Bad Bunny’s “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” was named album of the year at Sunday night’s 68th Grammy Awards — the first time a Spanish-language LP has won the Recording Academy’s most prestigious prize.
Bunny delivered the speech primarily in Spanish.
“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams,” he said as the audience rose to its feet.
“Puerto Rico, believe me when I say that we are so much bigger than 100 by 35 and there is nothing that exists that we can’t accomplish,” he said in Spanish. “Thank God, thank you to the academy, thank you to all the people who have believed in me throughout my whole career. To all the people who worked on this album. Thank you, mami, for giving birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you.”
“For all the people who have lost a loved one and even then have had to continue moving forward and continue with so much strength, this award is for you all.”
Intricately arranged with the sounds of the singer and rapper’s native Puerto Rico, “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” was released to rave reviews in January 2025 and quickly reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Last summer, Bad Bunny supported the project with a 30-date concert residency at San Juan’s José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum; he followed that with the announcement of a world tour that avoided the United States, in part, he told I-D magazine, because of his concern that immigration agents might turn up at shows.
Prior to Sunday’s win, “Débi Tirar Más Fotos” — the title translates in English to “I Should Have Taken More Photos” — was named album of the year at November’s Latin Grammy Awards. Next weekend, Bad Bunny (whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
He won earlier in the night for música urbana album and global music performance.
The other LPs nominated for album of the year were Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Clipse’s “Let God Sort Em Out,” Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem,” Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX,” Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” and Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia.”
In 2025, Beyoncé took the prize with “Cowboy Carter.”
One way to honor your 93-year-old host: by calling him a “f— gangster” who’ll “slit your throat for a hit record.”
That’s how Monte Lipman big-upped Clive Davis on Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, where Davis had convened an invite-only crowd of celebrities and music-industry insiders for his annual night-before-the-Grammys gala. Lipman, who runs Republic Records, was there to receive the Recording Academy’s Industry Icon award along with his brother and business partner, Avery; clearly, the commendation had gotten him feeling all warm and fuzzy about the record-biz machers who paved his way.
An incomplete list of stars in the Hilton’s ballroom for Saturday’s soiree: Joni Mitchell, Nancy Pelosi, Stevie Wonder, Colman Domingo, Frankie Valli, Martha Stewart, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, Brandi Carlile, Bill Maher, Teyana Taylor, Gladys Knight, Bryan Cox, Jeff Goldblum, Max Martin and — speaking of record-biz machers — Motown founder Berry Gordy, who at 96 had to have been the only person at the party with more experience on him than Davis.
Jennifer Hudson performs.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
At least a few of these luminaries had come, no doubt, to see the Lipmans pick up their prize; among the many, many successes they’ve racked up in recent years include blockbusters by Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Post Malone and the lovable cartoon assassins of “KPop Demon Hunters.”
But mostly folks had come to schmooze and to take in the entertainment Davis had arranged.
As always, the show featured a blend of beloved old-timers and ascendant youngsters, including three of the nominees for the Grammys’ best new artist award: Sombr, pouting extravagantly through a pretend-sleazy “12 to 12”; Olivia Dean, downright luminous as a horn section added some swing to “Man I Need”; and Alex Warren, who’s beginning to look like he may never want to sing “Ordinary” again.
Sombr spins Olivia Dean during his performance.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Clipse and John Legend performed “The Birds Don’t Sing,” from the rap duo’s “Let God Sort Em Out,” which is up for album of the year at Sunday’s Grammys ceremony. The women of “KPop Demon Hunters’” Huntr/x turned up to sing “Golden,” which is nominated for song of the year.
MGK and Jelly Roll tag-teamed an homage to the late Ozzy Osbourne, while Jennifer Hudson saluted the late Roberta Flack; her typically virtuosic rendition of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” brought the room to as close to quiet as it got all night.
Pusha T of Clipse, left, and John Legend perform.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
There were also tributes to two living legends: Bernie Taupin and Art Garfunkel. For the former, Darren Criss sang “Bennie and the Jets” — just one of the classics Taupin co-wrote with Elton John — then brought out Laufey for a surprisingly frisky take on John and Kiki Dee’s disco-era “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” (Free idea: Somebody cast Criss and Laufey in a reboot of “Grease.”)
To honor Garfunkel, the country duo Dan + Shay performed “Mrs. Robinson” before throwing to the 84-year-old himself, who sauntered onstage in a tuxedo and Phillies ball cap, sat down on a stool and — after having read a bit of poetry scrawled on the back on an envelope — closed the show with a touching if slightly wobbly journey across “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Behold more pictures from Saturday’s event:
Art Garfunkel performs.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Clive Davis, left, addresses the crowd.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Karol G on the red carpet.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Adam Lambert on the red carpet.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Darren Criss, left, and Laufey perform.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Jelly Roll, left, and Bunnie Xo on the red carpet.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Monte Lipman, left, and Avery Lipman on the red carpet.
As it turns out, ‘80s pop star Kate Bush and fictional girl group Huntr/x from “KPop Demon Hunters” have a lot in common.
Over the last several years, Netflix has positioned itself as one of the few video streaming services focused on making an impact in the music industry.
From the surprise revival of older songs like Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in shows like “Stranger Things,” to streaming the most originally produced music documentaries, there’s no doubt Netflix’s audience is musically in tune.
Last summer Netflix hit another level with the overwhelming success of “KPop Demon Hunters.” The animated movie, featuring fictional K-pop idols who fight the forces of evil, has become the most streamed Netflix movie with more than 480 million views since its release in June. But its success wasn’t limited to the viewership.
The soundtrack, full of punchy K-pop melodies and inescapable earworms, is the first to top the Billboard charts since 2022, when Disney’s “Encanto” created a similar frenzy. Huntr/x is also up for five Grammys at the awards ceremony Sunday.
The breakout single, “Golden,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is nominated for song of the year, the first time a Netflix production has been nominated in one of the Grammys’ big four categories.
Music and movies always have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Think of classic tunes like “Over the Rainbow” in “The Wizard of Oz” and “My Heart Will Go On” in “Titanic” that became generational hits.
Now, Netflix and other global streaming platforms have taken the synergy to another level, creating new opportunities for recording artists to showcase their music.
“All of a sudden, people are discovering music they didn’t know before,” said Ian Eisendrath, the “KPop Demon Hunters” music supervisor. “I think that people got hooked on the film, which hooked them on the soundtrack, which led to the discovery of other music.”
Eisendrath said the movie, produced by Culver City-based Sony Pictures Animation, was not expected to be “a slam dunk commercial success. It was a risk.”
Though geared toward children, the movie drew a vast audience of all ages.
“It hit all kinds of angles, the music, the story, the characters, the visuals — [Netflix] was very interested in a film that would have wide-ranging appeal to all the quadrants of movie watchers,” Eisendrath said.
In the streaming era, music supervisors like Eisendrath play an increasingly important role in the success of projects like “KPop Demon Hunters,” said Robert Fink, the chair of music industry programs at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
He said over the last 10 years, the role has become about more than just finding a song to match a scene.
“They nurture artists in the way that record labels used to do,” Fink said. “They have artists that nobody knows about, or can get some people to write songs for [the project], which might then become a way that those artists and those songs become successful in the industry.”
The singing voices behind Huntr/x aren’t those of the lead actors. They belong to rising musicians Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. Ejae has written songs for major K-pop groups like Twice, Le Sserafim and Red Velvet, while Nuna and Ami have experience as solo artists.
Though they weren’t a group before the film, they have since performed together on the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Saturday Night Live” and in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The soundtrack earned global appeal, with more than two thirds of its streams originating from outside the U.S., according to data from entertainment industry analytics firm Luminate. “Golden” scored a record 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global charts. The popularity of the movie and its music helped boost music consumption on a global scale.
“KPop Demon Hunters” already is faring well this awards season: It won two Golden Globes and received two Oscar nominations for best animated feature and original song.
Justin Kamps, the music supervisor on “Bridgerton,” noticed a similar trend when new seasons of the Regency-era romance series drop. The period piece is famous for playing quaint orchestral covers of contemporary pop artists such as Billie Eilish, Pitbull and BTS. Its latest season is set to feature covers of Third Eye Blind, Coldplay and Usher.
According to Spotify, both the Vitamin String Quartet, the group behind the covers, and the original artists’ songs, like Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” and BTS’ “Dynamite,” experienced spikes in listening after the show’s release.
“Music and streaming has grown together. It’s great for artists, because the moment that a song is featured in a project, it could be an incredible boost to their streaming numbers and get them discovered,” Kamps said.
Perhaps one of the most memorable examples of this dynamic happened in 2022, when “Stranger Things” featured Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Overnight, everything changed for both Bush and Netflix.
Nora Felder, the show’s music supervisor, called the moment “the perfect storm.”
“It exploded through the stratosphere. We didn’t expect that. We were focused on looking for something that told the narrative. It felt like it had been bigger than ever before,” Felder said.
“Running Up That Hill” received roughly 22,000 daily streams on average before it was featured in the show, according to Luminate. Following its star turn, the song it peaked at 5.1 million streams in a single day — nearly 40 years after its release. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and hit 1 billion streams in 2022. The track then spawned viral trends on TikTok and pulled the ‘80s star into contemporary pop culture.
Throughout its five-season rollout, “Stranger Things” continued to influence what viewers were listening to. Felder said the draw of its soundtrack is a mix of nostalgia for older viewers who might have grown up in the ‘80s (the era in which the show is set) and an introduction to a new sonic world for younger listeners. According to Luminate, 28% of Gen Z discovers music through series that are exclusive to streaming.
When Felder works with other studios, she said music can feel like a “last consideration” or like “there wasn’t enough money being put in the music budget.” But with Netflix, music seems to be a priority, as she’s been able to license tracks from David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac and two Prince songs (which played in the “Stranger Things” series finale).
“Netflix is very careful, and for some projects, music is more of a main character than others,” Felder said. “I do feel like Netflix especially has been very careful to try and apply the budget accordingly and take a look at projects and [realize] that music could really be an added force.”
Netflix’s musicality will be put to the test during Sunday’s Grammys broadcast, as the girls of Huntr/x face off with Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, as well as Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars and Rosé. The Grammys will air live from the Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+.
If 31-year-old Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny wins the Grammy for album of the year Sunday, it will be the first time the award goes to a Spanish-language LP. A week later the singer, known as “the King of Latin Trap,” will headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
These twin feats by one of the world’s most famous performers — a proud Latino and a vocal critic of President Trump’s stance on immigration — plays out against the heartbreaking and chaotic backdrop of the federal government’s aggressive tactics on the streets of American cities, including Minneapolis, where two citizens were shot dead by federal agents.
For the record:
3:12 p.m. Jan. 30, 2026In the “On our radar” section of the newsletter, the item on “Beginnings: The Story of Creation in the Middle Ages” at the Getty mischaracterized the exhibition. The show primarily draws from the Getty’s collection of manuscripts, which are displayed alongside four works by contemporary artist Harmonia Rosales.
This is likely why a painting by an L.A.-based Puerto Rican artist named Ektor Rivera, a reimagining of Emanuel Leutze’s iconic 1852 painting, ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware,” is attracting a wave of attention online. An Instagram post about the painting by Rivera — which features Bad Bunny alongside a host of other Puerto Rican cultural heroes, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sonia Sotomayor and Tito Puente — has more than 170,000 likes and 2.3 million views, spurred in part by the fact that Ricky Martin, who is also featured in the tableau, shared it.
Titled “The Discovery of Americans,” the 5’ x 8’ acrylic-on-canvas painting was commissioned by Seth Goldberg, a talent agent who spent his career working with Latin celebrities from his homebase in Miami. In a phone interview, Golberg said he felt disappointed by the controversy that erupted after the announcement that Bad Bunny would play at the Super Bowl — particularly when people didn’t seem to realize that as a Puerto Rican the singer is an American.
A detail of “The Discovery of Americans,” Ektor Rivera, acrylic on canvas, 2025.
(Ektor Rivera)
“And I thought that maybe if we reframe that Leutze painting with these cultural icons, maybe it changes who we see and celebrate as American, or at least makes a few people think about it a little more,” Goldberg said.
Rivera, who met Goldberg at a dinner with his manager five years ago, ran with the idea, placing a cast of Puerto Rican luminaries in the famous rowboat alongside Bad Bunny — who is draped in the Puerto Rican flag and standing in Washington’s place.
“As a Puerto Rican, I have U.S. citizenship, but I’m still asked if I have my green card,” Rivera said in a recent phone interview. “The people who voluntarily don’t want to learn about the great aportación [contributions] Latinos are giving to this country, and in my case, Puerto Ricans, is really frustrating, and how ICE is dealing with our people is something that is very sad.”
It is notable in the painting that the boat is literally breaking the ice on the river as it moves across the water, Rivera said.
Rivera — a graduate of the School of Plastic Arts and Design of Puerto Rico — is also an actor. He starred in a Puerto Rican production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s early musical, “In the Heights,” during which time he met the famous actor and composer. Miranda and his father, Luis Miranda, later commissioned Rivera to paint a portrait of Rita Moreno, which now hangs in Centro de Bellas Artes de Santurce in San Juan.
The joy Moreno showed when the painting was unveiled has stayed with Rivera, who now lives and works in Santa Clarita. He is raising his children to know and love their Latin heritage — during a trying time when Latinos are often denigrated by the current administration.
Trump recently told the New York Post that he won’t be going to the Super Bowl this year, noting of Bad Bunny and the band Green Day, which will open the telecast, that he is “anti-them.”
“I think it’s a terrible choice,” Trump said. “All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
In Rivera’s painting, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — where the Super Bowl will take place this year — can be seen on the horizon. Those in the boat are smiling. They are looking forward to being part of the mix. It’s a loving representation, filled with hope and possibility.
“We’re celebrating that we are putting our identity as Latinos on one of the major stages in the world,” said Rivera. “And that’s huge. That’s going to educate people, and make them interested.”
America, Rivera said, is not just for certain people.
“America is everybody. America is the world.”
I’m arts editor Jessica Gelt and I’ll be rooting for Bad Bunny at the Grammys this weekend. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.
On our radar
“Creation” by Harmonia Rosales, 2025. Oil, gold leaf, gold paint and iron oxide on panel. 121.9 × 91.4 cm (48 × 36 in.).
Beginnings: The Story of Creation in the Middle Ages The Getty exhibition explores how people in the Middle Ages imagined the creation of the world through manuscripts, alongside works by LA-based artist Harmonia Rosales, who utilizes West African Yoruba mythology and Black resilience and identity.
Through April 19. J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu
Tiffany Townsend performs Saturday and Sunday in Long Beach.
(Mia McNeal)
Crash Out Queens: A Tiffany Townsend Recital The soprano officially kicks off the Long Beach Opera’s season with an exploration of women in opera that expands into a multidisciplinary collaboration with pianist Lucy Yates, dancer Jasmine Albuquerque, scenic designer Prairie T. Trivuth and more. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday. Altar Society, 230 Pine Ave. in Long Beach. longbeachopera.org
Midori Francis and Noah Keyishian rehearsing for “Sylvia Sylvia Syvia” at Geffen Playhouse.
(Jeff Lorch)
Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia A woman struggling with writer’s block and her own husband’s literary success takes refuge in the Boston apartment once occupied by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes in the world premiere of this tragicomic thriller from playwright Beth Hyland. Directed by Jo Bonney. Wednesday through March 8. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha appears with the L.A. Phil Friday and Saturday.
(LA Phil)
Mahler, Bartók & Ravel Dudamel Fellow Elim Chan conducts the L.A. Phil in a program culminating with Mahler’s Fourth Symphony featuring South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha. 11 a.m. Friday; 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Miles Davis Centennial Concert The Miles Electric Band, led by Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning producer/drummer Vince Wilburn Jr., features a fusion of Miles Davis alumni and next-generation talents, including Darryl Jones, Robert Irving III, Munyungo Jackson, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Antoine Roney, Keyon Harrold and DJ Logic, plus special guests. 8 p.m. Friday. Carpenter Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. carpenterarts.org
Lifeline Written by Robert Axelrod and directed by Ken Sawyer, this drama finds a mother volunteering at a suicide hotline following a life-altering event. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, through March 1. The Road Theatre, NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. roadtheatre.org
101 Dalmatians The 65th anniversary release of the Disney animated classic gets a one-week run in movie palace splendor. Tickets are $10 and include a complimentary small popcorn. 10 a.m., 1, 4 and 7 p.m. daily, through Thursday. El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd. elcapitantheatre.com
“metal mettle metal mettle” by Steve Roden, 2020. Acrylic with paper collage
(Robert Wedemeyer/Courtesy Vielmetter Los Angeles)
Steve Roden/Sophie Calle A pair of new exhibitions open today in Orange County: ‘Wandering” focuses on the late Los Angeles–based artist Steve Roden’s works on paper, presenting drawings and collages as forms of travel without a set destination; and “Overshare” is a survey of French conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s photography, text, video and installation work that mines intimate relationships and chance encounters. Through May 24. UC Irvine Langson/Orange County Museum of Art, 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa. ocma.art
Sweeney Todd Jason Alexander directs Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical thriller about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and has assembled a topflight cast led by Tony nominee Will Swenson and Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita. Through Feb. 22. La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. lamiradatheatre.com
SATURDAY Garrick Ohlsson and Richard O’Neill Pianist Ohlsson and violist O’Neill team up for an evening of Schubert and Rachmaninoff. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. broadstage.org
SUNDAY Common Ground The Los Angeles Master Chorale performs the world premiere of “The Beatitudes” by five-time Emmy Award-winning composer Jeff Beal, who will play the piano and flugelhorn, and Henryk Górecki’s “Miserere,” inspired by the 1980s Polish Solidarity movement. 7 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. lamasterchorale.org
TUESDAY
Jacob Aune, left, and Sam McLellan in the North American tour of “The Book of Mormon.”
(Julieta Cervantes)
The Book of Mormon The latest national tour of the Broadway smash comes to town. When the show had its L.A. debut at the Pantages in 2012, Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote, “Just know that this exceedingly naughty, though in the end disarmingly nice, show is devised by the minds behind ‘South Park’ and that risqué ‘Sesame Street’ for theater-loving adults, ‘Avenue Q.’ In other words, leave the kids at home with a baby-sitter” Through Feb. 15. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Feb 24-25. The Granada Theatre, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. thebookofmormontour.com
Adams, Cheung & Lanao John Adams curates the third installment of the LA Phil Etudes, highlighting the orchestra’s principal musicians in solo pieces by contemporary composers Francisco Coll, Samuel Adams, Nico Muhly, Sílvia Lanao and Anthony Cheung. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Dr. Strangelove Steve Coogan plays four roles in this screening of the National Theatre stage adaptation of the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film recorded live in London. 7 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
THURSDAY
Cheyenne Jackson plays the Wallis Thursday night.
(Vince Truspin)
Cheyenne Jackson The Broadway heartthrob performs a “musical memoir” with tunes made famous by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Sam Smith and Chappell Roan, plus his own song “Ok,” detailing his father’s unconditional love for his gay son. 7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Eddie Izzard brings Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to Los Angeles in a new solo staging, adapted by Mark Izzard and directed by Selina Cadell.
(Carol Rosegg)
Eddie channels tragedy Times theater critic Charles McNulty weighed in on the gender-fluid British comedian Eddie Izzard’s solo performance of “Hamlet,” running through Sunday at the Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood. McNulty calls the show “a daredevil feat of memory, theatrical bravado and cardio fitness,” noting that, “As a spectacle, it’s as exhilarating as it is exhausting. The thrill of seeing a fearless, indefatigable performer single-handedly populate the stage with the myriad figures of this masterwork never lets up. But fatigue can’t help setting in once it becomes clear that this marathon drama will be delivered in the broadest of strokes.”
Father and son McNulty also headed to Matrix Theatre’s Henry Murray Stage to catch a Rogue Machine world premiere of L.A. writer Justin Tanner’s solo show, “My Son the Playwright.” McNulty calls Tanner “one of the signal voices of L.A.’s wild and free intimate theater scene.” The show is divided into two acts, one that presents the father’s side of the relationship, and the other, the son’s. “Tanner plunges into these ostentatiously autobiographical roles, heedlessly, hectically and without a psychiatric net,” McNulty writes.
Academy cuts Arts and entertainment writer Malia Mendez got the scoop that the Academy Foundation laid off all five staffers with its Oral History Projects team, “effectively dissolving the department responsible for conducting and preserving interviews with notable members of the film industry.” In a statement posted on social media, the Academy Foundation Workers Union, AFSCME Local 126, called the cuts “a sad and reckless choice.” (Also, two of the laid-off staffers were placed in other roles in the organization.)
Breaking Glass I jumped on the news that composer Philip Glass abruptly canceled June’s world premiere of his Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” at the Kennedy Center, saying its message does not align with the vision for the venue under the Trump administration. “Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony. Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership,” Glass wrote Tuesday in a letter to the board that was shared with The Times.
The hits keep coming Speaking of the Kennedy Center: As the artistic losses continue to mount at the beleaguered performing arts center in the wake of President Trump’s takeover — and renaming — of the venue, the Washington Post reported that Kevin Couch, who was recently announced as the new senior vice president of artistic programming for the venue, resigned less than two weeks later. No reason was given, and Couch declined a Post request for comment.
50 is nifty In happier local news, San Diego’s Opera Neo — a summer opera festival and young artist training program — celebrating its 50th anniversary season, and has announced its upcoming lineup. Highlights include Antonio Vivaldi’s, “Arsilda,” Louise Bertin’s “Fausto” and Gioachino Rossini’s “Il turco in Italia.”
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If anyone told Mariah Carey ahead of time that Friday night’s MusiCares Person of the Year tribute would feature a live auction — an auction in which a meet-and-greet with the singer in Abu Dhabi was offered to the highest bidder — you sure couldn’t tell by observing her reaction.
Seated near the stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center, a camera feeding close-up images of her face to several screens, Carey appeared genuinely surprised by an auctioneer’s description of the backstage hangout in which she’d be expected to participate next month.
But such is the life of a queen.
Watching Carey respond in real time was actually the best thing about this annual Grammy-weekend gala meant to honor an artist’s work and philanthropy. Though the 56-year-old herself sang for only a minute or so at the end of the show, Carey was a delight to behold as a series of admirers took turns performing some of her many hits (and a handful of deep cuts).
Jennifer Hudson performs.
(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images)
The look of game recognizing game as Jennifer Hudson crushed “Vision of Love.” The tenderness with which she regarded her old friend Busta Rhymes doing their “I Know What You Want.” The slowly dawning realization that this heavily tattooed white man named Teddy Swims was really going to pull off “Without You.”
“That was terrifying,” Swims said when he finished the song — an all-timer of a power ballad with a lengthy chain of custody going back through Carey, Harry Nilsson and the doomed Welsh band Badfinger.
Best of all was the sight of Carey proudly singing along to Foo Fighters and Taylor Momsen as they blazed through a pair of tunes from the cult-fave grunge album she secretly recorded in the mid-1990s under the name Chick.
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, left, and Taylor Momsen perform.
(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)
Other acts on the bill included Adam Lambert, who went slow and moody for “Can’t Let Go”; the British girl group Flo, which gave an airy performance of “Dreamlover”; and Laufey, who kept a watchful eye on a giant prompter scrolling lyrics at the back of the room as she did “It’s Like That.”
Then there was Billy Porter, who took “Always Be My Baby” way over the top with wild vocal runs that made up for what they lacked in precision with — well, mostly with volume.
Carey took the stage late in the evening to give her thanks to “so many friendly and familiar faces — people I’ve worked with, people I’ve long admired, even people I thought I’d never see again.” After her speech, Jon Batiste popped out to lead a random assortment of stars through an all-hands finale of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which recently set a new record for the most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Charlie Puth? Gayle King? Rita Wilson? Carey looked pleased(-ish) to see each one.
Some actors who appear right on the edge of becoming household names and who happen to be hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time might be leery of letting a famous relative steal their spotlight.
Alexander Skarsgård let it happen twice in the same “SNL” episode when his father Stellan Skarsgård appeared in a returning sketch about immigrant fathers (in which Cardi B also appeared) and one about a Scandinavian film’s giggly production. To be fair, though, his dad is currently Oscar-nominated in the supporting actor category for “Sentimental Value.”
If the Alexander of the Skarsgård was bothered, it sure didn’t show; the first-time host of the 1,000th episode of “SNL” was loose and committed throughout, even if not all the sketches hit. And yes, before you go racing to Peacock to confirm, Alexander gave his father Stellan a big ol’ hug in the closing goodbyes. Aww.
If “SNL” shied away last week from directly addressing the quickly devolving situation in Minneapolis last week, it found its footing with a cold open about ICE that didn’t rely on James Austin Johnson’s impression of President Trump. Instead, it featured former cast member Pete Davidson as border czar Tom Homan taking over command of clueless ICE officers. This was followed, after the monologue, by a well-executed sketch about a mom (Ashley Padilla) slowly changing her mind about the Trump administration.
As the younger Skarsgård’s career has shown (“Murderbot,” “True Blood,” “The Northman”), he’s used to playing odd, extreme characters and “SNL” was a nice fit.
For the first time in a while, Trump didn’t dominate the cold open of the show; instead, Davidson came back to the show, wearing a bald cap to portray Homan. Homan points out the irony that things have gotten so bad in Minneapolis with ICE that he’s now considered the voice-of-reason adult in the room. ICE commanders (Kenan Thompson, Andrew Dismukes, Johnson, Ben Marshall, Mikey Day and Jeremy Culhane) claimed their orders were “wildin’ out” and wondered if they’re supposed to be releasing the Epstein files. As Homan pointed out, the ICE raids were to distract from those, but now the Epstein files are being released to distract from ICE. Davidson is remembered more for his “Weekend Update” segments and his Chad character on “SNL,” but he does some nice work here even if he breaks character at one point.
Skarsgård’s could have spent his monologue discussing his TV and movie roles, like his upcoming film “Wicker” or his role in the new Charli XCX mockumentary “The Moment,” but instead he focused on the band members who appear on stage but rarely get to speak on the show. He interviewed some of the band members, poorly, and then grabbed a saxophone to do some inspired fake playing. It was silly and fun, a nice start to Skarsgård’s night.
Best sketch of the night: Mom’s having a change of heart, but you can’t say anything
For most of this season you can count on at least one sketch to feature a standout performance from featured player Ashley Padilla, who has become a ringer for playing women who are either very deluded and are trying to pretend they’re not, or who are trying to manage other people’s reactions to her odd behavior. For this sketch, she gets to do both, playing a mother who, after a lengthy preamble, reveals to her adult children and husband (Skarsgård) that she’s starting to change her opinion about Trump’s policies, from immigration to guns to trans people. As her kids struggle to hold back their reactions, lest she swing back the other way, her husband just wants to go to Red Robin for his birthday scoop. Best line: “If I hear a single ‘I told you so,’ I will go see the ‘Melania’ movie tonight!”
Also good: Having the right body shape for Olympics-level luge, even if it’s a corpse
Wickline, another featured player, has become a polarizing cast member among fans, some of whom simply don’t get her humor or appreciate her performances, while others love her quirky songs and see her as bringing a unique vibe to the show. For this Olympics-themed pre-taped piece, she gets to have a lot of fun as a reluctant luge competitor who is terrified to go down the mountain and tries to fake being sick to avoid going to Milan. This might remind you of Patti Harrison’s perfect performance in the “Capital Room” sketch on “I Think You Should Leave,” but Wickline manages to make the character her own.
‘Weekend Update’ winner: They scored again ahead of the Super Bowl
Sherman was promoted to “Weekend Update” weather correspondent in a segment that included a surprise appearance from “30 Rock” star Jack McBrayer, but it was Dismukes and Padilla as a couple who just had sex winning the week with their awkward, infatuated banter, which tied in nicely to a discussion about next week’s big game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. The couple predict that the Patriots will be on top the first half, but at some point the Seahawks will come from behind and dominate the Patriots for a little while. “Maybe the Patriots get tired and ask the Seahawks to play themselves for a while,” Dismukes suggests. Things go off the rails when he says no matter what happens, someone’s getting a ring, which puts tension on the budding relationship. “I didn’t say that night!” he explains to a disappointed Padilla. The two previously hooked up for the first time in the Glen Powell episode.
MYLEENE Klass proved the ultimate multi-tasker as she stripped to her gym kit for a series of cartwheels and handstands while presenting her radio show.
The Smooth FM anchor, 47, took a break from the mic to show off her flexibility in-between tracks.
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Myleene Klass showed off her flexibility as she performed cartwheels in a sports bra and tight leggingsCredit: InstagramThe broadcaster proved a pro at multi-tasking at Smooth RadioCredit: BackGridMyleene performed the perfect handstand as the tracks played outCredit: InstagramThe 47-year-old pulled off her headphones before performing the featCredit: Instagram
The broadcaster, TV star and campaigner donned a black crop top and matching leggings, paired with white socks and trainers.
She brushed her poker-straight brunette locks back with her hands after laying down her earphones.
The Hear’Say songstress then pulled off an impressive cartwheel before transitioning into a handstand against the door frame.
Myleene even managed to flash a huge smile as she posed upside-down.
The classical music performer andLoose Womenpanelist sizzled in the striking two piece in a new Instagram snap – and joked the hype around the sexy garment had “put my kids through school”.
Last month, the mum of three flashed her abs in the Freemans product as she struck a series of poses while on holiday.
Myleene recently flashed her abs in a new advert for Skechers as she front flipped her way into her G WagonCredit: InstagramMyleene recently struck a pose in her I’m A Celeb inspired bikini 20 years onCredit: InstagramShe told how the bright white two-piece had been a ‘money spinner’ for her and her familyCredit: Instagram
The Trump administration has provided around $300 million to the Rodriguez government after seizing tankers and selling oil stockpiled in the country. The funds are being managed through accounts in Qatar and will be subject to audits by US agencies, Rubio told the Senate on Wednesday.
The idea that the US can somehow remote-control its way into a coherent audit of Venezuelan public spending defies imagination. Venezuela has never been an easy place to follow money. Road construction in Venezuela was for much of the 20th century a famous form of campaign finance that bankrolled politicians through well-greased kickback systems. Even in the country’s more prosperous days, public hospitals were notorious rat’s nests of corruption that allowed suppliers of everything from aspirin to X-ray machines to mark up prices for illicit gain and political financing.
Chavismo put this on steroids. Because there has been no alternation of power since Chávez’s 1998 election, no one in a position to audit government books has ever had an incentive to. The government comptroller’s office, once an institutional check on the ruling party, has for decades been used primarily to disqualify opposition politicians from holding office on the basis of fabricated accounting discrepancies.
The Chávez era saw the wholesale unraveling of basic parliamentary oversight of spending. State oil company PDVSA went from being an internationally respected company to a piggy bank used for everything from food imports to housing development. Multibillion-dollar slush funds with no rules about spending and no reporting requirements to the general public came to manage more than parliament. Bilateral financing agreements with China, Russia, and Iran led to secretive and inscrutable financing arrangements that made the country’s borrowing a black box.
Rampant corruption and damaged financial accountability do not mean that outsiders cannot be involved there. When the war in Ukraine broke out, international agencies famously relaxed what had been stringent standards around Ukrainian corruption. Aid agencies and nonprofits working in Haiti have had to quietly make concessions to the realities of operating there. As did the organizations that worked to reduce hunger in Venezuela during the crisis years. Expecting to maintain Swiss-level accounting standards in these types of environments is a recipe for making sure nothing gets done.
Which is a bit of what Rubio is promising by putting the US Export-Import Bank in charge of following every last dollar that Venezuela receives from US-brokered oil sales. Nobody was able to fully follow the money in Venezuela even when they were trying. After almost 30 years of systematically undermining public transparency, a remote-controlled, third-party audit conducted by foreigners from thousands of miles away doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.
The inevitable conclusion is that the United States will simply have to start turning a blind eye to what actually happens with the money. With clear marching orders to get the economy up and running and oil production moving as fast as possible, there simply won’t be time to stand on accounting formalities. Ask too many questions and the progress will start to slow down. It seems like an unexpected consequence of a transition under tutelage: the Trump administration will quietly become part of the chavista machine.
The latest cache of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released Friday include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner.
In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes about wanting to see Maxwell in a tight leather outfit, she offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday.
In an email sent on March 14, 2003, Maxwell describes a “tight leather flying outfit” she wore recently and said she was thinking of Wasserman in inappropriate moments. He wrote back, “I think of you all the time … So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
She then promises him, “Casey — I will be coming back to NY tom late afternoon. I shall be wearing a tight leather flying suit …”
Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.
(U.S. Department of Justice)
The exchange, part of a trove of documents about Epstein released on Friday, reveal that Wasserman was at one time friendly with Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 on five counts related to sex trafficking and the abuse of minors in partnership with Epstein.
Other documents show that Wasserman and his then wife flew on Epstein’s private jet in September 2002 alongside Maxwell, Epstein, former President Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and several others as part of a 10-day trip to explore the problems of HIV in Africa. (That trip had been documented in a 2003 Vanity Fair story).
During her trial, federal prosecutors established that Maxwell and Epstein — who died by suicide while in federal custody in 2019 — were engaged in a sex-trafficking scheme involving minors from the late 1990s through the early 2000s.
In an April 2, 2003, email to Wasserman, Maxwell offers to “continue the massage concept into your bed … and then again in the morning … not sure if or when we would stop.”
Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.
(U.S. Department of Justice)
Later that day she writes, “Umm — all that rubbing — are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild — I suppose I could practice them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”
A few days later, Maxwell tells Wasserman that “JE” says she should pick a week to go to Los Angeles and look at properties they can rent in Malibu that summer and offers to bring Wasserman something from Paris.
Wasserman wrote back, “I think you picking a week to be in LA is a really good idea … The only thing i want from paris is you”
The pair continue their exchange on April 6, with Maxwell then offering to bring him food from London such as KitKats, cheddar and baked beans to which he says, “Among all my desires, that combination is pretty low on the list … xoxo”
She asks him what combination would do it for him and he says “You, me, and not else much …”
Wasserman then explains the concept of June gloom, California’s famous seasonal fog, and Maxwell inquires whether it would be foggy enough “so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?”
He responds, “or something like that …”
Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.
(U.S. Department of Justice)
Wasserman, a UCLA alumnus, is the grandson of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman. He built his own fortune through his sports marketing and talent agency Wasserman, which represents more than 30 No. 1 overall picks in major sports leagues including the MLB, NFL, NBA and WNBA. In 2023, the agency acquired Brillstein Entertainment Partners, a management production company that represents stars such as Adam Sandler and Brad Pitt and launched hit shows that included “The Sopranos.”
Wasserman was recruited by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2017 to help Los Angeles win its Olympic host bid. While Garcetti completed his mayoral term and faded from the Olympic spotlight, Wasserman remains the face of the city’s push to host a successful Games in 2028. He has led every major Olympic update presented to the IOC and met multiple times with President Trump to secure his support.
Wasserman is expected to join an LA28 delegation in Italy for the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the final Games before L.A.
Epstein, 66, was once a well-connected financial consultant who rubbed shoulders with many prominent politicians and celebrities, including Trump and Clinton. He was arrested and taken into federal custody in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
The indictment alleged that, between 2002 and 2005, Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls at his homes in Manhattan, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations, by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him for cash. It also alleged Epstein paid several of his victims to recruit other underage girls to engage in similar sex acts.
The latest documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was enacted after months of public and political pressure and requires the government to open its files on the late financier and Maxwell. Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said the Justice Department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
It is painful to have to write about Catherine O’Hara, so alive and lively a presence, in the past tense. O’Hara has lived inside my head — is it too corny to say my heart? — from “SCTV” to “Schitt’s Creek” to “The Studio,” on whose second season she was scheduled to start work, when she died, Friday at 71.
Any appearance constituted a recommendation for — a benediction upon — whatever she was appearing in; you felt she would only say yes to things that used her well, that sounded fun or interesting, and that her casting reflected well on the project and people who cast her. I think of her not as a careerist, but a Canadian. Of joining “Schitt’s Creek,” she said when I interviewed her in 2015, “it took me a few moments to commit, [but] I already trusted [co-creator, co-star] Eugene [Levy] as a writer and an actor, and as a good man who I could stand to spend time with.”
This is how it began for her, in Toronto, where her brother Marcus was dating Gilda Radner, who was in “Godspell” with Levy and Martin Short. “And it was really watching Gilda when I realized, ‘cause I’d always liked acting in school, that it was actually a local possibility. And then she got into Second City theater, and I was a waitress there — it’s like I stalked her — and then she did the show for a while and then took on a job for the National Lampoon. So I got to understudy or take her place — I got to join the cast, and Eugene was in it. It was really just the luck of having a professional actor suddenly in my life.”
As an “SCTV” early adopter, O’Hara was first attractive to me because she was funny, but she was also beautiful — a beauty she could subvert by a subtle or broad rearrangement of her features. Though fundamentally a comic actress, her characters could feel pained or tragic beneath the surface — even Lola Heatherton, one of her signature “SCTV” characters, an over-exuberant spangled entertainer (“I love you! I want to have your babies!” was a catch phrase) is built on desperation. Among many, many other parts, she played a teenaged Brooke Shields singing Devo’s “Whip It!,” Katherine Hepburn, a depressed Ingmar Bergman character, and, most memorably, chirpy teenage quiz show contestant Margaret Meehan, buzzing in with answers before the questions are asked, and growing tearfully undone as the host (Levy) becomes increasingly angry.
Elsewhere, she played a forgetful suburban mom in “Home Alone,” the work for which she’s arguably best known, given its ongoing mainstream popularity; an ice cream truck driver messing with Griffin Dunne in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours”; and a tasteless art snob and indifferent mother in “Beetlejuice,” where she met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch. She shone in three Christopher Guest movies, paired with Fred Willard in “Waiting for Guffman” as community stars; opposite Levy in “Best in Show,” as a dog handler with a lot of ex-boyfriends; with Levy again in “A Mighty Wind,” as a reuniting ‘60s folk duo; and in “For Your Consideration” as an aging actress dreaming of an Oscar. In the great Netflix miniseries “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (also designed by Welch), she played an evil optometrist, the sometime girlfriend of Neil Patrick Harris’ Count Olaf, dark, cold, sexy. Last year, she picked up a supporting actress Emmy nomination as a dethroned but not knocked down executive in “The Studio”; she’s fierce and funny. And, though she was fundamentally a comic actress, she could play straight, as in the second season of “The Last of Us,” penetrating opposite Pedro Pascal as his therapist, and the widow of a man he killed.
Lived in across six, ever-richer seasons of “Schitt’s Creek,” Moira Rose is certainly her crowning achievement, a completely original, Emmy-winning creation whose quirks and complexities were embraced by a wide audience; going forth, she’ll be a reference to describe other characters — a “Moira Rose type” — with no explanation needed. With her original, breathy way of speaking, stressing odd syllables and stretching random vowels to the breaking point, her mad fashions and family of wigs, Moira is a sketch character with depth. Of all the Roses, she’s the one most resistant to adapting to their motel world, to coming down off the mountain, but she is as needy as she is condescending, and underlying her fantastic, tightly structured carapace is a fear that’s terribly moving when it shows through the cracks.
Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara in scene from “Schitt’s Creek.” The actors worked together frequently over the years.
(PopTV)
“I like to think she’s really threatened by this small-town life — because she’s been there, you know?” O’Hara said back when the series began. “That just makes it more threatening in my mind. And I like to think of her as more vulnerable than just snobby or superior. I think it’s way more insecure.”
Her tentative acceptance of her circumstance, as well as the show’s overarching arc, finds expression in the series finale, where, all white and gold, in flowing robes with long blonde locks cascading from beneath a bishop’s hat, she tearfully conducts the marriage of her son, David (co-creator Dan Levy). Speaking of a sort of wind of fate, she says, “All we can wish for our families, for those we love, is that that wind will eventually place us on solid ground. and I believe it’s done just that for my family in this little town, in the middle of nowhere.” You might cry, too.
I had the luck to speak with O’Hara several times over the run of the series. The last was in Canada, a day or two before the last day of filming. We sat on the apron of the Rosebud Motel, looking across the muddy parking lot to where fans were gathered on the road above.
“They’re there as much for each other as for us. It’s almost that we don’t have to be there, but we brought them together somehow.” That’s what actors and the stories they tell, give us — the joy, and sometimes the pain: A world of strangers, united in this awful moment, out of love for Catherine O’Hara.
She portrayed a spoiled socialite turned impoverished rural motel manager in “Schitt’s Creek.” She played a self-centered stepmom who, when possessed by an evil entity, channeled Harry Belafonte’s voice singing “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” in 1988’s “Beetlejuice.” She was the harried, forgetful mom who left her son behind in “Home Alone,” a goofy ‘90s comedy that would become a Christmas classic.
Catherine O’Hara, who died Friday at the age of 71, brought to life dozens of characters over her 50-year career across film and television, and no two of her performances were alike. She might play an eccentric artist one moment, an insufferable snob the next, then a deceptively “normal” housewife, animating each with their own personality, quirks and ticks.
Though a comedic performer at heart, O’Hara, as they say, had range. From her recurring role as a grieving therapist in Season 2 of HBO’s dystopian drama “The Last of Us” to voicing and acting a plethora of bizarre characters in Tim Burton‘s films, O’Hara made her mark. Here are 10 of her most memorable roles.
A reality TV series dubbed the ‘best show ever’ is returning for a second series and fans are predicting a ‘wild ride’.
Jury Duty: James Marsden stars in Amazon Freevee trailer
A reality TV series that has been branded the “funniest show” is returning three years after its first season.
Social experiment Jury Duty first aired on Amazon Freevee in 2023, with a second instalment hitting Amazon Prime Video in March this year.
The hoax sitcom follows a fake jury trial, with construction worker Ronald Gladden serving as a juror, unaware that the proceedings around him aren’t real.
Starring James Marsden as a fake juror, portraying an over-exaggerated, parodied version of himself, and a series of actors as the other jurors, including one who keeps falling asleep, Jury Duty shows the inner workings of a trial in the US.
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Everything that goes on is entirely planned, unbeknownst to Ronald, who thinks the people around him are actually as chaotic as they seem.
The documentary-style comedy sees Ronald share his baffled thoughts to the camera before realising what actually happened.
He later won $100,000 as part of the experience, saying his life “completely changed overnight” once it aired.
He added, “I had a feeling in my gut the whole time that something wasn’t right. They got me on camera multiple times saying, ‘I feel like I’m on reality TV. Like, this can’t be real. What’s going on?”
“The day of the reveal, everyone was so quick to let me know that, like, ‘Hey, we understand that none of this was real. But the one thing—that the relationships we formed were real.”
“They were so quick to just let me know that that wasn’t fake. And that honestly is what made the whole thing worth it for me.”
The series received a roaring response from critics and audiences alike, with three Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Peabody Award.
It is now set to return, Amazon Prime confirmed, but this time, Ronald will be free from the chaos.
A teaser trailer was posted on social media, captioned: “Welcome to the retreat. Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat premieres March 20 on @primevideo.”
The video took a look back at the original series, before teasing: “Now, we’re following a business on their annual company retreat. Except this is not a real company. It’s fake. Everyone involved is an actor. Except Anthony.”
One person is then heard saying: “If I go home and tell my parents about this stuff, they’re gonna be like, ‘You’re lying’.”
As per Deadline, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat will follow a corporate offsite event at a family-owned hot sauce company, with Anthony featuring as a recently hired temporary worker.
The entire experience will be staged, with every “colleague” assigned a role around him, and scenes in conference rooms and during downtime, all orchestrated.
When the founder announces he’s preparing to step down, the retreat transforms into a clash between corporate ambitions and small-business values, with the future of the company and whose hands it will fall into all up in the air.
Fans have been left over the moon at the glimpse of a new season, with one writing: “I’m so excited to see this.”
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“Season 1 was too good, we are ready!” another wrote, as a third said: “Best. Show. EVER. Can’t wait for S2!”
“I don’t know how you can top the original, but I’m dying to see!!!!” someone else said.
Another commented, “If this is even half as chaotic as Jury Duty, we are in for a wild ride. But honestly, am I the only one wondering if they can actually pull off the ‘fake person’ trope again without everyone being suspicious? The bar is set so high. I just hope it’s actual comedy and not just another over-produced ‘reality’ mess. March 20th can’t come soon enough. I need to see if this lives up to the hype or if it’s just a one-hit wonder.”
When previously discussing possible future seasons of Jury Duty, showrunner Cody Heller told Variety: “Obviously, it would have to be a whole different universe. You couldn’t just do jury duty again, because then people would be like, “Wait a second”.
“But I do think that it’s possible. I do think there’s a million different worlds that this kind of thing could exist in.”
Jury Duty is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
PHOTO op queen Sydney Sweeney appears to have gone all camera shy — but then it was all an act to promote her underwear range.
The Euphoria actress, 28, chose a paparazzi-theme to show off the Seduction Bra and String You Along thong from her brand Syrn.
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Sydney Sweeney chose a paparazzi-theme to show off the Seduction Bra and String You Along thongCredit: SYRN.comAnother photo showed her in a fantasy lace halter bodysuitCredit: SYRN
Another photo showed her in a fantasy lace halter bodysuit.
And fans appear to be falling for the hype.
One would-be buyer on social media was disappointed to find it was sold out, adding: “So sad.”
Among the items which were snapped up was the $89 fantasy lace halter bodysuit and the “String You Along” lace thong costing $19.
Sydney previously revealed Syrn will offer designs split into four “personas” — seductress, romantic, playful and comfy — with 44 sizes between 30B and 42DDD.
She said: “The secret is finally out . . . this is lingerie you wear for YOU, no explanation, no apology.
“I wanted to create a place where women can move between all the different versions of who we are.
“I love working on cars, I go water skiing, I’ll dress up for the red carpet then go home to snuggle my dogs.
“I’m not one thing, no woman is.”
Euphoria actress Sydney dazzles in another piece from her brand SyrnCredit: SYRN.com
A MAJOR character from Sex and the City was seen looking sexier than ever.
The SATC heartthrob was spotted out and about walking his dogs, and honestly, he’s still looking good more than 20 years after his Sex and the City days.
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The 58-year-old actor, who played Carrie’s writer boyfriend, was rocking a seriously shaggy beard during the low-key outing.
SATC star, Ron Livingston, is spotted years after becoming everyone’s favorite ex-boyfriendCredit: BackGrid
Ron Livingston, the star behind the oft-debated Jack Berger character in the series, threw on a blue flannel shirt for the casual dog walk.
That Post-it breakup is still one of the most talked-about moments in the entire series, and an iconic moment in television history.
For the walk in Hollywood, he added baggy blue jeans to his flannel shirt, a white undershirt, and some dark red leather sneakers.
Carrie and BergerCredit: AlamyAfter the Hamptons, before the Post-It noteCredit: Alamy
Wife and fellow actor, Rosemarie DeWitt, joined him on the dog walk in a sporty black and white look with a floppy hat.
Ron’s joked before that he got “death threats from scrunchie nation” after another scene where Berger defended a woman’s hair scrunchie.
Berger is also the one who dropped the legendary, “He’s just not that into you,” line on Miranda during that dinner with all the girls.
Since his SATC days, Ron’s been busy with stuff like The Conjuring, Boardwalk Empire, and his hit show, Loudermilk.
Ron Livingston arrives at RLJE Films’ The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then Bigfoot premiere at ArcLight Hollywood on February 04, 2019Credit: GettyCarrie and Berger meet a woman from MaconCredit: Alamy
Ron was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and attended Yale along with Anderson Cooper, while singing in the a capella group, the Whiffenpoofs.
He first became known for his lead role as Peter Gibbons in the classic American movie, Office Space.
He’s also well-known for playing Captain Lewis Nixon in Band of Brothers, the HBO war series, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Unlike SJP, Ron’s kept his personal life pretty private compared to when he was in the Sex and the City spotlight.
He married Rosemarie in 2009, and the pair have two children together.
This casual dog-walking look shows he’s totally fine living a chill life away from all the Hollywood craziness.
Fans were pumped to see him looking good and living his best life.
That shaggy beard gives him a totally different vibe from his clean-cut Berger days — more rugged and distinguished now.
Even after more than 20 years, SATC fans still remember Berger as one of Carrie’s most memorable boyfriends before she met Petrovsky and ended up with Mr Big.
Ron Livingston is spotted 30 years after the cult comedy was releasedCredit: BackGridRon Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt walking their two dogs in Los FelizCredit: BackGrid
Pop artist Kii Arens made a name for himself in music over the years, creating concert posters for bands and vocalists such as Radiohead, Elton John, Dolly Parton, the Weeknd, Sonic Youth, Tame Impala, Diana Ross and more.
That work is taking center stage at Arens’ new downtown Los Angeles gallery, FAB LA, in a show titled “And the Winner Is.” Curated by Arens and featuring poster art of Grammy winners, the exhibition is set to open Friday, two days before the 2026 Grammys descend on the city, and just in time to welcome plenty of visiting celebrity faces to the gallery’s third-ever event.
A glittering party scene is part of every exhibition Arens hosts, dating back to his previous gallery, LA-LA Land, which he opened two decades ago on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood and ran until its lease came up last year.
FAB LA officially launched in October with “XO, LA: A Love Letter to Los Angeles,” an exhibition that reflected the eclectic voices and existential challenges that define L.A. culture with paintings, illustrations and mixed media works by Shepard Fairey, Corita Kent, Anthony Ausgang, Ashley Dreyfus, Paul Frank and others.
Pop artist Kii Arens lays on his desk in his new gallery, FAB LA, inside the historic Fine Arts Building on 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles. Posters from his new show, “And the Winner Is,” feature images of Grammy winners just in time for the big awards show.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The flamboyant “Mick Rock’s Rocky Horror Art Show” followed in December. The exhibition was among the last events marking the famous cult film’s 50th anniversary, and featured Rock’s famous photographs alongside pieces by pop star designer Michael Schmidt and digital portraitist Plasticgod. As with previous events at LA-LA Land, the opening attracted rockers, drag queens and club world cognoscenti.
DJs Sean Patrick (Simon Says) and Chris Holmes (Paul McCartney’s touring DJ, and creative collaborator with Cosm) manned the decks, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” winner and podcaster, Alaska Thunderf—, performed as Tim Curry’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter, dancing and prancing around the grand environs.
There are galleries all over Los Angeles, but few can be described as works of art unto themselves. FAB LA is that and more.
Its majestic headquarters are housed inside downtown’s historic Fine Arts Building — a breathtaking palace-like structure with a 100-year history of craftsmanship and creativity.
Located near the intersection of 7th and Flower streets, the landmark building was featured in the 2009 film “(500) Days of Summer,” a hidden gem overshadowed in recent years by hectic street life, chain food spots and bustling business energy. Used primarily as an office building, its ornate design, carvings and sculptures — including a ground floor fountain with frolicking bronze youths — hadn’t invited much public attention or appreciation.
Pop artist Kii Arens catches some air in front of the historic Fine Arts Building where he has opened his new gallery, FAB LA. The building was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1974 and restored in 1983.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
That changed late last year when Arens took over the first two floors.
“Historically, artists lived and worked inside this building,” he said during a recent opening. “This idea really resonated with me.”
Originally from St. Paul, Minn., Arens moved to L.A. in 2004 and promptly opened LA-LA Land. The Hollywood showroom debuted on election night 2004 with a group exhibition called “Happy War,” featuring anti-war works and Fairey as DJ. Wild and kitschy shows followed with opening fetes dedicated to colorful subjects including Andy Warhol, circus clowns, and Canadian television creators and puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft.
In addition to creating art and DJing, Arens is also a musician, and his eclectic music projects reflect his nostalgic proclivities. They include a rock outfit called FLIPP, which he describes as, “the Sex Pistols meets the Spice Girls,” as well as a pop-duo called Jinx, and solo work that counts 4 Non Blondes’ Linda Perry as a collaborator.
Arens is a largely self-taught visual artist. His work has always leaned toward entertainment figures and musical subject matter, which led to major commissions for album covers and tour poster art — some of which will be featured in the upcoming exhibition at FAB LA.
Poster prints of Elton John, left, and Jim Morrison, by Pop artist Kii Arens are part of his latest show, “And the Winner Is,” which features poster art of Grammy winners and is on display in Aren’s new gallery, FAB LA, which opened late last year.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
When LA-LA Land’s lease expired, Arens sought a new place that would embrace his experimental energy. He also wanted a unique backdrop for showcasing imagery that “treats pop culture as a shared memory for all to take in,” he said. “Something worthy of being preserved, not just consumed.”
The Fine Arts Building’s longtime real estate representative, Gibran Begum, was looking for the same thing. Preservation was part of the conversation when the two connected, but both were also focused on revitalization and augmenting the structure’s old-world charms with something fresh and modern. The goal was to once again bring art lovers to the neighborhood.
A cohesive arts event had been lacking in the area since the monthly Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk scaled down in the face of traffic and permit issues, and more recently COVID closures. The event recently resumed, and though it’s much smaller Arens said he has high hopes for its growth, and for FAB LA’s place in its future.
As does Begum, who calls the Fine Arts Building “a rare and special space.”
“The second you enter, you’re somewhere else, it’s almost like walking into something in Florence, Italy,” Begum said. “We were looking for someone to help rejuvenate and reenergize it and who understood the culture of it.”
Pop artist Kii Arens strikes a pose inside the historic Fine Arts Building where he has opened his new gallery, FAB LA. The building was designed in the Romanesque revival style by architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen, who also created the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Designed in the Romanesque revival style by revered architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen, who also created the nearby Oviatt Building as well as the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, the building’s exterior is embellished with dramatic columns and arches. Its interior features gargoyles, griffins and other mystical figures by sculptor Burt W. Johnson, as well as hand-crafted tiles by Ernest Batchelder and murals by Anthony B. Heinsbergen. A vintage elevator ferries guests between floors.
The opulent building opened on Dec. 8, 1926, attracting an estimated crowd of 27,000, and was named a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1974.
Though various artists have shown in the building over its 100-year history, FAB’s vibrant vision, focused on the intersection of design and fine art media, feels like the right fit for the current moment.
“I almost feel like the ghosts of some of the artists are looking down at me and smiling, knowing that what they loved is happening here again,” Arens said.
This includes immersive gatherings, which are a big part of Arens’ plans for FAB. “We’ll have movie premieres, live music events, poetry and I definitely want to have fashion,” Arens said. “The room would make a great runway!”
Charity is also part of the picture.
“And the Winner Is,” serves as a fundraiser for Oxfam, which works to relieve global poverty. Arens said he’s been hosting charity events for the group for the last five years — always right around the Grammys.
“We’ll have a bunch of amazing vinyl records donated by Rhino, and we’ll have clothing donated from famous musicians. Matt Pinfield is DJing and so is Jeffrey Ross,” Arens said.
A poster of Liza Minnelli by Pop artist Kii Arens is part of his latest show, “And the Winner Is” which features poster art of Grammy winners and opens over Grammy weekend.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The exhibition, which closes March 8, will feature some of what Arens calls his “greatest hits,” including an ebullient Liza Minnelli portrait, and other significant prints such as a black-light poster design of Dolly Parton, and a Van Halen print representing Eddie Van Halen’s famed red-, black- and white-splattered “Frankenstein” guitar design on a notebook.
“I’m into simplifying images until they become familiar, immediate and emotional,” Arens said of his work. “I like to strip images down to what people recognize instantly. The feeling comes first, then I’m focused on evoking optimism, color and joy.”
Up next: A show in April in association with the animation studio Titmouse and dedicated to the art of animation.
“In this moment where everything feels disposable, I want to make something that is solid, something you stand in front of, not scroll past,” Arens said.
KATHERINE Ryan has revealed there’s already a documentary in the works about Brooklyn Beckham’s explosive attack on parents David and Victoria – and she’s been asked to take part.
A TV documentary about the Beckham family feud is already in the works, says Katherine RyanCredit: Aissaoui Nacer / SplashNews.comKatherine told how she was asked to be part of the tell-all after branding Brooklyn an ‘ungrateful nepo-baby’Credit: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty IBrooklyn last week launched a savage attack on his parentsCredit: Getty Images for ARIA Resort & C
Katherine said: “Do you know what I love about this is that? He’s like, ‘yeah, I do a lot of parties for the Beckhams’. Well, that was your last one. Like, what are you doing?
‘You can’t go on This Morning and spill the tea on the nation’s hottest goss. I can tell you firsthand that somebody somewhere is already making a documentary about this because I was invited to go on it. And I was like, me?
What do I know? I had an opinion. And, by the way, a lot of people feel passionately about this one way or another. I gave my opinion, which was very much team Beckham’s… well, team Victoria anyway because David, you know how they love an evil woman.
Katherine continued: “David is hardly mentioned. It’s all like mommy dearest kind of narcissist stuff, which I think is really unfair. Like I said, last week, they made the best choice that they could with the information they had at the time.
“And that’s just what every parent does. We’re not perfect. We’re fallible.”
In his six-slide rant, Brooklyn accused Victoria of ruining his wedding and “humiliating” him.
He wrote: “My mum hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic song.
“In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife, but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me.
“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”
He claimed mum Victoria ‘ruined’ his 2022 wedding to NicolaCredit: Instagram
How the Beckham family feud exploded
AS the Beckham clan are pictured together for the first time exactly a week since their very public feud with estranged son Brooklyn went viral, we look at the highlights of the vicious spat . . .
MONDAY JANUARY 19: Brooklyn drops a series of Instagram posts, claiming his mum Victoria “grinded” on him at his wedding with Nicola Peltz.
TUESDAY: Dad David wades in, saying: “Children make mistakes.”
THURSDAY: Brooklyn and Nicola put on a show of solidarity in public for the first time in Malibu, telling pals they were “glad they did it”.
FRIDAY: It emerges Nicola gave Brooklyn an ultimatum after feeling upstaged by his mum Victoria, telling him: “It’s me or her.”
SATURDAY: Brooklyn’s parents post a message about “great memories” with him.
MONDAY: The Beckhams, minus Brooklyn, are reunited in Paris.
Verified videos emerging from Iran show bodies piled up in a hospital, snipers stationed on buildings and CCTV cameras being destroyed, following the unprecedented crackdown on protests earlier this month.
BBC Verify has been tracking the spread of protests across Iran since they first erupted in late December, but the near total internet blackout imposed by the authorities has made it extremely difficult to document the scale of the state’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has confirmed the killing of nearly 6,000 people, including 5,633 protesters, since the unrest began at the end of December. It says it is also currently investigating another 17,000 reported deaths received despite an internet shutdown after nearly three weeks.
Another group, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), has warned that the final toll could exceed 25,000.
Iranian authorities said last week that more than 3,100 people were killed, but that the majority were security personnel or bystanders attacked by “rioters”.
The latest videos to emerge from the country are understood to have been filmed on 8 and 9 January, when thousands of people took to the streets following a call for nationwide protests from Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late Shah.
They are thought to be the deadliest nights for protesters so far and these newly verified videos show how Iran’s security forces have been violently cracking down on protesters.
Multiple clips analysed by BBC Verify and BBC Persian show bodies piled up inside a mortuary at Tehranpars hospital in east Tehran. We verified the location of the hospital by matching its interior to other publicly available images and videos of the building, and counted at least 31 bodies in just one video. Another clip shows seven body bags laid on the ground outside the hospital’s entrance.
Hundreds of people are seen protesting on a highway in west Tehran in another video before multiple rounds of gunfire can be heard and people begin to scream.
Protesters have also been seen trying to evade Iran’s heavy surveillance infrastructure by disabling CCTV cameras. Footage we verified shows one person in the capital climbing up a post and hitting a surveillance camera several times in an attempt to disable it. A huge crowd of protesters can be seen on the ground and heard cheering as the camera is damaged.
We have tracked the spread of the anti-government protests across 71 towns and cities in Iran, though the true number of areas where demonstrations have taken place is likely far higher.
In the south-eastern city of Kerman a video taken from high up in a building shows several armed men in military uniform walking down a road firing their weapons continuously, though it is not clear who they are shooting at. A small fire burns in the middle of the road while the sound of protesters chanting can be heard in the background.
Snipers have also been recorded on the roofs of buildings. In the north-eastern city of Mashhad verified video shows two men dressed in black on a rooftop of a building in daylight. One man is standing next to a large rifle that is lent against a wall and speaking on the phone. The other man crouches on the floor while smoking.
For most people there has been an almost-total internet blackout since 8 January, but some have managed to briefly access the internet using methods such as SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet and virtual private networks (VPNs).
More videos are likely to emerge in the coming days as the country’s economy has struggled during the blackout.
