‘Beauty and the Beast’ is getting a live special, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Oscar nomination.

The beloved 1991 Disney classic was the first ever animated feature to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture in 1992 and the anniversary is set to be celebrated with a two-hour, live-action/animated special, directed by Hamish Hamilton and executive produced by Jon M. Chu.

Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment said: “‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a timeless story and we’re so fortunate to work with creative mastermind Jon M. Chu and veteran director Hamish Hamilton to bring a modern twist to this beloved classic for an unforgettable night of Disney magic.

“Stacked with unforgettable performances, this will be a must-see special event for fans of the original and for the new generation being introduced to this cherished tale.”

The special will feature a new cast and will air on ABC on December 15. It will be available to stream on Disney+ the following day.

Chu said: “‘Beauty and the Beast’ was always a game-changing cinematic experience for me. When the animated movie came out, I watched it multiple times in the first weekend. It showed me the outer limits of what animated artists and storytellers could achieve, so the fact that I get to executive produce a tribute to all the creatives that made this masterpiece through our Electric Somewhere company is a dream I didn’t even think was possible.

“With world-class creatives and talent to reinterpret the classic musical numbers (with a few surprises), I can’t wait for the audiences, in person and at home, to experience what we have in store for them. It’s a true celebration of creativity.”

Bette Midler didn’t intend to be “exclusionary or transphobic” with her tweet about the “erasure” of women.

The 76-year-old actress has responded after backlash over a tweet in which she said “women of the world” are losing the rights to their bodies, lives and “even of our name”.

After some followers claimed the comments were anti-trans, Midler has now shared a New York Times article which says “the word ‘women’ has become verboten” and sought to explain her position.

She tweeted: “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! My tweet about women was a response to this fascinating and well written piece in the NYT on July 3rd.

“There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that.”

The ‘Hocus Pocus’ star noted she has “60 years of proven love and concern” for marginalised people, and urged people to “unite” to save democracy.

She continued: “I’ve fought for marginalized people for as long as I can remember. Still, if you want to dismiss my 60 years of proven love and concern over a tweet that accidentally angered the very people I have always supported and adored, so be it.

“But the truth is, Democracy is slipping through our fingers. I’m all in on trying to save Democracy for ALL PEOPLE.

“We must unite, because, in case you haven’t been paying attention, divided we will definitely fall.”

Her original tweet – which comes after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which removed the constitutional right to an abortion – has sparked criticism.

Earlier this week, she wrote: “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name!

“They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’!

“Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!”

A new documentary about‘ Victoria’s Secret’ sex scandals will debut later this month.

‘Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons’ is set to follow the stream of sexual assault and harassment allegations following the iconic lingerie brand – who used to throw an annual fashion show with supermodel ‘Angel’s such as Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen and Alessandra Ambrosio – and its ex CEO Leslie H. Wexner and boasted the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a “close personal adviser”.

Investigative journalist Matt Tyrnauer is set to focus on their dynamic and in a trailer for the Hulu documentary – which will drop on the streaming service on July 14 after a premiere at Tribeca Film Festival – reads “Truth is not what it seems as the underworld of fashion, the billionaire class, and Jeffrey Epstein are revealed to all be inextricably intertwined with the fall of this legendary brand”

The ‘Valentino: The Last Emperor’ creator – and former Vanity Fair special correspondent – will also explore US corporate and shopping culture in the three-parter.

Matt said: “It’s a very complex story that’s about not only fashion but the world of power and influence, and what I like to call the fashion industrial complex. It’s about the design era: the world of design and marketing, fast-fashion, but also the people behind it and the power and influence that they wield… Since a lot of my films are about power and influence in the way that certain people manipulate the various power structures, this became interesting to me.”

The documentary will also feature contributions from former models, such as Frederique van der Wal and archive footage that shows a young Naomi Campbell.

(Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that detained U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner may appeal her sentence or apply for clemency once a verdict has been delivered.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexei Zaitsev said: “attempts to present the case as though the American woman was illegally detained do not stand up to criticism.”

Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. 17 on drugs charges, after cannabis-infused vaporiser cartridges were allegedly found in her baggage. In May, the U.S. State Department designated Griner as “wrongfully detained”.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Beyonce has reportedly “run #MeToo checks” on potential collaborators.

The ‘Break My Heart’ hitmaker is said to have vetted artists and producers for her upcoming album ‘Renaissance’ and rejected anyone who has faced allegations of harassment or abuse.

An insider told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Her team now run #MeToo checks on any potential collaborators.

“Two songs from high-profile artists have been rejected because of allegations they are facing.

“Although neither has been found guilty, she’s sending a clear message to the industry in the wake of troubling cases from people like R Kelly and Harvey Weinstein.”

It’s said the AGE-year-old star “wants to set an example”, and she “doesn’t care” how people react to her decision.

The source added: “She’s rubbed some people up the wrong way but she doesn’t care. She won’t go anywhere near you if you’ve been accused of going after one of her peers.

“Beyonce is a leader in her business and wants to set an example that any abuse shouldn’t be normalised.

“This is why her new record is about empowering women.”

The report comes after Beyonce recently revealed she wants to “create a safe space” through the music on her upcoming album, as well as a project “free of perfectionism and overthinking”.

She wrote: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world.

“It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.

“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom.

“It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in the music.”

So far, Beyoncé has unveiled lead single ‘Break My Soul’, a house track that samples Robin S. hit ‘Show Me Love’ and Big Freedia’s ‘Explode’.

She added: “I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”

Macy Gray has insisted that the comments she made on gender were “grossly misunderstood.”

The 54-year-old singer spoke out about her views on what constitutes a woman on Monday (04.06.22) where she noted that “changing body parts” does not make a person female and faced backlash online, so took to Twitter to explain that she “supports” the trans community.

She tweeted: “i got nothing but love for lgbt+ and transgender communities. i’ve been a supporter since day one and never a fake one. my statement on piers morgan was GROSSLY misunderstood. i respect everyone’s right to be whoever they wana b” (sic)

The statement came less than 24 hours after she said that while she would call someone by their chosen pronouns to appease them, it still does not change the facts and claimed that there can be “a lot of judgement” for those who “just say it how it is.”

Speaking on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ on TalkTV, she said: “I will say this and everybody’s gonna hate me but – as a woman – just because you go change your parts, it doesn’t make you a woman, sorry. I know that for a fact. A woman is a human being with boobs. How about you start there? And have a vagina!

“You want me to call you a ‘her,’ I will, Because that’s what you want but that doesn’t make you a woman just because I call you a ‘her’ and just because you got surgery. I don’t think you should be called transphobic just because you don’t agree. There is a lot of judgement and throwing stones at people for just saying what it is. Do you know what I mean? A woman goes through a completely unique experience and surgery and finding oneself doesn’t change that Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? You can’t have that just because you want to be a woman!”

Marta Kauffman has admitted ‘Friends’ bosses made a “mistake” by using the wrong pronouns to describe a transgender character.

In the show, Chandler Bing’s parent is referred to as his “dad” despite identifying as a woman and executive producer Marta has insisted bosses on the show should have done better but errors were made due to a lack of understanding at the time.

Speaking on BBC World Service, Marta said: “We kept referring to her (Chandler’s transgender parent) as ‘Chandler’s father’, even though Chandler’s father was trans. Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she’. That was a mistake.”

Marta went on to discuss the show’s lack of diversity which has attracted plenty of criticism over the years – describing the comments as “valid” and insisting she “feels stupid” for not recognising the problems.

She said: “Friends has been criticised in a number of ways. The biggest one being that we did not have enough representation of Black people. And over the course of the last few years I’ve gotten to the point where I can say unfortunately yes, I am guilty of that. And I’ll never make that mistake again. I was clearly part of systemic racism in our business. I was unaware of that, which makes me feel stupid.”

Marta went on to insist criticism of the show’s lack of diversity was justified, adding: “That was a very valid, extremely difficult criticism which still … I get emotional about. If I knew then what I know now, there are certain things I would have changed. But I didn’t know them and I have since learned.”

Darren Hayes was in a “dark place” before he came out as gay.

The 50-year-old star – who is best known as frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden alongside Daniel Jones – penned an op-ed for The Huff Post at the start of July explaining that he had been on the “brink of suicide” before coming out and has now claimed that his new album “saved [his] life.”

He said: “I would say my new album honestly saved my life. I was in a dark place, emotionally, not understanding that just like my sexuality, my creative outlet is a huge part of the person I am, and by denying that, I was denying an essential part of me.”

The ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ hitmaker – who has been married to Richard Cullen since 2013 and was previously married to Colby Taylor – released his comeback single ‘Let’s Try Being in Love’ in early 2022 and explained that his return to the public eye has been “more authentic” than in his initial heyday.

He told PEOPLE: “I realized that I had never truly been myself at the height of my fame and commercial success. would have been a huge regret of mine to have retired from the public eye without having come back to the world as my true authentic self. Because I have embraced myself fully in my art, I no longer feel the shame and stigma around my sexuality or my mental health. I openly speak about both because I believe they are connected, and by speaking about what most embarrasses us, it’s my hope that bringing light to sadness drives away the darkness.”

Highland Park (United States) (AFP) – A gunman armed with a high-powered rifle shot dead at least six people at a parade to mark US Independence Day in a wealthy Chicago suburb on Monday — the latest in a series of shocking mass shootings on a holiday meant to celebrate all things American.

Police launched a manhunt in the city of Highland Park for the gunman, who was still on the loose, while authorities rushed to cancel July 4 celebrations there and in the nearby town of Evanston.

Along the parade route, abandoned chairs and other belongings could be seen scattered after panicked spectators fled for their lives.

“Everyone thought it was fireworks,” one parade-goer, identified only as Zoe, told CNN.

“My dad thought it was part of the show, and I’m like, ‘Dad, no… something is wrong.’ And I grabbed him. And I looked back at him, and then it was just a sea of panic, and people just falling and falling.”

As they ran, she said that some 20 feet behind her, “I saw a girl shot and killed… saw her die.”

Zoe said they first hid behind a dumpster before police pulled them into the basement of a sporting goods store with some other people, several of whom were injured, including a man who appeared to have been shot in the ear and a girl who was shot in the leg. 

When they were finally able to leave, she told CNN, the parade route resembled “a battle zone. And it’s disgusting.”

Commander Chris O’Neill of the city’s police said the shooting began around 10:14 am, as the parade was “approximately three-quarters of the way through.”

“It sounds like spectators were targeted… So, very random, very intentional and very sad,” he said.

He said two dozen people had been hospitalized and six confirmed dead, adding that “several” of them had died at the scene, which was “very large.”

The suspected shooter has been described as a white male aged 18-20 with longer black hair, and was using a “high-powered rifle,” O’Neill said.

He said that “firearm evidence” had been located on a nearby rooftop, adding: “All indications is he was discreet, he was very difficult to see.”

“All individuals are still urged to shelter in place at this time,” he said.

Nancy Rotering — the mayor of Highland Park, a wealthy suburb north of Chicago in the Midwestern state of Illinois — gave the same toll and condemned the holiday violence.

“On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we’re instead mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us,” she said.

‘Enough is enough’

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the state police and the local sheriff’s office, are assisting with the response.

Highland Park announced that all July 4 festivities had been canceled as a result of the violence, as did nearby Evanston.

“While there is no known threat to Evanston residents, the shooter is still at large; therefore, cancelations are taking place in an abundance of caution,” the city said.

US Representative Brad Schneider, who was at the parade, said on Twitter that “a shooter struck in Highland Park during the Independence Day parade.” 

“Hearing of loss of life and others injured. My condolences to the family and loved ones; my prayers for the injured and for my community,” he wrote, adding: “Enough is enough!”

The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence plaguing the United States, where approximately 40,000 deaths a year are caused by firearms, including suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

The debate over gun control — a deeply divisive issue in the country — was reignited by two massacres in May that saw 10 Black supermarket shoppers gunned down in upstate New York and 21 people, mostly young children, slain at an elementary school in Texas.

Congress passed the first significant bill on gun safety in decades in the wake of those killings. President Joe Biden signed it into law in late June, saying that while it falls short of what is really needed, it will still save lives.

But a day earlier, proponents of tougher firearms laws suffered a setback when the US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a fundamental right to carry a handgun in public, a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for states and cities across the country trying to rein in gun violence.

Las Vegas (AFP) – Mobsters who end up sleeping with the fishes are usually never seen again.

But climate change has a way of messing even with the mafia, and a watery grave outside Las Vegas is starting to cough up Sin City’s darkest secrets.

Lake Mead, which can be reached from the Las Vegas Strip by a short ride in the trunk of a car with your hands and feet bound, is drying up in a grueling decades-long drought.

Its receding waters are leaving behind the usual flotsam and jetsam of a lake heavily trafficked by weekend boaters.

But also bodies.

One particular find caught the attention of mob-watchers: the skeletal remains of a man who had been shot in the head, stuffed in a barrel and tossed in the lake four decades ago.

“The mob had a propensity to put people in barrels, whether they’re burying them in a lake, or dumping them out in the field,” said Geoff Schumacher of The Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

“That’s number one. Number two, the person was shot in the head, typical mob hit style.

“And third, we know that this happened in the late ’70s, early ’80s (when) the mob was very prominent in Las Vegas.”

Oasis

An improbable oasis of hotels, casinos and vice sprouted in the baking Nevada desert in the 20th century.

Las Vegas had been founded in 1905, but it wasn’t until work began on the nearby Hoover Dam in the 1930s that its population swelled.

The influx of construction workers — mostly single men — created a market for entertainment, which was filled by sex workers, showgirls and legalized gambling.

And where there is flesh, casinos and booze, organized crime is lurking in the background.

“The mob played a pretty big role in the development of Las Vegas from the 1940s through the 1980s,” said Schumacher.

“There was a lot of behind-the-scenes activity where the mob was controlling the management of the casinos, but also building and expanding the casinos, using in many cases, Teamsters union money.”

The city grew rich in the post-World War II boom that fueled the American dream, becoming the global capital of gambling.

And for every $100 that a hapless tourist lost at the blackjack table in a fug of free booze, a mafia boss in Chicago or New York wanted his cut.

The skimming, which doubtless cost the city millions of dollars in lost taxes, was a double-edged sword.

“They also sort of created this mystique about Las Vegas,” said Schumacher. 

“People wanted to come to Las Vegas, on the idea that ‘oh, maybe when I sit down at the bar, there’s going to be a mob guy sitting next to me.'”

‘Cold-blooded killers’

But it wasn’t all glamour. 

“The reality was that these guys were cold-blooded killers; they were thieves. If you were to cross the mob in some way… there definitely were consequences.”

Las Vegas police are still investigating the body found in the barrel at Lake Mead earlier this year, and in response to AFP inquiries would only say there is an ongoing probe.

But Schumacher has his theories about the identity of the dead man.

One suggestion is that he was Jay Vandermark, who worked at the Stardust Hotel, an operation run by Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal on behalf of the Chicago Mob.

Rosenthal — who was played by Robert De Niro in the movie “Casino” — was funneling cash back to his bosses, until the scheme drew the attention of local authorities.

Vandermark disappeared shortly thereafter.

A more likely candidate for the body in the barrel, however, is a man named Harry Pappas who was also connected to the Chicago Mob.

“One of the extra perks for visitors to Las Vegas, if you were a high roller… was they would take you out on the boat at Lake Mead,” Schumacher said.

“The Stardust had a boat out there and Harry Pappas was in charge of that whole operation.

“Right before he disappeared, he told his wife he was going to lunch with someone who was interested in buying his boat. We’ve never seen Harry Pappas again.”

Lake Mead is a massive reservoir on the Colorado River created by the Hoover Dam. It is now just a quarter full — the result of a drought and warming temperatures fueled by man-made climate change — and shows no sign of stabilising.

As its shoreline retreats, revealing more of the lake bed, it may yield more mob secrets, said Schumacher.

“I don’t know if we find another body in a barrel, but I have to believe that there could very well be a second murder victim out there.”

Elliot Page has shared his new passport photograph.

The ‘Umbrella Academy’ actor – who announced he was transgender in 2020 – took to Instagram to share his updated passport picture and revealed how much it meant to him.

He wrote: “Never thought I would love a passport photo.”

Meanwhile, Elliot, 35 – who separated from Emma Portner in January 2021 after three years of marriage – recently revealed that he is looking for love online and thanked his ‘Umbrella Academy’ co-star Ritu Arya, 28, for “guiding me on my first dating app ever”.

Elliot previously explained he always knew he was a boy and couldn’t understand when people told him he wasn’t.

He said: “All trans people are so different, and my story’s absolutely just my story. But yes, when I was a little kid, absolutely, 100 percent, I was a boy. I knew I was a boy when I was a toddler. I was writing fake love letters and signing them ‘Jason.’ Every little aspect of my life, that is who I was, who I am, and who I knew myself to be.

“I just couldn’t understand when I’d be told, ‘No, you’re not. No, you can’t be that when you’re older’. You feel it. Now I’m finally getting myself back to feeling like who I am, and it’s so beautiful and extraordinary, and there’s a grief to it in a way.”