BANG Showbiz – Apr 17, 2024 / 6:24 am | Story: 482553
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Taylor Swift has brought her new album to life by unveiling a library-themed art installation in Los Angeles this week.
The pop superstar is slated to release her 11th studio record ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ on Friday (19.04.24) and in the run-up to the launch she has opened a special pop-up – dubbed the The Tortured Poets Department: A Spotify Library Installation – at The Grove shopping centre in L.A. which features a library packed with curated poetry excerpts, books and visual surprises representing her new music.
Spotify’s Taryn Lacroix, who worked on the project, told Elle.com: “With poetry being a touchstone of this album, we wanted to create a campaign as thoughtful and ornate to immerse fans in the world of TTPD.
“There were a few concepts that we discussed – creating a bedroom, a creative office, a stack of books – but ultimately we all landed on an album-themed open-air library, in which lyrics would be revealed over the course of the week leading into the album. This felt the most creatively inspired by Taylor’s project.
“It’s going to be an incredible experience for those on the ground, but fans globally will be able to join in the momentum leading up to the released on the album’s countdown page with special moments happening throughout the week.”
The art project opened on Tuesday (16.04.24) and will change every day up to the album’s release. One of the main features so far is a library card unit feature 72 boxes and fans have speculated it represents her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn because it lasted for 72 months before their split last year.
Some of the boxes are open and filled with flowers, which some say may represent key dates in the romance.
The installation also features a large book which is opened to a page inscribed with lyrics to an unknown song.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 17, 2024 / 6:22 am | Story: 482552
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John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney’s sons have teamed up on a new song.
Sean Oko Lennon – whose mum is Yoko Ono – and James McCartney – from Paul’s marriage to first wife Linda – have hit the studio together to record ‘Primrose Hill’ which is a tribute to a scenic park in North West London.
In a post on X -formerly known as Twitter- James wrote: “Primrose Hill’ is here! Today I am so very excited to share my latest song co-written by my good friend @seanonolennon.
“With the release of this song it feels like we’re really getting the ball rolling and I am so excited to continue to share music with you.”
The pair received support from James’ dad Paul, who plugged the song in a post on Facebook, writing: “My son James has a new song out called Primrose Hill – check it out
“And lots of love to Sean Ono Lennon who co-wrote the song.”
James made it a truly family affair by enlisting his sister Mary McCartney for making a promo video for ‘Primrose Hill’.
In a post on X prior to the song’s release, James explained of the track: “I had a vision as a child in Scotland, on what was a lovely summer’s day.
“Letting go, I saw my true love and saviour in my mind’s eye. ‘Primrose Hill’ is about getting the ball rolling with me and finding this person”.
The song the first musical collaboration between the sons of the Beatles legends.
James previously floated the idea of getting the Beatles offspring together to form a band admitting Sean was interested along with George Harrison’s son Dhani, but he conceded Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey was not that keen.
Speaking in 2012, he told the BBC: “I’d be up for it. Sean seemed to be into it, Dhani [Harrison] seemed to be into it … I don’t think it’s something that Zak [Starkey] wants to do. Maybe Jason [Starkey who is also a drummer] would want to do it … I don’t know, you’d have to wait and see.”
BANG Showbiz – Apr 17, 2024 / 6:20 am | Story: 482551
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Kate Beckinsale has hinted at “tummy troubles” after her recent health issues.
The 50-year-old actress recently deleted all Instagram posts about her hospital stay amid her undisclosed health battle, and now she appears to have shed a bit of light on her mystery illness.
On Wednesday (17.04.24), she shared a series of photos of herself sporting a white t-shirt with the slogan “tummy troubles survivor”.
Kate – who was posing with one of her adorable pet pooches – sported a black bow in her hair, and didn’t offer any more information or context.
It comes after she removed all references to her hospital stay, having initially been keeping fans up to date in March without disclosing any specifics.
As it stands, the only comment she has made about the condition is that her health issues aren’t related to ruptured ovarian cysts or endometriosis.
She replied “no” to a comment asking if that was the reason for her hospitalisation, adding that while she did previously suffer from a ruptured ovarian cyst, the issue was dealt with in 2019.
Kate revealed on Mother’s Day (10.03.24) that she had been hospitalised, and she still hasn’t revealed why.
On Easter Sunday (31.03.23), the ‘Love and Friendship’ star shared pictures of her rainbow socks in her hospital bed on Instagram and simply captioned the post: “Happy Easter.”
The post led to many messages of concern and support from her followers, including pop star Gwen Stefani, who asked: “What’s wrong !!!” and added a prayer hands emoji.
Former ‘Vampire Diaries’ star Alice Evans commented: “I do hope nothing is seriously wrong.
“I know you’ve been through the ringer in the past year. Sending love and positive vibes.”
Her mystery illness has come after the death of her stepfather Roy, who passed away earlier this year following a stroke, while Kate has also been caring for her mum Judy, who is suffering with her own health issues.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 16, 2024 / 6:07 am | Story: 482347
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Prince Harry could reportedly face a bill of more than £1 million over his security funding court fight.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, has been fighting the 2020 decision to downgrade his taxpayer funded, round-the-clock protection when he quit senior royal duties with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 42, to move to America.
But it emerged on Monday (15.04.24) the dad-of-two – who has children Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet with Meghan – had lost his initial bid to appeal against the move.
He is still able to ask the Court of Appeal directly for the green light to challenge Sir Peter’s decision – but has been told to pay the majority of the UK Home Office’s legal costs of defending his challenge over the decision to change the level of his security when he visits the UK.
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that by October 2023, the government’s legal costs to defend itself against Harry in the case had reached the £400,000-plus mark.
By that point, the case had already cost the government legal department £265,437 and counsel £137,864.
The Daily Star has reported it means Harry now faces having to pay back the taxpayer at least £500,000 after losing his challenge.
It said his own legal costs are likely to be similar, if not more, than that sum, meaning he could end up with a bill of more than £1 million so far in his court fight.
Harry launched legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
Ravec’s decision came as a result of a change in his status after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family”, a judge was told.
In a judgment in February, retired High Court justice Sir Peter Lane rejected Harry’s case and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational or procedurally unfair.
Following the ruling, a spokesperson for the duke said he was going to challenge the judgment, adding the bloke “hopes he will obtain justice from the Court of Appeal”.
Harry argued he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably” than others by Ravec.
He has previously asked to fund his own Metropolitan Police armed bodyguards but officials refused.
Harry has also said he was unable to return to the UK with his family as it was “too dangerous” after his security was downgraded.
He is allowed protection when he stays at royal residences or attends official events run by the Royal Family, but has to fund his security if visiting Britain for other reasons.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 16, 2024 / 6:06 am | Story: 482346
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Geena Davis has confirmed that she won’t be in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.
The 68-year-old actress starred as ghost Barbara Maitland in Tim Burton’s 1988 movie but explained that she will not be featuring in the impending sequel even though the spirits “don’t age”.
Geena told Entertainment Tonight: “No, I’m not. I’m not in the remake. Oh, you were expecting that I would be? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age… Not that I have.”
The ‘Thelma and Louise’ star, who featured in the film alongside Alec Baldwin’s Adam Maitland, added: “Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute.”
Geena revealed that she still needs to watch the first trailer for the long-awaited sequel that is being released in cinemas in September.
She said: “Somebody said they were crying, so I have to see the trailer.”
Michael Keaton is back as the titular ‘ghost with the most’ in the movie and has promised fans that it will be “great” after getting to see an early cut of the finished flick.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s ‘The Jess Cagle Show’, he said: “[The movie] is beautiful, physically. The other one was so fun and exciting visually, it’s all that but really beautiful and interestingly emotional here and there. I wasn’t ready for that. It’s great.
“It’s just so fun and I’ve seen it now. I’m going to see it again after a couple of little tweaks in the editing room, and I confidently say this thing is great.”
Before shooting the sequel, Michael revealed that he had fun revisiting the original picture once again.
The 72-year-old star said: “I probably only really seen it from the beginning once or twice maybe. So I hadn’t seen it for a long, long, long time so I did go back and look at it again.”
BANG Showbiz – Apr 16, 2024 / 6:04 am | Story: 482345
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Brandon Lee’s sister Shannon Lee is calling for live guns to be banned from film sets.
Shannon’s actor brother – whose dad was late movie legend Bruce Lee – was just 28 when he was shot and killed by a prop gun while he was making 1994 movie ‘The Crow’ and she is adamant there needs to be a crackdown on movie set weapons following the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while making ‘Rust’ in 2021.
She told the Guardian newspaper: “The circumstances are very similar. It really just makes you go, why is making a movie more important than a person’s life?”
Shannon added of a potential ban on live weapons on film sets: “I think that is not unreasonable. But if you’re not going to do that, then I think you have to put laws and better safety measures in place than what exists currently.”
Brandon’s shooting was ruled an accident due to negligence and no charges were ever brought over the incident. His mother Linda later filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers and it was settled for an undisclosed amount.
The death of Hutchins on the set of unreleased Western ‘Rust’ led to criminal charges being filed against the movie’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Actor Alec Baldwin – who was holding the gun when it went off – has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will stand trial in July.
After the tragedy, Shannon put out a statement via her brother’s Twitter account sending her condolences to Hutchins’ family.
The message read: “Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to [director] Joel Souza [who was injured] and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust’. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.”
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 12:33 pm | Story: 482223
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Logan Paul and Nina Agdal are expecting their first child together.
The 29-year-old influencer and the 32-year-old model have taken to social media to announce that they’re set to become parents for the first time.
In a post on his Instagram page, Logan shared a photo of them sharing a kiss and holding ultrasound images of their unborn baby.
The YouTuber-turned-wrestler – who has more than 27 million followers on Instagram – captioned the photos: “Another Paul coming this Fall [baby emoji] @ninaagdal (sic)”
Logan and Nina began dating in 2022, and the loved-up couple got engaged last July.
The WWE star actually recorded a vlog of his romantic proposal in Lake Como, Italy.
Logan – who is the older brother of Jake Paul – titled his behind-the-scenes video, ‘I got engaged’.
In the vlog, Logan shared: “The last time I was here, I was buying a Pokemon card, and I thought, ‘This place is beautiful. I could see myself getting married here one day.’ I just needed to find my person.”
Logan – who signed a contract with the WWE in 2022 – also described Nina as the “girl of [his] dreams” and the “love of [his] life”.
During his proposal, Logan told Nina: “You’re my best friend! We do everything together and trying to keep this a secret with as many moving pieces as this [was hard].
“You are the love of my life. You’re the girl of my dreams. Now that I’ve found you, I never want to let you go.”
What’s more, Logan revealed that he asked Nina’s dad, Mette Agdal, for his blessing before he got down on one knee.
Logan’s emotion-filled video has already been watched more than five million times on YouTube.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 12:32 pm | Story: 482222
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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
The 26-year-old ‘Rust’ armourer received her sentence in a court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday, after she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month of the October 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez-Reed to 18 months of incarceration at a women’s correctional facility in New Mexico.
Gutierrez-Reed did not testify in her defence. However, she did prepare a statement and she read it aloud during the hearing.
She said: “First and foremost, my heart aches for the Hutchins family and friends and colleagues as well, and it has since the day this tragedy occurred.”
During her speech, Gutierrez-Reed — who was responsible for the prop guns on the set of the Western movie — also paid tribute to Hutchins, describing the late cinematographer as an “inspiration”.
She added: “I understand that she was taken too soon, and I pray that you all find peace.”
What’s more, Gutierrez-Reed confessed to being “young and naive” when she took the job on ‘Rust’.
Gutierrez-Reed was found to be partially responsible for Hutchins’ death. However, she has been cleared of allegations that she tampered with the evidence.
Gutierrez-Reed’s legal team has already suggested that she will appeal the verdict.
Meanwhile, attorneys Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, who represent the Hutchins family, have confirmed that they’re satisfied with the results of the case. However, they will continue to push for justice in the coming months.
They said in a statement: “We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna’s death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.”
Alec Baldwin held the weapon that discharged and killed Hutchins, aged 42, in October 2021.
The 66-year-old actor has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and is due to face trial in July.
Baldwin — who faces up to 18 months in prison — has denied the allegations.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 9:57 am | Story: 482180
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Grimes has apologized following her disastrous set at Coachella which left her screaming with frustration.
The Vancouver, B.C.-born singer and ex of Elon Musk performed at the California music festival on Saturday hitting the stage on top of a giant mechanical spider, but her set was plagued by technical difficulties and equipment malfunctions that meant she had to restart her song ‘Music 4 Machines’ several times with Grimes telling the crowd her tracks were all playing at double speed.
She said: “This is insane. All my tracks are double the tempo. This is a difficult thing to explain but we’re having a major technical error. Don’t judge me for being bad at calculating things. All my tracks are double tempo and I can’t do the math. They’re borderline un-mixable, so the rest of my set won’t be mixes but it’ll still be fun.”
However, the singer was left screaming in frustration as the technical issues continued and she has now taken to X — formerly known as Twitter — to say sorry.
She wrote: “I want to apologize for the technical issues with the show tonight. I wanted to come back [really] strong and usually I always handle every aspect of my show myself – to save time this was one of the first times I’ve outsourced essential things like rekordbox bpms and letting someone else organise the tracks on the sd card etc.
“I had a bad feeling beforehand not having run everything thru the cdjs myself and tho [though] I flagged it I wasn’t insistent. The big lesson for me was a mix of …
“1 If u want it done right, do it yrself. 2 Be a c- even if ppl feel bad. 3 Probably pretend it’s fine and engage w [with] the crowd rather than spend a whole show slumped over the desk trying to fix software when ur [your] meant to be entertaining [sic].”
Grimes went on to insist it will never happen again when she returns to Coachella for the festival’s second weekend.
She added: “I will personally organize all the files next week. I will not let such a thing happen again.
“I’ve spent months on this show, making music and visuals, and admittedly am not in the best mood atm [at the moment].
“But, yeh – next week will be flawless, everything will run thru [through] my hands.
“Some good lessons learned. Bless y’all. The cdjs were showing me bpms like 370 so I couldn’t even mix manually by ear and the front monitors were off so it was literally sonic chaos on my end trying to guess how stuff was sounding for u guys.
“Plz forgive me! Love, always [sic].”
Grimes had some technical difficulties at her Coachella set ? pic.twitter.com/vecHcokAbn
— Rave Moments (@Rave_Moments) April 14, 2024
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 9:53 am | Story: 482177
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Drake has dismissed claims he’s had a nose job.
The rumours emerged after rapper Rick Ross used his new track ‘Champagne Moments’ to slam the star and claim he underwent cosmetic surgery to distance himself from his father, rapping: “You had a operation to make your nose smaller than your father nose.”
However, Drake, 37, has rubbished the gossip by sharing a series of text messages between him and his mother Sandi Graham in which she asks him directly whether he had surgery on his nose.
Sandi wrote to her son: “The internet is saying you got a nose job??. You looked the same to me in the kitchen today.
“I can’t believe you would get one without me, cuz you know I always wanted one. Don’t tell me that you got tattoos without me and now this, too?”
Drake – who is mixed race – then responded to his mum by calling out Ross and claiming the rapper is angry because he’s using a weight loss drug. He wrote: “I would have got us a 2 for 1 deal if I went ma. It’s coming from Rick Ross.The guy I did songs with.
“He’s gone loopy … He hasn’t eaten in days and it’s turned him angry and racist. He’s performing at proms for money it’s bad. Don’t worry we’ll handle it.”
Sharing the messages in a post on Instagram, Drake added a parting shot to Ross, writing: “@richforever you’re one nosey goof.”
Ross later responded on the site by sharing a video of his swimming pool and declaring: “I just realized BBL Drizzy called his mommy on me.
“He shared their text messages between each other. Ah, cupcake Drake. Tell your momma you stayed out past your curfew, white boy …
“Anyway, big nose. Boy you had 25 per cent body fat with a carved-out six piece. Stop, we know what time it is. That … cost 40 bands.
“Stop, but tell your momma … tell your old girl she a beautiful lady. I told you that before and I meant that, but you tell your momma, white boy, you stayed out at the park too late and you can’t call her when you get in this … This … too deep to call your momma, white boy.”
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 9:52 am | Story: 482176
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Salman Rushdie predicted he would be stabbed to death in a chilling dream just two days before he was attacked with a knife at a literary event.
The 76-year-old author was left critically injured after he was attacked onstage just moments before he was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state in August 2022 – and he’s now revealed he didn’t want to attend because he had a terrifying vision of his own death just two days beforehand.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS programme ’60 Minutes’, Salman explained: “[The dream] was just somebody with a spear stabbing downwards, and I was rolling around on the floor trying to get away from him … I was quite shaken by it and I said to [wife] Eliza, ‘You know I don’t want to go’ – because of the dream. And then I thought, ‘Don’t be silly, it’s a dream’.
“And then you wake up a bit more, and you think, it’s just a dream, and you’re not going to allow your life to be ruled by something that happened in a dream.
“And so I thought, I’ll go. It’s a gig.”
Salman went on to talk about the horrific attack in which he lost an eye and suffered multiple stab wounds to areas of his face, neck, chest and hand, admitting he wasn’t scared of death.
He said: “[I saw blood] spreading out from my body [and realised my eye was] kind of hanging out of my face, sitting on my cheek, I’ve said like a soft-boiled egg. And blind.
“I remember thinking that I was probably dying. And it was interesting because it was quite matter of fact. It wasn’t, it wasn’t like I was terrified of it or whatever.”
The attack lasted 27 seconds before event staff managed to pull the knife-wielding assailant off him, and the author added: “That’s quite a long time. That’s the extraordinary half-minute of intimacy, you know, in which life meets death.”
Salman was airlifted to hospital and underwent eight hours of surgery. He remained under the care of doctors for 18 days before starting three weeks of rehabilitation treatment, and he revealed his surgeon told him he was lucky to be alive.
He recounted their conversation, saying: “I said, ‘What’s the lucky part?’ And he said, ‘Well, the lucky part is that the man who attacked you had no idea how to kill a man with a knife’.”
Hadi Matar, 24, was arrested on suspicion of attacking the author and later pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault. He is currently behind bars awaiting trial.
BANG Showbiz – Apr 15, 2024 / 7:37 am | Story: 482162
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Caitlyn Jenner would have “ruined [her] whole life” if she’d transitioned as a child.
The 74-year-old star – who has six children and four stepkids from her three marriages – came out as trans in 2015 but she doesn’t regret not going through the process to change gender earlier in her life because she is so proud of all she achieved as Bruce Jenner.
Asked if she envies how much easier it is for those with gender dysphoria to access help and support from a young age now, she told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: ‘Here’s the deal. I would not want to grow up in today’s society.
“Our society that we grew up in, we had the luxury of being naive. We didn’t know everything. I couldn’t even find a therapist, I was in my 30s before I could find a therapist, the first person that I ever talked to about it, and it was ridiculously difficult finding someone.
“Today they just go online, couple of clicks, and boom you find a hundred therapists.
“Now, if I was growing up today… and I had my maths teacher in sixth grade talking about gender ideology and I would be sitting there in the classroom and thinking, ‘Holy c***, they’re talking about me!’ and then they’d send you to the school shrink and they’d say, ‘Well, you know, you’re gender dysphoric and you need to correct that right now and you need to get on hormone blockers,’ and I’d say, ‘Is that what I need to do?’ and it would have ruined my whole life. Ruined it!
“There’d be no sports, no Olympics, I had wonderful families, wonderful kids, I have had a phenomenal, phenomenal life. I have no regrets whatsoever.”
Asked what she’d tell campaigneers who suggest she’d have had a better life if she’d transitioned earlier, she added: “No. Totally wrong! No! I had my life and I had a phenomenal life. I transitioned when it was the right time for me.”
Caitlyn still feels she has “little Bruce” inside of her and she still holds her former self “in high esteem”.
Asked if her memories of winning Olympic gold are diminished by the fact she was a man at the time, she said: “Bruce. Did. Great!
“I hold him in high esteem. ‘I am extraordinarily proud of everything he was able to accomplish in his life.
“I’m extraordinarily proud of Bruce being a great father to 10 children. Every one of my kids has lived extraordinarily productive lives. They’re good citizens, they’re good people, they’re good parents.
“I’m proud of that section of my life, there was just always this thing inside that I just couldn’t get rid of.
“I always used to think of it as, everybody saw Bruce, and little Caitlyn was always just living inside. Now Caitlyn has a chance to live and little Bruce now lives inside. I love all those memories, I’ve had a great life. I wouldn’t change a thing.”