience.

Earlier in the day, Disney executives revealed additional plans about its streaming strategy during a series of panels.

The company plans to lean more on creators with its new Verts vertical video feed on Disney+, a new feature designed to increase engagement. So far, it has grown in popularity among users, said Erin Teague, executive vice president of product management at Disney Entertainment and ESPN.

“What we’re seeing is as users are engaging with their vertical video experience, they are actually engaging in the overall product experience, double the amount of time,” she said onstage. “That means that we’re meeting users where we are.”

The company also plans to invest more in local international content to help grow the Disney+ service around the world. Disney has seen its local Korean shows perform well in Asia, as well as Brazil, executives said. And shows that do well in one country can often be remade in other regions.

Over the next three years, Disney plans to roughly triple the number of local original series on Disney+.

Marvel’s new X-Men are ready for their close-up — finally. The cast of the upcoming superhero film took the stage together for the first time Friday night during the Disney Entertainment Showcase at D23.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige capped off his portion of the presentation by formally introducing Sadie Sink, whose role in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” had been kept under wraps before its release, as Jean Grey. Then, along with “X-Men” director Jake Schreier, they welcomed the rest of the cast.

Joining Sink in “X-Men” are Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Maya Boyd as Storm. Adam Driver, who appeared at the event in a recorded video bit, will be playing Nathaniel Milbury, better known to fans as Mr. Sinister.

“X-Men” is expected to hit theaters May 5, 2028.

Held at the Honda Center, the Disney Entertainment Showcase is one of the marquee presentations of the three-day D23 fan event where the various arms of Walt Disney Studios — including Lucasfilm, Pixar and Disney Animation — take the stage to promote their upcoming film and television projects. New CEO Josh D’Amaro received a rock star’s welcome from the more than 12,000 Disney faithful attending this year’s showcase, which was emceed by “Zootopia 2” stars and self-proclaimed “super fans” Ke Huy Quan and Ginnifer Goodwin.

Among the stars tapped to help promote their upcoming projects were Anne Hathaway (“Princess Diaries 3”); Joe, Kevin and Nick Jonas (“Camp Rock 3”); Benjamin Bratt (“Coco 2” and “Kingdom Hearts IV”); Kathryn Hahn (“Tangled”); Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell (“Avengers: Doomsday”); Ryan Gosling (“Star Wars: Starfighter”); and Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad (“Frozen III”).

Here are the biggest reveals and takeaways from Disney’s studios showcase.

Marvel’s television future remains unclear

As expected, Marvel Studios turned its spotlight to “VisionQuest,” the upcoming Disney+ series starring Paul Bettany (Vision) and James Spader (Ultron). Picking up after the events of “WandaVision,” the show will see Vision “beginning to ask rather more complicated questions” about his identity and humanity, according to Bettany.

After several movie announcements at San Diego Comic-Con last month, fans had been anticipating Marvel’s D23 presentation would focus on its series slate. But “VisionQuest” was the only TV show represented at the event. (Marvel’s presentation also included a new “Avengers: Doomsday” clip and a mention of the upcoming game “Marvel’s Wolverine.”)

The lack of new series announcements, along with the recent cancellation of “Wonder Man” Season 2 and reports that Marvel is cutting back on live-action Disney+ shows, has cast a shadow on the MCU’s TV future. “VisionQuest” will premiere Oct. 14.

‘Star Wars’ fans still love Hayden Christensen

Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni brought the cast and creatives of “Ahsoka” Season 2 and “Star Wars: Starfighter” for his portion of the showcase, along with new footage from both projects.

When “Ahsoka” star Rosario Dawson invited Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) and Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger) to join her on stage, fans had an especially warm welcome for the prequel trilogy star.

“As always, it is such an honor to get to play Anakin Skywalker,” said Christensen. “In this new season. Anakin continues to advise Ahsoka. He challenges her and pushes her to answer the most important question in her life: Are you or are you not a Jedi?”

“Star Wars: Starfighter” director Shawn Levy, left, and Ryan Gosling, who is showing the symbol of his character Kade on his jacket.

(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Disney)

Director Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling were on hand to discuss “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which will be set during a time period in the galaxy far, far away that has not yet been shown before. Gosling plays Kade Auberon, a Starfighter pilot (and possible mechanic), in the standalone film that will be set some time after the sequel trilogy.

Disney is leaning on the magic of nostalgia in live-action and animation

Mira Sorvino, right, and Lisa Kudrow appeared onstage as Romy and Michele, respectively, to tease their sequel.

(Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Disney)

Much of Disney’s studio showcase focused on sequels of franchises past and present. “Romy and Michele 2” (2027) stars Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino showed up in character to tease their upcoming sequel to the much-loved 1997 original, proclaiming they were now Disney princesses.

“Princess Diaries” star Anne Hathaway made an appearance to reassure fans the team was hard at work to make sure “Princess Diaries 3” was getting done right, while “Camp Rock” stars Joe, Kevin and Nick Jonas came to plug “Camp Rock 3” and its new stars. A brief first-look teaser for the live action “Tangled” (2028) concluded on a shot of Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel calling out to Rapunzel, right before the “Agatha All Along” star took the stage.

Even one of Disney’s oldest characters is getting a revival, thanks to filmmaker Jon Favreau. The “Mandalorian and Grogu” director shared a first look at his miniseries, “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,” a hybrid live-action and hand-drawn 2D animated show expected to hit Disney+ in February.

On the animation side, Pixar’s Pete Doctor came armed with news about “Incredibles 3” (2028) and “Coco 2” (2029), while Disney Animation’s Jared Bush announced “Zootopia 3” before turning it over to “Frozen III” (2027).

According to Benjamin Bratt, who is returning to voice Ernesto de la Cruz, “Coco 2” is set some time in the future, where a teenage Miguel is sent back to the land of the dead for another adventure. “Frozen III,” meanwhile, will see Anna and Kristoff finally get married before the sisters meet a mysterious stranger who also wields ice magic. Olaf is also expected to find love.

The event also featured teases for “Ice Age: Boiling Point” (2027), “The Bluey Movie” (2027) and a “Kingdom Hearts” anime series.

But don’t worry, Pixar and Disney are still making original movies

Billie Doe (Hailee Steinfeld) and Beef Roger Crummchuk (Walton Goggins) in “Hexed.”

(Disney)

Fans of animated originals can rest assured that both Pixar and Disney Animation have new stories on the way. In addition to “Hexed,” a magical coming-of-age adventure about a young girl named Billie who discovers she’s a witch that will hit theaters Nov. 25, Disney Animation announced “Clay” for 2028. According to Jared Bush, “Clay” is a story about a mentor and student named Flip and Mushi.

“I believe that new stories, new characters, new worlds are vital to the future of Disney Animation,” said Bush.

Pixar, meanwhile, announced “Ghost Market” will hit theaters in 2028. Set in Hawaii, “Ghost Market” will follow a young content creator named Kyle who encounters hungry ghosts. The studio also has “Gatto,” from “Luca” director Enrico Casarosa, on deck for 2027.

The Lakers are being sold … again?

The Lakers are being sold … by the Dodgers owner who was supposed to save them?

The Lakers are being sold … to one guy who owns an underachieving women’s professional soccer team and another guy who owns a piece of the hated San Francisco Giants?

What in the name of Luka is going on here?

Los Angeles sports fans awoke Wednesday to the news that one of their two crown jewels was being sold for the second time in a year, a transaction valued at $12.5 billion and accompanied by at least that many worries.

This doesn’t feel good. This doesn’t feel right. Something stinks here, and it might just be the future of a franchise that once seemed in such good hands.

On Wednesday it was stunningly and ingloriously fumbled, and for what?

There are two main unknowns here, and both should send shivers through a Laker fan base that could be watching their team become the Portland Trail Blazers.

First, why did Mark Walter sell just 10 months after buying? Yes, he made a $2.5 billion profit, but 10 months? Who owns a major sports franchise for just 10 months?

Second, what sort of owners will Bob Iger and Josh Kushner be? Iger is known for running Disney, and Kushner is known for running with President Trump’s son-in-law, who happens to be Kushner’s brother, Jared.

So crazy. So scary.

Does all this mean the Dodgers are also for sale? Will courtside seats be converted to spinning teacups? Is President Trump going to show up for a ceremonial opening tip?

Mark Walter, chairman and controlling owner of the Dodgers, acknowledges a fan before a game in Chicago on Aug. 4.

(Melissa Tamez / Associated Press)

Lots to dig in here, starting with Walter, who brought much hope to the struggling franchise after buying it from the Buss family last summer.

In his short tenure the Lakers racked up a bunch of off-court wins. They revamped their scouting department, increased a focus on analytics and rid themselves of LeBron James without the usual noise of an ugly breakup.

Under Walters, the Lakers didn’t fire Rob Pelinka, didn’t fire JJ Redick, brought back Austin Reaves, and actually set the team up for a pretty exciting playoff run next season.

Walter was clearly building the Lakers into the image of the Dodgers, which makes it so shocking that he would so easily cast them aside.

Could this be the result of outside forces? Walter is under federal investigation for tax fraud by companies controlled by the billionaire, and perhaps he sold the Lakers as a peace offering to the feds. The fact that he sold to somebody so close to President Trump could also help his federal case.

Remember last month when Walter embarrassingly groveled at Trump’s feet during the Dodgers visit to the White House, even giving the president a championship ring? It feels like the Lakers sale to a group co-led by Kushner is an outgrowth of that pandering.

Sources told The Times’ Bill Shaikin that the Dodgers are not for sale, but if Walter was troubled enough to sell arguably America’s most glamorous sports franchise after owning it for less time than it takes for Edwin Díaz to walk to the mound, who knows if the Dodgers are really safe?

In Walter, the Lakers had a proven champion who forged a partnership with the fans and rewarded them with sustained success.

In Iger and Kushner, the Lakers have two rich guys who have never been the majority owners of a team, never run a team and never done much more than cheer for a team.

Iger, 75, an entertainment genius who ran Disney for much of the last 20 years, has failed in his previous attempts to buy a sports team. A decade ago, he was in the finals to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles, but lacked the gravitas to pull it off.

In 2024, Iger and his wife, USC journalism dean Willow Bay, bought a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club in the National Women’s Soccer League. But the team has yet to make any sort of local splash, missing the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, in white shirt, has been a longtime basketball fan. In 2025 he sat courtside for a Clippers game at Intuit Dome.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Kushner, meanwhile, is a 41-year-old billionaire venture capitalist who is best known for his brother’s father-in-law and his super-model wife Karlie Kloss. He owns a minority stake in not only the Giants, but the Miami Heat, which he must sell.

There is no indication whether they will be good owners, and they will clearly have to hire a seasoned NBA executive to serve as president to run the show. The identity of this person will be the first sign of their seriousness in restoring a championship culture, but there will be other signs as well, and not all could be positive.

There should be fear that these new wonders will follow the path of the most recently minted NBA owner, Portland’s Tom Dundon, who unapologetically cheapened the organization by doing everything from firing 70 business employees to bucking NBA tradition by refusing to pass out free T-shirts to the fans during playoff games. He even showed the door to both the club’s radio and TV play-by-play announcers in a dramatic cost-cutting move that could be a blueprint for other struggling teams.

Which is to say, nobody has any idea how Kushner and Iger will run things. They have no history here. They have no experience. They have no credibility. This isn’t Disney. This isn’t some hedge fund.

These are the 17-time NBA champion Lakers. This is a national monument forged on the sweat of everyone from Jerry West to Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant.

This is a community’s heartbeat. This is a region’s touchstone.

Handle with care.

A city will be watching.

So instead of the Dodgerfication of the Lakers, we’re getting the Disneyfication of the Lakers.

Hakuna Matata?

Yes, it’s weird and distressing, watching billionaires play catch with our ballclubs.

But this high-stakes game of hot potato that resulted in Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner acquiring the Lakers for $12.5 billion from Mark Walter less than a year after the Dodgers owner bought the NBA team?

For the Lakers, it really could end happily ever after.

Because we’re realizing you probably shouldn’t put all your proverbial eggs — or both of a city’s most beloved sports teams — in one guy’s basket. Especially if that one guy happens to be at the center of a federal loan investigation.

And if all it took, really, to get Walter to relinquish his ownership of the Lakers was $2.5 billion more than the reported figure he paid for them, then he wasn’t the right owner for the franchise anyway.

He wasn’t actually going to spin blue into purple and gold.

And Disney did give us some pretty great stories under Iger, didn’t it?

A native New Yorker, Iger, 75, grew up a Knicks fan. But he has also long been an L.A. basketball fan — though he has identified as a Clippers supporter. (Sorry, Clips, I think you’re down a fan.)

Lakers great Magic Johnson said he’s known Iger since the Showtime era, and gushed in an interview Wednesday with The Times’ Broderick Turner: “The great thing for Laker fans is Bob Iger loves basketball, loves the Lakers and I think that we couldn’t have a better person.

“Somebody that don’t know the Lakers, the tradition, that don’t know the city, that don’t know the passion that the fans have for the Lakers here in L.A.? Then I would have been like, ‘Oh man. They gotta learn all that.’

Bob Iger, then chief executive of Disney, addresses the media during the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media event in 2019.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Well there’s no learning curve for Bob.”

And Angelenos know Iger. We don’t know Kushner except for his family ties. But Iger, we do.

Walter isn’t selling the Lakers to some rich guys without any L.A. cred. He’s selling to a basketball fan whom we’ve seen courtside at Lakers games. Someone who joined us in sharing our heartbreak on social media when Kobe Bryant died in 2020, calling him “a friend and a fan of ours, full of life and taken from us too soon.”

We recognize Iger; he’s the Disney guy. We know him for his successful tenures as chief executive of that beloved company, which were highlighted by innovative storytelling, savvy investment and expansion — including into sports. We know he helped turn ESPN into a TV juggernaut.

Before the sale to Walter, the Buss family, which owned and ran the Lakers for 46 years, was having trouble keeping up in a booming NBA. Player salaries are capped, but ownership’s resources matter much in terms of creating a competitive infrastructure of coaches, basketball operations, medical and scouting staffs.

So we were looking forward to seeing sweeping improvements when Walter took control and provided the organization with a much-needed financial infusion. After all, his Dodgers have won three World Series crowns and clinched the National League West in 12 of 13 seasons since 2012, when he and his partners bought the club for a then-MLB record $2.15 billion.

But as of Wednesday morning, we were still looking.

We thought the new Lakers’ regime would get to work without a second to spare. Yeah, they added a second row of seats courtside. And laid off more than a dozen employees.

We expected they’d beef up their scouting department. But they moved the G League team from the South Bay way out to the Coachella Valley, so even the most ardent fans in L.A. will have a hard time keeping an eye on the team’s prospects.

We expected, under Walter, that the Lakers would give their basketball brain trust an obvious boost.

But they’ve only flirted with filling the job of second assistant general manager. And they failed to poach anyone from the league’s most innovative front offices like the Dodgers did when they hired Andrew Friedman. Their big get was Rohan Ramadas, from the … New Orleans Pelicans, a team that made the playoffs only twice in the last eight seasons.

Iger and Kushner can do better. They better do better.

Joshua Kushner, founder and chief executive of Thrive Capital, speaks onstage during the Big Bets panel at the Fortune Global Forum 2024.

(Jemal Countess / Getty Images for Fortune Media)

I think they will.

This isn’t a fly-by-night proposition for Iger, who headed an effort by the Chargers and Raiders to build a stadium in Carson before Stan Kroenke built $5-billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

In 2024, Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, who is dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, acquired a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League for $50 million, pushing its valuation to $250 million, a record for a women’s sports team.

Angel City hasn’t been winning, but they doubled the staff and wasted no time setting up a sizable new performance center at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The WNBA’s Sparks, which Walter has owned since 2014, are still waiting for their own practice facility, which is now finally under construction in El Segundo.

“As lifelong NBA fans,” Kushner and Iger said in a statement, “we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.”

Iger knows as much as anyone about successfully stewarding an iconic brand.

Now he could be the Imagineer to bring the 17-time champion Lakers back to the happiest place on earth — the NBA’s mountaintop.

Emmerdale star Christopher Coghill, who plays villain Kev Barton, was once struck over the head with a handbag by a fan who was horrified at his on-screen behaviour

Soap star Christopher Coghill has discussed what happened during a bizarre fan encounter in Selfridges.

The actor, who portrays Kev Barton in ITV soap Emmerdale, describes his character as “a sympathetic psychopath, if you will”, adding he remains unfazed about being typecast as a villain following his stint playing paedophile Tony King in EastEnders in 2008.

He said: “You’ve got to give people a bit of credit. When I started in EastEnders, there were people who were like, ‘You know, there are people out there who really can’t tell the difference between what they see on telly and real life, and because of the character you’re playing, you’re going to get a lot of shit, and you might need police protection’.

“And then you go out, and people go, ‘Oh, you’re brilliant in EastEnders’, and that was kind of it. I did get hit over the head with a handbag in Selfridges, but apart from that..”

His Emmerdale colleague William Ash, who takes on the role of Caleb Miligan, said he’s encountered similar reactions, adding: “People are genuinely generally really nice. You don’t get any grief, really. I did have one woman at the at the petrol station going ‘oh, you’re right horrible to Moira’.”

The duo, who previously shared the screen in the 2003 drama Burn It and portrayed brothers in both the 2006 one-off comedy Magnolia and a 2016 episode of Moving On, find themselves embroiled in an Emmerdale storyline centred on an assault on Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) at the depot.

Kev is responsible for the attack and Caleb possesses CCTV footage of the incident, but has been concealing it so he can pin the blame on his bitter rival, Joe Tate (Ned Porteous).

Coghill said of the footage: “I hold my hands up, it does look bad – I am bent over him with a crowbar and he’s in a pool of blood.”

Yet it might not prove to be the leverage that Caleb believes it to be.

Ash said: “I think [Caleb and wife Ruby, played by Beth Cordingly] just don’t know how to handle him, like most people in the village. It’s like he’s such a loose cannon. You just don’t know what you’re going to get from him.”

Coghill is equally insistent that he wants no further singing scenes for his character, following his on-screen serenade to estranged husband Robert (Ryan Hawley) with If You’re Not The One by Daniel Bedingfield, and his subsequent attempt to convey his emotions to long-lost son Lewis (Bradley Riches) through a rendition of Boyzone’s Father And Son.

Coghill said: “Do you know what, [producer] Laura Shaw did say to me the other week, do you want to do All I Want For Christmas Is You? And I said, if you keep me till Christmas 2029, I’ll do it then. That’s how my contract negotiations are going. But no, it’s excruciating. Horrible.

“If I could sing, I wouldn’t be an actor. If I could sing, I would have been in a band in the 1990s.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and STV, and is available to stream from 7am on ITVX, STV Player and YouTube.

Whitney Houston is the latest addition to the world of Barbie.

The El Segundo-based toy company is honoring the late pop star with a new Barbie Signature doll. The toy, which debuted over the weekend in Atlanta, is wearing the recognizable look from Houston’s 1987 hit music video, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” The Houston doll wears a lilac-hued tank dress, colorful drop earrings and vibrant eye makeup, and comes with a microphone stand. The collectible costs around $60.

Houston’s estate worked closely with Mattel to create a doll that captures the late singer’s essence and glamour. The release lands about 40 years after the New Jersey-raised musician appeared in the music video for the popular song.

“Whitney Houston’s music has been the soundtrack to countless moments for fans around the world. Barbie is proud to honor her extraordinary legacy with the latest addition to the Barbie Signature Series,” Mattel Vice President and Head of Barbie Nathan Baynard said in a statement. “We hope it gives fans a meaningful way to celebrate the artist whose voice and influence continue to resonate around the world.”

The doll arrives at an uneasy moment for the brand it’s built on. In second-quarter results reported Aug. 4, Mattel’s worldwide gross billings for dolls fell 5% to $318 million, driven primarily by a decline in the Barbie brand — the same story as the first quarter, when doll billings dropped 8%, and as 2025, when the category slid 7% for the full year on Barbie declines. In March, Mattel laid off 65 employees, roughly a year after cutting 120 jobs to reduce costs. Shares of Mattel hovered around $14.72 midday, down 0.5%.

Mattel hopes to appeal to adult collectors and fans of Houston with its latest release.

Throughout her career, Houston earned the nickname of “The Voice” because of her unparalleled vocal abilities. Some of her biggest hits include “Saving All My Love For You,” “I Have Nothing,” and her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” To this day, Houston holds the Guinness World Record for the most awards won by a female artist, with more than 400 prizes, including six Grammys. The singer died unexpectedly at age 48 in 2012.

Houston is joining other iconic female musicians as Barbie dolls. In recent years, Mattel released dolls that resemble Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. Mattel’s Signature Series appeals to collectors of all kinds, as the company releases dolls of athletes such as LeBron James and Angel Reese, fictional characters such as Cher from the 1995 feature film “Clueless,” Supergirl and historical figures such as Ida B. Wells.

“The new Whitney Houston Barbie honors a woman whose voice, grace, beauty, and spirit inspired generations around the world,” Pat Houston, the executor of Houston’s estate, said.

“May this doll remind every child and every collector that dreams have no limits, excellence leaves a lasting imprint, and true greatness never goes out of style.”

A HIGHLANDER legend was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after collapsing at an event in America.

The actor and producer, 69, was also forced to scrap photo opportunities with fans as his health issue took centre stage.

Actor Christopher Lambert, who played Highlander’s main character Connor MacLeod in the 1986 movie, reportedly fell ill at the Steel City Con in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

According to TMZ, he had been signing autographs with fans before he collapsed and was whisked away.

The event organisers then took to their Facebook page to confirm: “Christopher Lambert had to leave the event due to a personal issue.

“Return time TBD. Photo op cancelled”.

MEDICAL EMERGENCY

Film legend Ann-Margret, 84, rushed to hospital after scary fall

ACTION MAN

Martin Compston reveals film legend that inspired his Red Eye performance

The Sun has gone to the Mortal Kombat actor’s rep for comment.

They did tell TMZ the screen star is “perfectly OK” – and his fall was due to low blood sugar after a lack of food.

In news that will delight fans – and suggest he is on the mend – event organisers also confirmed he will appear at the convention today [Sunday] as planned.

In a message posted to Facebook they wrote: “Christopher Lambert will be attending Sunday. He will be there at 11:30 AM. Lisa & Louise Burns will do 12 PM Panel. Also, Karen Gillan will be doing Solos and Duos on Sunday (with Arthur) as well”.

One fan was quick to comment: “Glad he’s okay. That was scary!”

A second put: “Very happy to hear this”.

A Facebook user then added: “Hope he’s going to be all right. Highlander is my favourite movie of all time, and I wish he didn’t have to go through that scare today”.

Previously, Christopher – who has also produced and penned scripts as well as acting them out – opened up on filming Highlander in Scotland.

The French actor, who starred alongside Sean Connery and Clancy Brown in the film, reminisced on shooting scenes as the immortal warrior in Scotland.

He previously said: “It was my first time in Scotland.

“Insurance people completely forbid drinking on set, but try that up there and you’ll get shot.

“I’m not saying Scottish people drink all the time, but if they drink, they drink.

“It’s not a sip of wine, it’s a quarter of a bottle of scotch.

“There were 1,000 extras for the battle scenes and they went at it for real.

“After each shot, the cries went up: ‘Doctor!’ ‘Nurse!’”

Highlander follows Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, an immortal Scotsman born in the 16th century in Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel.

The film has garnered an enormous cult following over the years which spawned a TV series.

Whether you care or not about your own college reunion, we all keep getting invited to the one for the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, whose movies are always the same thing: frat guys who never grew out of the same jokes, taunts and pranks. That isn’t to say “Super Troopers 3” doesn’t also exhibit genuine appreciation for a tight bond nurtured over time, but you need to have been there (that is, enjoyed one or two of these) to revel in tapping that aggressively overpumped keg of R-rated comedy nostalgia.

The gang’s longevity, well into late middle age, is indeed impressive, even if it’s relegated to reviving their most beloved incarnation, a quintet of adolescent-minded Vermont highway patrolmen who torment citizens, razz each other and routinely examine their stunted life choices when confronted with the noxious personality of the most extreme among them, Farva (Kevin Heffernan).

The boorish, puerile Farva — imagine an “Animal House” character its writers would have discarded as too crude — is the catalyst this time around by falling in love. His shock engagement to Sarita (Hannah Simone), the brainy, beautiful sister of de facto trooper leader Thorny (director Jay Chandrasekhar), pits brother against family and bro against bro, even if Farva doesn’t register his colleague’s disgust. Thorny will do anything to keep Farva from marrying into his family, which is admittedly one of the easier campaigns for an audience to get behind.

That’s not a sentiment against true love; it’s more a nod to strained credibility and a feeling of general exhaustion. “Super Troopers 3” hardly feels like some long-awaited third go-round in a franchise spanning 25 years. Rather, it plays like the 84th episode of a time-killing cable series that people forgot was still on the air. Whatever raw charm existed in the original underdog sleeper hit from 2001 (and found some purchase in the agreeably goofy 2018 sequel) has been hardened here into a piece of machine-stamped plastic, likely in the shape of a male organ sporting a traditional sherwani, considering the incessant swirl of infantile body humor and offensive-adjacent Indian culture gags on offer.

Besides the main storyline and a dull, time-padding smuggling operation to uncover, there’s little to do for the rest of the Broken Lizard team: Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske and Steve Emme. Inexplicably, EV cars and food-ordering apps become running gags. Marisa Coughlan is back as a cop’s wife, and the joke must be that she never gets to be funny.

There’s good news in Brian Cox returning as their cranky superior, except it looks like two days of work, tops. The best new face is Nat Faxon as the station’s insecure captain. He gets more easy, unforced laughs than anyone, especially when it comes to a bout of “scromiting.” It still isn’t enough.

“Enough” is a good retort, though, for “Super Troopers 3” overall, except for the dispiriting promise before the closing credits that more mediocrity might be coming. But fans might want to savor this one, because according to Vermont law, highway patrol mandatory retirement age is 57, the age the youngest Broken Lizard member hits this month. Sorry, guys — can we have those badges back?

Minnie Driver’s Paris adventures went awry this week when she was involved in a car accident that she’s describing as a frightening close call.

On Thursday, the actor — who has posted a series of “Paris Update” videos for her fans over the last two months while filming the sixth season of “Emily in Paris” — updated fans with a video posted to Instagram in which she appeared in a neck brace and recounted a harrowing close call. “Paris update is that I am actually back in London,” the video began.

“I got into a really bad car accident a few days ago with my friend Ben, and we somehow walked out of it,” she said. “Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it, but we did get out of it alive.”

Driver said the accident wasn’t their fault, and that they were cruising down a country road in the middle of France when another vehicle failed to stop at an intersection.

“We just T-boned it,” she said. “I’m fine. I’ve got a sprained neck, and I’m really in shock and sort of cry all the time, but I’m going to heal.”

According to Deadline, production on “Emily in Paris” will continue as planned aside from one scene involving Driver that had to be rescheduled. She plans to return to her role as Princess Jane when she recovers.

“The reason that I’m not dead, honestly, is the car that we were driving,” she continued in her update, adding that 360-degree airbags in the “tiny Kia” she was riding in saved their lives. “The fact that the entire car didn’t just concertina and crush us is down to the design of that car, which is frankly astonishing.”

Driver assured her followers that the video wasn’t a car ad — “Can you imagine if that’s what I was doing?” — but the actor appeared grateful and wanted to give due credit, all with her sense of humor still intact.

“I’m a mini driver, pun intended. I need to celebrate the car that saved us, because we’ve got families and people who love us, and I am so grateful to be alive,” she said. “So, Kia, you are a baller car company.”

Just a day before the Head in the Clouds Music & Arts Festival takes over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, a member of the headlining pop group Katseye has announced she is taking a hiatus from performing.

Sophia Laforteza announced on Instagram on Friday that she’ll be stepping away to take care of her mental health.

“It truly breaks my heart to have to miss out on a lot,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “You know how much I love being on stage, performing, and sharing these moments with you. Making this decision wasn’t easy, but I’m learning that health has to come first. I’m realizing that if I don’t take care of my mind and body now, I won’t be able to keep doing what I love the most for so long.”

Laforteza thanked her fans for being “patient, understanding, and always showing me so much love,” and said she’d be joining Katseye fans, aka “eyekons,” in cheering on the group in the meantime.

“I promise I’m going to work as hard as I can to get through this, heal properly, and come back stronger,” she wrote.

A post on the group’s official Instagram account said Laforteza “will be temporarily unable to participate in upcoming promotional activities.”

“We understand how much EYEKONS were looking forward to seeing Sophia on stage, but it is imperative that her mental health and wellness are prioritized,” the post stated.

According to the statement, the pop star has been working with medical professionals who advised that she take “dedicated time for extended rest and ongoing care to ensure a full recovery.”

While Laforteza is eager to get back to work with her fellow Katseye members, the post said her “health, safety, and long-term well-being” will always be top priority.

Laforteza’s progress will be monitored and she’ll be reassessed in September — just as the group is slated to kick off their world tour. Fans can expect an update around that time, according to the post.

Earlier this year, Katseye member Manon Bannerman also hit pause on performing with the pop group, meaning Saturday’s headlining performance in Pasadena will feature four of the group’s original six members. Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Yoonchae Jeung are still set to take the stage.

Laforteza’s announcement followers similar decisions from actor-musician Ariana Grande, who told fans earlier this week that she would be stepping away from the public eye and that “human beings can need a break sometimes.”

Country music star Jelly Roll also announced a hiatus this month, saying he needed “to heal” following news that he finalized his divorce from Bunnie XO after nearly 10 years of marriage.

Forget high prices or website glitches. With more than 12 million people registering for 2028 Olympics tickets, even getting a chance to browse the ticket shelves was hard to come by.

If you’re still stuck on the outside looking in after two unsuccessful ticket lottery drawings, there is hope.

LA28 said in a statement Friday that more opportunities to buy Olympic tickets will come in 2027, including the first first-come, first-served ticket sales.

The first two ticket drops this year drew historic interest, with fans from more than 200 countries registering. LA28 sold 4 million tickets in its first drop in April, and time slot notifications hit inboxes Wednesday and Thursday for Drop 2, which lasts from Aug. 10-20. The 48-hour purchasing windows were granted through random lottery, but even a guaranteed slot to purchase didn’t prevent headaches as the ticketing system was fraught with technical glitches and high website traffic.

The next year will bring significant movement in the Games ticketing process as Olympic sales continue, Paralympic tickets are made available for the first time and the official ticket resale platform opens.

Fans who have already registered for Olympic tickets are automatically entered into the Paralympic ticket process, which will begin with the same draw system that started the Olympic ticketing process. The Paralympics, which will come to L.A. for the first time, open on Aug. 15, 2028, at SoFi Stadium and close on Aug. 27 at the Coliseum.

AXS and Eventim are LA28’s official secondary ticket marketplace, and other verified resale platforms will include Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets. The secondary market allows fans to re-sell their tickets, potentially opening chances to see sold-through or popular sports, but the prices could fluctuate drastically. Secondary ticket resale prices will not be capped, LA28 said in a statement, as the organization’s ticket process “will follow federal law and regulations.”

Ticket prices stayed consistent between the first and second drops. LA28 said it would not use dynamic pricing for the early stages of ticketing, but prices could change as the Games get closer.

LA28 expects to sell 14 million tickets between the Olympics and Paralympics, which would break a sales record, eclipsing the 12 million tickets sold for Paris 2024 Games.

For San Francisco fans of Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire, the party at Chase Center ended before it even started.

Earth, Wind & Fire abruptly called off its concert at the NorCal venue on Thursday, notifying fans in a social media statement that the cancellation was “due to a medical emergency involving a member of our band.” A spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department confirmed to The Times that personnel were dispatched at 5:30 p.m. to respond to a medical emergency at Chase Center. One person was transported to a hospital via private ambulance, but the individual’s identity was not disclosed. TMZ reported that the Fire Department responded to a “cardiac incident.”

A representative for Earth, Wind & Fire did not provide additional details. The band said in its post that it has rescheduled Thursday’s show for a later date to be announced soon and that tickets will be valid for the new date. “We sincerely apologize for the unexpected change and appreciate everyone’s understanding,” the band said.

Live Nation announced Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire’s joint Sing a Song All Night Long tour in January. The tour kicked off in June but quickly hit a snag when Richie also suffered an unspecified health issue while on the road. Richie, 77, postponed a stop at Chicago’s United Center and another show at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, after he brought his first tour stop to an abrupt end.

The Grammy-winning hitmaker of “Hello” and “Say You, Say Me” unexpectedly stopped the concert at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn., after taking a seat on stage multiple times during his performance of “Dancing on the Ceiling” and telling his audience he felt “dizzy,” according to videos shared on social media.

“When you are feeling dizzy, sit your a— down,” he joked, according to video a fan posted to TikTok. “When you are feeling strange about yourself, sit your a— down.”

TMZ reported at the time that the singer-songwriter was hospitalized after the health scare. Paramedics reportedly met the artist backstage and transported him to a nearby hospital out of precaution. In a statement following the incident, Richie thanked fans for their support and informed them, “I’m doing well, and I’m grateful for all of you.”

The Sing a Song All Night Long tour is slated to continue Saturday at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire are scheduled to play the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Sunday. The tour ends Aug. 14 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its debut with a small-scale meet-and-greet for fans in Seoul, bringing all four members together for a rare domestic fan appearance, industry sources said Friday.

The quartet is scheduled to attend the event Saturday, the date of its debut in 2016, at the National Museum of Korea with 40 selected fans, according to the sources.

YG Entertainment, the group’s agency, said details of the event would be provided individually to those selected to attend.

Earlier this week, BLACKPINK unveiled the “BLACKPINK Heritage Collection,” a collaboration with Mu:ds, the museum’s merchandise brand in commemoration of the band’s 10th anniversary.

The group also worked with the museum in February for a project that included cultural-heritage programs and activities linked to the group’s music to mark its comeback.

It will be the first time that all four have appeared together for fans in South Korea since July last year, when the group held a stop of its “Deadline” world tour in Goyang in the northwestern suburbs of Seoul.

Since debuting under YG Entertainment in 2016, BLACKPINK has become one of the most influential acts in global pop, turning each release into a chart-topping hit, and extending its reach into fashion, luxury branding and advertising.

Its 2022 album “Born Pink” made history as the first by a female K-pop act to top the U.S. Billboard 200, while also reaching number one on the British Official Albums Top 100.

In February, the group returned with its third EP, “Deadline,” its first group project in more than three years, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

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Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah has been greeted by hundreds of fans upon arriving in Istanbul wearing Trabzonspor’s burgundy-and-blue kit ahead of his expected move to the Turkish Super Lig club.

The manager of the team that most needed Tarik Skubal sat in his office Sunday at Angel Stadium. The Milwaukee Brewers, the team that opened play Sunday with the best record in the major leagues, did not get Skubal.

The Dodgers did. Of course they did.

“L.A. is America’s team,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Not based on the cries from across America, from fans outraged that the Dodgers helped themselves to the best available talent yet again to baseball insiders mystified that the Detroit Tigers could not land a better return for Skubal than the three prospects the Dodgers swapped, or at least taken a couple more days to pursue a better return.

“Was I rooting for the Dodgers to get Skubal? Personally, no,” Angels pitcher Brent Suter said. “I was hoping another team that hadn’t won the World Series the past couple of years was going to get him.”

Suter pitched for the Brewers for seven years.

Pitcher Tarik Skubal walks to the dugout during a matchup between the Tigers and the Orioles Wednesday in Detroit.

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

“They have a loaded farm system,” he said. “I thought they were going to get him.”

The road to the World Series runs through Los Angeles. The Brewers also posted the best record in the majors last year, then the Dodgers swept them in the National League Championship Series.

In last year’s NLCS, the Brewers started an opener twice, Freddy Peralta once and José Quintana once. In a five- or seven-game series this October, the Brewers could have started Jacob Misiorowski twice and Skubal twice.

That could have mitigated the Dodgers’ huge advantage in slugging. The Dodgers have seven players in double digits in home runs. The Brewers have four.

But any and all statistics obscure the larger point: If you’re a Brewers fan, when is your year?

The Brewers never have won a World Series. They are in line for their eighth playoff appearance in nine years.

Sustainable success is nice, and difficult to achieve. Much credit to the Brewers, who play in baseball’s smallest market.

But the point of the game is to win the World Series. If you’re not going all in when you have the best record in the majors for the second consecutive year, when are you going all in?

If not now, when?

“I know we made our efforts, too,” Murphy said. “I trust the way we operate. I understand the way we operate.”

Milwaukee Brewers infield players celebrate after defeating the Angels Saturday at Angel Stadium.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

This is all the more maddening in Milwaukee because, in 2008, the Brewers tried their best. That July, they traded four prospects for Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia. Only one, outfielder Michael Brantley, developed into a productive major leaguer. That’s the norm, not the exception, in multiprospect trade packages.

As it turned out, the Brewers lost in the first round of the playoffs, and Sabathia did not survive the fourth inning of his lone postseason start. Then he signed with the New York Yankees. So what? The Brewers went for it, and their fans believed.

After the trade for Skubal, Fangraphs increased the Dodgers’ chance to win the World Series from 25% to 31%. That still means a two out of three chance the Dodgers do not win.

“He’s an amazing player,” Suter said, “but it doesn’t mean a guaranteed World Series. It doesn’t guarantee anything.”

I could not believe the number of fans that reached out to say small-market teams could not match the Dodgers’ proposal because they had little chance to re-sign Skubal as a free agent.

Again, so what? We’re playing to win the World Series, not the Baseball America prospect rankings.

The Brewers, with small-market resources, touted former Angels infielder Luis Rengifo as a significant winter free-agent signing. The Dodgers countered with Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker.

“L.A. is America’s team and has all the big names,” Murphy said. “Now they just added to that, with maybe the best pitcher in the game, certainly one of the greats in this era.”

If the Brewers and Dodgers meet again in October, Murphy will only be too happy to tell us who the underdog is.

“It’s going to be David and Goliath,” Murphy said. “We haven’t earned that right yet. We haven’t got there yet.

“If we get there, I’m sure the narrative will be pretty similar: the haves and the have-nots.”

Murphy wanted to make one thing perfectly clear: Fans across America might despise the Dodgers, but he does not.

“They’ve got a bunch of great dudes,” he said. “Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Teoscar [Hernández]. I don’t know [Shohei] Ohtani. He doesn’t even know who I am. But I feel like Ohtani is a great dude. I can just tell by his presence.

“How can you not love [Max] Muncy? Doc [manager Dave Roberts] is my good friend. [Coach Dino] Ebel, we’ve got his whole family playing for the Brewers.”

The Brewers made first-round picks of Ebel’s sons Brady and Trey over the past two years, paying $5.55 million in signing bonuses. The Ebel boys are top prospects. They can look forward to a long stay in Milwaukee.

“I would choose to be Latina in every lifetime,” Kali Uchis said from her Saturday night closing set at L.A.’s EDM music festival Hard Summer. “Where are my Latinos at?”

The crowd responded with a resounding roar.

Throughout the day, fans crossed the grounds in bright Latin American soccer jerseys, the eye-catching complementary greens and reds of Mexico and the rich blue of El Salvador dotting the crowd. They held up flags, piñatas and tall signs pasted with images of Dr. Simi and “Dragonball Z” hero Goku — used to mark one’s place in the sea of people.

“Electronic music is for the beach and for Latinos,” said Dominican dembow artist and Hard Summer act Tokischa. “It’s for us. We love to dance, to feel sexy. And electronic music does that.”

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Hard Summer attendees, like Jason, wore Mexican flags as accessories in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Latino Hard Summer ravers added a spin to festivalwear with vibrant jerseys, flags, and accessories in Inglewood on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Chris Mondaca couldn’t contain his excitement as he danced to Miguelle and Tons’ set at Hard Summer on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

Hard Summer first launched in downtown L.A. in 2007 — yet no Latin artists received top billing. Between Justice, Peaches and hip-hop group 2 Live Crew, the festival became a summit for English-language acts in the electronic and hip-hop genres. Yet last year’s lineup included Colombian reggaeton artist Feid as headliner, along with DJs Deorro, Funk Tribu and Sara Landry, who boosted the Latino community’s presence at the event.

This year at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Colombian American crooner Kali Uchis headlined the main stage after a day of memorable sets by Argentine singer Six Sex, Mexican producer duo R∅z and Mexican American DJ Bolo.

“The underground DJ scene [in Southern California] is beautiful, but I will say: a few years ago, there was not a lot of Latino representation in the big festival lineups,” said Edgar Avalos, known as Bolo. “I feel like there are more opportunities for Latinos in these lineups. And I want to create an environment for Latino ravers to feel like they’re welcome in this space.”

Saray Zamora, Dafne Carbajal, Ailynn Sanchez , Cecilia Garrido and Celest Garrido decided to go to Hard Summer themed in their family’s home country flags in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.

(Katerina Portela / De Los)

The Mexican American DJ and L.A. native Deorro was an inspiration to Avalos, who describes him as “one of the first to break through on major lineups.” Following Deorro’s example, Avalos felt inspired to start his own record label Vibraza for Latino artists and to advocate for their inclusion in festivals — which includes not just onstage visibility, but career opportunities offstage too.

“I feel like there’s a huge bubble, a lot of dope emerging acts within the Latino dance community,” Avalos said. “It’s a blessing to be a part of the crew that’s putting [Latino DJs] on the map.”

According to Luminate’s 2026 data report, electronic dance music dominated the first half of 2026 as the largest growing genre in the U.S. Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 10 streams in the U.S. were songs in Spanish — and casual monthly listenership of Latin music in the States climbed to a peak of 54% of streams in the first quarter of this year.

“[Latino electronic] music makes you feel like … when you’re in the streets, you’re dancing, you feel proud, you let go of certain things or norms,” said Francisca Cuello, known as Six Sex. “Something about being Latino represents a cultural release and an understanding of fun that fits so well with electronic music at night.”

Cuello performed her new album, “Ultra,” as her pouting femme-bot persona who waxes poetic about eroticism over thumping techno beats. She said she was shocked by the number of people who sang the music back to her, despite the album having only been released earlier this summer.

“I never set out to make electronic music, but it’s what called to me,” Cuello said. “To be so far from my country and to connect with people in a country so different from mine, like the U.S., it’s such an honor.”

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Hilary Joy fans herself and jumps at one of the last Hard Summer DJ sets of the night in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Many of the Latina festivalgoers at Hard Summer wore colors of their home country’s flags or ribbons in their hair, as Alejandra Tadeo chose to do in maximalist braids on the way to Roz’s set in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Saiah Landaverde said they were most convinced to go to their first Hard Summer for the Latino artists, like Six Sex, on the lineup. They danced with their friend Josh Roque at Roz’s set in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

Festival attendee Azareal Hernandez-Moreno said she was most excited for the Hard Summer lineup this year because “it’s for us.”

“I feel like it’s a big moment for these artists to perform at such a big festival,” said Hernandez-Moreno. “[They] get to represent where they’re from. It means something to us as Latinos, as fans.”

Atop the Beatbox Art Car — a Hard Summer stage for emerging acts, which is approximately 20 feet tall and built to resemble a rainbow boombox — DJ Spiñorita mixed house, Latin dance and original funk for her audience. Donning a slicked-back hairstyle, Virgen de Guadalupe top and thick golden hoop earrings that reflected the penetrating rays of the sun, Spiñorita nodded and lifted her arms as ravers mouthed lyrics of “El Sonidito” back to her.

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Hard Summer attendee Angel Rosario dances along to a DJ set by VTSS in an El Salvador jersey in Inglewood on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Heidy Menendez dressed up in blues and whites to represent El Salvador as she held up a Spanish meme totem that reads, ‘If you know this is how I get, why do you invite me?’ at Roz’s Hard Summer set in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Latino Hard Summer ravers added a spin to festivalwear with vibrant jerseys, flags, and accessories in Inglewood on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

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Miami-based Ecuadorean Peruvian DJ Milushka in the media hub of Hard Summer on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026.  (Katerina Portela / De Los)

Spiñorita, who is Angela Ramirez by day, said that the L.A. rave scene is one of support and community among Latina artists, who run events for themselves year-round.

“We’re out here and brown and proud of it,” Ramirez said. “We’re putting in the work to make fundraisers for social issues and giving back to our community. Raving and DJing helps to heal trauma and helps us to open up.”

Earlier that day, R∅z sparked crowds of fans to run to their stage as they brought out música mexicana star Peso Pluma. The artist reached out to the crowd as he rapped in Spanish, fans jumping and raising their phones to take pictures and document the moment.

“Viva Mexico!” said R∅z’s Hugo Lara, as cheers rang and flags waved before him.

“I think that because the demographic here is very Latino, we’re all supporting each other,” said Frida Mitre, a Hard Summer attendee. “It was very heartwarming when [Kali Uchis] asked if we were out here, especially because we’ve been going through a lot.

Mitre said one of the sets she was most excited for was Tokischa — “for being so herself.”

Dominican-born rapper and musician Tokischa in her green room at Hard Summer in Inglewood on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.

(Katerina Portela / De Los)

“I was born and raised — lived my entire life — in the Dominican Republic,” said Tokischa, just after her high-octane performance. “Where my music plays, it reaches Dominicans there. In the crowd, I saw some Dominican flags. I raise that really high. I just want to see my community having fun.”

As the sun lowered on Sunday, and most Latino artists had finished for the day, local DJ Bianca Oblivion began spinning records jubilantly in her Mexican flag corset, grinning in the afterglow of a landmark weekend.

“It’s a really cool moment to be a Latino DJ,” she said. “Whatever people’s idea of what Latino music is … is not limited. We’re constantly crossing genres and cultures. We’re on the rise.”