'Today' fans laud Al Roker's family as host dedicates goodbye post to daughter Leila Roker: 'You guys are the best'
Al Roker shared a family picture after he went to see off his youngest daughter, Leila Roker, who is traveling back to Paris
2023-07-30 13:46
'My new purpose': Emma Heming shares why she launched brain care brand amid Bruce Willis' dementia battle
Emma Heming Willis said that she was suffering from short-term memory loss and had bouts of brain fog
2023-05-19 04:52
Did The Simpsons predict Tyson Fury’s controversial win against Francis Ngannou?
A second member of the Fury family has scored a contentious boxing win over their opponent, with Tyson Fury beating Francis Ngannou by way of split decision in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, and sparking claims Ngannou was “robbed” of a victory. It’s not the first time this month that the charge has been levelled at a Fury, as 14 October saw Tyson’s half-brother Tommy (of Love Island fame) defeat YouTuber Olajide “KSI” Olatunji in a divisive majority decision result – later revised to a unanimous decision following a judging error. The rapper and content creator didn’t react well to the “outrageous” result, one he said he was going to appeal. Twitter/X was just as shocked by the outcome, to the extent that “rigged” trended on the social media platform after the fight. And a similar accusation was made by users following Saturday’s match, not least because Ngannou managed to knock down Fury during their bout: Some have even claimed The Simpsons – famed for having many episodes coincidentally foreshadow real-life events – predicted the fight’s result: The story in question is “The Homer They Fall” from season eight of the popular animated series, in which the disaster-prone dad takes up professional boxing, only to get a pounding from fighter Drederick Tatum. However, it can’t really be said that The Simpsons guessed the outcome of this particular scrap. Al Jean, one of the show’s original writers, told NME that another writer offered up this explanation: “[He said] if you write 700 episodes, and you don’t predict anything, then you’re pretty bad. “If you throw enough darts, you’re going to get some bullseyes…” Not to mention that the image of bartender Moe Szyslak raising Homer’s hand is not how the fight ends. Instead, just as Tatum is about to deliver a knockout blow to a dazed Simpson, Szyslak swoops in on a paramotor to fly him out of the building to safety. And that definitely didn’t happen in the Fury vs Ngannou match… Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-10-29 20:29
Chrissy Teigen, Natasha Rothwell roll up their sleeves to bring attention to restaurant worker wages
Several stars took a moment this week to focus on a cause that's getting considerably less attention than striking actors and writers -- specifically, the subpar pay and conditions facing the vast majority of US restaurant workers.
2023-09-24 05:16
Kim Kardashian Then and Now: From 'sex tape' infamy to Monroe dress fiasco, the star loves controversy
Kim Kardashian's transforming from LA party girl to a stylish mom and business mogul who knows how to make controversies work for her
2023-10-10 22:17
Silvio Berlusconi obituary: Scandal-ridden Italian billionaire, media mogul and the king of comebacks
Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier, despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption, has died. A one-time cruise ship crooner, Berlusconi used his television networks and immense wealth to launch his long political career, inspiring both loyalty and loathing. To admirers, the multiple-time premier was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage. To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses. Born in 1936 in Milan to a bank clerk father and housewife mother, he attended a Catholic college, the start of a complicated relationship with the church, which supported him until the mounting allegations of sleaze “superceded the limits of decency”, in the view of at least one weekly Catholic newspaper. His capacity to entertain emerged early when he worked on cruise ships and played bass with a band, performing George Gershwin hits like “I Got Rhythm” in the dancehalls of Milan before being sacked for devoting more time to flirting with punters (“marketing and PR”, he called it) than playing music. After graduating in law, Berlusconi turned down a job as a cashier at the bank where his father had worked in order to strike out as a property developer. His ambition was notable. To pull off an early make-or-break deal, he persuaded a secretary to tell him when her pension fund director boss would be taking a seven-hour train journey so as to ensure he could secure the seat next to him. Later, when the flight path put off buyers over his Milano 2 residential development, he had alternative routes opened. A modest plan to make his homes more attractive by offering a local cable TV service, Telemilano, which showed light entertainment and reruns of American soap operas such as Dallas, grew into a network of local channels until, by the end of the 1980s, his trash TV empire of game shows and barely-clothed hostesses came to dominate Italian airwaves. As well as hauling in advertising revenue, Berlusconi’s channels allowed him to give favourable coverage towards friendly politicians who helped him protect his commercial interests, which now included publishing houses and the football team AC Milan. When he entered politics himself, these contacts would prove indispensable. The Clean Hands corruption probes that took out a generation of Italian politicians eventually provided the motivation for that move. Power, he reasoned, would not only protect himself from prosecutors but allow him to defend his businesses. Headline-grabbing proposals included a million new jobs and lower taxes. A political outsider positioned as an enemy of the establishment, Berlusconi was in many ways a prototype for Donald Trump. Running a successful Serie A side like the “rossoneri” was one of his main qualifications for high office, he felt. When challenged by an economist over his tax plans, he replied: “How many intercontinental [football cups] have you won?” In 1994, he took 21 per cent of the vote in the general election and found himself prime minister, beginning a two decade-long domination of Italian politics through which he shamelessly advanced his own interests. His personal lawyers, now on the state payroll as MPs, spent their time drawing up laws to get him out of trouble, including immunity from prosecution for the prime minister and a tax amnesty that saved his company 120m euros. His communication minister meanwhile amended competition rules allowing him to retain his media empire. His calling to international relations was evident when he made himself foreign minister as well as prime minister, wooing foreign leaders such as Tony Blair and Putin by inviting them to his James Bond-esque Sardinian villa, complete with fake volcano. Cherie Blair described her evening there as the best of her life. But gaffes such as calling America’s first black president Barack Obama “suntanned” and suggesting a German MEP should play a concentration camp guard made him an international laughing stock. His standing took a further hit in 2009 when his second wife, Veronica Lario, publicly accused him of “frequenting minors”. When a 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer, known as Ruby-the-Heartstealer, who was arrested for a petty crime, told police she knew Berlusconi, the claim set in motion a chain of events that would bring about the mogul’s downfall. Ironically, if Berlusconi had not interceded claiming she was the niece of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian despot, the case might have ended there. Investigators, their hackles raised by Berlusconi’s meddling, discovered that a harem of showgirls and models regularly visited his villas for sex parties where they received lavish gifts and envelopes of cash. The drip-feed of salacious details appalled even Italy, where mistresses are less taboo for rich men. Thousands took to the streets in protests that expressed women’s frustration at their humiliating role in Berlusconi’s Italy. But, ultimately, it was not the “bunga bunga” parties that undid him, but his inability to cope as Italy’s debt reached unsustainable levels in 2011 and he was forced to resign in favour of technocrats. Out of office, he remained in the spotlight, thanks to his own media empire and as the defendant in dozens of trials, throughout which he claimed he was the victim of a plot by a left-wing judiciary. After years when, Teflon-like, he had wriggled out of every writ, his eventual conviction for tax fraud in 2014 and subsequent sentencing to community service in a home for Alzheimer’s sufferers represented rock bottom, but, as usual, Berlusconi proved irrepressible, entertaining residents with bingo games and singalongs - a revival of his old cruise ship act. His final years went some way towards rehabilitating his image. He became the oldest member of the European Parliament, his centrist pro-European politics far preferable, in the eyes of German chancelleor Angela Merkel, to the dangerous populist ideals that surged in Europe. When, in February 2021, his party joined a government led by that most establishment of figures, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, his triumphant comeback was complete. His return to government represented an unlikely final twist in the story of a figure who had risen from selling electric hairbrushes to being the richest and most powerful man in Italy and the object of global fascination as (depending on your point of view): a media mogul, marketing genius, football club owner, political trailblazer, womaniser and showman. For every Italian that hated him for his monopolistic control of the media and abuse of power, there was another who admired his business acumen and was amused by his lowbrow larks. As the writer Curzio Malaparte wrote, Berlusconi’s qualities and defects “are the qualities and defects of all Italians”. Berlusconi is survived by 12 grandchildren and five children: Pier Silvio, Marina, Barbara, Eleonora and Pierluigi. Read More Perhaps the most surprising part of the Italian crisis is that Berlusconi has emerged as a selfless voice of reason Italy’s comeback kid: How Silvio Berlusconi has managed to re-enter politics, despite all the scandals Silvio Berlusconi tells female reporter her handshake is so strong 'no one will want to marry her' Silvio Berlusconi dead: Billionaire former Italian prime minister dies aged 86
2023-06-12 17:21
Tom Cruise's 'MI:7' co-star Hayley Atwell praises the 60-year-old action star's 'stratospheric running speed'
'One thing I will say about watching his run: he runs with every cell in his body,' said Hayley Atwell about Tom Cruise’s action scenes
2023-06-24 18:55
Anthony Freud to retire as head of Lyric Opera of Chicago at end of 2023-24 season
Anthony Freud will retire as general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago at the end of the season, ending a 13-year tenure
2023-09-14 04:59
Who is Renee Bargh? Tom Cruise and 'ex-girlfriend' reunite on red carpet for premiere of 'Mission: Impossible 7'
Entertainment reporter Renee Bagh was rumored to have secretly dated Tom Cruise in 2018
2023-07-04 18:29
Diamond Sports wants to get out of its broadcast agreement with the Diamondbacks
Diamond Sports is seeking to get out of its broadcast agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks
2023-06-24 05:16
Amy Schumer clarifies her ‘joke’ on 'beautiful' Nicole Kidman amid cyberbullying accusations
Amy Schumer's now-deleted post of Nicole Kidman read, 'This how human sit,' implying her ‘unnatural posture’ of sitting during US Open Finals
2023-09-16 07:26
'Frying his chicken in Ozempic': Fans upset as Jimmy Kimmel and Arnold Schwarzenegger 'fat shame' Trump
Trump's self-reported weight is 215 lbs but Schwarzenegger wanted the judge hearing Trump's case to get the ex-POTUS to 'hop on the scale'
2023-10-03 16:52
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