Hammersmith Apollo evacuated for bomb threat at Iranian singer’s concert

It appears Britney Spears has made an enemy of the the Iranian government.

, showed her support for women and girls in Iran with a black T-shirt featuring the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” written in Farsi. Meghan wore the top for a Women@Spotify event at the company’s LA headquarters, where she was joined by Archewell president Mandana Dayani and executive vice president of global communications Ashley Hansen, who are both Iranian.“At an event today, Meghan spoke about the revolution being led by women and young girls in Iran, the courage and bravery they show every day, and their leadership and advocacy of basic human rights,” Dayani wrote as she shared a series of images from the event on .

The pop star tweeted Sunday, “Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom.”Spears married Iranian-American actor and model Sam Asghari in June.In response to Spears’ message — which has been retweeted more than 25,000 times — the Islamic Republic News Agency noted that Spears was involuntarily placed under a years-long conservatorship. That arrangement ended last year.“American singer @BritneySpears was placed under her father’s conservatorship in 2008 due to her mental health problems,” the IRNA tweet read.

Lily Moayeri “Protest art arises when the society is full of anger and the artist is part of the angry society.” That’s a statement made by Justina, an Iranian rapper, singer and songwriter, on the Oct. 15 episode of BBC program “The Cultural Frontline.” Justina and Iranian singer-songwriter and activist FarAvaz Farvardin were guests on the show, speaking about protest songs in Iran. Experts of sorts, their 2020 song, “Fatva,” was a protest song ahead of its time. Perhaps the most notable of the recent Iran protest songs is Shervin Hajipour’s “Baraye,” which was written in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death after being arrested and beaten by Iran’s notorious morality police for not wearing a proper head covering. After receiving nearly 100,000 submissions, it is now the frontrunner for the Recording Academy’s new song for social change Grammy award.

Mani Haghighi is the latest film director who has been impacted by Iran’s ongoing restraint on filmmakers.

Sam Smith and Kim Petras reign atop the Official Singles Chart for a third consecutive week with their hit Unholy.  

Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi will no longer attend the London Film Festival premiere of his latest film Subtraction after authorities stopped him from boarding a flight to London. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi had his passport confiscated at the airport as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival. Haghighi was expected to present there the U.K. premiere of his latest film, “Subtraction.”  A BFI London Film Festival spokesperson confirmed the news to Variety and issued the following statement: “The Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi was due to travel to London today to support the UK premiere of his film Subtraction which is screening tomorrow at the BFI London Film Festival, but has been prevented from boarding his flight to the UK.  He was turned away by authorities in Iran and has his passport confiscated.  He has returned to his home in Tehran. We understand that no reason has been given to Mani Haghighi for the confiscation. The BFI London Film Festival supports Haghighi and all filmmakers in their freedom to make their films and present them around the world.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., drew comparisons between women risking their lives to protest Islamic law in Iran to women fighting for abortion rights in the United States. During a campaign rally to re-elect Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Friday, Omar said pro-life Republicans are challenging women’s bodily autonomy, much like Iran’s oppressive clerical regime led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor One of the new honors the Grammy Awards will introduce at their next ceremony is song for social change — a special-merit award that “recognizes creators of message-driven music that responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact.” While the honor is “curated by a blue-ribbon committee,” there’s little question that the number of submissions will have an impact — and according to the Recording Academy, 95,000 of the 115,000 submissions received have been for Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour’s song, “Baraye,” a protest song about 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested and beaten by Iran’s so-called morality police for not wearing a proper head covering, in line with the country’s Islamic law.

Dua Lipa has expressed support for the women of Iran following protests in the nation. The Levitating singer took to Instagram on Saturday to bring attention to the demonstrations, which have been staged to highlight the death of Mahsa Amini. Last month, the 22-year-old passed away in a hospital in Tehran under suspicious circumstances.

Sevdaliza, a Dutch-Iranian experimental pop songwriter who was born in Tehran, has shared “Woman Life Freedom,” a new song that was written “in support of women in Iran,” according to a press statement. Iran is currently gripped by protests which began over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a woman who was reportedly killed by the country’s Morality Police in September over a violation of the country’s mandatory hijab law.

Dua Lipa has shared her support for women in Iran following a number of recent protests in the country.The musician posted on Instagram yesterday (October 8) to share a post about the recent deaths of young women in Iran as protests continue following the death of Masha Amini, 22.Amini died in Tehran earlier last month (September 16) after being arrested for not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards. Police claimed she suffered heart failure at the station, although witnesses have claimed Amini was severely beaten by the authorities.Lipa shared a number of photos of women who have also since died on Instagram.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday that President Biden should not have been surprised that ministers from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) decided to cut oil production – in fact, she implied it could have been done just to spite him.

a United Nations report, Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 and taken to a morality «re-education center» in Tehran where, per Iranian authorities, she died of a heart attack three days later.

The state broadcaster of Iran appeared to be hacked on air this weekend, including a news bulletin being interrupted with a protest.

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Huppert and other French actresses have cut their hair in solidarity with Iranian women. The trio joined 50 other French cinema icons such as Isabelle Adjani, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Alexandra Lamy to give themselves a haircut to express their support for the widespread civil unrest in Iran that was kickstarted by the state-sanctioned killing of the 22-year-old activist Mahsa Amini after she refused to follow the law forcing women to don the hijab on September 16. The video - which was hashtagged with the phrase Hair For Freedom and was posted on Wednesday (05.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Award-winning filmmakers Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”), Audrey Diwan (“Happening”), Julia Ducournau (“Titane”), Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), Jacques Audiard (“Dheepan”), and actors Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Huppert, Lea Seydoux are among nearly 1,000 prominent French film figures who have signed an open letter to support Iranian women and civil rights activists in their revolt over the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini, as well as denounce the “murderous violence” of the Iranian regime. Amini, a Kurdish woman, died in custody on Sept. 16, three days after being arrested in Tehran because she allegedly breached the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Her death has sparked protests across Iran, including in Tehran, Isfahan and Yazd, and in cities around the world, including in Paris, Istanbul and Los Angeles. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities have been “intentionally using lethal force against the protesters,” causing more than more 52 deaths (as of Sept. 30). The organization has urged international action “beyond statements of condemnation” to prevent more people from being killed.