NEW YORK, Sept 23 — Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was at the center of abuse allegations that spurred the MeToo movement in Hollywood, will be sentenced again today for sexually assaulting a former production assistant.

Weinstein, 74, faces at least two decades in prison for forcibly performing oral sex in 2006 on Miriam Haley, one of dozens of women who have made accusations against the Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love producer.

Weinstein was sentenced 23 years in 2020 for the sexual assault, but it was overturned on appeal in 2024. A jury found him guilty again in 2025 after a retrial in New York.

Following the verdict, Haley told reporters that the defense’s “victim shaming and deliberate attempts to distort the truth was exhausting and at times dehumanizing.”

“But today’s verdict gives me hope, hope that there is new awareness around sexual violence and that the myth of the ‘perfect victim’ is fading.”

Weinstein, who is currently jailed in New York, once ruled Hollywood as a kingpin powerful enough to make or break projects and careers.

But investigations by The New Yorker and The New York Times exposed a raft of abusive behavior and prompted an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 people.

Weinstein is also to be resentenced in California for the 2013 rape and assault of an actress in a Los Angeles hotel room, after an appeals court in June upheld the conviction but vacated his 16-year prison term.

Meanwhile, a New York judge in May declared a mistrial in a separate case after jurors failed to reach a verdict on allegations he sexually assaulted actor Jessica Mann.

It was the third time Mann had taken the stand against Weinstein after a 2020 guilty verdict was overturned due to mishandling of witnesses, and a 2025 case ended in mistrial after a jury-room feud.

Prosecutors later said they would not pursue a fourth trial in Mann’s case.

Weinstein, who is wheelchair-bound due to health issues, has continued to deny all allegations against him.

He underwent a spectacular fall from his position astride the world of show business when the first allegations against him exploded into public view.

The ensuing furor snowballed into the global MeToo movement and a reckoning that rocked the world of entertainment, with multiple men called to account for abusing their positions to exploit young women in the industry. — AFP

LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 — Actress Hayden Panettiere, who starred in the popular TV series Heroes and Nashville, died from a cocktail of drugs that included fentanyl, a US coroner said yesterday. 

The 36-year-old former child star was discovered unresponsive at a home in South Carolina last month, reportedly by long-term partner Brian Hickerson and his brother.

US media said Hickerson handed paramedics a bag of medications as they gave the unconscious Panettiere Narcan—a drug used to counter the effects of a fentanyl overdose—but she was declared dead at the scene.

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy showed no signs of trauma and classified the death as an accident.

Tests revealed the cause of death to be the toxic effects of fentanyl, in combination with a generic version of Xanax, a muscle relaxant, and an anti-psychotic drug.

An investigation into Panettiere’s death is likely to focus on where she obtained the drugs, and could echo the probe into the circumstances surrounding the overdose of Matthew Perry, who died in a hot tub in his Los Angeles home in 2023.

Five people were sentenced for their roles in supplying the Friends actor with the drugs that killed him.

Born in 1989, Panettiere’s credits include Remember The Titans, Ice Princess, Scream 4 and Scream VI.

She worked in Hollywood all her life, appearing in commercials at just 11 months of age and winning a Grammy nomination for voicing the Princess Dot character in the 1998 movie A Bug’s Life when she was nine.

But behind the successful career lay a dark personal history.

In a memoir released in May, This Is Me: A Reckoning, she described the pressures of being a child star and her experiences with alcohol and opioid addiction and recovery.

Panettiere had a daughter with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. In one of her final interviews before her death, she told parenting magazine Mome that the extremely painful and dangerous birth had left her depressed and made her turn to alcohol.

She then gave custody of her daughter to Klitschko.

“I was going through a really challenging time in my life,” she said in the interview. “I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mom she needed me to be.”

In an interview with NPR radio in May, Panettiere said she was able to cry on cue just by channeling difficult emotions. The skill helped her career but “the thoughts and the places that I had to go in my head became darker and darker.”

“How could that not have an emotional impact over time on you?” she asked. — AFP

TOKYO, Sept 22 — ONE OK ROCK vocalist Taka is facing intense backlash online after publicly supporting Ed Sheeran, who has come under fire for removing rapper Macklemore from his Loop Tour lineup — a decision widely interpreted by fans as linked to Macklemore’s outspoken support for Palestine.

The controversy escalated after Taka left a supportive comment on Sheeran’s Instagram post about his Philadelphia show on September 19, praising the singer’s “courage” in the face of criticism.

“Ed, that took courage. To me, you’re a mirror. Much respect,” Taka wrote.

The comment immediately drew anger from ONE OK ROCK fans, many of whom accused Taka of being insensitive to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and of defending Sheeran’s decision to drop Macklemore — a move that had already sparked debate across the music industry. Some fans flooded Taka’s posts with “Free Palestine” messages and criticised him for “standing with the wrong side.”

Facing mounting criticism, Taka issued an apology, saying his comment stemmed from personal friendship rather than political alignment.

“If I caused misunderstanding, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay silent seeing a friend in that situation,” he wrote.

He later clarified that he opposes war and violence against civilians and respects Macklemore’s right to express political views, while also defending Sheeran’s right to make decisions based on his own responsibilities as an artist.

Despite the clarification, backlash continues, with fans debating whether Taka’s defence of Sheeran reflects misplaced loyalty or a broader misunderstanding of the political and humanitarian stakes involved.

SEOUL, Sept 22 — K‑beauty brand JM Solution is facing renewed calls for a boycott after online posts resurfaced alleged past business ties with former BigBang member Seungri, who was convicted in the Burning Sun scandal.

According to The Korea Herald, the controversy erupted on Sunday when social media users highlighted reports that Seungri had served as a corepresentative of JM Town — a company linked to JM Solution CEO Kim Jung‑woong — before handing the role to his associate Yoo In‑suk amid the scandal.

The posts also pointed to a JM Town event held at Burning Sun, the Seoul nightclub where Seungri was an executive director.

Critics questioned the appropriateness of any association between the brand and Seungri, who completed an 18‑month prison term in 2023 for charges including sexual exploitation, drug‑facilitated assault, illegal filming and distribution of sexual content.

JM Solution products are widely sold through Daiso and Olive Young, prompting consumers to urge retailers to reconsider stocking the brand. The resurfaced ties have reignited debate over accountability in the beauty industry and the responsibility of brands linked — even historically — to disgraced public figures.

SEOUL, Sept 22 — Former Girls’ Generation member Jessica Jung reunited onstage with entertainer Park Myung‑soo for the first time in 17 years, performing their hit duet“Naengmyeon at the 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju over the weekend, according to The Korea Herald .

Jessica shared a photo of the pair on Instagram on Sunday, captioning it with a nod to their 2009 collaboration as the duo “Myung‑ca Drive” on the variety show Infinite Challenge.

Their surprise performance marked Jessica’s first appearance on a Korean stage in about 12 years, having focused her career in China since leaving Girls’ Generation in 2014.

The reunion drew nostalgic reactions from fans who remember the comedic chemistry and chart success of Naengmyeon, which became one of the most iconic variety‑show‑born songs of its era.

SEOUL, Sept 22 — An AI‑assisted track has broken into Melon’s Top 100 chart, exposing a widening regulatory gap in Korea’s music industry as officials struggle to define authorship and royalty standards for AI‑generated works.

According to The Korea Times, Forest of the Heart released in May by YouTube creator Joseon HipHop, peaked at No. 89 on Melon’s weekly chart after gaining traction among listeners in their 40s. The creator wrote the lyrics and used generative AI service Suno to produce the melody and vocals.

The song has since dropped off the charts, but its brief success highlighted how AI‑assisted music is already reaching mainstream audiences despite the absence of clear rules.

The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) attempted in August to allow registration of AI‑assisted works when human creators contributed to lyrics, composition or arrangement. But the rules were withdrawn just 22 days later following public pushback and a request from the Culture Ministry for broader discussion. Registrations made during that period were cancelled, leaving creators without guidance on how much human input is required for royalty collection.

Detection remains another challenge. KOMCA and industry groups are selecting a provider for an AI‑music detection system, though current tools struggle to identify tracks where AI contributed only partially. Industry experts warn that the surge in AI‑generated songs is already distorting distribution systems and say Korea must move quickly to establish standards.

Other markets, including the US, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, have adopted clearer rules requiring identifiable human authorship. Meanwhile, global labels are shifting toward licensing AI training data, even as legal battles continue.

KOMCA says it is working with lawmakers, creators and industry representatives to develop legal and institutional frameworks. With AI‑assisted songs already charting, the question now is whether Korea’s regulations can catch up.

SEOUL, Sept 22 — First‑generation K‑pop girl group Fin.K.L will resume full‑group activities for the first time in 21 years, their agency Gemstone E&M said on Monday.

All four original members — Lee Hyo‑ri, Ock Joo‑hyun, Lee Jin and Sung Yu‑ri — have reunited under the Fin.K.L name, with preparations underway for new group projects. The agency described the move as “a new start” beyond past one‑off reunions.

Fin.K.L last promoted as a full group in 2005 with the digital single Forever Fin.K.L. They briefly reunited in 2019 for JTBC’s Camping Club, releasing a song tied to the show, though it was not considered a formal return to group activities.

Debuting in 1998, Fin.K.L helped define the early K‑pop girl group era with hits such as Blue Rain, To My Boyfriend and Eternal Love.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Tickets for BIGBANG’s upcoming Kuala Lumpur concert sold out in just 25 minutes and 31 seconds, sparking a frenzy among fans eager to see the K‑pop icons return to Malaysia after 11 years.

The show, part of the BIGBANG 2026–2027 WORLD TOUR , will take place on January 9, 2027 at TM Stadium Nasional.

The tour celebrates the group’s 20th anniversary and follows their comeback single BiiiG, released on August 19.

Promoter iMe Malaysia said the VIP pre‑sale on September 17 sold out within 90 minutes, while the general sale on Sept 22 cleared all tickets in under half an hour. 

The organiser thanked fans for their overwhelming support and confirmed discussions are underway for a possible second show.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — After more than 15 years of making films independently in Malaysia, brothers Iskander Azizuddin and Feisal Azizuddin are taking Feisk Productions to the next stage after being selected for an international film residency in Los Angeles.

The co-founders of the Malaysian production company are among nine Malaysians selected for the 2026 Global Media Makers (GMM) LA Residency, which brings together film and television professionals from across Asia and connects them with the US industry.

Implemented by Film Independent in partnership with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, GMM offers mentorship, masterclasses and project development sessions covering areas such as financing, distribution and the business of film and television.

The programme, running from September 12 to October 3, also includes participants from Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

For Feisk, the timing comes as the company begins to see more of its work move beyond Malaysia.

Its upcoming feature Curi Makan, internationally titled Ali & Ben’s Spicy Meats, was recently picked up by Kuala Lumpur-based Abnormal Studios for worldwide sales, allowing the cannibal black comedy-horror to reach international buyers.

The deal follows the company’s earlier experience taking Angkat overseas.

The family conflict drama had its world premiere at the Blue Chair Film Festival in Luang Prabang, Laos, in 2024, after going through development on regional platforms.

These projects form part of a wider body of work built by Feisk since it was founded in 2010, with the company producing feature films, television, documentaries and short films across a range of genres.

The GMM residency now allows Iskander and Feisal to look beyond the production side of filmmaking and better understand how projects can be financed, developed and distributed internationally.

It also places them alongside filmmakers from the region with experience in some of the world’s major film festivals.

Among the international participants are Thai producer Kissada Kamyoung, whose work includes 9 Temples to Heaven, and Indonesian filmmaker Khozy Rizal, whose films, including Little Rebels Cinema Club, have screened at international film festivals.

The other members of the Malaysian delegation reflect the range of the country’s screen industry.

They include Fareeq Alias, a creative director and filmmaker whose documentary Pekik won Best Documentary at the 33rd Festival Filem Malaysia.

Zan Azlee, a journalist, documentary filmmaker and Berlinale Talents alumnus, has produced non-fiction work in conflict zones and politically complex environments across Asia and the Middle East.

Benjamin Sevang has built a career in television production with major broadcasters including TV3 and Astro, while Lemuel Ong is a writer, producer and senior production executive at Astro with experience in content development and production.

Perassath Servai is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores Malaysian Indian identity, gender and social stereotypes.

The delegation also includes filmmakers Iris Chia and Nora Nabila.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Powerhouse vocalist Jaclyn Victor’s dream of staging a solo concert accompanied by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) will finally become a reality with a special performance at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) on Oct 17.

Titled ‘Jaclyn Victor - Gemilang Bersama MPO’, the 90-minute concert will be led by experienced music conductor Ahmad Muriz Che Rose and feature around 20 songs.

Jaclyn, 48, said performing a solo concert at the prestigious venue will be one of the most meaningful milestones in her singing career.

“When I first entered the industry, hearing the name MPO made me feel intimidated and nervous, like I was about to walk into a luxury-brand store. To have my own solo concert with MPO is one of my biggest dreams.

“MPO is in a league of its own, so I am extremely grateful that this opportunity has finally come,” she told reporters after a press conference on the upcoming concert at DFP here.

The concert places Jaclyn alongside prominent Malaysian singers who have previously performed with the MPO, including Tan Sri SM Salim, Datuk Seri Sheila Majid, Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin and Datuk M. Nasir.

The concert will also see Jaclyn venturing into the classical Italian opera genre with O Mio Babbino Caro and Time to Say Goodbye.

“Abang (Ahmad) Muriz likes to challenge me to do something new. Although I am not a classical singer, I welcome this opportunity to push the boundaries of my vocal abilities,” said Jaclyn, who has previously performed as a guest vocalist with the MPO three times.

The Gemilang singer acknowledged that performing with a full orchestra presents technical challenges and requires intense focus as there is very little room for error.

“Even the emotional nuances and breathing patterns can be heard clearly by the audience, so I need to maintain a very high level of focus,” she said.

The concert will feature new symphonic compositions by a line-up of music arrangers, including Aubrey Suwito, Luqman Aziz, Gerard Salonga, Shahhakam Mokhtar, Teuku Umar Ilany, Leonard Yeap and Ahmad Muriz.

Popular songs sung by Jaclyn will be given a fresh treatment, including Gemilang, Ikut Rentakku, Di Bawah Pohon Asmara, Tiada Lagi Indah and Beribu Sesalan.

“I will not lower the original key, even though some of the songs are already 20 years old. If we become too comfortable, we will never challenge our own potential,” she said.

The concert will also feature a diverse selection of songs in different languages and genres, including Tunggu Sekejap, When I Fall In Love, Superwoman, Diamonds Are Forever, Chong Bai and Defying Gravity.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Muriz said he deliberately challenged Jaclyn to step out of her comfort zone to showcase a different side of her vocal abilities that audiences rarely get to see.

“When we talk about Jaclyn Victor, everyone already knows the strength and power of her voice. So, for this concert at DFP, I wanted to challenge her to step out of her comfort zone and do something unexpected.

“Although she was initially hesitant and worried, I am confident that with her vocal technique and control, Jaclyn will be able to pull it off very well and surprise the audience,” he said.

For the performance, Jaclyn will wear exclusive outfits designed by local fashion designer Rizman Ruzaini. — Bernama

BERLIN, Sept 21 — The United States (US) state of California is introducing its own day of remembrance for the recently deceased US singer Dolly Parton, German Press Agency (dpa) reported. 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Sunday, stipulating that Dolly Parton Day will be observed annually on September 25 from now on. 

The date was chosen because of a play on words relating to Parton’s famous song Nine to Five — written in figures, the date reads as “9-2-5.”

“With this bill, we are not just establishing a day to celebrate Dolly Parton, we are creating an annual reminder to us, every year, to live the way she did — joyfully, graciously, and with a whole lot of heart,” said Newsom in the announcement.

The law honours Parton as a singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist.

Parton, who died aged 80, was a country music icon.

According to the Californian government, she sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Parton was also known for her charitable work, with her Imagination Library foundation distributing more than 300 million books to children worldwide. 

The country music legend, whose hits include Jolene, Nine to Five, and I Will Always Love You, died on August 25 in Nashville. — Bernama-dpa 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — For most people on a dating show, the person helping them navigate romance is part of the production team, but for Malaysian Olivia Law, her wingman was her friend Yuki Chong.

The Johor natives are among the participants in Wingman, Mediacorp’s new 12-episode Singapore reality dating show, adding a Malaysian dimension to a format that draws on the growing popularity of dating shows across South-east Asia.

For Law, 29, that meant having Chong, 25, by her side as she navigated the dating experience, while Chong had to help create opportunities for her friend to connect with the other contestants.

The pair had never appeared on a reality dating show before and only decided to audition after coming across an online casting advertisement.

“We stumbled upon an ad online looking for people for a dating show, and I thought it was interesting because you could go with a friend. I told Olivia, ‘Why not?’ because she had been single for a while and I was also single,” Chong told Malay Mail.

The experience brought together two friends with very different relationships with reality television.

Chong moved from Johor to Singapore about four years ago and works in marketing while pursuing content creation, dance and singing, whereas Law has lived in Singapore since completing her SPM and comes from a finance background.

Law was already familiar with Asian dating shows including Single’s Inferno and Transit Love, while Chong rarely watched reality television and had previously been more interested in music and performance than acting.

On Wingman, the roles were clear: Law was the single looking for a partner, while Chong was there to help her navigate the process and encourage connections, particularly when Law felt shy.

“As the wingman, my job is to create opportunities because she can be a bit shy in the beginning,” Chong said.

The format also puts the friends themselves into the action, with wingmen taking part in games and challenges that can determine who gets dates with the singles.

For Law, the experience was different from the Korean, Japanese and Chinese dating programmes she was accustomed to watching, partly because of the Australian director and producer behind the show.

Filmed over 15 days in March, the experience also forced both women to adjust to living in a villa surrounded by cameras, interviews and fellow contestants.

Chong, who was already comfortable in front of cameras through her work as a content creator, found that reality television required her to do something counterintuitive — ignore them.

“I’m very sensitive to cameras, so when I see one, I’ll look into it. But in a reality show, you cannot look into the camera. You have to act like it’s not there,” she said.

Law’s challenge was less about the cameras than what was happening in her own head.

She found herself overthinking her answers during interviews, while nerves and shyness sometimes prevented her from expressing herself as openly as she would have liked.

“Because I was nervous and shy, I couldn’t fully express myself on the show. I feel a bit regretful that I didn’t just show my full potential,” she said.

The experience nevertheless left both women with lessons that extended beyond dating.

For Chong, appearing on the show reinforced the need to separate her own experience from the opinions of viewers and online commenters, something she has also encountered through content creation.

Law, meanwhile, said the experience pushed her to be more open and willing to take opportunities outside her comfort zone.

“People always say, ‘You only live once.’ To me, it’s more like, ‘You only die once.’ You have to do things when there’s an opportunity,” she said.

Wingman is now giving the two friends a new connection to the regional entertainment scene, even as they return to their own interests.

Chong plans to continue creating content while remaining interested in singing, dancing, music and acting, while Law is focusing on travel and lifestyle content and is open to acting, variety programmes and future dating shows.

For two Malaysians who answered an online casting call because they could go together, Wingman has taken them from watching Asian dating shows to becoming part of a Singapore production with a wider South-east Asian audience.

Wingman is currently available to watch in Malaysia on YouTube and the Mediacorp platform.

SEOUL, Sept 21 — BTS member Jungkook has reached another streaming milestone after Standing Next to You surpassed 500 million plays on YouTube Music.

The Korea Herald reported that the track is now the fourth Jungkook song to cross the mark on the platform, following Seven featuring Latto, 3D featuring Jack Harlow and his collaboration with Charlie Puth, Left and Right.

Standing Next to You, the main track from Jungkook’s debut solo album Golden, also recorded strong international chart performances after its release.

The retro-funk song opened at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts, while reaching No. 6 on the UK Official Singles Top 100.

The song has also accumulated 1.5 billion streams on Spotify.

Jungkook returned to South Korea on Monday after BTS performed four songs at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

The appearance marked the septet’s first time performing at the festival since 2020.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 21 — Ed Sheeran broke down during his concert here after describing the fallout from the controversy surrounding rapper Macklemore’s removal from his tour as the hardest week of his life.

The Sun reported that Sheeran told the 50,000-strong crowd he had felt abandoned by friends, family and people he had known for years amid calls for him to cancel his Loop Tour.

Sheeran said he had been urged by numerous people to call off the tour, but chose to continue after seeing that ticket sales for the Philadelphia show had held up.

“In these situations you really find out who your friends are. It’s been a weird week. It happened very quickly. At the same time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour and so many people I’ve known for years and years and years they’re kind of backing away,” he said.

“In the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig and I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets for this gig. Everyone’s telling me to cancel and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me,” Sheeran added.

He told fans that the 50,000 people who attended had shown him they had not abandoned him, saying: “People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you. I love this.”

The singer also acknowledged the wider dispute over Macklemore, who was removed from the tour after making pro-Palestinian comments during performances, a move that was followed by the withdrawal of Sheeran’s other support acts and backing band in solidarity.

Sheeran said the turmoil had made him question whether he wanted to continue his career in music, while he assembled a new backing band at short notice, giving its members only three days to learn his catalogue.

He also removed the smaller B-stage used during previous shows to bring him closer to the audience, saying he had been worried that people might throw objects at him and that he had concerns about his safety.

Addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict during the concert, Sheeran said he had never wanted to be an activist musician but could no longer remain silent about what he described as a humanitarian issue.

“I’ve had to take, and make, difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes and I’m so, so sorry for them,” he said, before describing the October 7 attack in Israel as horrific and saying the situation in Gaza was “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate”.

He also spoke of the civilian deaths in Gaza and children killed in the conflict, while saying systemic injustice in the West Bank could not be ignored.

The controversy intensified after Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft barred Macklemore from the venue following the rapper’s “Free Palestine” comments, with Sheeran later saying the decision to remove Macklemore from the tour was made by the promoter rather than him.

Support acts Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Finneas, along with Sheeran’s backing band Beoga, subsequently withdrew from the tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

Earlier in the week, Sheeran’s cousin Jethro had also criticised him online, calling him a “coward” and a “bad human”, according to The Sun.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 21 — Presley Gerber, the son of model Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, died on Sunday at the age of 27, according to records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

People magazine reported that Gerber died at a rehabilitation facility, citing medical examiner records, while TMZ was the first to report his death.

A representative for Crawford, Rande and Presley’s sister, model and actress Kaia Gerber, told People: “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”

An autopsy had not been completed, TMZ reported.

Born in Beverly Hills, California, in 1999, Presley followed his mother into modelling and was signed by IMG Models at 15, later making his runway debut for Moschino in Los Angeles before appearing at a Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan and in a Calvin Klein campaign.

He and Kaia began attracting significant attention in the fashion world as teenagers, with Presley telling People in 2018 that working alongside his sister made modelling “a lot less lonely”.

Presley had spoken publicly about his struggles with mental health and substance abuse, including his experiences with depression, and began posting “Mental Health Mondays” videos on Instagram in which he discussed recovery and healthy habits.

“Having struggled with mental health, depression and some other things that come along with that, I think that whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that’s all I need to do,” he said on the Studio 22 podcast.

“[Mental health] is an issue. It is such a big part of my life. It’s a 24/7 job, and there’s so much to it,” Presley continued, adding that he wanted to help people struggling with issues affecting their lives “without judgment”.

He also said he hoped sharing his experiences could help others avoid making the same mistakes, while his Instagram posts in 2024 and 2025 detailed aspects of his recovery and efforts to return to an active lifestyle after years away from sports.

Presley was charged with driving under the influence in December 2019, while he also publicly discussed taking Buprenorphine, Xanax and Valium for panic attacks in a since-deleted Instagram video posted in December 2025.

In the September 2026 issue of Vogue, Kaia described her brother’s openness about his struggles as a source of inspiration and reflected on how his difficulties had affected the family, saying: “My parents for most of our lives were very, very private and didn’t share anything — and now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, ‘I’m gonna be very human for everyone.’ There’s only so much you can hide from the world.”

TORONTO, Sept 21 — Spain’s The Black Ball, a gay rights drama set during the country’s civil war, won top prize Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The ambitious epic, known as La Bola Negra in Spanish, stars Miguel Bernardeau, along with Penelope Cruz and Glenn Close, weaving the stories of three gay men across different eras in Spain.

The Toronto win gives the film, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, a creative duo affectionately known as “Los Javis,” an early boost in the race for recognition at the Oscars, where the festival’s People’s Choice Award has proved a useful bellwether.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Ambrossi, who used to be in a relationship with Calvo, called The Black Ball “a tribute to the LGBTQ+ community” of the past that fought for human rights and an “epic gay drama for everyone.”

Unlike festival prizes bestowed by Cannes and Venice, the Toronto People’s Choice Award is selected by public audiences.

Any movie in the festival’s official lineup is eligible, unlike the curated “in competition” shortlists used elsewhere.

Ambrossi and Calvo are famous in Spain particularly for their television work, but their star has been rising globally after a smash debut of the film at Cannes, where it shared the best director award with Pawel Pawlikowski (Fatherland).

Early inspiration for the movie came from the unpublished play written by Federico Garcia Lorca, a poet who was executed by fascist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

The directors said the four pages of unfinished writing sparked their curiosity and drew them in.

“We got obsessed with his work,” Calvo told journalists, adding he and Ambrossi immersed themselves in Lorca’s writings, correspondence and biographies.

The filmmakers said that many countries still have anti-LGBTQ laws and people within the community can be persecuted or even killed for their sexuality.

Calvo emphasized that the film is “about empathy and humanity and seeing the other as a person.” — AFP

LOS ANGELES, Sept 21— Resident Evil, a horror movie based on a video game franchise, swept the North American box office with (US$60 million; RM245.1 million) opening weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The Sony-distributed movie is directed by Zach Cregger and stars Austin Abrams, who plays a medical courier battling mutant creatures to deliver a package to a remote hospital.

Resident Evil displaced last week’s top performer, Warner Bros’ Practical Magic 2, a long-awaited sequel starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, into a distant second place.

The story of the modern-day witches, who face a curse that sees any man they fall in love with doomed to an early death, took (US$12.2 million; RM49.8 million) after last weekend knocking Sony’s Spider-Man from its weeks-long perch at the top.

Spidey took another (US$6.5 million; RM26.6 million) this weekend, bringing its total take in the United States and Canada to (US$944.5 million; RM3.858 billion). It was followed by another of 2026’s strongest performers, The Odyssey, which took (US$4.9 million; RM20 million).

For the second consecutive weekend, Coyote vs Acme took fifth place, with Will Forte and an animated Wile E. Coyote snaring another (US$4.5 million; RM18.4 million) for Falling Forward Films. — AFP

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• The Runner (US$3.2 million; RM13.1 million)
• Daniel and the Fiery Furnace (US$3.1 million; RM12.7 million)
• Transformers: The Movie (US$3.1 million; RM12.7 million)
• The Weight (US$2.3 million; RM9.4 million)

   

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — More than a decade after it became a global hit, Descendants of the Sun is set to return in a new form, with the popular Korean drama being adapted into an Indonesian film scheduled for release in 2027.

Released in 2016, the original series starred Song Joong-ki as Captain Yoo Shi-jin and Song Hye-kyo as cardiothoracic surgeon Kang Mo-yeon, whose romance unfolded against a backdrop of military operations, disaster relief, and humanitarian missions.

According to Korean and Indonesian media reports, the Indonesian adaptation is titled Descendants of the Sun Indonesia, directed by Hanung Bramantyo, whose previous films include Ayat-Ayat Cinta (2008) and Habibie & Ainun (2012).

Indonesian actors Reza Rahadian and Dian Sastrowardoyo will lead the film as Baskara and Dr Cahaya Diandra respectively, taking on roles inspired by the central military-doctor pairing from the original series.

Singer-actress Eva Celia and Indonesian-American actor Yoshi Sudarso, best known for his role in Power Rangers Dino Charge, are also part of the cast.

It is reported that filming has been completed and is now in its post production phase.

The Indonesian adaptation is expected to retain the central storyline of the original while incorporating local cultural elements and sentiments.

Written by Kim Eun-sook and Kim Won-seok, the original Descendants of the Sun followed the relationship between Yoo Shi-jin, a captain in the South Korean Army’s special forces, and Kang Mo-yeon, a surgeon.

Their different views on life and duty initially split them apart, but the two eventually reunited in a disaster-torn fictional country, where they take part in humanitarian efforts.

The series went on to win numerous awards, including the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards and Best Drama Series at the 21st Asian Television Awards.

In Malaysia, the series also enjoyed strong popularity, with many praising its combination of high-stakes action and mature romance, which offered audiences a refreshing break from some of the typical K-drama conventions of the time.

Both Reza and Dian have also recently made headlines in Malaysia.

Reza is set to star in the upcoming Malaysian film Langit 2 Warna, directed by Erma Fatima, while Dian’s latest feature, The Fox King, recently debuted in Malaysian cinemas and drew praise for her performance as Lara.

The Indonesian adaptation will not be the first remake of Descendants of the Sun.

A Vietnamese adaptation consisting of 48 episodes was broadcast in 2018, followed by a Philippine adaptation, Descendants of the Sun: The Philippine Adaptation, which aired in 2020.

The Philippine version later won the Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year award at the 15th Seoul International Drama Awards.

Next Entertainment World, the South Korean production house behind the original Descendants of the Sun, is involved in the Indonesian film remake, and its subsidiary Contents Panda will handle the film’s distribution in South Korea.

No official release date has been announced for Descendants of the Sun Indonesia yet.

TORONTO, Sept 20 — It took years for Tenzing Norgay to secure his place in history as the man who, alongside New Zealander Edmund Hillary, first reached the summit of Mount Everest.

And it has taken far longer for the story of his feat to be memorialised in film.

“I don’t know why it took so long to tell this story,”said Jennifer Peedom, the director of the biographical drama Tenzing.

“For me, it’s always been the most interesting Everest story,” she said in an interview with AFP.

The Apple TV film, which landed at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) after its world premiere at Telluride, recounts the first confirmed ascent to Everest’s summit in 1953.

But it focuses on the journey from the perspective of Norgay, the Sherpa mountaineer who, together with Hillary, completed the climb that until then was deemed impossible.

Norgay’s story was long overshadowed in previous accounts told from a Western perspective of the historic trip up the mountain, which measures 29,031.7 feet (8,848.86 meters).

The son of a yak herder, Norgay “had to overcome so much adversity just to get to the starting line on Everest, let alone to be the first man to reach the summit,” said Peedom.

“It’s one of the great achievements of the 20th century, and I wanted to put Tenzing as a protagonist of that story, of his own story.”

Bringing the tale to the screen was not without its obstacles, said the filmmaker, whose own career began as a camera operator in the Himalayas.

“It was a process of earning trust over what turned out to be many years,” said the Australian director, whose award-winning 2015 film Sherpa details the risky work done by the people who carry the equipment and supplies up Everest to make climbs possible for foreigners.

It was Peedom’s direction that drew in the actor Willem Dafoe, who portrays Colonel John Hunt, the expedition’s leader.

For the 71-year-old, the experience was an “adventure” — not just because of the physical challenge, but because of the connection with nature.

And at its core, the film was an opportunity to give credit to a person who, along with overcoming enormous physical obstacles, faced classicism and exclusion.

It’s “this kind of hangover from, you know, a colonial world, that this man was not considered,” Dafoe told AFP.

“But in the end, he turned out to be the most capable, and he stuck to his guns,” the actor continued.

“He wasn’t discouraged, even though there were lots of impediments in this way.”

‘Spiritual message’

Norgay took part in several failed Everest expeditions prior to joining the one led by Hunt.

Peedom’s film portrays him as a man excluded from the Sherpa community over his Tibetan roots, who later faces discrimination from the British expedition for being a sherpa — people then viewed not as climbers but as mere load-bearers.

Norgay attempts to prove his worth and earn a spot among the climbers, but is pushed aside for his background.

Among the film’s most powerful lines comes when he deems that merit is not a signifier of “who is the best.”

It’s “who is the best of the British”, replies a melancholy Hillary, who is played by Tom Hiddleston.

For Tenzin Dalha, a native of Lhasa who plays the young Norgay, the protagonist’s lack of recognition came as a surprise.

“I wasn’t aware that Tenzing was a footnote in the other parts of the world,” he said.

“For us, he was the superstar.”

Genden Phuntsok, an actor with Tibetan roots who plays Norgay as an adult, felt the weight of taking on such a leading role, but said he gained confidence with the direction of Peedom.

She suggested he approach the part step by step, he said.

Hiddleston meanwhile found inspiration in the “the faith and the fellowship” demonstrated by Hillary and Norgay.

Caitriona Balfe — who plays Jill Henderson, Norgay’s friend — said she hopes the film will serve as an opportunity to reflect on tourism-driven exploitation of Everest, as well as connection to nature.

“I hope that people take away the more spiritual message from this movie, that it’s not about conquering, but that it’s about becoming one with something,” she said. — AFP

NICE, Sept 20 — The widower of French screen icon Brigitte Bardot on Saturday slammed as a “joke” the planned auction of hundreds of the late star’s personal belongings organised by her animal welfare foundation.

The sale, featuring more than 300 items ranging from portraits and toiletries to a flamenco guitar and a black tutu, is due to take place Monday at Paris auction house Drouot.

“These are personal items. Why hold this sale? For the animals? It’s a joke,” Bernard d’Ormale told AFP, adding it amounted to a “disrespect to Brigitte’s memory”.

“All of this could have been kept for the day when people are able to visit La Madrague,” he added, referring to Bardot’s famed home in Saint-Tropez.

He said around three-quarters of the items came from Bardot’s Paris apartment, with the remainder from La Madrague.

Her belongings should have been preserved as part of her legacy rather than sold to raise funds for the foundation she created, d’Ormale argued, adding that Bardot “would not have agreed to this sale”.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation rejected the criticism, saying the auction was approved by the board in June, including Bardot’s widower, who was then its president.

A visitor looks at items of personal belongings once owned by late French actress Brigitte Bardot displayed during a preview exhibition at Maison Drouot in Paris on September 15, 2026, ahead of an auction of her memorabilia and clothing. — AFP pic

However, d’Ormale said he had not understood the auction would involve such personal items.

The dispute comes days after he was removed as head of the foundation, a role he had held since the star’s death in December.

The 85-year-old, who remains on the foundation’s board, also complained he no longer has free access to La Madrague.

“I’ve lived there for 35 years and now they’re throwing me out. It’s quite something,” d’Ormale said.

Founded by the actor in 1986, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation says it has taken in 13,000 animals through four shelters and 150 partner facilities, supports 350 groups in France and operates in 70 countries. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Indonesian actress Dian Sastrowardoyo has spent more than two decades building a career across film and television, with roles that have made her one of the country’s most recognisable actresses.

Audiences might recognise her in films such as 2001’s Whispering Sands and What’s Up with Love?, as well as the more recent Netflix series Cigarette Girl, which won outstanding web series at the 2024 Bandung Film Festival.

Her connection with Malaysian cinema also goes back more than two decades, beginning with a cameo in Saw Teong Hin’s 2004 film Puteri Gunung Ledang, which starred Tiara Jacquelina and Datuk M. Nasir.

More recently, Dian returned to Malaysia to work with filmmaker Woo Ming Jin on the Malaysia-Indonesia production The Fox King, this time in a leading role.

The film, which was released in Malaysian cinemas on September 17, sees Dian play Lara, an English teacher, alongside Malaysian actors Idan Aedan and Hadi Putra.

Speaking during a recent media session at TintaBudi Bookshop in TTDI Plaza, Dian described making the film as a short but enjoyable experience, saying she quickly fell in love with the script before preparing for and filming the project within just a few weeks.

The production also meant spending time away from her family during the fasting month as she travelled to Malaysia for filming.

Hoping for The Fox King Indonesia rollout soon

The Fox King has since travelled the international festival circuit, with screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Busan International Film Festival before arriving in Malaysian cinemas.

For Dian, the next step is seeing whether the film can also reach Indonesian audiences.

Speaking to Malay Mail, she said she hoped the film would eventually be screened in Indonesian cinemas.

“I hope it can be played in cinemas in Indonesia because it hasn’t got the chance to be played in the cinemas.

“There are so many films that want to go to the cinemas, and I think The Fox King is also in the queue to go to the cinema,” she said.

Dian Sastrowardoyo (centre) during a media session at TintaBudi Bookshop in TTDI Plaza, with Finas CEO Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib also present. — Picture courtesy of Kuman Pictures

More Malaysia-Indonesia collaborations

Acknowledging the recent wave of Malaysia-Indonesia collaborations, Dian welcomed the growing exchange between Malaysian and Indonesian filmmakers and actors. 

She said greater collaboration between the two countries would allow both industries to learn from one another.

“I think it’s really fantastic that the collaborations are happening so fast.

“I think it should happen more and more.

“I am looking forward to more opportunities to work with Malaysian filmmakers, and I’m looking forward to Malaysian filmmakers collaborating more and more with Indonesian filmmakers.

“I think in order to grow and learn together, we need to have a lot of collaborations.”

Dian said the exchange could also create more opportunities for actors from both countries, pointing to Malaysian actors Chew Kin Wah and Bront Palarae as examples of Malaysian talent finding roles across the border. 

“So many stories are being filmed, so many stories are being told, so we need to collaborate,” she said.

Acting and seeing life from different perspectives

Looking back at her career, Dian said acting had also changed the way she viewed herself and the people around her.

“I think I learned a lot by becoming an actor.

“I think becoming an actor makes me very observant as a person, and I learn more about my own character,” she said.

“Growing up, there is a lot of growing that happens in your character.

“You become more dewasa (mature), right? I think by becoming an actor, you can take so many angles and points of view that enrich your own.”

She said taking on different characters and perspectives had allowed her to better understand people while also encouraging her to reflect on her own character as she continued to grow.

Looking ahead

Dian said she remained open to working with more Malaysian filmmakers, describing her experience with Woo on The Fox King as an enjoyable one.

She also spoke fondly of the late Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad and her work, while expressing interest in collaborating more with filmmaker Amir Muhammad.

Currently, Dian already has more work in the pipeline, including The Sea Speaks His Name, an upcoming Indonesian political drama also starring Reza Rahadian.

The film is set to have its world premiere in the competition section of the 31st Busan International Film Festival next month.

For now, Dian hopes Malaysian audiences will head to cinemas to experience The Fox King, which is currently screening nationwide.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 20 — Pop star Ed Sheeran said yesterday the situation in Gaza is “unjustifiable,” following a wave of criticism that he had failed to back his opening act who was booted from the tour after making pro-Palestinian comments.

The singer, who had previously maintained an apolitical stance, broke his silence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his first show since the controversy involving US rapper Macklemore.

“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate,” Sheeran said in Philadelphia.

“Our hearts have been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, children’s lives, and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

Macklemore had declared “Free Palestine” at a New Jersey concert this month, drawing backlash from owners of US stadiums hosting future dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour.

The British artist, 35, has denied being behind the decision to remove the rapper, instead blaming the tour promoter.

Four supporting acts subsequently walked out on the Shape of You singer, issuing public statements citing their support for Palestinians.

“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so so sorry,” an emotional Sheeran told his audience, who responded with cheers.

Sheeran had been accused by critics of failing to stand up to the stadium owners — led by billionaire businessman Robert Kraft — and was targeted by boycott calls.

The singer said he was “deeply worried” about the idea of venues pre-approving the content of performances.

“This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”

Boycott 

A few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters rallied peacefully outside Lincoln Financial Field ahead of the concert, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free, free Palestine.”

Some of the fans streaming into the stadium said they had hesitated about coming due to the controversy, but ultimately decided to attend and enjoy the music.

But others like Brandon Ateke changed their plans.

The 18-year-old Brown University student accused Sheeran of “complicity” with Kraft and others in silencing Macklemore.

“I decided to not attend the concert and instead attend the protest to bring light to the genocide going on in Gaza today,” he told AFP.

Yesterday, a pro-Palestinian group urged artists, fans and crew members to stay away from Sheeran’s concerts.

“We now extend our call for boycotting Ed Sheeran’s entire world tour, including the upcoming Latin American dates, and the as-yet-unannounced European leg,” the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) said.

Solo 

Sheeran started his show last night alone on stage, without an opening act.

He later brought on five musicians who he said had learned his songs in three days, thanking them for joining him “in a week when no one wants to stand on stage with me.”

The groups that quit the tour included Sheeran’s backing band as well as performer Finneas, who rose to fame collaborating with his pop superstar sister Billie Eilish.

Since Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023 following the worst attack on the country in its history by militant group Hamas, the toll on Palestinians and the wider issue of Palestinian rights have emerged as a rallying cry in the entertainment industry.

From the Oscars to the Emmys, top music awards ceremonies and European film festivals, the Gaza war has frequently pushed its way onto the agenda.

The massive Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,800 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Yesterday, Gaza authorities said the latest Israeli fire had killed at least four people, including a 10-year-old girl. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has nothing but praise for Datuk M.Nasir’s Mansur & Liu musical after attending one of its sessions at the prestigious Istana Budaya last night. 

Attending the two-hour showcase dressed in a dark red baju layang paired with a tanjak, Anwar praised the show as proof of the high standards the country can be proud of. 

“When I speak of economic growth and development, I am talking about cultural empowerment. 

“And tonight, we have proven that there is a local production that has elevated itself to a standard we can truly be proud of.

“I feel this is among the best productions I have seen in the country, and it can certainly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with several others in the world,” he said. 

He also pointed out that support from the government and the private sector is still needed to further elevate the local performing arts scene in the country. 

“I congratulate my friend, M. Nasir, and everyone who made this a success, and I am grateful to have witnessed firsthand the capability of local performing arts,” he said. 

When asked yesterday evening about the current political situation—particularly Transport Minister Anthony Loke’s potential stepping down—Anwar gently declined to comment, saying that ‘everything political can wait until tomorrow’.

Anwar on stage alongside cast and crew of Mansur & Liu. — Picture courtesy of Icon Entertainment

The Mansur & Liu musical marks M.Nasir’s first endeavor in producing a musical alongside his wife Datin Marlia Musa. 

It follows the encountering tales between Sultan Mansur Shah from the Malacca sultanate and Princess Liu from the Ming dynasty, heavily inspired by the Sulalatus Salatin (The Malay Annals).

The musical which began running from September 10 and is expected to close on September 20, also boasts a stellar lineup that includes Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz taking up the role of Sultan Mansor Shah paired with newcomer Melinda Dadew as Princess Liu. 

They are joined by other top local acts including Amerul Affendi, Sherry Alhadad, Hazama, Taqim Zaki, Brian Chan, Fadhli Masoot, Anas Ridzuan, Arena Wan, Ruzana Ibrahim, Fiza Thomas, Taufiq Izmir, Marzuki Noh, and Shahrul Mizad. 

Aside from Anwar, Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil was also in attendance at last night’s show along with prominent local director and founder of Skop Productions Datuk Yusof Haslam as well as his wife Datin Patimah Ismail. 

SAN SEBASTIAN, Sept 19 — British actor Naomi Watts is to receive a special honour today at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where she declared an unwavering appetite for challenging roles that make audiences think differently.

The festival will present Watts with its top prize, the Donostia Award, previously handed to actors such as Gregory Peck, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Penelope Cruz.

“It feels like such an incredible honour to get this award at this point in my life,” the 57-year-old told a news conference at the festival in the northern Spanish coastal city.

“I’ve been working hard for the last nearly four decades and had the fantastic opportunity to work with cinema greats,” she added.

“I continue to try and do interesting things with my work, to shift thinking, alter narratives and help the human psyche be understood better.”

Watts rose to stardom with her role in David Lynch’s 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive and received two Oscar nominations for 21 Grams and The Impossible.

An advocate for women ageing naturally, she said attitudes in the film industry had changed in recent years.

“I was told at the beginning that I better get my skates on because it all finishes at the age of 40 — and here we are today. I’m in my late 50s now… I do think things have changed.”

Films in competition at the Spanish festival include a new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables by French filmmaker Fred Cavaye and Ashes by Mexican director Diego Luna. — AFP

MADRID, Sept 19 — Shakira will kick off on Friday evening a marathon twelve-concert run in Madrid, bringing an end to both her world tour and the Colombian superstar’s eight-year absence from Spain.

The 49-year-old Hips Don’t Lie and Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) singer will take to a temporary 50,000-seater “Shakira stadium” erected in the south of the Spanish capital up till October 11, according to events giant Live Nation.

With no other European tour dates announced, Madrid’s authorities are expecting a significant economic windfall from her grand return, after welcoming fellow Hispanic superstar Bad Bunny in May and June for a series of 10 gigs.

Shakira has not performed in Spain since 2018, several years before her separation from former Spanish footballing great Gerard Pique was made public in 2022.

She embarked on a world tour in February 2025 to promote Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women no longer cry), an album inspired by her breakup with the legendary Barcelona defender which won her a fourth Grammy award.

Across her decades-long career, Shakira has sold more than 95 million records worldwide and performed at both the opening ceremony and final of the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) was also the official song for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, the first-time world football’s premiere showcase was held on the continent.

Her return to Madrid also comes after she paid a €7.3 million fine (RM34.2 million) in November 2023 as part of an agreement with the Spanish courts, in which she pleaded guilty to avoid having to stand trial for tax fraud.

In the high-profile affair, Shakira also paid the Spanish taxman €17.45 million to settle her affairs in the country. — AFP

LONDON, Sept 19 — Publishing house HarperCollins UK said yesterday it would no longer publish the back catalogue of British comedian and best-selling children’s author David Walliams after he faced accusations of harassing female staff.

“I can confirm that HarperCollins will no longer be publishing David Walliams’s backlist,” a spokesman said in a statement sent to AFP.

The move came after the publisher announced in December it would not publish any new titles by Walliams, saying it “takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously”.

The Daily Telegraph had published an investigative article in December claiming a junior employee at the publisher had complained about Walliams’ conduct, prompting an internal investigation.

As a result, one employee agreed a financial settlement and the publisher advised staff not to visit Walliams at home and to work in pairs, the Telegraph wrote.

Walliams’s agent said at the time that the author strongly denied inappropriate behaviour.

His website has since been shut down and his X account with two million followers has not been updated since December.

Walliams rose to fame as co-star of the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain with Matt Lucas. As a children’s author, he sold over 60 million copies.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal in 2017 for charity fundraising efforts including swimming the length of the River Thames.

Between 2008 and 2025, he wrote a series of children’s books published by HarperCollins including The Boy in the Dress. Some were televised and he became one of the UK’s best-selling children’s authors.

In 2022 his reputation was mired by a Guardian investigation that found he was recorded making derogatory sexual remarks while judging contestants on television show Britain’s Got Talent. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Edison Chen is heading back to the big screen after nearly a decade away — and his comeback is taking shape in Penang.

The 45-year-old Hong Kong actor was unveiled on September 17 as the previously mystery co-lead opposite Anthony Wong Chau-sang in the upcoming Chinese New Year comedy Temple of Wishes, currently shooting in Malaysia.

Chen joined Wong and fellow actor Samuel Pang at the film’s lensing ceremony in Penang, where his appearance drew cheers from those gathered, according to The Star.

“It’s really been a long time, so I’m very excited to start filming. I’ll do my best and continue to work hard. Thank you, everyone,” Chen said at the event.

The Malaysian-directed production, helmed by Peiji, had previously announced Wong as its lead while keeping its second male star hidden as a silhouette on promotional material, according to Penang Today.

That mystery was finally put to rest at the ceremony, confirming Chen’s return after years in which he largely stepped back from film and television to focus on his fashion business and family.

The project also reunites Chen and Wong, who previously appeared together in the Infernal Affairs franchise and 2005 street-racing hit Initial D. Their latest pairing has already generated buzz online, with Penang Today citing reports of clips from the ceremony circulating on Xiaohongshu.

Budgeted at RM10 million, Temple of Wishes follows two struggling men who begin operating a temple centred on granting wishes.

Principal photography began on September 7 and is expected to continue until September 30, with filming planned across Penang and Kuala Lumpur, as well as Hengdian in China and Bellagio, Italy, according to Penang Today. The film is reportedly set for release on February 6, 2027, the first day of Chinese New Year.

For Wong, the shoot also marks a return to Penang roughly a decade after filming the thriller Insomnia there.

“Penang is not only beautiful. The food is also irresistible. I’ve eaten so much that I’ve gained weight. I’ll have to lose weight next,” the 65-year-old joked, according to The Star.

Pang, meanwhile, said it was his first visit to the state and that he had already taken to its food.

“I’m very grateful to the director for giving me the opportunity to work with Anthony and Edison again,” he said.

Penang State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai also welcomed the production, describing it as an opportunity to showcase the state through film, Penang Today reported, citing state government publication Buletin Mutiara.

He highlighted Penang’s mix of beaches, rainforest, heritage locations and colonial-era architecture, as well as its multilingual production environment.

The project lands as Penang continues to court major international shoots. Netflix’s upcoming Mark Wahlberg film The Big Fix has also selected the state as one of its filming locations.

But for Hong Kong cinema fans, Temple of Wishes carries another draw: the sight of Chen and Wong sharing the screen again years after their crime-thriller and street-racing collaborations — this time swapping gangsters and mountain passes for a festive comedy about granting wishes.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 19 — Duncan Sheik, the singer-songwriter who turned one of the defining soft-rock hits of the 1990s into an unlikely second act as the Tony-winning composer of Spring Awakening, has died. He was 56.

Sheik died Thursday from organ failure, his mother Suzanne Sheik told The New York Times, according to the Associated Press.

For casual listeners, Sheik remained synonymous with Barely Breathing, the quietly insistent single from his 1996 self-titled debut that spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 16 and earning him a Grammy nomination.

But his most enduring impact may have come a decade later, when a musician who considered himself a Broadway outsider helped blow open the sound of the American musical.

With lyricist and playwright Steven Sater, Sheik created the score for Spring Awakening, the rock-inflected adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s provocative 19th-century play about adolescent sexuality, repression and tragedy.

“We wanted to shake things up a bit. And we just set out to make this really cool piece of theatre,” Sheik told the Associated Press in 2007.

The gamble worked. Spring Awakening opened on Broadway in 2006 and ran for more than 860 performances, winning eight Tony Awards, including best musical, as well as the Grammy for best musical show album. Its original cast became a launching pad for performers including Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, John Gallagher Jr., Lilli Cooper and Gideon Glick.

Sheik had been determined from the outset that the score should not sound like conventional musical theatre.

“I’m happy to do this musical, but I only want to do it if the music in the play is the kind that I and my peers can get behind stylistically and relate to and enjoy,” he recalled telling Sater in a 2006 AP interview.

That instinct became something of a mission. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2015, Sheik said: “I love Stephen Sondheim. But it’s my mission to make sure that the theatre is paying attention to what the rest of the world is listening to.”

He continued testing that divide between pop and theatre with American Psycho, his musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel. The production reached Broadway in 2016 but closed after fewer than 90 performances.

Sheik nevertheless remained fascinated by the mechanics of writing songs that could operate both as music and drama.

“When you’re writing a song for the theatre, it has to accomplish all this other stuff,” he told AP in 2013. “It has to work in tandem with all these other agendas and creative impulses.”

Raised between South Carolina and New Jersey, Sheik began playing guitar as a child and counted Talk Talk, David Sylvian and Nick Drake among his influences.

His later work included Whisper House, Legerdemain and his 2022 album Claptrap. Spring Awakening, meanwhile, returned to Broadway in an acclaimed Deaf West Theatre revival in 2015 and remains one of the defining musicals of its generation.

For an artist who once approached Broadway as an outsider, Sheik ultimately helped change what Broadway could sound like.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 18 — Kim Kardashian has revealed she has been diagnosed with esophagitis, a condition that brought back memories of her late father Robert Kardashian, who died from oesophageal cancer in 2003.

The 45-year-old reality star disclosed the diagnosis in the trailer for the eighth season of The Kardashians released yesterday, with E! News reporting that she was shown in a hospital bed when someone off-camera asked whether it was the same condition that killed her father, to which she replied yes.

Esophagitis refers to inflammation and irritation of the tissue lining the oesophagus and, if left untreated, can progress to Barrett’s oesophagus, which is associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer.

Robert, who had four children with Kris Jenner — Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob — died from oesophageal cancer in 2003 at the age of 59.

Khloé previously spoke about her father’s illness on her Khloé in Wonder Land podcast in April 2025, saying his condition progressed rapidly after he was diagnosed.

“My dad died really quickly,” Khloé said.

“He had esophageal cancer and I think he died six or seven weeks after diagnosis.”

She also recalled struggling with guilt over not spending more time with Robert during her teenage years, saying the feelings eventually turned into anger because he had not told the family his illness was terminal.

Khloé said she later found relief after discussing her grief during the first season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in 2007, describing the experience as lifting “a house” off her.

She said that conversation allowed her to let go of her guilt and anger and remember her father with “smiles and happiness and admiration and understanding”.

The Kardashian sisters later channelled their experience into the UCLA Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health, which they helped establish in 2019 to support research and treatment for disorders affecting the oesophagus.

Kim previously said on The Kardashians in 2025 that the family could not save her father with the medical technology and access to specialists available today, but hoped their work could help save other lives.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Fly FM has removed Ed Sheeran from its playlist, declaring “some things matter more than music” in a Facebook post expressing support for Palestine and artists who speak up for the cause.

The Malaysian radio station made the statement in a post that referenced US rapper Macklemore being dropped from Sheeran’s Loop Tour after speaking up for Palestine, with an accompanying graphic featuring Sheeran carrying the words “Off our playlist! Some things matter more than music”; the post had garnered 115 likes at the time of writing.

Fly FM said: “You've probably seen the news about Macklemore being dropped from the Loop Tour after speaking up for Palestine.

“We want to be clear about where we stand.

“Fly FM stands with the Palestinian people. And we stand with artists who use their voice for what they believe in.”

The station added: “Music is supposed to give people a voice. Not take it away.

“We stand with Palestine. We stand with artists who speak up for them.”

The post attracted supportive comments, including one from Ahmad Wazir Aiman thanking Fly FM for taking a stand and saying that remaining neutral while people were being killed amounted to enabling such acts.

Another commenter, Manal Ismail Al-Masry, wrote: “The irish radio stations gonna love this.”

Macklemore was removed from the remaining US dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.

The rapper said he was dropped following discussions with Sheeran, while tour promoter Messina Touring Group said venues on upcoming dates had notified it that they would not allow concerts featuring Macklemore.

Sheeran later said the decision was made by the tour promoter after venue owners raised concerns, while Macklemore has continued to publicly support Palestine.

Macklemore has also pledged to donate his US$1 million (RM4.08 million) earnings from the tour to six organisations supporting Palestinians and called on New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to match the donation.

SEOUL, Sept 18 — Blackpink’s Rosé has released New Trick, an energetic garage-punk track about overcoming hardship and finding new ways to move forward.

The song was released today, with Yonhap News Agency reporting that Rosé’s agency The Black Label described it as carrying a message of pushing through life’s difficulties with one’s own “new trick”.

New Trick was co-produced by Amy Allen, who previously worked with Rosé on the hit APT, and Andrew Wells, who collaborated with the singer on Stay a Little Longer.

Its accompanying music video was made in collaboration with Apple to coincide with the release of the iPhone 18.

The video was directed by Dave Meyers, whose previous work includes projects with pop stars Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande.

BANGKOK, Sept 18 — Malaysia, Thailand and four other national Miss Universe franchises face possible exclusion from this year’s 75th Miss Universe pageant following a dispute over licensing rights to the beauty pageant brand.

Bangkok Post reported that a document issued in the name of the Miss Universe organisation said JKN Universe LLC did not recognise the franchise arrangements for Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore, while Khaosod English reported that the organisation said contestants from all six countries would not be eligible to compete in Miss Universe 2026.

The disputed franchises cover Miss Universe Thailand for the 2025-2029 period, while those for Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore concern 2026.

JKN Universe LLC said the arrangements were allegedly made by Nawat Itsaragrisil and/or entities linked to him through agreements that it does not recognise as legally valid, adding that the relevant parties had not entered into franchise or licensing agreements with JKN Universe LLC that granted them rights to the Miss Universe brand.

The document further stated that Miss Universe Eastern Pte Ltd was not authorised to grant, transfer or sublicense rights to operate under the Miss Universe brand, and described arrangements made through the company as “void ab initio”, meaning invalid from the outset.

JKN Universe LLC said it was the authority responsible for granting or approving rights connected to the Miss Universe brand and that arrangements made outside its framework did not create valid rights to use the brand.

The dispute could directly affect Thailand’s representative, Tharina Botes, with the organisation saying contestants representing the six countries would not be eligible for the 75th Miss Universe competition.

JKN Universe LLC also disputed recent claims concerning its financial position, saying information about its internal finances had been circulated publicly without being audited or independently verified, and alleging that false, misleading or incomplete material had appeared on social media.

The organisation said it reserved the right to take civil or criminal action over alleged false or misleading statements, as well as action concerning unauthorised use of its intellectual property and the Miss Universe brand.

Miss Universe Thailand, operated by Miss Grand International PCL, rejected the organisation’s position in a statement, saying it stood by the rights of the six affected countries and that MGI PCL was also a rights holder and/or authorised operator of Miss Universe licences.

The dispute comes ahead of the 75th Miss Universe pageant, with the competing claims over the validity of the national franchise arrangements yet to be resolved.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 18 — Duncan Sheik, the singer behind 1996 hit Barely Breathing and composer of Broadway musical Spring Awakening, is in hospital in critical but stable condition, his family said.

The Hollywood Reporter said Sheik’s family disclosed his condition in a statement posted on his Instagram on Wednesday, while asking for privacy and declining to provide further information about his medical condition.

“Out of respect for Duncan and our family, we will not be sharing any further medical details at this time.”

“We kindly ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time and will provide updates when appropriate,” the statement continued. “Thank you for the continued love and support.”

Sheik, 56, earned a Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance in 1998 for Barely Breathing.

He has released nine studio albums.

For Spring Awakening, Sheik composed the music while Steven Sater wrote the lyrics, with the musical making its Broadway debut in 2006 starring Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff.

The production won Tony Awards for best orchestrations, best original score and best musical, as well as a Grammy for best musical theatre album.

Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 German play, the alt-rock and folk musical centres on teenagers in the late 1800s discovering their sexuality.

SEOUL, Sept 18 — BTS member Jimin’s solo hit Like Crazy has crossed one billion filtered streams on Spotify, becoming the first fully Korean-language song to reach the milestone.

The Korea Herald reported that Big Hit Music announced the achievement on Thursday, marking another milestone for the track, which was released in March 2023 as the lead single from Jimin’s debut solo album Face.

The synth-pop song also made history on the Billboard Hot 100 when it debuted at No. 1, becoming the only Korean-language song by a K-pop solo act to top the chart.

Like Crazy remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, while Face spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 and reached a peak position of No. 2.

The single recorded 60 weeks on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. US charts, with a highest ranking of No. 2 on each.

In Britain, the song opened at No. 8 on the Official Singles Top 100, the highest position achieved by a Korean artist.

It also reached No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart across all 119 regions.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Fresh off Malaysia Day, there was plenty to celebrate, with the festive mood also reflected on the entertainment front as local content made its presence felt across cinemas and streaming platforms. 

Chelot continues to lead the local box office, with its collection now reaching RM16 million, while Kudrat 1968: High Council shot to the top of Netflix Malaysia’s trending chart with only two episodes in.

Over on Viu, Cinta Dalam Sekam continues to hold the top spot on the platform’s chart.

Cinemas are offering a mix of trending titles from across Asia thats trending, with Hope receiving mixed reviews, while China’s All Wishes Come True and Once Upon a Time in the Middle East have been generating positive word-of-mouth among Malaysian audiences.

On Disney+, Futurama remains the platform’s leading title, while Indonesian singer Tulus’ Teh Hijau is among the most-streamed songs on Spotify.

From films currently playing in cinemas to the latest shows, music and new books hitting the shelves, Malay Mail rounds up this week’s top entertainment picks.

Top 10 films in local cinemas (Domestic & International) (Sept 11 to Sept 13)

1. Chelot
2. Hope
3. All Wishes Come True!
4. Once Upon A Time In The Middle East
5. Sardar 2
6. Mandaadi
7. Spider-Man: Brand New Day
8. Insidious: Out Of The Further
9. Fall 2: Deadpoint
10. Detective Conan The Movie: Fallen Angel Of The Highway

Top 10 streaming (Sept 7 to Sept 13)

Netflix (Top 10 TV series)

1. Kudrat 1968: High Council
2. Bulan Henti Bicara: Season 1
3. The Early Spring: Season 1
4. Mousetrap: Limited Series
5. Four Hands, Two Sonatas: Limited Series
6. The Gentlemen: Season 2
7. Our Sticky Love: Limited Series
8. Upin&Ipin: Season 19
9. Physical 100: Italy: Season 1
10. GATE24:The Border: Season 1

Viu (Top 10 shows)

1. Cinta Dalam Sekam
2. Running Man (2026)
3. The Affair Was Just The Beginning
4. Dream To You
5. To Love and Cherish
6. Blossom Through the Cloud
7. Whenever Possible Season 5
8. 2 Days 1 Night: Season 4
9. Ate Kome, I Love You
10. Fresh off the Sea 3

Disney+ (Top 10 shows)

1. Futurama: Season 14
2. The Girls: A Khloe Kardashian Project
3. Dream To You
4. The Drop: A Snowfall Saga
5. Get Real: Season 1
6. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Season 5
7. The Shards: Season 1
8. Flex X Cop: Season 2
9. To Love and Cherish
10. Blossom Through the Cloud

Top 10 songs of the week (Spotify) (Sept 9 to Sept 16)

1. Tulus - Teh Hijau
2. Raim Laode - Iqro’
3. Katy Perry - The One That Got Away
4. eńau - Sesi Potret (w/ Ari Lesmana)
5. Akbar Chalay - Astaga Bercanda (w/ Mingse)
6. Mac Miller - Cinderella (w/ Ty Dolla $ign)
7. SIENNA SPIRO - Great Expectation
8. Raim Laode - Dunia Yang Nanti
9. Ariana Grande - hate that I made you love me
10. Naykilla - MMG (My Mine Gueh)

Top 10 Malay songs of the week (Spotify) (Sept 9 to Sept 16)

1. Ammar Haikal - Gila Bayang
2. Tulus - Teh Hijau
3. Adira Suhaimi - Sayang Orang Sama
4. Aisha Retno - Tak Adil
5. Aziz Harun - Telepati
6. Nadhif Basalamah, Aziz Harun, Aisha Retno - kota ini tak sama tanpamu
7. Aufahanie - Butterfly
8. Faizal Tahir - Kasih Tercipta
9. Alpha - P Ramlee Saloma
10. K.O.I- Tiwikarma

Top 10 books of the week (August 28 to September 3)

Fiction

1. Strange Buildings by Uketsu (Pushkin Vertigo)
2. The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
3. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
4. Strange Pictures by Uketsu (HarperVia)
5. Strange Houses by Uketsu (Pushkin Vertigo)
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (HarperCollins)
7. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Doubleday)
8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
9. Before the Coffee Gets Cold #6: Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Hanover Square Press)
10. The Warung Between Worlds by Hanna Alkaf (Bookiut)

Non-Fiction

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear (Avery)
2. Surrounded by Idiots (10th Anniversary Edition) by Thomas Erikson (Vermilion)
3. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee (Penerbit Haru)
4. It's Okay Not to Get Along with Everyone by Dancing Snail (Blink Publishing)
5. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (Harper)
6. The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene (Penguin Books)
7. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Random House)
8. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins (Hay House LLC)
9. I'm Not Lazy I’m on Energy Saving Mode by Dancing Snail (Apop books)
10. The Malay Dilemma (Reissue Edition) by Mahathir Mohamad (Marshall Cavendish)

Mutiara Minda (Malay Novels)

1. Kaisar 2: Kudeta by Jiwa (Nukilan Biruni Trading)
2. Rubah Putih by Ramlee Awang Murshid (Buku Prima)
3. Haqq by Effalee (Manes Wordworks)
4. Kaisar: Secret Chapter by Jiwa (Nukilan Biruni Trading)
5. Empayar 4: Hikayat Pemburu Naga by Teme Abdullah (Buku IMAN)
6. Rahsia Danny by Teme Abdullah (Iman Publication)
7. Mi Querida by Hudanajwa (Idea Kreatif)
8. Yes! Captain Zul Aaryan by Wnfhanna (Idea Kreatif)
9. Satu Janji by Ramlee Awang Murshid (Alaf 21 Sdn. Bhd)
10. Kaisar oleh Jiwa (Nukilan Biruni)

Source: MPH

LONDON, Sept 18 — US rapper Macklemore has praised children’s YouTuber Ms Rachel as she pledges to match his donation of US$1 million to charities supporting Palestinian people, reported PA Media/dpa.

The musician announced on Wednesday he would be donating his entire net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour after being dropped as a supporting act over comments he made about Gaza.

Since then, all of Sheeran’s Loop Tour supporting acts, including Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Grammy award-winning musician Finneas, and Danish singer Lukas Graham, as well as his backing band Beoga, have dropped out of the remaining dates.

US YouTube star Ms Rachel, real name Rachel Anne Accurso, shared a post to Instagram on Thursday as she revealed she is following Macklemore’s lead and also donating to pro-Palestinian charities.

The children’s entertainer, 43, wrote: “I will match Macklemore’s donation and I invite every wealthy white celebrity to match it and speak out against the genocide in Gaza.

“Over 20,000 precious Palestinian children have been killed and children continue to be killed every day.

“We have a moral obligation to use our privilege and platforms to protect children and human rights.”

Accurso stated that she is an ambassador for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) and will be donating to them beneath the post, which was shared to her 5.8 million followers.

Macklemore, famed for hits such as Thrift Shop and Same Love, was among the commenters offering their support and wrote: “Wowwww... Love you so much.”

The 43-year-old, real name Benjamin Haggerty, also shared the post to his Instagram story and praised Accurso’s actions.

The rapper previously revealed he will be donating to the PCRF among five other organisations: HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA and American Near East Refugee Aid.

It comes after he claimed that Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns the Gillette Stadium where Sheeran was due to play, had contacted the singer and told him they would not be able to host the shows unless he was removed from the tour.

Macklemore invited the US businessman to match his donations adding that “whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth”.

Sheeran said in a social media post on Tuesday that Macklemore’s departure from the tour was the promoter’s decision and not his, adding: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.”

The award-winning singer also said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine”, and added he respected Macklemore “as an artist”.

In a previous statement shared by Kraft, the businessman said his decision to ban the US rapper following his comments onstage were due to a “broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”.

Sheeran’s next performance is scheduled for September 19 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Graham and Rowe had been due to open for him.

He has 17 dates still left on the tour across North and South America, with the final show scheduled for December 11 in Mexico City. — Bernama-PA Media/dpa

SEOUL, Sept 18 — Members of global girl group Katseye have unfollowed Ed Sheeran on Instagram as the fallout over rapper Macklemore’s removal from the British singer’s Loop tour continues to spread.

The Korea Herald reported that fans noticed on Tuesday that Katseye members Manon, Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae had all stopped following Sheeran, while Lara and Megan also liked a post Macklemore shared after he was dropped from the tour and Lara began following him on Instagram.

Sheeran co-wrote Katseye’s third EP, Animal, which was released in July, after becoming a fan of the group and reaching out to collaborate following the release of their 2025 single Gnarly.

The decision has prompted mixed reactions among fans, with some supporting the members while others argued that the group should go further and remove Animal from future setlists.

Macklemore was dropped from the remaining US dates of Sheeran’s Loop tour after expressing support for Palestinians during his opening performance in New Jersey on September 5.

Tour promoter Messina Touring Group subsequently announced that the rapper would no longer perform on the remaining dates.

Macklemore has said neither he nor Sheeran is a victim of the situation and described the British singer as his friend, while saying Sheeran’s “typical apolitical stance” had been challenged in a way it never had before.

The controversy has also drawn attention from environmental activist Greta Thunberg and celebrities including Kehlani, Zara Larsson, Florence Pugh and Nicola Coughlan, who either liked or commented on Macklemore’s posts.

Meanwhile, four other opening acts — Finneas O’Connell, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham — said on Wednesday that they would not perform on the tour.

The Loop tour is scheduled to resume on Saturday in Philadelphia.

PARIS, Sept 18 — Ed Sheeran faces boycott calls and desertions, leaving the British singer with a career crisis that underlines how even the world’s biggest stars are being sucked into the politics of the war in Gaza.

Ahead of his next scheduled concert on Saturday, the Shape of You pop icon has spent a week scrambling to save his Loop Tour and his public image as criticism rained down from peers and social media users.

The 35-year-old’s problems began with rapper friend Macklemore, who spoke in favour of Palestinian rights and “free Palestine” while serving as a warm-up act for Sheeran at concerts in the New Jersey MetLife stadium on September 4 and 5.

When Macklemore was dropped from subsequent concerts — under pressure from US stadium owners, including billionaire Robert Kraft — Sheeran came under fire.

He was accused by critics of a range of sins: failing to defend a friend and free speech, lacking courage to speak about Gaza, and prioritising cash over principles.

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” singer Finneas, brother of Billie Eilish, wrote on social media as he and three other support acts walked out on Sheeran on Tuesday.

“If I was Ed, I’d swallow my pride and cancel the tour,” veteran British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg advised.

Palestinian group PACBI, which campaigns for a cultural boycott of Israel, urged Sheeran to reinstate Macklemore. 

“Until then, we call on opening artists, audiences and where possible crew to boycott the complicit tour,” it added.

“What’s a shame is that he (Sheeran) is somebody who is powerful enough and has a big enough status that he could have actually put his foot down,” Neil March, a music writer who teaches at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) in London, told AFP.

Gaza activism 

Since Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023 following the worst attack on the country in its history by group Hamas, the toll on Palestinians and the wider issue of Palestinian rights have slowly emerged as a rallying cry in the entertainment industry.

From the Oscars to the Emmys, top music awards ceremonies and European film festivals, the Gaza war has frequently pushed its way on to the agenda as more and more figures speak out and encourage others to follow suit.

“Palestine is much more at the forefront than it has ever been,” Julie Norman, a professor and expert on the Israel-Palestine conflict at University College London (UCL), told AFP.

“I think the way the world witnessed the war, what many saw as a genocide playing out in Gaza on social media, has galvanised a new generation around this issue in a very different way than ever before,” said Norman, an associate fellow with the Middle East Programme at Chatham House.

“I think for young people in particular, whether in the US, the UK, in Europe, all over the world, this is one of the most salient issues for them,” she added.

No politics? 

Sheeran made his name as a family-friendly former busker whose down-to-earth style and catchy lyrics have made him one of the most-streamed artists of his generation.

He claimed in his statement this week that he does “not use my professional platform for politics”.

But he performed at a pro-Ukraine concert after Russia’s invasion in 2022 and signed an open letter warning about Brexit in 2018.

He has backed anti-poverty initiative Comic Relief in Britain and told The Sunday Times newspaper in 2017 that he “loved” then leftist leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn — who later became embroiled in a row about anti-Semitism.

“Music’s never been politically neutral... it’s an excuse, and I don’t think anybody is really buying it,” March told AFP.

Gretchen Larsen, a professor who studies the music business at Durham University Business School in Britain, told AFP that Sheeran’s most committed fans were unlikely to abandon him, but more casual listeners might feel alienated.

“To some extent, his response isn’t a neutral response because he’s allowed those ‘powers’ to silence certain artists and he’s gone along with that, so his initial response is a political position,” she said.

“Clearly there’s some real discomfort about how this whole situation is being managed,” she added. — AFP 

SEOUL, Sept 18 — A man in his 30s has been arrested for allegedly reselling 8,967 tickets to K-pop concerts, sporting events and other high-demand occasions at inflated prices, generating about 2.4 billion won (RM7.06 million) in revenue over more than seven years, police said yesterday.

The Korea Herald reported that the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency referred the man to prosecutors on charges including obstruction of business and violations of the Public Performance Act, and prosecutors have since indicted him.

Police said the man allegedly used automated macro programmes and accounts belonging to relatives to secure the tickets between September 2018 and early April this year before reselling them at substantial mark-ups.

In one case, he allegedly resold a BTS concert ticket in Seoul in 2019 for three million won after buying it for 110,000 won, more than 27 times its original price.

He was also accused of selling a Stray Kids concert ticket in 2025 for two million won after paying 165,000 won, while a Seventeen fan meeting ticket bought for 110,000 won was allegedly resold for 1.8 million won.

Other tickets allegedly resold included one for a 2024 football match between Team K League and Tottenham Hotspur, which was sold for 1.65 million won after being bought for 400,000 won, and a Bruno Mars concert ticket in Korea in 2023 that was reportedly resold for 1.2 million won after being purchased for 250,000 won.

Police estimated that about two-thirds of the 2.4 billion won in resale revenue, or roughly 1.6 billion won, represented profit.

Authorities said ticket reselling became the man’s main source of income after he graduated from university and that he had no other regular occupation.

Police said he registered an e-commerce business to make his activities appear legitimate and avoid attracting scrutiny over large amounts of money moving through his bank account.

The man was also active in a large social media group chat allegedly used for illicit ticket trading, where members exchanged information about macro programmes, ticket availability and police enforcement activity.

The chat reportedly had more than 1,300 members, while police said the man used proceeds from the alleged operation to buy an apartment and two commercial properties in Gyeonggi Province.

Although the apartment had been sold, investigators identified two commercial properties and financial claims in his name worth a combined 1.26 billion won as alleged criminal proceeds and sought to freeze them before his indictment.

The suspect stopped reselling tickets in April after police arrested 16 members of what authorities described as a large-scale ticket scalping ring that had handled about 7.1 billion won in illegal resales through the same online community.

Police said he subsequently closed his business registration and reset computers and mobile phones in an alleged attempt to destroy evidence, but investigators recovered data through digital forensics and materials seized from his home.

Authorities are continuing to investigate other suspected scalpers linked to the online network, as ticket scalping faces increased scrutiny in South Korea amid strong demand for major K-pop concerts and sporting events.

A revised Public Performance Act and National Sports Promotion Act took effect on August 28, expanding punishable ticket-resale offences beyond cases involving macro programmes and allowing authorities to act against illegal resale even when automated purchasing software is not used.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 18 — Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi have shared the first glimpse of their second child, posting a photo showing their baby’s hand.

People reported that the couple shared the photo in a joint Instagram post yesterday with the caption “Hi little guy!”, while a source confirmed to the magazine that they had welcomed their second baby through adoption.

Representatives for Brown and Bongiovi could not be reached for comment.

The 22-year-old Stranger Things actress had appeared to hint at the couple’s growing family in an Instagram post on September 7, which showed her carrying their daughter while Bongiovi walked beside her with a baby carrier strapped to his chest.

The newest addition to the family was obscured in the footage as the couple strolled among alpacas in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range.

Brown and Bongiovi announced almost a year ago that they had welcomed their first child together, a daughter, through adoption.

“This summer we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption. We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy,” Brown wrote in an Instagram post in August 2025.

“And then there were 3.”

DUBLIN, Sept 17 — Ireland will not participate in or broadcast next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, public broadcaster RTE said Thursday, citing the “ongoing loss of lives in Gaza”.

The country, which snubbed the 2026 competition over Israel’s participation, will join the Netherlands in skipping the world’s biggest live televised music event, which has been hit by a string of boycotts and controversies in recent years. — AFP

LOS ANGELES, Sept 17 — Pop artist Peter Max, whose cheery psychedelic creations helped define the counterculture aesthetic in the 1960s, died on Monday, US media reported. He was 88.

“We will remember his extraordinary creativity, his warmth, his curiosity and the way he saw beauty and possibility everywhere,” his son Adam Max said in a statement to ABC News.

“His art became part of American culture, but the man behind that art—the father we knew and loved—is the person we will miss most.”

During his decades-long career, Max created brightly colored graphic images and was credited with capturing the essence of the 1960s “summer of love” and psychedelia.

“I see everything through rainbow eyes,” he once told ABC.

Max had long suffered from dementia and died at a hospital, the New York Times reported.

His art appeared on millions of posters—often the trippy day-glow variety that adorned college dorm rooms—and numerous magazine covers, as well as government-commissioned welcome murals at borders and a postage stamp, according to his website.

A prolific artist, Max created marketable work that was licensed for many consumer products, from shower curtains to planes and cruise ships, and even a line of “art clocks” commissioned by General Electric.

He also created the logo for MTV in the 1980s, along with posters for the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament, the Super Bowl and the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Vegetarian teetotaler 

Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin in 1937, his family left Germany during the rise of the Nazis, traveling through Asia, the Middle East and Paris before entering the United States in 1953, settling in New York City when he was 16.

He studied art at New York’s prestigious School for Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute before finding work as a graphic artist and opening his own design studio.

“Max, a vegetarian and a teetotaler who expanded his consciousness through yoga, not drugs, was one of the most visible and successful artists of his time,” the Times said.

But success brought its challenges later in his career.

In 1998, Max was sentenced to community service teaching art in Harlem and a $30,000 fine after prosecutors charged him with concealing US$714,000 in income from art sales between 1988 and 1991.

In his plea, Max acknowledged bartering art for real estate and hiding income to buy real estate in Southampton, New York, the US Virgin Islands and upstate New York.

In the last decade, disputes over his treatment and ownership of his art landed in court and became tabloid fodder, with the artist’s family and friends “trading lurid allegations of kidnapping, hired goons, attempted murder” and moneymaking schemes, the Times reported.

One major source of income and lawsuits has reportedly been in champagne-fueled art auctions on board major cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian.

But those sales drew lawsuits from buyers who said the art they received didn’t meet their expectations.

Speaking to the Times in 2019, Max said he was “wowed by the universe.”

“I love color. I love painting. I love shapes. I love composition. I love the people all around me. I’m adoring it all. My legacy is in the hands of other people.” — AFP

LONDON, Sept 17 — US rapper Macklemore has donated his entire net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour – US$1 million – to charities supporting Palestinian people, reported PA Media/dpa.

The donation comes after the musician was dropped as a supporting act over comments he made about Gaza.

Since then, all of Sheeran’s Loop Tour supporting acts, including Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Grammy award-winning musician Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother, and Danish singer Lukas Graham, as well as his backing band Beoga, have dropped out of the remaining dates.

In a post shared on Instagram yesterday Macklemore, real name Ben Haggerty, said: “With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom.

“I will be donating the entire 1 million (dollars) of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organisations working directly to support the Palestinian people.”

On Monday, the rapper claimed that Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, had contacted Sheeran and told him they would not be able to play unless he was removed from the tour.

He invited the US businessman to match his donations adding that “whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth”.

He said: “Aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice and I believe it requires immediate political change.

“Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free. This is where my focus will remain.”

The rapper donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA and American Near East Refugee Aid.

On Tuesday, Sheeran said on social media that Macklemore’s departure from the tour was the promoter’s decision and not his.

He said “upcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting”, and added that Kraft, was among them.

Sheeran added: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.”

The "Shape Of You" singer said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine”, and added he respected Macklemore “as an artist."

In a previous statement shared by Kraft, the businessman said his decision to ban the US rapper following his comments onstage were due to a “broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”.

Sheeran’s next performance is scheduled for September 19 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Graham and Rowe had been due to open for him.

He has 17 dates still left on the tour across North and South America, with the final show scheduled for December 11 in Mexico City. — Bernama

LAGOS, Sept 17 — One of Nigeria’s pioneering filmmakers and actors who helped bring Nollywood talent to the global stage, Olu Jacobs has died at age 84, his family said yesterday. 

Jacobs is regarded as one of the father figures in Nigeria’s vibrant film industry, Nollywood, with a career that spanned over five decades in theatre, television and film.

Announcing the death on Instagram, his son, Olusoji Jacobs, said his was “a life well lived and fought”.

“He was a giant of the Nigerian creative industry,” said President Bola Tinubu said, adding he played a “big role” toward building Nigeria’s cultural identity.

“His passing is a great loss to Nigeria, the African film industry and the global community of lovers of the performing arts,” the president said in a tribute.

Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former vice president and candidate in upcoming presidential elections, wrote in a post on X that “Nigeria has lost far more than a great actor; we have lost an institution, a cultural icon and one of the finest ambassadors of our creative spirit”.

Jacobs’ wife, Joke Silva, who is also a renowned Nollywood actress and filmmaker, announced in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Born Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and appeared in different British television shows and series in the 1970s — including The Goodies, The Professionals and The Tomorrow People.

He featured in over 200 productions, according to a Nigerian-registered company, The FilmCraft Productions. Among some of the awards Jacobs received were the Africa Movie Academy Awards and Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).

Nollywood is the world’s second largest only to Bollywood in terms of output, and produces some 2,000 films annually. — AFP

TORONTO, Sept 17 — Spain’s Oscar entry The Black Ballhas proven buzzy across the festival circuit, as its powerful message championing LGBTQ rights emerges from intertwined storylines revolving around sexuality and the Spanish Civil War.

The drama featuring cameos by the likes of Penelope Cruz and Glenn Close received a standing ovation Tuesday at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), accolades that arrived the eve before Spain selected the film—known as La Bola Negrain Spanish—as its international feature film Academy Award contender.

Directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, a creative duo affectionately known as “Los Javis” and who were until recently a couple, are famous in Spain particularly for their television work, if less widely known on the international stage.

But their stars are rising after a smash debut of the film at Cannes, where it won the best director award that was shared with Pawel Pawlikowski (Fatherland).

Along with Cruz and Close, The Black Ballstars Miguel Bernardeau, and weaves the stories of three gay men across different eras in Spain.

“It’s a tribute to the LGBTQ+ community” of the past that fought for human rights, Ambrossi told AFP.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference at TIFF, he said “we wanted to make it big.”

The story spooled into existence as they developed the film, he explained.

It started “fragile” and “intimate,” Ambrossi said, “but we understood there was a political statement behind it” that allowed for an “epic gay drama for everyone.”

Empathy and humanity

The filmmakers noted that many countries still have anti-LGBTQ laws, and people within the community can be persecuted or even killed for their sexuality.

Calvo emphasized that the film is “about empathy and humanity and seeing the other as a person.”

Early inspiration came from the unpublished play written by Federico Garcia Lorca, the poet who was executed by fascist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

They said the four pages of unfinished writing sparked their curiosity and drew them in.

“We got obsessed with his work,” Calvo told journalists, saying they immersed themselves in Lorca’s writings, correspondence and biographies.

“We were trying to connect with what he wanted to do,” the filmmaker added. “It was years, years of working.”

TIFF ends on September 20. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Malaysian horror film Khadam is trending in Hong Kong ahead of its cinema release there on October 8, 2026, largely due to its Chinese title, Lau Ga Ling.

According to online reports from United Daily News and hk01, the film has attracted attention because its Cantonese title, Lau Ga Ling, sounds remarkably similar to that of Hong Kong actress Carina Lau, whose name is pronounced “Lau Ka Ling” in Cantonese.

This similarity has sparked lively discussion across social media and online forums.

It’s also reported that some Hong Kong users praised the clever title, with some jokingly suggesting that Lau Ga Ling could be the year’s best movie title translation by a local distributor, calling the similar pronunciation particularly creative.

Others have taken the joke a step further, imagining that Lau has made a horror comeback and that a future Hong Kong version of Khadam could even star the actress herself.

Some social media users have also called on the distributor to invite Lau to the Hong Kong premiere, tagging the actress in the hope that she will notice the Malaysian horror film.

Khadam has been travelling across South-east Asia for cinema screenings.

Following its Malaysian and Brunei release on June 11, the film arrived in Cambodia in July, while Singapore began its screening last month.

The film makes its Indonesian cinema debut today.

Directed by Shamyl Othman, Khadam immediately topped the Malaysian box office, grossing RM1.2 million in its opening weekend and emerging as the top-performing title nationwide upon release.

Within seven days, the film had reached RM2.6 million, and by early July, its Malaysian box-office gross climbed beyond RM5 million, establishing it as one of the year’s standout homegrown hits.

The film stars Indonesian actress Aghniny Haque in her Malaysian film debut, delivering a largely non-verbal performance alongside Datuk Remy Ishak, Siti Khadijah Halim, Zarra Zhaff and Karl’ El, with Jun Lojong making a special appearance.

Set in the 1950s, Khadam follows Melor (Aghniny), a mother forced to inherit a “saka” — a supernatural entity passed down through generations.

As the entity gradually asserts itself over her role as a wife and mother, taking the form of an idealised and seemingly flawless version of herself, Melor must fight to reclaim her identity and protect her family before she loses herself completely — and before the entity demands a devastating price in return.

Replacing cheap jump scares with psychological tension, strong performances, and authentic cultural themes, Khadam offers a fresh take on horror that has resonated locally and is now reaching audiences across Asia.

Khadam is written by Fariza Azlina Isahak and produced by Redfilms and Komet Productions, in collaboration with Sil-Metropole Organisation, Magma Entertainment, Applause Entertainment, Visual Media Studio, Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) and Primeworks Studios.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Malaysian actress Liyana Jasmay needs little introduction, having appeared in numerous projects throughout the 2000s.

From starring in films such as Histeria (2008) and Papadom (2009) to the KAMI series and its 2008 feature film, Liyana established herself as a familiar face among a generation of Malaysian actors.

Nearly two decades later, Liyana is taking on a different role — this time behind the camera.

After venturing into screenwriting, co-producing and directing telefilms, the actress-turned-filmmaker is making her feature directorial debut with supernatural horror-thriller Pemuja Syaitan.

The film was officially launched yesterday at 10Star Cinemas, where its teaser, poster and full cast were unveiled, bringing together established names and a younger generation of actors.

Leading the cast are Zul Ariffin, Elizabeth Tan, Nadhir Nasar and Aila Azizul, alongside Rosdeen Subuh, Dee Al Hadi, Yusuf Amin, Atoi Tohet, Selena Jasmay, Marsha Biddulph, Hakim Khan, Nat Aaliyah, Aida Amron, Ellyza Azizi and Dhabita Auji.

At its heart, Pemuja Syaitan combines supernatural horror with mystery and thriller elements, revolving around friendship, betrayal and secrets that refuse to stay buried.

When nostalgia turns sinister

The story follows a group of former school friends who reunite on a remote island to reminisce about their younger days.

But nostalgia quickly gives way to unease when they rediscover a time capsule they buried years earlier.

The discovery brings long-hidden secrets back to the surface — and what begins as an innocent reunion soon descends into a terrifying ordeal as the group encounters a series of mysterious and inexplicable events.

As they search for answers, they begin to realise the island may be concealing something far more sinister than they imagined.

For Liyana, the horror is not simply about what lurks in the darkness.

“Pemuja Syaitan is not simply a horror film that relies solely on frightening elements.

“It also explores secrets, betrayal and the darker side of human nature when confronted with matters from the past.

“As a director, I wanted to ensure that every element of the story is conveyed effectively, particularly in building the tension and atmosphere that keeps audiences wondering what will happen next.”

Fear Street inspiration, with a Malaysian identity

Based on its premise, Pemuja Syaitan taps into the familiar appeal of youth horror — a genre that continues to evolve across Hollywood and Asian cinema.

The idea of young people confronting terrifying circumstances has been explored in films and series ranging from Japan’s Re/Member and Thailand’s Ghost Board to Hollywood’s Goosebumps franchise and the more recent Fear Street films.

The cast and team of ‘Pemuja Syaitan’ at the film’s launch at 10Star Cinemas yesterday. — Picture courtesy of Primeworks Studios

For Liyana, Fear Street was a particularly important reference point when developing Pemuja Syaitan.

Speaking to Malay Mail at the film’s press conference yesterday, she acknowledged the influence while stressing that she did not want to simply replicate the Hollywood formula.

“Fear Street is definitely one of my references and inspirations.

“However, Fear Street is very Hollywood in its approach, whereas I wanted something different.

“This film still has a distinctly Malay feel, with elements that are familiar and relatable to local audiences.”

Striking that balance between international genre influences and local sensibilities was one of the challenges Liyana faced while developing the project.

“This is one of my first films, so I’m still trying to understand how far Malaysian audiences are willing to embrace something more extreme within the horror-thriller genre.

“When I was writing the script, there were many things I wanted to experiment with.

“But I also had to stay grounded in reality and understand my audience.”

For Liyana, Pemuja Syaitan is therefore both a film and an experiment — an opportunity to test how far she can push the boundaries of Malaysian horror while keeping the story rooted in something audiences can recognise.

“I hope audiences will accept this film.

“If they do, perhaps I can go even further and be more daring with my next film,” she said.

Produced by Mermaid Studios together with Suraya Filem Production & Distribution, Pemuja Syaitan is distributed by SKOP Productions Sdn Bhd, with Primeworks Studios serving as its marketing partner.

The film opens in cinemas nationwide on October 15, 2026, landing squarely in horror month.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Malaysian rally legend Karamjit Singh has given Terbang, the new film inspired by his life, his seal of approval — calling it about 60 per cent true to his story and hoping audiences will take inspiration from his refusal to give up.

The film, which opens in cinemas nationwide tomorrow, held its gala premiere at TGV Suria KLCC on Monday following months of production, with filming taking place in locations including Sepang, Perlis and New Zealand.

Directed by Chiu Keng Guan, the filmmaker behind acclaimed Malaysian films The Journey and Ola Bola, Terbang chronicles Karamjit’s journey to becoming an international rally champion and putting Malaysia on the global motorsport map.

‘Until the end, we never gave up’

Karamjit, who attended the gala premiere, said the film was about 60 per cent accurate to events in his life.

Several scenes were drawn from real experiences, including moments involving his wife, misunderstandings with his rally teammates and an international tournament where some competitors suspected he was cheating because they believed the car he was driving must have been illegal.

While Terbang dramatises those events for the big screen, Karamjit said he was proud to see his story become a film.

“Personally, I feel very proud about the movie.

“It is a true story and not fiction, and the story is about me until I became world champion.

“It is also about the teamwork of the Malaysian team — the driver and co-driver, mechanics, and everyone.

“Of course, I feel very proud, and I hope everybody will go and watch it and get inspiration from the movie because we never gave up.

“Until the end, we never gave up.

“There were times when the car broke down, and we thought we wouldn’t win it, but we did, in our first attempt in the first year,” he said.

Enough stories for a series

Speaking to Malay Mail, Karamjit said his rally career contained enough material for several more chapters should another film ever get the green light.

“This is only about the world championship (Terbang).

“We can talk about the Asia Pacific Championship, the Malaysia Championship and how I started with my father’s car, so it can actually be like a series, if you ask me,” he said.

“There is a lot more to be said.”

Produced by Astro Shaw in collaboration with EJJ Films, Enotech Pictures and Aventure Space, with WooHoo Pictures serving as the production house, Terbang marks a rare Malaysian foray into the rally-racing genre.

The film stars Irfan Zaini as Ajeet, a character inspired by Karamjit, alongside Jack Tan, Zizan Razak, Namron, Diana Danielle, Qasrina Karim and Shweta Sekhon.

The story follows Ajeet, who leaves rally racing behind in pursuit of a quieter life with his wife, Lisa, played by Shweta.

Five years later, fate draws him back to the track.

Teaming up with Kitt, a talented but hot-headed young driver played by Tan, Ajeet must confront his inner turmoil, fierce competition and a lingering guilt he has never truly shaken.

With Lisa’s support, the leadership of Rahim (Namron) and the expertise of Imran (Zizan), Ajeet and his team come together for a shot at competing on the world stage.

The team behind ‘Terbang’ at the film’s gala premiere at TGV Suria KLCC. — Picture courtesy of Astro Shaw

‘Our Malaysian way’ of telling the story

Head of Astro Shaw Raja Jastina Raja Arshad described Terbang as a Malaysian film made for audiences around the world.

“This is the first local film of this kind of genre or production quality you have seen,” she said, adding that Malaysia had not previously produced a film centred on rally racing.

“We hope that audiences in Malaysia will support Terbang, as this will give us an opportunity to do more of this and be braver in introducing more genres to Malaysians.”

She also touched on the extensive research that went into bringing Terbang to life, with Hazwani Mahayuddin contributing to the screenplay alongside the Astro Shaw writing team.

Hazwani said some of the scenes and stunts in the film were not exaggerations but were drawn from research into real-life rally tournaments.

“We used our Malaysian way to tell our Malaysian stories,” Chiu added of the approach taken with Terbang.

He said the film was not made with the intention of competing with other racing movies.

Terbang opens in Malaysian cinemas on September 17 and will also be available in 4DX.

For Karamjit, the film’s message is ultimately a simple one.

“Never giving up, you must believe in yourself, and also the takeaway is that if you work as a team, you can achieve wonders,” he said.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 16 — The son of Hollywood icon Rob Reiner will not face the death penalty when he stands trial over the killings of his parents, Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor said yesterday.

Nick Reiner, who turned 33 on Monday, was arrested in December 2025 after his parents’ bloodied bodies were discovered at their home in the affluent Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait.

Rob Reiner, 78 — the director behind classics including When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men — and his wife Michele Singer, 70, were stabbed to death.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the decision not to pursue the death penalty followed “rigorous review” including discussions with the Reiner family.

“They made their views very clear,” Hochman said at an early morning press briefing, referring to Nick Reiner’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner.

“We took their views into consideration in ultimately deciding not to seek the death penalty.”

The maximum sentence Nick Reiner will face is life in prison without possibility of parole. The prosecutor estimated a trial would not begin before 2027.

Nick Reiner had a history of addiction and mental health issues.

He lived in a guest house on his parents’ property, and had attended a party at the home of comedian Conan O’Brien with his parents prior to their deaths, an event at which some attendees reportedly said he had behaved erratically.

Rob Reiner, the son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, started his showbiz career in acting.

He won fame as the oafish son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic on groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All in the Family, before transitioning to directing.

As a director, his output included classic films like 1984’s rock music mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, fantasy gem The Princess Bride from 1987 and seminal coming-of-age movie Stand By Me. — AFP

LOS ANGELES, Sept 16 — The artist Finneas and three other supporting acts announced they had quit British superstar Ed Sheeran’s tour yesterday, after rapper Macklemore was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments while performing.

Sheeran has denied being behind the decision to remove Macklemore, saying his tour’s promoter was responsible.

But Finneas — a performer also famous for work with his superstar sister Billie Eilish — Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, and Lukas Graham of Denmark all posted they were quitting Sheeran’s “Loop Tour.”

While opening for Sheeran earlier this month at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine!” and told Palestinians they were “not forgotten.”

“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, adding that the rapper’s contract was ended by the promoter, Messina Touring Group.

According to Sheeran, venues on the tour “communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting.”

The artist said he held prolonged discussions with venue managers, including Robert Kraft, owner of Boston’s Gillette Stadium and the Patriots NFL team. But he was unable to resolve the issue, he added.

Finneas has publicly advocated for Palestinians in the past. He posted yesterday that “artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed.”

“I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Sheeran’s touring band Beoga said they were dropping out “following the silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies.”

“We are a traditional Irish band who never saw ourselves playing in stadiums of that size and that opportunity is not lost on us,” the group said, adding they had been friends with Sheeran for a decade and would stay so.

But “we are Irish people who understand colonialism,” Beoga said on Instagram.

“As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be.”

Irish artist Rowe similarly cited his country’s history in explaining the decision to drop out.

“As Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation,” he wrote, also noting that Sheeran was a friend who “has changed my life.”

Yet “I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide,” Rowe said.

‘Strength of purpose’

In his post yesterday, Sheeran had touched on his decision not to comment publicly about political subjects, notably the war in Gaza.

“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t care,” he said.

“Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose.”

On Monday, Macklemore posted that Sheeran and his team were not behind his departure from the tour.

He said that Kraft had contacted Sheeran to tell him the rapper would not be allowed on stage and alleged that Kraft had rallied other venues to demand his exclusion.

In a statement, Kraft said that Gillette Stadium would “not provide a platform for hate speech.”

Macklemore, known for hits including Thrift Shop and Can’t Hold Us, has long vocally supported Palestinians.

In 2024 he released Hind’s Hall, which pays tribute to Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl whose death sparked a wave of international outrage. — AFP