Category: 5. Entertainment

Megan McKenna has recently opened up about Simon Cowell’s call that was devastating for her.

The former reality star, who won the X Factor in 2019, was awarded a record deal by music mogul Simon.

However, it was announced later that Syco Music would no longer be operational and artists would have to “find a new home”.

Megan recounted Simon called her personally to break the news about the record label in a new interview with The Mirror.

“The label shut down after I won, so it was pretty hard. It was tough because I’d worked so, so hard. But Simon and I had a nice relationship,” said the 32-year-old.

Megan mentioned that Simon actually rang me, “which was crazy, because it’s not every day Simon rings you to say that the label was closing down”.

Celebrity Big Brother star added that Simon “was really nice about it and said, ‘I’m sorry, but you need to find a new home’”.

“But it’s not an easy thing to do,” she admitted.

Meanwhile, Megan, who shares a nine-month-old son with husband Oliver Burke, didn’t sign any other music label, rather she released her new music independently back in 2022.

Beyoncé capped off her Cowboy Carter Tour with a bang in Las Vegas, using the farewell show Saturday night as a chance to feature a starry lineup of surprise guests.

The “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer reunited Destiny’s Child during the concert at Allegiant Stadium, with Michelle Wiliams and Kelly Rowland joining Beyoncé on stage to perform a medley of the group’s biggest hits, according to video footage posted to social media.

The trio wore all gold ensembles when they stomped out on stage to sing their opening number of “Lose my Breath” to an excited audience, one video showed.

“Destiny’s Child, b**ch!” Beyoncé said on stage before they began to sing.

Rowland and Williams then helped Beyoncé sing her “Renaissance” track “Energy,” where they did the “mute challenge.” The trio performed their 2001 mega hit “Bootylicious” to close out the reunion, another video showed.

The last time Destiny’s Child reunited on stage was during Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance.

Beyoncé also enlisted her husband, rapper Jay-Z, to be part of her final show of the tour, performing their joint track “Crazy in Love.” Jay-Z has made several surprise appearances to perform the song with his wife throughout the Cowboy Carter tour.

And as if that wasn’t enough star power, country star Shaboozey made a surprise appearance to perform his verse in “Sweet Honey Buckiin,’” a track they collaborated on for Beyoncé’s Grammy Award-winning “Cowboy Carter” album.

The Cowboy Carter tour kicked off in April, bringing Beyoncé all over the country and abroad.

At the very end of the show, Beyoncé’s 13-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, who has been a featured backup dancer throughout the tour, joined her on stage to say goodbye to the audience one last time.

Kirby, who rose to fame for her BAFTA-winning performance as Princess Margaret in “The Crown” before her Oscar-nominated turn in “Pieces of a Woman,” isn’t letting the craziness of the Marvel machine dull her gratitude for the opportunity to shed new light on the Invisible Woman.

“It certainly taught me about motherhood, and my own motherhood journey. That can’t be a coincidence,” she tells Variety on the day of the film’s release, finally able to unpack the scope of Sue’s journey through the film.

“Fantastic Four” opens with the revelation that Sue is pregnant, and follows the heroic astronaut and her husband Reed Richards as they question if their son will be born with any abnormalities due to their own intergalactic abilities. When Galactus and his herald, Shalla-Bal, express their intent to to devour the earth, Sue and her team travel to space and attempt to change his mind. She eventually gives birth to her son Franklin, and refuses to offer him up as a bargaining chip. When Galactus descends upon earth, she exerts her full powers in an effort to save Franklin, ultimately sacrificing herself — until the infant manages to revive her.

Below, Kirby unpacks Sue’s most pivotal moments in the film, from her “primal” birth scene in space to the moment she lays everything on the line to protect her son.

Invisible characters are often portrayed as meek and shy. I was so glad to see that wasn’t the case with Sue – she’s powerful, capable and is immediately established as a leader both within the group and with the public. Was that a key factor that drew you to her?

Yes, definitely. And it’s a testament to Matt Shakman’s vision for her, and wanting to be faithful to the comics. It was such a pleasure to go back and read Sue from 1961. It always felt like, “How can we be as true to what these incredible artists have imagined over the years?” She always felt like a total mixture of so many things: obviously, deeply maternal and deeply loving and incredibly steady, but also fierce.

In a way, it taught me so much about motherhood, because that’s what motherhood is. It’s not a passive thing. To give birth, you have to be completely, totally fierce. I’m so happy that you feel that. That’s so moving to me, and all I could have hoped for her.

You brought up giving birth, and of course, this film features a memorable scene in which Sue goes into labor in space. What did you think when you first read that in the script, and how did you approach that scene?

I remember reading that going, “This is so cool that, at the midpoint of the movie, it centers this woman giving birth, and these three kind and loving men supporting her as she’s doing it.” It was so cool to see that a superhero was doing something so primal and so utterly human. I was most excited for that bit. I also did a birth in this this little movie called “Pieces of a Woman.” I was so excited to be asked to do it again, and I also wanted to make it different. And then, of course, we were doing it in zero gravity, so that’s its own challenge.

The courage to put this very primal feminine act — and what it represents that it’s happening intergalactically while they’re in space — there’s something very metaphorical about it. We had an amazing couple of weeks shooting that sequence in that spaceship. I loved every minute. I lost my voice by the end. You only see a few shots in there, but we did hundreds, just roaring the whole time. I think the crew had to get earplugs by the end. It was a very beautiful thing to shoot. I felt so supported by those actors.

And it gave us an iconic moment of The Thing cutting the umbilical cord, and holding the baby so gently in his giant hands.

It was so moving. It was important to us to have this baby at the center of this family, and for these men being uncles and a father. This baby really is at the heart of the story, and there’s something about this new life that they’re protecting. They’re not just protecting the world. It’s about what this new consciousness represents.

When shooting with Franklin, how often was it a real baby versus movie magic?

100% of the film was shot with a real baby. Our lead baby, Ada, a little girl, was just heaven. We had lots of other babies who were acting with us and helping us. We got really attached to them, and they were so part of our journey. It almost became weird if they weren’t there.

Also, it’s challenging. The speech that Sue has was a night shoot. It was really late and we were shooting in winter in London, and all the babies cried at exactly the same line. I thought, “Am I delivering something so bad that they’re crying at the same moment?” Babies are the most natural actors in the world.

The beautiful bond Sue shares with Franklin is ultimately what propels her to save the world – she’s willing to give up her life to defeat Galactus and protect her son. What was it like filming that scene and evoking such a physically exhausting task for her?

It was so helpful to know that it was a mother’s rage, and a mother’s love, because it felt animal. I wanted it to feel more primal, rather than just, “I’m trying to defeat this enemy for everybody.” It’s more like, “I’m fighting to save my child.” I wanted to tap into how fierce the feminine is, while knowing that Sue also embodies a very soft femininity as well.

Sometimes action females can feel invincible. We don’t see the softer sides of them. For Sue, undeniably, since the ’60s, she felt like this maternal force. I think for all of us and Matt Shakman, it was asking the question of what the maternal feminine is really like. I really hope women like the film, because that’s what I responded to Sue about in the comics so deeply.

In many ways, the film feels like a love letter to motherhood. Sue delivers a powerful monologue about moving heaven and earth for her son, and it’s what reminds the world of their humanity.

That’s such a beautiful way to put it. I’m so touched. I really noticed my own apprehensions about playing a pregnant mother, superhero, wife and sister. We were so conscious of trying not to fall into any tropes. It’s not like Sue had to be so tough that she couldn’t also be very gentle. Mothers are honestly warriors, everyday superheroes. We all know that, because we all come from one.

You’re the only member of the Fantastic Four who appears in the mid-credits scene. It was directed by the Russo Brothers during “Avengers: Doomsday” filming and notably features our first glimpse at Doctor Doom – but we don’t see his face. Was that really Robert Downey Jr. on set with you?

Yeah! Robert’s never not been on set. He’s always there. He is our leader. We call him our Godfather. He’s looked after us. It’s such a joy working with the Russos and him, because they’ve had such deep collaboration for so long.

And it’s been amazing being pregnant and working on “Avengers.” I felt so inspired and so relieved that I’ve been so taken care of. It’s been a really beautiful journey. Robert is just doing incredible work. I’m so excited.

You’ve spoken before about being drawn to Sue’s Malice incarnation. Is that something you’re itching to show in the MCU?

Itching! I’m dying to do Malice. She’s come from a really tough background. She lost her mother in a car crash. Her dad tried to save her mother. He couldn’t. He then spiraled, became an alcoholic, got locked up in prison for murdering a loan shark, and then died. Sue had to become a mother to Johnny. They were orphans. They had to fight for themselves. What I loved about her was that she chose a path that was inherently a positive one. She chose to keep her heart open and to stay warm. The Future Foundation, for me, wasn’t a noble political act, but it seemed to me that it’s Sue’s nature.

There was a line within a scene that isn’t in it anymore with Mole Man – who I absolutely love. I’m so excited that we might get to do more with him if we get to do any more of this, because Paul [Walter Hauser] is amazing. But in it, she said something like, “I could give you an aneurysm if I wanted to in two seconds.” In the comics, Sue uses that threat quite a lot: “I could put a force field in your brain and give you an aneurysm. I could put an air bubble inside of you and kill you in an instant.” These powers are also really lethal and really dangerous. But these four have chosen to unite the global community and be a force for good. But they could also choose to be a force for bad. I love the concept of choice, not just, “Oh, we’re superheroes, that’s who we are.”

She’s made this decision, but at her fingertips, she could be lethal. It felt so real to me that somebody that’s trying to be a force for good also has the capacity, like we all do, for the light and the dark.

(Laughs) I’m sorry, I’m such a Sue nerd. There was something so allegorical about her. She was called Invisible Girl. Then Psycho-Man comes and disrupts everything, and she has a meeting with her own dark side in Malice. She comes back, and she renames herself Invisible Woman. So she transforms from a girl to a woman. There’s something about meeting the hardest parts of yourself in Malice that felt extremely poignant to me. I’m really hopeful I might be allowed to be Malice at some point for her.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Kristin Scott Thomas says she has appeared in several projects that have been hits, but what her kids remember is her starring role in Mission Impossible.

She played Sarah Davies in the 1996 movie. In an interview with CBS, she looks back at the action thriller, “I’m so proud to be in ‘Mission: Impossible,’ I cannot even get over it!” 

She continues, “I’m in this thing, which is this enormous monster, and you know, these kids, they have no idea about ‘Gosford Park.’ They have no idea about ‘Four Weddings,’ but they’ve all seen ‘Mission: Impossible’!”

“And they have no idea I speak French or do all these other kind of slightly murkier films in France, you know?”

However, it was not the role that led the 65-year-old to receive an Oscar nomination. It was The English Patient. “It’s quite moving actually, when you see yourself at sort of 30 acting your socks off.”

Moreover, My Mother’s Wedding is set to be out on Aug 8, marking Kristin’s first film that she directed.

It starred Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham as its logline read, “In this heartfelt and funny story, three sisters return to their childhood home for a momentous occasion: the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother.”

“Over the weekend, the family gathers to celebrate the new marriage, but mother and daughters alike are forced to revisit the past and confront the future, all with help from a colorful group of unexpected wedding guests,” the synopsis read.

Shagufta Ejaz is a senior Pakistani TV actress who is widely loved for her performances in hit Pakistani dramas. like Aanch, Kashkol, Jangloos, Khala Kulsoom Ka Kunba, Uper Gori Ka Makan, Zindagi Dhoop Tum Ghana Sayaa, Zindan, Mere Damad, Baiti, and others. Fans also liked her presence in the popular Pakistani sitcom Bulbulay. The famous actor lost her husband Yahya Siddiqui to cancer in September 2024. It was a tough time for Shagufta Ejaz and she took a long break from TV and social media. The actor is now back on TV and social media with a great weight loss transformation.

Shagufta Ejaz is currently spending time with her brother who is visiting her in Karachi. Her youngest two daughters also live with her while the eldest two Anya and Haya are in the UK. She recently posted a beautiful family pictures thread with his brother and daughters. Here we have gathered a few stunning pictures from her Instagram account:

“Punkrocker,” a once-obscure collaboration with Swedish trio Teddybears, has gone viral since its appearance in Superman

Rebel Wilson has recently written a heartfelt note on her late grandmother, who dies at age 95 this weekend.

The Senior Year actress took to Instagram on July 27 and posted a short video featuring images of her late grandma and family, including wife Ramona Agruma.

Rebel penned a lengthy caption, remembering her grandmother, saying, “Goodbye to my incredible Grandma Gar – the BEST grandmother ever.”

Pitch Perfect actress revealed that her late grandmother’s movie was The Wizard of Oz because “when she was a young girl she was banned by her father from seeing it for being “naughty”. But years later, she finally got to watch it”.

Recalling how her grandmother would “keep a scrapbook of news clippings” of her career, Rebel mentioned, “She was so proud and even last night was telling paramedics about me as she was being taken to hospital – recounting her glorious holiday on the Queen Mary that I had given her as a present when I had started making it big in Hollywood.”

“When I was 11, she took me and my sister to America. It was one of the best weeks of my entire life,” remarked the 45-year-old.

The Deb actress continued, “We took her on SPACE MOUNTAIN at Disneyland saying ‘it’s not that scary Gar!’ and she screamed the entire way down holding on for dear life.”

Leaving behind incredible legacy, Rebel went on, “I’m glad her last ‘big’ outing was to our wedding at the Opera House.”

Before concluding, the actress further said that her grandmother “endured so much in her life and was always so kind and sweet”.

“To me she is a Queen and I proudly carry her royal name of Elizabeth. Love you Gar and love to all my family at this very sad time,” she added.

It was clobberin’ time this weekend, as Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” nabbed the top spot at the box office with a performance that returned the Walt Disney Co.-owned superhero franchise to form.

The movie hauled in $118 million in the U.S. and Canada and grossed $218 million globally in its opening weekend. The film, which stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn, is just the latest remake of the comic book property, though the first under Walt Disney Co.’s ownership.

Formerly owned by 21st Century Fox, “The Fantastic Four” is one of several key intellectual properties now under the umbrella of the House of Mouse after its $71.3-billion acquisition of that studio’s entertainment assets in 2019.

Disney has already capitalized on its ownership of the “Deadpool” and “X-Men” properties — its 2024 film, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” garnered more than $1 billion in global box office revenue.

Fox produced and released three “Fantastic Four” movies, none of which were well-received by audiences or critics. A 2015 reboot was particularly reviled.

Quality was not an issue this time. The movie notched a 88% approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an “A-” grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore.

The movie exceeded pre-release estimates. “First Steps” was expected to gross $100 million to $110 million in its debut weekend, on a reported budget of about $200 million.

The theatrical reception for “The Fantastic Four” is a relief for Disney and Marvel, which has struggled in recent years to reap the box office earnings it once did with its superhero films.

The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America: Brave New World” received middling reviews from critics and brought in about $415 million in global box office revenue. Ensemble movie “Thunderbolts*” received strong reviews, but made only $382 million worldwide.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said earlier this year that the company “lost a little focus” in its zeal to produce more shows and movies for the Disney+ streaming platform, acknowledging that “quantity does not necessarily beget quality.”

“By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe it will result in better quality,” he said during an earnings call with analysts in May.

Anticipation was high for “The Fantastic Four,” and Disney went all out with the marketing. The company hired a skywriter to craft encircled 4’s in the sky near downtown Los Angeles on the day of the premiere and featured a drone show outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion after the showing.

“While Marvel films have settled into a fairly predictable core audience after multiple under-cooked films and streaming series in the post-’Avengers: Endgame’ era, the brand remains sturdy when the right film comes along,” Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of site Box Office Theory, wrote in a weekend theatrical forecast published Wednesday.

Warner Bros.’ DC Studios’ “Superman” came in second at the box office this weekend with a domestic total of $24.9 million for a worldwide gross so far of $503 million.

Wicked star Marissa Bode has revealed which genre of film she wants to do next.

During a new interview with Variety, Marissa was asked if Hollywood celebs recognize her from Wicked at any of the award ceremonies and other events she’s attended since the film came out.

She recalled, “At the Oscars, I was just chilling and Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff came up to me to say hello. There were like, ‘We loved Wicked.’ “

“I loved ‘The Substance.’ I have forever been a believer that there needs to be more horror nominations and more of those type of movies at the Oscars,” she added.

When asked if she’d like to do a horror movie, the actress shared, “I would love to do horror. I love horror. I really love blood and guts.”

Marissa, who plays Nessarose Thropp in Wicked and its sequel Wicked: For Good, has seen a sharp rise in her career due to the role.

The actress was asked how the last year played out, after Wicked go nominations at major awards like Oscars, SAGs, Golden Globes, and more.

Marissa Bode shared, “This last year has been a whirlwind in a lot of ways, but I think I’ve done a really good job with resting when I need to and being around my closest friends and family when I need to, to help keep me grounded.”