Category: 5. Entertainment

Lady Gaga was named artist of the year as she collected four awards at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

She beat competition including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar to the award, which she dedicated to her “Little Monster” fans and fiance Michael Polansky.

Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande picked up three awards each on a night when the prizes were largely spread out.

Collecting the artist of the year award at Sunday’s ceremony, Lady Gaga said: “I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me.

“Being an artist is an attempt to connect the souls of people all over the world. Being an artist is a discipline, a craft meant for reaching into someone’s heart, where it grows its roots, and reminding them to dream.

“Being an artist is a responsibility to make the audience smile, dance, cry, release … it is a method of building understanding and celebrating community.”

She left the UBS Arena in Long Island after collecting the award, but the show later returned to Gaga during her concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden where she performed Abracadabra and The Dead Dance, which featured in the Netflix series Wednesday.

Gaga, who received 12 nominations, also won the best direction and art direction awards for Abracadabra, as well as landing the best collaboration category for Die With A Smile alongside Bruno Mars.

Mars also paired up with Blackpink singer Rose to claim song of the year for APT, while Blackpink were named best group.

Gaga’s victory as artist of the year means Swift and Beyoncé – who were only nominated in that category – remain tied on 30 with the most VMA successes.

By contrast, Mariah Carey collected her first award with victory in the R&B award for Type Dangerous before landing a second when she was awarded the Video Vanguard award.

“This is amazing MTV, I don’t know why it took you so long!” she joked in a video message ahead of performing later in the show.

New achievement awards went to Ricky Martin, who performed a medley kicking off with Livin’ La Vida Loca, with the Latin icon award, and rapper Busta Rhymes, who received the Rock The Bells Visionary Award.

Accepting his award from Jessica Simpson, Martin said: “We just want to break boundaries, and we just want to keep music alive.”

The awards also honoured former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July aged 76, with a performance introduced by a video message from his son Jack and his children.

British singer Yungblud joined Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, together with Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt to perform hits including Crazy Train, Changes and Mama, I’m Coming Home.

Grande picked up the video of the year, long-form video and best pop video awards for Brighter Days Ahead, thanking her father for his cameo.

Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet was named album of the year, while she was named best pop artist and took home the visual effects award for Manchild.

Other multiple award winners were Doechii, who won the hip-hop award and choreography for Anxiety, and Tate McRae who picked up the editing award and song of the summer for Just Keep Watching from the F1 movie.

Coldplay won the rock category for All My Love with Sombr collecting the alternative award for Back To Friends and Shakira taking the Latin prize for Soltera.

Carpenter, Sombr, McRae, best new artist Alex Warren and Katseye, who won performance of the year, were among those who performed at the ceremony, while Post Malone performed from Germany alongside Jelly Roll.

The live show ended with a number of awards not presented, which were announced after it had finished on X. – PA

Billy Porter has left the Kit Kat Club early. The actor will discontinue the role of the Emcee in the Broadway production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club following a diagnosis with sepsis. The production will now terminate its run on Sept. 19 instead of its planned Oct. 19 finale.

“Due to a serious case of sepsis, Billy Porter must also withdraw from the production,” the play shared in a statement on Sunday. “His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule.”

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, a revival of John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff’s beloved musical, opened on Broadway in April 2024 after debuting in London. It launched with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin in the lead roles. Following their September 2024 departure, Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho, and then Orville Peck and Eva Noblezada took over the leads.

Porter stepped into the role of the Emcee in July, with Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles. The actors were expected to lead the production’s final 13 weeks. Due to Porter’s illness, Marty Lauter and David Merino will play the Emcee for the remaining two weeks. Wallace will continue to play Bowles.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have made the painful decision to end our Broadway run,” producer Adam Speers said in a statement. “On behalf of all the producers, we’re so honored to have been able to bring this version of John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff’s important masterpiece, Cabaret, to New York and to have opened the doors to our own Kit Kat Club for the year and a half we have been here.”

Speers added, “Billy was an extraordinary Emcee, bringing his signature passion and remarkable talent. We wish Billy a speedy recovery, and I look forward to working with him again in the very near future.”

Trending Stories

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has earned headlines during its Broadway run thanks to the eclectic approaches of its lead actors. Redmayne caused a fervor online after his in-character performance at the Tony Awards last year, resulting in many calling his approach to the role “creepy.” Earlier this year, Peck took off his signature mask to play the Emcee.

“The mask is part of my expression personally as an artist and a very big personal part of me,” Peck said. “But I’m here to play this role and to bring respect and integrity and hopefully a good performance to it. It’s not about me. I’m not trying to make it the Orville Peck show.”

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

---

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition contains the name SIR PURR, which might be my favorite Connections clue ever. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Major conference.

Green group hint: Team symbol.

Blue group hint: They can shoot from afar.

Purple group hint: Same last name.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: A Big Ten athlete.

Green group: NFL mascots.

Blue group: NBA career 3-point leaders.

Purple group: ____ Martinez.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is a Big Ten athlete. The four answers are Buckeye, Duck, Spartan and Terrapin.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL mascots. The four answers are Poe, Rowdy, Sir Purr and Swoop.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA career 3-point leaders. The four answers are Allen, Curry, Harden and Lillard.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ Martinez.  The four answers are Edgar, Pedro, Tino and Victor.

Chandigarh: In a city where cars outnumber people and vehicle density tops national charts, even number plates are turning into prized possessions. The race isn’t just for horsepower anymore — it’s for digits that dazzle. From spiritual sequences to mobile number matches, Chandigarh’s obsession with fancy registration numbers has morphed into a full-blown phenomenon. What began with just 651 auctions in 2020 has now surged past 2,000 annually, with young bidders driving the frenzy and redefining what it means to make a statement on the road.According to RLA records, the authority auctioned 651 registration numbers in 2020. That figure nearly doubled in 2021, reaching 1,157. In 2022, the RLA shattered previous records by auctioning 2,632 numbers. The momentum continued in 2023 with 2,501 numbers sold. Although 2024 saw a slight dip to 1,930, the trend rebounded in 2025, with 1,851 numbers auctioned till August.“The trend has evolved dramatically,” a senior official told TOI. “Earlier, people came for classic fancy numbers—double digits, triple digits, or visually catchy combinations. Now, many seek numbers tied to personal or religious significance, house numbers, or even mobile digits. It’s become a deeply personal choice.”

Poll

Do you believe spending large amounts on fancy registration numbers is worth it?

This surge in demand has translated into a revenue windfall for the RLA. From Rs 1.53 crore in 2020, earnings from registration number auctions have soared to Rs 10.54 crore by July 2025. Except for 2023, when revenue dipped slightly to Rs 8.54 crore, the authority has consistently crossed the Rs 10 crore mark since 2022. In 2025, the RLA set new benchmarks with three record-breaking bids: Rs 4.08 crore, Rs 3.51 crore, and Rs 2.94 crore, each the highest ever for a single auction.

Entering the almost silent rehearsal room, I fear I’ve blundered into a private moment. The Lady from the Sea cast are seated in a tight circle and at least two of them have tears in their eyes. The quiet murmur of conversation suggests something heavy has just gone down. So I’m relieved when I realise they’re reading a scene – and stunned to discover the scene was written only yesterday.

Simon Stone’s modern take on Ibsen’s play is still under construction, and he has had his actors together for less than a fortnight. “Most people really take six weeks to connect to scenes,” the Australian writer-director says during the lunch break. “Often an entire rehearsal process can be the slow marking out of stuff, and it takes until your first run-through to feel anything at all. We are connecting faster, because we’ve been talking about it so much.”

After workshopping the characters with his actors, Stone writes dialogue based at least partly on their conversations, sometimes only the night before they rehearse it. It’s an approach that has inspired some memorably intense performances. A blistering Yerma was a career-defining moment for Billie Piper in 2016. Two years ago, Janet McTeer sent tremors around the National Theatre’s Lyttelton stage in an updated version of the Phaedra myth.

In today’s hot seat – or, to be accurate, leather sofa – Andrew Lincoln and Alicia Vikander are playing a couple whose married life is derailed by the return of the wife’s long-lost lover. “The way Simon works is sort of the opposite of my training,” says Lincoln, who had a long hiatus from the stage while starring in nine seasons of The Walking Dead. “It’s like you start at the end. But there’s no bullshit, he blows all of that away, and it’s been one of the most remarkable and enlightening things I’ve done in years.”

That’s lucky, because Lincoln wasn’t completely sold on Ibsen’s play. He laughs that he was “ambushed” into the role of Edward – it was only halfway through their initial meeting that he even realised he was being offered a gig. “There’s a thriller aspect to the original that I loved. But I honestly think it’s oppressive. When someone mentions Ibsen to me, I don’t think of gut-belly laughs. But Simon’s got a track record.”

Stone’s modern tragedies are shot through with humour and today’s rehearsal is a case in point: Gracie Oddie-James and Isobel Akuwudike, in particular, fizz with comic chemistry as Edward’s daughters. The writer throws himself back in his chair with a huge cackle and wheezes with laughter even at what sound like serious parts. He watches intently as the scenes unfold in front of him and only occasionally interrupts with advice – say it slower, be more casual, come in faster – teasing out the musicality of the lines like a conductor.

At lunch, Vikander is none the worse for a morning spent being shouted at by her fictional spouse: if anything, it seems to have delighted her. This is the first time the 36-year-old Oscar-winner has been in a theatre production since she was a teenager. “On a film the clock is ticking, because you know that you have three scenes in two days. Here it is such a joy because I have these wonderful nerves every day, from still not really understanding what we’re going to do in front of people.”

Her mother, Maria, was a theatre actor, and Vikander herself trained as a ballet dancer: she never even imagined a screen career. “There’s no one saying ‘cut!’, so I really can lose myself in it all. I’m doing the thing I dreamed of as a kid. It’s a real high.” The one thing she was most apprehensive about was whether her voice would reach across the Bridge theatre’s auditorium. Stone reassures her: “You could do a 2,000-seater if you wanted to, Alicia.”

Vikander knew the play already – she had seen a production in her home country of Sweden, and loved its radical feminism. Her first encounter with Stone – over Zoom while she was shooting a forthcoming film in Korea with her husband, Michael Fassbender – was an intense and revelatory conversation that only ended when they realised it was 1.30am where the actor was (Stone says he left the chat feeling “wonderfully embarrassed”).

His works often contain autobiographical elements, albeit heavily disguised; he calls it “photocopies of photocopies of photocopies”. Lady from the Sea is no different. He first read Ibsen’s original in 2009, two months after encountering a similar situation in his own life. “I had been one half of a relationship that went through that,” says Stone. “I started reading this five-act play in the bath and I just couldn’t stop. By the end, the water was completely cold.”

“I love that you were in the bath,” Vikander comments. “Very appropriate.”

Stone’s stage productions – Yerma, Medea, Phaedra – are testament to the fact that he is more interested in female heroes than male ones. “When I started out I thought I would do just one or two plays focused on women. But it’s become pretty much everything [I do].” It’s why he is so drawn to Ibsen: “When you think that his female characters were written 150 years back, it’s extraordinary. And this from a man in his 50s and 60s. You just go – what?”

The dramatic tension in The Lady from the Sea arises from the fact that the female protagonist is emotionally split in two – something Vikander can relate to. She has two sons, aged four and one, with Fassbender, and still feels guilty when she has to leave them for long days on set. Her grandmother worked – which was considered unusual at the time – and her mother’s earnings were often spent on the childcare she needed when she performed: “I don’t even know how she was able to pay rent,” says Vikander.

She looks back with huge gratitude for an upbringing that modelled how a woman could be a fully committed artist and a loving, present mother. “She would get up at 4am to bake bread, because her mum never cooked for her,” she remembers. “And I’ve realised that to be the best mum, I also need to make sure I have this other thing that makes me the person I am.”

Lincoln, who is 51, has developed his own important work-life rules. One is to do his research on the directors he works with: “The question you always ask is, ‘Are they a shouter?’ Life is too short to work with people that are going to be oppressive or unkind.”

He talked to his friend Piper, whose work in Yerma he had admired, before committing to working with Stone. “She said, ‘It’ll be probably one of the most intense and frightening experiences, but you have to do it.’ It changed the way she worked for ever, and it gave her legitimacy that she felt she didn’t have before.”

Lincoln is thrilled with the role that Stone has written for him; he has also, he says, noticed that he has entered the time of life where he is asked to play cuckolds. “But even when you were young, you were the other man,” says Stone. “Look at Love Actually!” Lincoln nods: when he made a film about Apollo 11 he played Michael Collins, the only astronaut on that mission who didn’t get to land on the moon. “Maybe I’m just the guy that doesn’t get the golden ticket.”

Stone observes that that was the reason audiences adored James Stewart – the characters he played somehow accepted being second best. “But in this play it’s like we cast Jimmy Stewart to go, ‘I don’t want to be Jimmy Stewart any more’,” says Stone. “That’s what I love about it.”

With lunch over, the director must hustle away and leave his cast to a group-led rehearsal: delays on his latest Netflix film mean he will spend this afternoon in a Soho editing suite. The Woman in Cabin 10, released next month, is his third movie (his first, The Daughter, was based on Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, and his most recent, The Dig, starred Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes). In a complete coincidence, it’s set in the North Sea, and even climaxes in Norway. “I didn’t know we were making a sequel,” jokes Vikander.

It all adds to the impression that a Stone production can be a seat-of-the-pants ride for those involved. Vikander, making what is to all intents her professional stage debut, admits to knowing no different. “I think I came in extremely open,” she says, “and I’m discovering more each day. I feel as bare and real as I would in a film.”

Rosé from Blackpink just secured a massive win for K-pop.

The New Zealand and South Korean singer won the “Song of the Year” award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, for her song “APT” with Bruno Mars.

“APT,” the lead single from Rosé’s debut album in 2024, “Rosie,” became a hit for its catchy tune and playful lyrics about a Korean drinking game. It spent 15 weeks at the top of the Billboard Global excluding the US chart.

This is the first time a K-pop song has won in the VMAs category. Previous recipients of the award were Sabrina Carpenter for her 2024 song “Espresso” and Olivia Rodrigo for her 2021 song “Driver’s License.”

Rosé, whose real name is Roseanne Park, was visibly emotional when she accepted the award. Through tears, she thanked Mars, whom she called her “absolute idol,” for believing in her and helping her through the collaboration.

“I dedicate this award to my 16-year-old self, who dreamed, and to all those who have watched me grow into the artist that I am today, and placed their dreams in me to make this change,” she said in her acceptance speech.

“And now I believe there is no imposter in the world, when MTV has given me this award here at the VMAs,” she said, to cheers from the audience. She also thanked her fellow Blackpink members, Jennie, Lisa, and Jisoo.

Rosé wore a shimmery butter yellow dress for the occasion, accessorized with a tennis bracelet and dangly earrings.

Related stories

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

In December, during its first week of release, “Rosie” sold 102,000 equivalent album units and 70,000 albums, Billboard reported.

The singer’s VMA win comes as K-pop is having a cultural moment in the West. K-pop artist Felix Lee from boy band Stray Kids walked the runway for LVMH in March as its brand ambassador.

The boy band Seventeen is also making inroads into the US, with a new tour and solo collaboration tracks from members like Joshua Hong. Other group members, including the band’s leader S.Coups and rapper Mingyu, have also been recognized in fashion, landing collaborations with brands like Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss.

And one of the biggest Gen Z-favorite acts of the moment is Katseye, a girl group managed by Seoul-based Hybe Entertainment.

Rosé is on Blackpink’s “Deadline” world tour, with over 30 stops in Asia, North America, and Europe.

Representatives for YG Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Maude Apatow’s directorial debut Poetic License is an intergenerational coming-of-age film about an aimless middle-aged wife and mother who comes into the lives of two college students with problems of their own. When her husband (Method Man) accepts a position as an economics professor at a prestigious university, Liz (Leslie Mann) decides to audit a poetry class to fill her time while their daughter Dora (Nico Parker) starts her last year of high school. In a new town full of people she doesn’t know, Liz is floundering while both her husband and daughter quickly adjust and make new friends. When Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman) and Ari (Cooper Hoffman) meet her in poetry class, Liz becomes a romantic fixation for both of them. But Liz is oblivious to their feelings and the growing rivalry between the two for her attention and affection — she’s too busy obsessing over Dora and the looming realization that her daughter doesn’t need her as much anymore. 

As a former couples therapist, Liz immediately clocks the codependent relationship between Ari and Sam, spending time with them mainly because she’s intrigued by their dynamic. Ari is a rich kid who lives alone in a lavish apartment with no ambition beyond getting Sam to move in with him. But Sam would rather live in the dorms and be an RA, while working on his degree in economics. Sam also has a girlfriend (Maisy Stella) whose presence is a constant source of annoyance for Ari.

But both boys agree on Liz, asking for her advice and approval at every turn. She gives her time to them freely, simultaneously revisiting her youth while also acting as a parental figure. And despite her lack of confidence, Liz gives Sam and Ari some solid advice throughout their time together.

Mann, Hoffman and Feldman are clearly having a good time, and their comedic chemistry carries the film. But for the most part, Poetic License feels just as aimless as Liz, wandering from scene to scene without much of a vision. Each scene seems to end too quickly, not giving the characters and their dialogue enough space to breathe. Even in the emotional moments, the audience is never given time to sit with the meaning behind what’s being said. The scenes in the poetry class feel perfunctory, suggesting no real interest in writing, form or meter. The professor (Martha Kelly) never actually teaches her students anything, instead rambling about her ongoing divorce and conflicts with her soon to be ex-wife. Kelly is funny in the role, but she never feels like a poetry professor and there’s a sense that if the film had centered on just a regular creative writing class everything would have played out in the exact same way.

Nothing feels specific about Poetic License and all the details seem randomly chosen. “Poetry” and “economics” are portrayed like topics drawn out of a hat, with no real reasoning behind their inclusion in the narrative. We don’t know why Sam or Liz’s husband are into economics in the first place or what it means for both these characters to share an area of study. We also don’t know why Ari is taking the poetry class at all, or even what his major is.

The film’s script, written by Raffi Donatich, works best as an exploration of the troubled bonds between Ari, Sam, Liz and Dora. But everything around them comes off as superficial, with interchangeable details that only serve to set the scene. This gives the movie a generic quality, most obvious in the scenes involving Liz’s husband. Method Man seems lost in Poetic License, woefully miscast as a no-nonsense academic with no real personality to speak of. His role in Liz’s life functions as a built-in barrier to ensure that the film’s love triangle has no real romantic stakes. Parker fares a bit better as Liz’s level-headed daughter, even though her personality is just as ill-defined as her father’s. 

As a first-time director, Apatow shows some promise, especially in the tender scenes between Mann and Parker. Apatow shoots Mann with the eye of an adoring daughter, in awe of her mother’s seemingly effortless humor and warmth. The camera also loves Hoffman, who quietly steals the movie whenever he’s onscreen, giving dimension to a character who could so easily come off obnoxious.

Despite its shortcomings, Poetic License is a film with a big heart populated by talented actors genuinely having fun with their characters. It’s a shame, then, that the story begins to fade from memory as soon as the credits roll.

Doja Cat
Doja Cat’s theatrical antics have made her a VMAs fixture. She performed “Been Like This” and “You Right” in 2021, and, in 2023, delivered a medley of the Scarlet singles “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red,” and “Demons.” For the 2025 show, she did a 1980s-inspired performance of “Jealous Type,” the lead single from her forthcoming album, Vie, giving the song its live debut.

J Balvin, DJ Snake, Justin Quiles & Lenny Tavárez
Thirteen-time nominee J Balvin was joined by Juistin Quiles and Lenny Tavárez for the trio’s new song, “Zun Zun,” and then he and DJ Snake played their single “Noventa” live for the first time. The reggaeton superstar has brought his collaborative spirit to past VMAs with assists from Bad Bunny, in 2019, and Ryan Castro, in 2022.