Covid-19 Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

John Wick manages to achieve new bombastic heights in its third sequel.Directed once again by Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 4 is the longest and arguably most ambitious entry in the franchise yet – with bigger action sequences and an expanded cast including singer Rina Sawayama.A synopsis reads: “John Wick uncovers a path to defeating the High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.”Not officially. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lionsgate planned to shoot John Wick: Chapter 4 and 5 back to back, but this idea was scrapped due to production delays.While this would suggest a fifth entry is still on the cards, Stahelski told The Hollywood Reporter in March that they are planning to give the franchise “a rest”.“In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment,” Stahelski said.

Spotify executives have only spent 10 per cent of their $100million (£81.75million) budget on a new fund to promote music and audio content by members of “historically marginalised groups”.The Creator Equity Fund was launched last year in the wake of controversy surrounding Joe Rogan’s Spotify-exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, due to uses of the N-word and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.Just over a year on, however, Bloomberg has found that the initiative has got off to a slow start. Spotify was found to have taken months to hire staff and deal with “shifting priorities”, and Bloomberg also obtained a memo which said that at the beginning of the year, they were still finalising the fund’s budget and were still sorting out their priority projects.A project manager was appointed and teams assembled to pitch and create shows and assist with marketing, the initiative lacked enough of a structure in terms of fielding projects and funding.“The Spotify Creator Equity Fund is dedicated to a variety of initiatives that help elevate and support an inclusive and diverse portfolio of artists and creators on the platform,” a spokesperson for Spotify said in a statement.

Despite having a theme park, a beach, a pier and a high street, one North West seaside town has been dubbed the 14th worst in the UK.

Chris Martin revealed he only eats one meal a day, a move he learned from The Boss. "I don’t actually have dinner anymore.

Ready to recharge. Hoda Kotb is taking another break from Today after daughter Hope’s hospital stay.

BFI Distribution has picked up Tilda Swinton and Joanna Hogg’s latest collaboration, The Eternal Daughter, for theatrical release in the UK and Ireland.

William Earl Tekashi 6ix9ine was hospitalized after being ambushed by a group of attackers in the bathroom of a gym in South Florida on Tuesday, Variety has confirmed. The 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, sustained injuries to his face and bruises, according to his attorney, Lance Lazzaro. Lazzaro said the rapper was attacked in and outside the LA Fitness gym sauna by three or four men who beat him up, though he tried fighting back. “He had cuts to his face and bruises,” Lazzaro said. The attorney said that the perpetrators fled after employees heard the disturbance.

Gordon Cox Theater Editor Celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard has a Broadway success on his hands with “Leopoldstadt,” his (very) loosely autobiographical play now in the sixth month of a long run currently set to close in July. He’s very pleased about that — but right now there’s something else that’s got him thoroughly distressed: Writer’s block. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:

In the wake of the closure of the Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Atlanta arts organizations like Voices of Note are urging the community to support the arts with a five-pronged plan.

Florence Pugh has no problem being her ex, Zach Braff's, muse. The 27-year-old actress is starring in Braff's new film,, in the lead role of Allison, which he specifically wrote for her.Pugh spoke with ET's Rachel Smith about the making of the film, calling it «such a special time.» Braff wrote the film as he was grieving the loss of several important people in his life, including his friend, Nick Cordero, who died of COVID-19 in 2020. The story, which follows Pugh's Allison as she works to overcome an opioid addiction in the wake of a tragic accident, handles a dark storyline with brevity.«We were living in that time where it was immense darkness and yet through the light of seeing our friends and laughing with our friends made it possible, and I think that's what Zach does so well is he's so good at writing people going through hard times but with that they constantly find levity and constantly find light,» Pugh shared. As for taking on a role specifically written for her, Pugh felt that slipping into the character had a different kind of ease. «Him writing for me, it's a luxury.

Ellise Shafer Are you ready for it? Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is finally here. The 52-date trek kicks off Friday night in Glendale, Ariz., at State Farm Stadium with openers Gayle and Paramore. This marks Swift’s first tour since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, as her 2020 Lover Fest was canceled before it even began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Swift has released three studio albums — “Folklore” and “Evermore” in 2020 and “Midnights” in October 2022 — in addition to re-recording “Fearless” and “Red” (which both came with bonus tracks) in 2021. Swift has promised this run to be “a journey through all of my musical eras,” prompting Swifties everywhere to speculate just what that will mean for the tour’s setlist. Will she sing through hits from each of her 10 albums chronologically, or mix it up to tell a completely different story? Only time will tell. Regardless, the Eras Tour is shaping up to be something out of her fans’ wildest dreams — those who were able to get tickets, that is.

New Order have formally backed the latest iteration of the #LetTheMusicMove campaign after performing and keynoting at South By South West in Austin, Texas earlier this week, urging the US government to rethink plans to hike the price of performer visas.The US Department Of Homeland Security announced plans earlier this year to significantly increase the price of applying for the kinds of visas used by performers when they gig and tour in the US. Given surging production costs are already making it harder for all but the biggest artists to tour in a commercially viable way, the additional visa costs could make it impossible for many UK acts to play American shows.The UK’s Music Managers Forum and Featured Artists Coalition originally launched the #LetTheMusicMove campaign in a bid to tackle the extra bureaucracy British artists face when touring Europe post-Brexit.

Tony Clay who plays Callum Highway in Eastenders has gained a lot of attention for his role as he navigates a relationship with fiery Ben Mitchell, but off screen the actor tends to keep his real-life romance out of the spotlight.The relationship between the EastEnders characters Callum Highway and Ben Mitchell has gripped viewers, with them being dubbed the fan-favourite couple ‘Ballum’.Tony made his debut on the hit BBC One series in January 2018 when he accidentally shot family friend Mick Carter during a botched heist. Afterwards, he briefly left the soap before returning to Albert Square in 2018, where he has remained ever since.

The shocking extent of crime and anti-social behaviour on Greater Manchester's bus and tram network is laid bare by new figures showing a combined rise in incidents of more than a third.

Matthew Antonucci, who played an instrumental role in restarting film and TV production after the early days of Hollywood’s Covid-19 lockdown, has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president of Production Affairs & Safety at Contract Services.

Comedian Trevor Noah, the former host of “The Daily Show,” has won the prestigious Dutch Erasmus Prize, becoming the first humorist awarded the honor since Charlie Chaplin in 1965, the foundation that selects the winner announced Thursday.

in January 2020. Less than a year later, she met her in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.“I remember in quarantine I was like, Cool, I’m single now and I can’t meet anybody, so I guess I’ll go on a dating app,” said during an appearance in May 2021. “But I always said I would never go on a dating app, and then I found myself on a dating app and I was like, ‘I hate myself!’”Turns out, Hudgens wouldn’t meet MLB player Cole Tucker on Raya, but in a weekly Zoom meditation group during the lockdown.

Ben Affleck is seriously into Wordle. So serious, in fact, that he plays something he calls “Octordle.”

Dewsbury, on March 29, 2021, after concerns were raised about her safety. Police and paramedics fought to save her, carrying out CPR for several minutes, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. An inquest at Bradford Coroner's Court heard that the cause of her death was hanging.

Jeremy Hunt poked fun at former health secretary Matt Hancock as he set out the details of his spring budget on Wednesday (March 15).

Alison Hammond recently received a marriage proposal at an airport, her flying companion Kate Garraway has revealed. Kate, 55, revealed a hilarious travel moment that happened when she was travelling with fellow TV presenter Alison, which ended in a marriage proposal from a stranger. Speaking to I'm a Celebrity...

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent MALAGA, Spain — It’s not over yet. In March 2021, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the government would plow €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) into a Spain AVS Hub plan designed to turn Spain into one of the foremost film and TV hubs in Europe. Supported by Spain’s E.U-backed Recuperation, Transformation and Resilience push for post COVID-19 recovery, the Spain AVS Hub plan has been co-financed by part of a €806.9 billion ($866.5 billion) NextGenerationEU stimulus package for the whole of the European Union, which is a temporary instrument.  As that package ends, Spain’s government will look to negotiate funding from alternative sources to ensure that Spain AVS Hub initiatives are more than a flash in the pan, a broad cross-section of governmental authorities told an audience Tuesday at a Malaga Spanish Screening Content conference.

Scotland suffered "negative natural change" in its population, as deaths outnumbered births last year. New figures from National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed we had a "shortfall" of 15,983 in 2022.

Oscar-winning actress is set to film a new project in Ireland in the coming months, but has insisted against wearing a mask because she is “full of antibodies and very healthy”, having contracted the virus a number of times.Speaking as part of her keynote speech at the SXSW Film and TV Festival on Monday (March 13), she said (via Vanity Fair): “I’m about to shoot a picture in Ireland, and I was told to wear a mask at all times, and I’m not.“I’m sure this is being recorded. I’ve had COVID-19 multiple times so I’m full of antibodies and very healthy.”Last year, Swinton explained that while she had got off “relatively lightly” with the virus, she suffered with memory problems and vertigo as a result.She told The Guardian: “I was coughing like an old gentleman who smoked a pipe for 70 years, and had nasty vertigo.

Kate Garraway has long been praised for her searingly candid updates regarding her husband Derek Draper's ongoing COVID-19 health battle.And while the Good Morning Britain presenter has shared glimmers of hope, Kate has given a brand-new update, revealing that there's still a "long road ahead."WATCH: Kate Garraway explains why she avoids talking about husband Derek DraperSpeaking to Giovanna Fletcher on the latest episode of her Journey to the Magic podcast, Kate, 55, explained: "It's challenging, he's still very, very damaged. He still can't really move, still can't really speak, still fed through tubes, and so there's a long road ahead."Hinting at progress, she went on to say: "But if you compare to last Christmas, or the Christmas before, when he was still in hospital then you can see improvement.

Saturday Night Live” monologue, Tilda Swinton became the latest actor to speak out against such measures, saying at an SXSW panel that she did not intend to wear a mask on the set of her next film. At the start of the panel ahead of the premiere of her new film “Problemista” in Austin, Swinton reflected on how much had changed in the world since her last SXSW appearance in 2014, noting that she didn’t see anyone in the audience wearing masks and how that didn’t seem possible during the more severe stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tilda Swinton is making it clear that she is done with the pandemic.

Selome Hailu Tilda Swinton is over the pandemic, and she doesn’t care who knows it. She opened her keynote appearance at South by Southwest by sharing her pleasure that the pandemic had gotten to a point where audience members at the event didn’t have to wear masks anymore. Later in the conversation, Swinton said, “I’m about to shoot a picture in Ireland, and I was told to wear a mask at all times, and I’m not.” “I’m sure this is being recorded,” she noted, before saying that she is “very healthy” after having gone through COVID-19 infections multiple times.

The King Cup returns after a three-month hiatus this week to offer Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr a chance to refocus on other competitions after losing their position atop the Saudi Pro League to Al-Ittihad.

with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, leading coverage of some of the biggest stories of the last decade including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of January 6th insurrection. Additionally, she executive produced the Emmy-nominated CNN/Sesame Street Town Halls aimed at helping kids and families understand complicated news issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinations, and race protests.

Glenn Close will no longer attend the 95th annual Academy Awards. On Sunday, the 75-year-old's rep confirmed that she contracted COVID-19, and will miss the ceremony.«She was very much looking forward to taking part in the show,» Close's publicist told CBS News in a statement.

An unexpected absence. Glenn Close announced she will not be attending the 2023 Oscars after testing positive for COVID-19.

The Oscars will have a bit less glamour tonight, as actress Glenn Close will not be attending after testing positive for Covid-19.

Hailey Bieber on Friday marked a year since she suffered a mini-stroke that led to her diagnosis of patent foramen ovale (PFO), meaning she had a hole in her heart. "Can't believe it's been one year since I suffered a mini stroke that led to my PFO diagnosis," Bieber shared on her Instagram story.

Adam Driver has a movie critic living at home.

Hartford’s baby brother! Pregnant Stassi Schroeder and husband Beau Clark have a son on the way.