Child abuse allegations in Leaving Neverland prompt cartoon’s makers to act
An episode of The Simpsons featuring Michael Jackson’s voice has been pulled by its producers after a powerful documentary accused the star of sexually abusing two men when they were children.
The HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which was shown on Channel 4 this week, featured James Safechuck and Wade Robson who claimed they were sexually abused by Jackson.
Continue reading...Perry never quite escaped the shadow of Beverly Hills, 90210. But this was not a failing – it was proof of how seminal the show, and Perry’s handsome rebel Dylan McKay, was to a generation
Teen pinups who free themselves of their TV origins can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare: Ron Howard. Michael J Fox. Zac Efron.
Luke Perry never quite made it to those ranks, but that’s no discredit to him. Despite working pretty regularly until the day he died – which is more than a lot of teen stars can say – he always knew his obituaries would read ‘Dylan McKay has died,’ referring to the bad(ish) boy he played in the original series of Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990-1995, and then again in 1998-2000 when he gamely, if through somewhat gritted teeth, revived the character. And so it has proved to be the case.
Continue reading...Phoebe Waller-Bridge exploded into our living rooms with Fleabag, her vicious comedy about an angry, awkward woman. As it returns, Guardian writers pick their TV heroines
Who gets to be the bitch?
Continue reading...The Apprentice host says his wife is upset he has never been allowed to keep a statuette
Awards season is in full swing but one man feels particularly hard done by: Alan Sugar.
The host of The Apprentice has called for himself to be given his own special award in recognition of the reality show’s success, after revealing that his wife is upset that he has never been allowed to keep a Bafta statuette.
Continue reading...The monkey tennis-pitcher is back – and now he’s taking on do-badder hacktivists. After half an hour in his appalling company, you’ll be limp from laughter, loathing, panic and despair
Impossible though it is to do justice to Alan Partridge with only the written word at our disposal, we must try. Because after his years in the wilderness, Linton Travel Tavern and North Norfolk digital radio, the monkey tennis-pitcher is back. Almost. Well. To be clear. The exquisitely excruciating creation of Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci (and others at On the Hour, where Partridge made his first appearance) ‘Alan Partridge’ is definitely back, in This Time With Alan Partridge.
It’s the character’s first proper run-out since his 2013 feature film Alpha Papa, and is co-written and directed by twin brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, who have become – since 2010’s Mid Morning Matters – not just keepers of the flame but fuel and bellows for it too. They have accomplished the feat of finding new layers in Alan, somehow allowing him growth without change, development without enlargement of that definitively constricted soul.
Continue reading...Filmmaker was born to French-Algerian parents and made his home, and his name, in multicultural London. But he never felt a sense of belonging. Then Hollywood called …
Where are you from? It’s a question I’ve always had a hard time with. And since moving to the US four years ago, I’m asked it on a regular basis. Maybe it’s the combination of a brownish face, London accent and French names that throws people off. Who knows? But this question, hearing it asked over and over these past few years, has forced me to confront unresolved questions I have about identity: how I grew up and how those experiences led me to being a director.
People tend to like things compartmentalised and simple, but it’s never been that simple for me. I’ve never had any sense of a “national identity” or, for that matter, a sense of belonging to any one tribe. I’m mixed race: French white mother, Algerian father. So “I’m a Londoner” is my standard go-to short response when the question comes up. That’s the simplest answer I feel comfortable giving without getting into it.
Continue reading...The singer’s estate is claiming the network is breaching a 1992 non-disparagement contract by airing a two-part documentary alleging sexual abuse against children
Michael Jackson’s estate is suing HBO over the network’s plans to air a documentary alleging the singer sexually abused two young boys.
The estate is claiming that by showing Leaving Neverland, HBO is violating a non-disparagement clause from a 1992 contract. According to the suit, when HBO aired Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour, the clause precluded them from disparaging the singer in future works.
Continue reading...Accomplished folk musician and teen star helped move the guitar-pop band beyond their manufactured image
Peter Tork, the bassist for the Monkees, has died aged 77.
Tork, who also sang on a number of the band’s songs and played keyboards, had been diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009, though the cause of his death, which was confirmed by his sister, has not been announced.
Continue reading...After 27 years in the movies, the X-Men and True Blood star is sick of having to work extra hard and be extra nice simply because she is a woman
Anna Paquin is supposed to be having a day off. She has been working for two weeks straight, with no break at the weekend, and she has six-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. “So I’m a wee bit tired. But good, really good,” she says. She is dipping into her free time to talk about her new TV series, Flack, because she is not only starring in it, but executive-producing it, too, and it is co-produced through her own company, Casm. She has spent five years trying to get it off the ground, in stops and starts, and they finished filming it just four days before we meet. Hence the tiredness? She nods. “It’s not a name-only credit. I’m a huge control freak. I’m involved in every single aspect of every single decision.”
In person, Paquin is brisk, earnest and articulate, and careful with her words. She was born in Canada in 1982, but grew up in New Zealand, then moved to the US as a teenager for work. She has been in front of the camera since she was nine, when she was cast in Jane Campion’s film The Piano. “I entered this industry in a very backwards sort of way,” she says. “I did one job, won an Oscar, and then people said: ‘Ooh, you have a career now.’” She points out, though, that there is a wealth of talented women in her age group, which means she will “still have to audition my arse off for stuff I really want”, but it does mean that she can generally work on things that she wants to. “I do have the luxury of being a little more choosy because of the circumstances of my career.”
Continue reading...As the British comedian’s show returns, he discusses fighting fake news, why Brexit is worse than Trump’s presidency – and his attempt to convert his kids to Marmite
The Donald Trump presidency, John Oliver observed in 2017, is a marathon. “It’s painful, it’s pointless and the majority of you didn’t even agree to run it; you were just signed up by your dumbest friend,” he told viewers. “And though you’re exhausted and your whole body is screaming for you to give up and your nipples are chafing for some reason, the stakes are too high for any of us to stop.”
Activists, politicians, judges, journalists and concerned citizens are all running the race. Some have embraced the challenge and now, past the halfway point, are finding hope as they see the 2020 election on the horizon. Others have wobbled, legs buckling, consumed by the anxiety that they will never make it. Oliver, a cheerful and charming presence in a conference room at HBO’s headquarters in New York, is surely one of those runners wearing a wacky costume, pointing out the absurdity of the exercise while embodying the stamina and stoicism required to reach the finish line.
Continue reading...Celebrated actor who rose to fame in the ‘kitchen sink’ era before evolving into one of the screen greats of the postwar period, has died
• Albert Finney – a life in pictures
Albert Finney, who forged his reputation as one of the leading actors of Britain’s early 60s new wave cinema, has died aged 82 after a short illness, his family have announced. In 2011, he disclosed he had been suffering from kidney cancer.
A publicist told the Guardian that Finney died of a chest infection at the Royal Marsden hospital, which specialises in cancer treatment, just outside London. His wife, Pene, and son, Simon, were by his side.
Continue reading...Screen Actors Guild awards are generally considered one of the most reliable bellwethers of the Academy Awards
Black Panther has won the top film award in at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, putting it in strong contention for an Oscars win this February.
In a nomination pool that largely eschewed heavyweight Oscar contenders, Black Panther beat A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Rich Asians and BlacKkKlansman to receive the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. It also took out the award for best stunt ensemble, announced prior to the awards telecast, which was hosted by Megan Mullally in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Continue reading...Women have accused the singer of sexual abuse for decades. So why are they only being listened to now? Blame misogyny and racism – but also the potency of his music
“Yo, Pac!” You can almost feel the spittle as Gary Oldman launches into his soliloquy. It is 2012, and he is performing in a skit on Jimmy Kimmel’s US talkshow, reciting from R Kelly’s autobiography with the plummy majesty he later brought to the role of Churchill. “What up, baby?” he utters as the audience collapses in giggles. The joke is twofold: English people are so white! But also: R Kelly is so ridiculous!
For years, Robert Kelly, now aged 52, was seen, as Kimmel put it that night, as “great and inexplicable”. He was one of the US’s most brilliant entertainers, beloved for his uproariously carnal R&B tracks and stratospheric ballads. But there was something that set him apart from his musical peers: a knowing ridiculousness, which would prompt him to cast himself in a 33-part television opera centering around a well-endowed dwarf, describe himself as a “sexasaurus”, and make Same Girl, his duet with Usher, so hammy it would inevitably be spoofed by Flight of the Conchords in a song called We’re Both in Love With a Sexy Lady. This sense of self-mockery gained him a new, white hipster audience – Pitchfork booked him to play its festival in 2013 – and also helped insulate him from criticism. Until now.
Continue reading...Setiam and Katherine Allah are suing Lifetime after their photo was used without permission in TV movie Christmas Harmony
US cable channel Lifetime is being sued by a couple after they were called “ugly” in the festive TV movie Christmas Harmony.
Setiam and Katherine Allah sent out 50 family portraits to friends and family, one of which found its way to the set of the film, which premiered in November 2018. In the offending scene, lead character Harmony attaches the picture to a wall but is told by her love interest to remove it. She protests and he responds: “They’re ugly.”
Continue reading...Prosecutors in Chicago and Atlanta appeal for new information after allegations of abuse are made in documentary about R&B star, who has long denied wrongdoing
Fresh investigations have been launched into allegations of sexual and physical abuse against R Kelly by prosecutors in Chicago and Atlanta, after the airing of Surviving R Kelly, a documentary that contained claims of abuse by the R&B singer.
Chicago prosecutor Kimberly Foxx urged any potential victims of Kelly to come forward, saying: “There’s nothing that can be done to investigate these allegations without the cooperation of both victims and witnesses. We cannot seek justice without you.” Atlanta lawyer Gerald Griggs, representing a couple who claim Kelly is holding their daughter against her will, has said he was approached by the district attorney’s office regarding potential abuse by Kelly.
Continue reading...The Queen biopic and the road trip comedy won the major film awards while Olivia Colman and Christian Bale led a strong night for British talent
The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and the fact-based comedy Green Book won major film awards at the 76th annual Golden Globes in a night that also saw a strong showing for British talent.
Related: Ten things we learned from the Golden Globes: A Star is Born fades but Roma really can't win
Continue reading...Standup Hasan Minhaj had mocked official accounts about fate of Jamal Khashoggi
Netflix has taken down an episode of a satirical comedy show critical of Saudi Arabia in the country after officials from the kingdom complained, sparking criticism from Human Rights Watch, which said the act undermined the streaming service’s “claim to support artistic freedom”.
It comes three months after the brutal killing of the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – which US senators have blamed on the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – and as the war in Yemen continues to devastate the country.
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