By James Oliphant

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) -When a newly elected Florida legislator endorsed a bill allowing residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, he was both demonstrating his fealty to Ron DeSantis and helping to burnish the governor’s conservative credentials for a possible White House run in 2024.

State Senator Jay Collins’ support for the concealed-carry bill was key to DeSantis’ efforts to secure a suite of legislative victories this spring ahead of an anticipated announcement that he is seeking the Republican Party nomination, according to interviews with nearly a dozen lobbyists, lawmakers and strategists in Tallahassee.

Those efforts include installing hand-picked loyalists like Collins in the Republican-controlled state legislature who could then help ensure passage of proposals on guns, abortion and other Republican red-meat issues, they told Reuters, providing DeSantis with a strong record of conservative wins.

Former President Donald Trump, who is leading in national opinion polls nearly a year ahead of the first primary contests, has targeted DeSantis as a “RINO,” a Republican in name only.

Yet DeSantis, 44, remains wildly popular with voters in his state after winning re-election by the widest margin of any Florida governor in 40 years, giving him a solid platform from which to launch a presidential bid.

DeSantis has yet to make a final decision on a presidential run, those close to him told Reuters. But he is reaching out to potential staff and donors, raising money, and traveling around the country to raise his profile.

The expectation is that DeSantis will wait until the legislative session is over in early May to launch his campaign, allies said.

“Having vast political capital is an asset,” said David Johnson, a longtime Republican operative in Tallahassee. “With a cooperating Republican supermajority in both houses, DeSantis’ agenda will never have better timing for legislative accomplishment.”

DeSantis’ office did not grant a request for an interview. In response to questions about how DeSantis’ goals for this spring’s session might play into his future political plans, DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said in an email: “The governor has been clear about his priorities for Florida.”

Griffin also noted the support DeSantis’ proposals receive from lawmakers.

If DeSantis does enter the race for the Republican nomination, he will join a field still dominated by Trump. The former president this month unleashed a flurry of critical social media posts at DeSantis, including calling him a “RINO GLOBALIST.”

In response, DeSantis said he was keeping his focus on Florida. “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans,” DeSantis said at a press conference on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, DeSantis and his allies in the legislature have rolled out several proposals that the governor expects will be well received by conservatives in and outside of Florida, those close to him said.

He called a special session of the legislature where lawmakers voted on Friday to strengthen the authority of DeSantis’ new election police force to investigate and prosecute voter fraud, although there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.

The legislature also approved more interstate flights of migrants such as those he chartered last year from Texas to Massachusetts.

In response to last year’s spat with Walt Disney World over its opposition to the Republican measure called the “don’t say gay” bill by opponents, the legislature on Friday granted DeSantis control over the special tax district that governs the park.

When the regular session launches in March, the legislature will be poised to act on DeSantis’ priorities, introducing bills that would allow juries to impose the death penalty without unanimous agreement; stop public pension fund managers from considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) provisions in their investment decisions; defund diversity and equity programs at state colleges and weaken teachers’ unions.

DeSantis has said he would sign a bill to ban abortions as early as six weeks if passed by lawmakers. He signed a bill last year banning abortions after 15 weeks.

He also continues to push back hard on what he sees as efforts to impose a liberal agenda in public schools. Last month, he said Florida would not allow an Advanced Placement high school course in African American studies, contending the curriculum would indoctrinate students on “queer theory.”

Such efforts are aimed at bolstering what would likely be the central theme of DeSantis’ presidential campaign: that he has transformed Florida into the most prosperous conservative-leaning state in the country.

“We have articulated a vision for a free and prosperous state,” DeSantis said at his second inauguration last month. “We have, through persistence and hard work, executed on that vision.”

But, he added, “We are far from done.”

HANDPICKED ALLIES

Allies in the legislature are part of DeSantis’ strategy.

Last year, DeSantis broke with convention to endorse Collins, a former Green Beret and the sponsor of the concealed-carry bill, over the candidate preferred by Republican lawmakers.

In a brief interview, Collins called DeSantis’ support “a blessing.” He resisted the suggestion that the legislature was a rubber stamp for the governor.

“All three parts of our state government work together,” he said. “This is a well-oiled machine.”

Blaise Ingoglia, another first-time state senator elected with DeSantis’ support, authored the death penalty bill and will chair the committee charged with helping the governor cut taxes, also an item on his wish list.

A CLIMATE OF FEAR

DeSantis has wielded power in Florida unlike any other modern governor, the lobbyists, lawmakers and strategists who spoke to Reuters said.

Some of those Tallahassee insiders point to an episode last year involving Wilton Simpson, then president of the state Senate. Republicans in the chamber had presented DeSantis with a congressional redistricting map he disliked citing “legal concerns”.

DeSantis used his executive veto power to block funding of a new sports complex and cancer research center in Simpson’s home county, and then had Simpson and other Senate leaders stand with him at a public event as he announced the budget cuts.

DeSantis later presented his own, more aggressive map that was quickly approved by the Senate.

“They are afraid,” said Mac Stipanovich, a retired Republican lobbyist who recently left the party. “If you are interested in being the Republican nominee in any office in the state, there is no percentage in crossing Ron DeSantis.”

Simpson, now the state’s agriculture commissioner, said the rift with DeSantis over the budget was “blown out of proportion.”

“The governor is a very strong man,” he said, adding DeSantis and Republican lawmakers were in “lockstep” with how to run the state.

DeSantis’ hard-right stance on issues such as guns and abortion risks alienating the suburban voters he eventually would need to win the presidency in 2024.

For now, allies say his actions are primed to win the primary over Trump, and he’ll worry about a general election later.

DeSantis has pointed to his mammoth re-election victory as validation of his approach.

“That verdict has been rendered,” he said, “by the people of the state of Florida.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Suzanne Goldenberg)

‘Hogwarts Legacy’ has broken a record for the most live Twitch viewers.

During early access, the RPG based on the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise has beaten ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ after it was watched by more than 1.2 million people on the streaming platform.

The majority of viewers watched xQc’s channel live-stream, which had more than 100,000 live viewers at peak times.

The record viewers come after ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ sparked controversy by adding the first transgender ‘Harry Potter’ character.

The introduction of Sirona Ryan, a barkeep at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, comes amid the J.K. Rowling transgender row.

Although It’s not stated in the game if Sirona is transgender, one piece of dialogue about an encounter with a goblin called Lodgok suggests as much.

Sirona says: “I’ve known [Lodgok] for years. We met when I was waiting tables here as a student — well before I bought the place.

“He was cordial enough, but we weren’t friends then. His mistrust of wizardkind ran deep… Hadn’t seen him in years when he came in a few months ago. But, he recognised me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. Took them a second to realise I was actually a witch, not a wizard.”

Warner Bros. Games has insisted Rowling is “not directly involved”, though her writing has provided the “foundation” for the title.

The acclaimed scribe first caused controversy when she took issue with an online article’s mention of “people who menstruate” by tweeting: “‘People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Among those who have since hit out at the author over her remarks are ‘Harry Potter’ actors including Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), as well as Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), who featured in her ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films.

The much-discussed role-playing title arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC this Friday (10.02.23).

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One follow on April 4 and Nintendo Switch players will have a while longer to wait with a date set for July 25.

New York (AFP) – After a starring role in last year’s Super Bowl broadcast, cryptocurrency firms are expected to sit out the 2023 game.

But the annual advertising extravaganza — a kind of competition among marketers that runs parallel to the American football championship — features an array of beer and car companies, along with other familiar brands like M&M’s candies, which has been teasing its spot since last month.

This year’s slate of commercials revives the cult hit “Breaking Bad,” whose cast reunites to pitch PopCorners chips, as well as a collaboration between General Motors and Netflix that shows an electric car navigating “Squid Games” and other settings from streaming hits.

The spots garner top dollar, typically $6 or $7 million for 30 seconds of air time. That’s roughly 10 times the cost of an ad during the 2022 World Cup match between the United States and Britain.

Last year’s game generated $578 million in advertising revenues for NBC, up $143.8 million from the prior year’s telecast, according to Kantar, a data analytics and brand consultancy.

This year’s game is being telecast by Fox Sports.

“It’s a lot of money for a media spot,” said Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Northwestern University. But “where else can you get 100 million people to see an ad at the same time?”

The ads have become such as big component of the game in the United States that among “a massive number of people, you have consumers who actively watch and discuss the commercials” at gatherings, Rucker said.

Keeping it light

Held each year in the dead of winter, “Super Bowl Sunday” marks an occasion for families and friends to gather for several hours of competition, revelry and entertainment.

This year’s game will be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. As always, the show includes A-list half-time entertainment, this time headlined by Rihanna.

Over-the-top ads are an old tradition and include such epochal spots as Ridley Scott’s minute-long commercial for Apple in 1984 announcing the Macintosh computer.

The spot, which features a female athlete smashing a screen showing a “Big Brother” figure, riffs on the famous novel by George Orwell, concluding with a vow that the computer’s arrival will show “why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”

This year’s most anticipated commercial may be for M&M’s, which began tiptoeing into the US cultural wars a few weeks ago.

On January 24, M&M’s, which is owned by Mars, announced it was freezing a publicity drive featuring cartoon mascots of the colored candies after the campaign was criticized as “woke” by US conservatives because of stylistic changes, such as the introduction of a purple character, a color associated with the LGBTQ community. 

M&M’s announced an “indefinite pause” of the “spokescandies” and unveiled a new brand ambassador — the popular comedian Maya Rudolph — in a shift that was timed perfectly for grabbing public attention ahead of a splashy Super Bowl ad.

Andrew Frank, an analyst at Gartner, does not expect politically controversial ads this year, predicting brands will navigate carefully in a divided country where strident messages can backfire. 

“The antidote to backlash is humor, keeping it light,” Frank said. “I think they would like to deescalate all of the toxicity around culture wars and things like that.”

Beer bash

Last year’s game featured several prominent spots on the emerging cryptocurrency market, led by the then-titan FTX and its founder Samuel Bankman-Fried.

Since then, FTX has collapsed and Bankman-Fried has been indicted for fraud.

The fall of FTX and Bankman-Fried has created “an appropriate time for them to take a pause,” Frank said.

Countering that loss of advertising, broadcaster Fox can count on revenues from a wider range of beer companies following the expiration of a longstanding exclusivity deal with Anheuser-Busch, the owner of the Budweiser brand.

Frank expects most spots will go after “leisure spending with lighthearted messages of escapist entertainment,” he said. 

The aim is to “impart a sense that everything is okay and that you don’t need to be so frugal about your discretionary spending.”

Britney Spears feels “sick to [her] stomach” over claims her loved ones wanted to stage an intervention because they feared she “would die”.

The ‘Toxic’ singer – who regained charge of her personal and financial affairs in November 2021 after the conservatorship she’d been under for 13 years was dissolved – allegedly concerned her friends so much they feared she’d lose her life due to mental health issues and escalating substance abuse, and she’s now blasted reports they were planning to confront her at a safe house.

She wrote on Instagram: “It makes me sick to my stomach that it’s even legal for people to make up stories that I almost died … I mean at some point enough is enough !!! (sic)”

The 41-year-old pop singer insisted she was “not surprised” by the claims and warned fans she may withdraw from social media again in a bit to quiet the speculation.

She wrote: ” I’m probably going to have to stop posting on Instagram because even though I enjoy doing it, there’s obviously a lot of people who don’t wish me well !!! I’m honestly not surprised at all … Again doing the best I can !!!

“Again, the conservatorship has been over for almost a year … No folks, it’s not 2007 … it’s 2023 and I’m making my first homemade lasagna at home !!! I finally got my fireplace to work in my living room !!! As my hubby says it best: don’t believe everything you read !!! All that love right back at ya !!!(sic)”

Britney’s comments came shortly after her husband, Sam Asghari, also maintained that his wife was still in control of her affairs.

He told ‘Access Hollywood’: “An intervention did not occur. My wife is in full control of her life and will continue to make all decisions involving her care regardless of circumstances. Speculation on her health is inappropriate and should end immediately.”

Sources had told both TMZ and People magazine that Britney’s inner circle were planning an intervention to express their worried about the ‘Gimme More’ hitmaker’s recent antics, but it was scrapped at the last minute.

A source told the latter outlet: “Britney has been acting increasingly erratically and those around her have grown more concerned. She is often up all night, sleeps during [the] day and has a lot of anger.

“Everyone had hoped Britney could be convinced to seek treatment before things got any worse but they knew it wouldn’t be easy. She’s been going through a lot and has been increasingly combative.”

However, the insider did reveal Britney met with a doctor on Wednesday (08.02.23) night but while the meeting went well, it is unsure what will happen next.

According to TMZ, Britney’s manager had rented a house in Los Angeles for several months and the plan was to take the ‘Womanizer’ singer there, where Sam, her team and doctors would be present, in an attempt to convince her she needed help.

The plan was for Britney to live in the property for up to two months while receiving medical treatment and psychological counselling, but it was scrapped earlier this week when she became “somewhat aware” of what was being arranged.

After cracking down on Airbnb rentals, tourist buses and red light district tours, Amsterdam now wants to scale back its tolerance for smoking joints in public in an effort to improve the quality of life for locals.

Tourists and residents will no longer be permitted to smoke marijuana in public spaces in the historic areas of Amsterdam as of mid-May, as Dutch officials seek to limit on the negative effects of mass tourism.

In further changes, restaurants must close earlier and prostitutes halt their work earlier in the city’s Wallen red light district, according to an announcement by the city.

The measure is just one of many from municipal officials aimed at making Amsterdam a more liveable city in spite of the massive tourist draw of famous galleries, canal walkways and legal marijuana.

The latest moves aim to make the neighbourhood safer and more comfortable for residents, the announcement said, noting that at night, the atmosphere can sometimes be “very grim.”

Locals have been complaining about the boozing, shouting and pot smoking over the years. Tourists also attract drug dealers, who in turn create crime, raising the dangers on the streets, the city said in the announcement.

One reason tourists are drawn to Amsterdam are the coffee shops where tourists are permitted to purchase small quantities of hashish and marijuana.

City officials are considering whether to restrict coffee shop sales to between the hours of 4 pm and 1 am.

The new rules are part of a broader set of measures to protect locals, with further rules seeing pubs stop admitting patrons after 1 am. Prostitutes must close their windows by 3 am, rather than 6 am.

Meanwhile, from 2024 onwards, tourist buses will no longer be allowed to drive into the centre of Amsterdam, Dutch officials previously announced, citing issues with overcrowding, pedestrian safety and the risk of damaging to historic city infrastructure.

Amsterdam has been trying to curb mass tourism for years and had announced extra measures at the end of 2022. Last year, about 18 million visitors spent at least one night in the city. In addition, there are millions of day visitors.

As part of a number of measures to slow tourist numbers, the city previously stopped landlords from renting out properties in central parts of the city on platforms like Airbnb, while also cracking down on guide tours through the red-light district.

London (AFP) – A British auction house on Friday dropped the sale of “Star Wars” memorabilia once owned by actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, after a public plea from his widow.

Mayhew, who died in 2019, was a British-born actor who towered 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 metres) and played Chewbacca in the original film and sequels until 2015.

He and his American wife Angie sold their house in Keighley in northern England around 25 years ago, leaving early Star Wars memorabilia behind in the attic.

The next owners, who have not been named, found the material and eventually took it to local auctioneers, who were excited by the find and publicised it in national media, announcing its sale later this month.

The lots included memos, scripts and call sheets from the production of the original film and “The Empire Strikes Back”, as well as signed photos and a scrapbook. 

Ryedale Auctioneers set modest estimates of around £150 ($180) per item but said they expected wide interest.

Mayhew’s widow then posted on the Twitter account of the Peter Mayhew Foundation, a charity set up in his memory, saying: “It really breaks my heart to see our belongings auctioned off like this.”

She said that when the couple moved, Mayhew’s “movement challenges made it impossible for him to get into the attic to get the rest of these memories”.

She said that it was “one of Peter’s and my biggest regrets that we had to leave these items behind but his knees and joints had gotten to be so painful that he was no longer able to go into the attic to get them”.

The foundation later said that it had held a video call with auctioneer Angus Ashworth and told him of “our desire that Peter’s items be returned to Angie and the Mayhew family”.

The auction house on Friday removed pictures of the lots from its website.

Ashworth said: “Knowing how much (the memorabilia) means to the foundation… the vendors are quite happy to donate it to the foundation to have permanently within their personal collection, not for profit, so that fans can access it in perpetuity”. 

Jane Fonda joked exercise is essential for older people to still be able to “make love”.

The 85-year-old actress admitted she thanks God “every day” she has been staying active for decades because she is still reaping the benefits of being strong and flexible.

She said: “You’ve got to stay strong. I have a grandson who’s three years old, and I can still pick him up. I mean, I have to bend my knees and, you know, it takes a long time to get him up there, but I can still pick him up. You want to be able to carry your own bags.

“You have to be able to, you know, make love. I don’t remember much [about that], but do I remember you need flexibility!”

But the ’80 For Brady’ star admitted she wasn’t always a big fan of exercise and only realised how “important” it was in her 30s.

Speaking at the launch of H+M Williamsburg’s Move Studio in New York this week, she said during a Q and A session: “I didn’t know that it was important to do ’til I was in my 30s. I had a ‘constant period’ all during school so that I couldn’t do gym — anything to get out of gym.

“It wasn’t until my late 30s [or] early 40s that I started to actually become active … [and] life before I was active, it wasn’t nearly as good as when I started to move.”

As well as noticing how the “shape of [her] body” changed as a result of working out, Jane also reaped the mental health benefits.

She said: “I come from a long line of really depressed people, and the best way to fight depression is to keep moving.”

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI on Friday conducted a consensual search at the Indianapolis residence of former Vice President Mike Pence, after classified documents were discovered at his house last month, a Justice Department official told Reuters.

The search comes just a few weeks after Pence’s attorney Greg Jacobs notified the National Archives in a Jan. 18 letter about the discovery of records with classified markings. The records were then turned over to the FBI.

The search of Pence’s home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether Trump or his associates may have obstructed the Justice Department’s probe into his retention of thousands of government records, several hundred of which were marked as classified, after he departed the White House in January 2021.

The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Trump’s Florida estate on Aug. 8, where they collected about 13,000 records, about 100 of which contained classified markings.

Separately, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur in January, after Biden’s legal team revealed they discovered classified documents in November at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a University of Pennsylvania think tank. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election.

Since then, additional records were also found at Biden’s residence in Wilmington.

A third search of Biden’s Delaware beach home earlier this month did not find any additional documents.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Heather Timmons and David Gregorio)

New York (AFP) – New York Fashion Week kicks off Friday with several big names absent from the runway but a calendar packed full of young designers and emerging labels — increasingly the event’s trademark.

Opening the Fall-Winter 2023 parade on Friday is Rodarte, one of the few major brands returning this year.

Thom Browne, the new head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) that runs the event, showcases on Tuesday.

Among the other headliners are regulars Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, Coach, Sergio Hudson, Carolina Herrera, Gabriela Hearst and Michael Kors.

But the program, which ends Wednesday in the middle of the Big Apple’s cold month of February, again has a notable absence of high-profilers such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and previous CFDA lead Tom Ford.

Pop icon Rihanna, who has exhibited her lingerie collection Fenty at New York in the past, will instead be performing at the much-watched Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday.

“Very few names are brands that are prominent in the US market,” said Jacqueline Quinn of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), confiding that her students are focusing their eyes on Paris and Milan instead.

Instead, the collection of ready-to-wear designs serves up a large helping of young talents and new brands, such as Elena Velez.

The 28-year-old was named “emerging designer of the year” at the 2022 CFDA awards for her non-traditional creations that merge high fashion with the metalsmith heritage of her hometown Milwaukee.

‘Era of renaissance’

Some 20 designers are under 30 years old, including the Nigerian-born, New York-based Taofeek Abijako and his label Head of State, Indian Kanika Goyal (KGL) and Emma Gage (Melke), who uses recycled materials for a more sustainable fashion.

For Velez, the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred an “era of renaissance.”

“I think there’s a renewed lust for life and a reminder of the precariousness of life that inspires young people like myself to embolden ourselves with our passions,” she told AFP.

And Velez is determined to enjoy it while it lasts.

“If we’re being honest, the shelf-life of a startup fashion brand isn’t exactly lengthy,” she added.

Denmark’s Christian Juul Nielsen, the creative director at Herve Leger, already has several years of experience behind him having worked at Dior, Nina Ricci and Oscar de la Renta.

In 2019, he launched his own brand, Aknvas, whose designs “focus on drape, flattering silhouettes, innovative knits and an elevated palette,” according to its website.

“I try to translate the drama I got from John Galliano and the modernity I got from Raf Simmons,” he told AFP.

For Nielsen, and others like him, New York presents an opportunity.

“A lot of small brands in Paris, they just don’t get on the calendar. In America, there is this excitement of newness (and) I want to be part of making the New York fashion scene exciting,” Nielsen added.

About as hyped as it is controversial, “Hogwarts Legacy” is a game that easily could have been the biggest and most popular release of 2023.

Instead, it has landed right at the centre of a fierce debate about the rights of trans people.

“Hogwarts Legacy”, the first major video game from the “Harry Potter” empire in years, is getting its long-awaited public release on Friday.

The ability to explore Hogwarts castle and the grounds surrounding it in an open-world narrative that pre-dates the original stories had been longed for by many fans of the original series.

But the launch has been soured by the transphobic online presence of author J.K. Rowling, whose criticism of trans women and trans activists have sparked calls for a complete boycott of this role-playing game.

Time and again, the 57-year-old has spoken out against the social and legal equality of trans women with women who were already born with female sex organs.

Even “Harry” actor Daniel Radcliffe has distanced himself from the author.

In Scotland, where Rowling is involved in an initiative against violence against girls and women, the debate is particularly heated, notably since the regional government passed a law to simplify the long, bureaucratic process of gender reassignment in official documents.

Critics like Rowling warn that the law facilitates men’s access to spaces where women undress and are vulnerable. The Conservative British central government wants to block the changes.

Because of its close association with Rowling, there have long been vocal calls to boycott “Hogwarts Legacy”.

The gaming forum ResetEra has banned any mention of the game, and the website GameSpot published an essay about Rowling’s “anti-transgender stance.”

Others gaming media have meanwhile reflected a torn gaming scene, eager to explore Hogwarts but reluctant to indirectly fund Rowling’s campaign against trans women.

Rowling herself is demonstratively calm. Asked how she was coping with losing so many fans because of her stance, she replied dryly on Twitter in October 2022: “I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly.”

The game’s developers at Avalanche are acutely aware of the delicate subject, and have even noted that Rowling is not directly involved in the game’s development. However developers did work closely with Rowling’s team, they admit, and the company says the author is “one of the world’s greatest storytellers.”

“Hogwarts Legacy” is by no means the first game to be spawned from Rowling’s wizarding world, but it is the first major one in about a decade, and it had the potential to be the biggest and best-reviewed game yet.

The game takes players back to Hogwarts decades before the events of the Harry Potter books, allowing them to slip into the robes of a freshly placed student at the wizarding school at a time when a nefarious dark arts threat is rising.

The game’s character editor lets you choose voice, gender and appearance (now often standard in role-playing games), and a trans woman plays a larger supporting role.

For all its efforts, the boycott campaign does not seem to be halting the game’s potential for success.

Millions of people recently watched streamers playing the game on Twitch, and according to the site steamdb.info, “Hogwarts Legacy” has been one of the best-selling titles for weeks – even before it was released.

According to opencritic.com, the game has so far been receiving very favourable reviews. Gaming reporter Martin Kimber called the game a “beautifully crafted love letter” to the Potter universe.

Many fans are torn.

Trangender Potter enthusiast Asher Chelder of fan site MuggleNet admitted to Sky News that Rowling’s views hurt people.

But he has been looking forward to the game since it was announced. “I found a lot of solace in the series and it’s something I can’t shake. It’s part of who I am.”

Gay actor Dan Levy was told doing DIY made him “almost a real man” backstage at ‘MTV Live’.

The ‘Schitt’s Creek’ star made his onscreen debut on the MTV Canada show in 2006 and he recalled how he felt out of place because of the behind-the-scenes culture, which offered no scope for discussion and saw him subjected to casual homophobia.

Speaking to his former ‘MTV Live’ co-host Jessi Cruickshank on the ‘Phone a Friend’ podcast, Dan said: “It was kind of like, ‘Conform to the culture of the workplace or sit it out.’ But it was never like, ‘Let’s pause what we’re doing to listen to you.’

“I remember walking into work one day and someone asked me what I did on the weekend.

“I said, ‘Well, I installed a dimmer switch in my apartment.’ And that person said, ‘Wow, it’s almost like you’re a real man.’

“And I thought, ‘This isn’t right.’ But at the time, there was no sensitivity, and there was nobody to go to because it was a different time.”

The 39-year-old actor noted at the time there was a worrying trend for bloggers to make it “their job to out people without their consent, like it was some kind of news responsibility” and there weren’t “a ton of out actors that were thriving and drowning in work”, but acknowledged thinks are different now.

He said: “We didn’t have the sensitivity, I think, that we do now, at least around people’s coming out and the fact that it’s an incredibly personal experience.

“I mean, I think we all knew it at the time.

“So, when you do feel like there’s this hunt to out gay people of note in culture, it almost makes you want to hide even more because you don’t want to draw any attention to yourself.”

By Dawn Chmielewski

(Reuters) – Florida lawmakers granted Governor Ron DeSantis effective control of the board that oversees development in and around Walt Disney Co’s central Florida theme parks, escalating the Republican’s battle with the emblematic company.

The bill, filed Monday and passed by both houses of the legislature on Friday, gives the governor the authority to appoint five supervisors to run what is now known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a quasi-government entity with oversight of the 25,000 acres surrounding the Walt Disney World resort.

The board members will be confirmed by the Senate, and will have no involvement in the day-to-day operations of the theme parks.

“Reedy Creek gifted extraordinary special privileges to a single corporation,” DeSantis’ spokesman Bryan Griffin wrote on Twitter. “Until Gov. Ron DeSantis acted, Disney maintained sole control. This amounted to an unaccountable Corporate Kingdom. This is over, and we are beginning a new era of accountability and transparency.”

Disney World is the largest employer in central Florida with close to 75,000 employees, drawing 36.2 million visitors in 2021, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.

The legislature voted last year to dissolve the special district, which for more than a half-century had provided Disney with the autonomy to govern itself, providing such government services as fire protection, water, sewer and waste removal services and infrastructure.

The action, seen as retaliation for Disney’s then-Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek speaking out against a state law limiting classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues, came with unintended consequences.

Tax experts and legislators warned that eliminating the district in June 2023 would leave county taxpayers liable for nearly $1.2 billion in bond debt.

The new bill preserves the Reedy Creek special district, though within two years it will be renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. It will have the authority to collect revenue, pay off debt and provide a range of government services. The district is prohibited from operating its own airport or building nuclear power plants.

The legislation also expressly prevents anyone with ties to the theme parks over the past three years from serving on the board.

“Disney works under a number of different models and jurisdictions around the world,” Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle said in a statement. “And regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to providing the highest quality experience for the millions of guests who visit each year.”

Florida Senator Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson, whose district includes Orlando, said she worries the governor’s appointees will reflect DeSantis’ views on diversity and inclusion.

Last year, DeSantis championed a law known was the “Stop W.O.K.E.” act, that restricted conversations about race in schools and workplace training. A federal judge blocked it from taking effect in the state’s public universities.

“I’m concerned that with his emphasis on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion, if he’s going to try to get into the programmatic side of Disney,” Thompson told Reuters.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Chris Reese)

Jaden Smith’s new clothes range was inspired by a “super embarrassing” episode of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’.

The actor and designer, 24, has been obsessed with fashion since he launched his brand aged 14, a year before he moved out of his dad Will and mum Jada’s home, and says he thought back to an episode of the sitcom that shot his father to fame when creating his new MSFTSrep collection.

Jaden told the new issue of Footwear News about including a sunflower-shaped hat with the range: “I wanted to make people into plants, to turn people into flowers. Being part of nature is the highest level of consciousness.

“I thought back to an episode of the ‘Fresh Prince’, where something happens that my dad has to dress up like a sunflower.

“The episode was super embarrassing for him. But I was like this is an amazing idea of how to turn someone into a flower.”

He added about his other innovations: “I’ve been making these new headpieces as a kind of psychedelic statement piece that you would wear to show people how you feel about the world and how different and strange you might be.”

Jaden also said his brand is “catered to people who feel different and weird, like they don’t fit in”.

He added: “There’s a pain sometimes, when you feel like you are something else, that you can’t express yourself, and there’s a pain when you can’t express yourself.

“So this is for those people who just want to express themselves. It makes people smile.”

Jaden also said about deciding to go into fashion after making his acting debut aged eight alongside Will, 54, in 2006 film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’: “I took the time to see multiple perspectives of the world and decided what was best for me and how I wanted to make an impact.”

Elizabeth Banks wanted to break down myths with ‘Cocaine Bear’.

The 48-year-old director is helming the horror comedy about a bear that goes on a murderous rampage after ingesting a bag full of cocaine and loved having the chance to make a movie that is “muscular and masculine”.

In an interview with Variety, Elizabeth said: “I definitely wanted to make something muscular and masculine.

“I wanted to break down some of the mythology around what kinds of movies women are interested in making. For some bizarre reason, there are still executives in Hollywood who are like, ‘I don’t know if women can do technical stuff.’ There are literally who are like, ‘Women don’t like math.’ It just persists.”

Elizabeth is aware that the film’s outrageous subject matter means that she is putting her career behind the camera at risk by making the project.

She explained: “‘Cocaine Bear’ is a ginormous risk. This could be a career ender for me.”

The ‘Charlie’s Angels’ filmmaker explained that she had to do some graphic research to understand how bears would attack humans.

Elizabeth said: “I don’t recommend anyone do this, but if you go down the internet hole of looking at actual animal attacks on humans, it’s f****** gnarly as s***. I love gore. I grew up on ‘Evil Dead’. The gore is part of the fun of the ride.”

Banks stressed that the audience needs to believe that the drug-addled animal is real and wanted her flick to have a “documentary” feel.

She said: “It had to feel like a NatGeo documentary about a bear that did cocaine. It couldn’t be something silly. It couldn’t seem animated in any way.”