News of death of Anne and David Spencer confirmed by co-presenter of long-running Channel 4 series, Kirsty Allsopp
The parents of TV presenter Phil Spencer have been killed in a car accident near their home, his co-star, Kirstie Allsopp, has confirmed.
Location, Location, Location presenter Allsopp told fans to join her in “sending so much love” to costar Spencer, following the death of his mother, Anne, and father, David, on Friday.
Continue reading...Sacking of star presenter over pay scandal stirs debate about his treatment by Irish broadcaster
Ireland’s national broadcaster faces an uncertain future after axing its star presenter, Ryan Tubridy, in a scandal over under-declared payments.
RTÉ surprised the public and divided opinion by announcing Tubridy would not return to the airwaves, capping two months of turmoil over accounting and governance practices that has cast doubt on the organisation’s future funding.
Continue reading...Journalist takes ‘irresistible’ chance to take part in show while still working as Channel 4 newsreader
Krishnan Guru-Murthy has been announced as the fourth celebrity to join this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The journalist, who is a main presenter on Channel 4 News, joins a lineup that includes Angela Rippon, the actor Amanda Abbington and the Bad Education star Layton Williams.
Continue reading...Ex-newsreader famous for dancing on 1976 Morecambe and Wise show will be joined by Amanda Abbington and Layton Williams
Angela Rippon is to compete in the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing becoming the oldest competitor on the BBC primetime show at the age of 79.
The actor Amanda Abbington and Bad Education star Layton Williams have also been announced as the first contestants for the 21st series of the dancing competition this autumn.
Continue reading...Cloud, who portrayed Fezco ‘Fez’ O’Neill in the HBO teen drama, had recently lost his father
The actor Angus Cloud, best known for his role on HBO’s teen drama Euphoria, has died at age 25, his family confirmed to media on Monday.
Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.
Continue reading...Host Sam Pang cracks joke at celebrities including Sam Neill, Karl Stefanovic and Jonathan LaPaglia – and takes a shot at broadcaster Channel Seven
Little-known ABC show Crazy Fun Park beat out the enormously popular animation series Bluey for the outstanding children’s program and Channel Seven presenter Sonia Kruger took home the top prize at the Logie awards.
Crazy Fun Park’s win surprised even its creator, Nicholas Verso. He ascended the stage to accept the gong and immediately apologised for besting the competition. “I know everyone comes up and goes, ‘We didn’t think we were going to win’ but seriously, we were up against Bluey,” he said.
Continue reading...Vendors have reportedly been told the ceremony will be pushed as studios refuse to meet demands of actors and writers
Fox is expected to announce soon that the Emmy awards will be rescheduled to January next year due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes in Hollywood.
Variety first reported on Thursday that vendors for the ceremony have been informed of an imminent date change, but not given an exact date, while the Los Angeles Times cited an unnamed source familiar with the plans, who said Fox was planning to move the telecast date to January.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Continue reading...Williams’ nephew and The Wire creator David Simon spoke on behalf of Carlos Macci, 72, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to possessing and distributing narcotics
A 72-year-old man linked to a crew of drug dealers blamed in the fentanyl-laced heroin death of The Wire actor Michael K Williams has been sentenced to more than two years in prison at a proceeding in which the actor’s nephew recommended compassion for the defendant.
Carlos Macci was sentenced to 30 months in prison by US district judge Ronnie Abrams, who told Macci that selling heroin and fentanyl “not only cost Mr Williams his life, but it’s costing your freedom” – in part because he did not stop selling drugs after Williams died.
Continue reading...The Nanny star turned Sag-Aftra union president wins praise for her passion as performers join writers in action expected to halt majority of US film and TV production
Fran Drescher has blasted Hollywood studios in a fiery speech after talks between the actors’ union and studios failed to avert a strike, calling them “disgusting” for claiming “they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs”.
In a speech that was widely circulated on Thursday – particularly among many who did not know The Nanny star was heading up Sag-Aftra, Hollywood’s biggest union – Drescher said actors were being “marginalised, disrespected and dishonoured” by a business model that has been drastically changed by streaming and artificial intelligence.
Continue reading...The acclaimed business drama leads the pack with The Last of Us, The White Lotus and Ted Lasso following
The final season of Succession has dominated this year’s Emmy nominations with 27 nods.
The acclaimed HBO series picked up 14 acting nominations including recognition for Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook. It marks the first time in Emmys history that three performers from the same show have scored lead actor nominations in the same category.
Continue reading...‘Regressive’ licence fee could be replaced by a broadband tax or a levy based on property value, says Richard Sharp
The former BBC chair Richard Sharp has suggested that wealthier families may have to pay more to access the corporation’s services.
The “regressive” licence fee system could be replaced by a tax on broadband bills or a household levy based on property value, Richard Sharp told the Daily Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast.
Continue reading...Mattel says the Barney movie will be inspired by Charlie Kaufman, while Barbie director Greta Gerwig is planning two Narnia movies for Netflix
The Daniel Kaluuya-produced movie featuring Barney the Dinosaur will be an “adult”, “surrealistic” and “A24-type” film inspired by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, it has been revealed.
In a wide-ranging report on the film-making plans of toymaker Mattel in the New Yorker, Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon said of the project: “We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids. It’s really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney – just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”
Continue reading...Soap star who also acted in Coronation Street, Brookside and the musical Chicago, had dementia, her family said
The soap opera stalwart Meg Johnson has died at the age of 86 after having had dementia “for the last few years”, it has been confirmed.
The death of Johnson, who had played Pearl Ladderbanks in Emmerdale since 2003, was announced in a joint statement from her family, the talent agency Jorg Betts Associates and the ITV show.
Continue reading...National broadcaster embroiled in a real-life drama over clandestine payments to its star presenter
It has become Ireland’s top-rated show – a tale of celebrity, secrets and lies that has entranced the public and dominated the airwaves. Some reckon it is the most gripping drama ever produced by RTÉ.
Unfortunately for the national broadcaster, it is an all too real scandal over clandestine payments that has engulfed its star presenter and senior managers and planted a question mark over RTÉ’s future.
Continue reading...Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and others lend their names to demand a strong deal as writers’ strike enters third month
The US actors’ union and Hollywood studios announced in a statement on Friday that the two sides had agreed to extend their current labor deal through 12 July, hours before a midnight deadline.
“The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout,” the parties said.
Continue reading...Nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew one complaint to media watchdog that it should not have given the program a G, or general, classification
New Zealand’s media watchdog has reprimanded public broadcaster TVNZ for not giving a higher classification to a documentary with “dramatised” scenes of dolphin mating.
The nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew the ire of one viewer who successfully complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA). In the offending scene, a female dolphin is targeted by a pack of male dolphins that mate with her.
Continue reading...Child actor known as ‘America’s little brother’ for his role on the hit family show died in Los Angeles home on 7 January at age 54
The effects of fentanyl are considered the cause of death for Adam Rich, the child actor known as “America’s little brother” for his role on the hit family dramedy Eight is Enough.
The former television star’s death this January has been ruled an accident by the Los Angeles county medical-examiner coroner’s office, according to an autopsy report.
Continue reading...Social media users condemned use of AI -generated opening credits for Secret Invasion premiering this week on Disney+
Marvel’s Secret Invasion, a new television series which launched on Disney+ this week, has received backlash online after it was revealed that its opening credits were generated by artificial intelligence.
In an interview with Polygon on Wednesday, director Ali Selim confirmed that AI operated by a company called Method Studios produced the opening sequence to the new series, which stars Samuel L Jackson as Marvel fixture Nick Fury.
Continue reading...Almost £150m to be spent on research labs to help future-proof industry and lift creative economy
Ministers are seeking to future-proof the UK’s multibillion-pound film and TV production industry by investing almost £150m in a network of research labs across the country tasked with developing the next generation of special effects using tech such as artificial intelligence.
The scheme aims to build on Britain’s reputation for producing hi-tech hits from Star Wars to Harry Potter, and is part of wide-ranging plans to drive the UK creative economy. The government has earmarked millions to support grassroots music venues hammered by the Covid pandemic, and is tripling a fund designed to find and support the next generation of homegrown superstars like Adele and Ed Sheeran.
Continue reading...The Handmaid’s Tale actor says the disgraced movie mogul threatened to end his Hollywood career
Joseph Fiennes, star of the television series The Handmaid’s Tale and of the 1998 hit movie, Shakespeare in Love, has explained why he turned down the chance to play major roles in a run of Hollywood blockbusters early in his career.
It was, he said, a reaction to bullying pressure put on him by Harvey Weinstein, who wanted to take control of his life, and Fiennes does not regret the decision.
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