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  • ‘Modern Family’ Star, 49, Opens Up About “Stereotypical” Character

    ‘Modern Family’ Star, 49, Opens Up About “Stereotypical” Character

    Jesse Tyler Ferguson starred as Mitchell on the hit series Modern Family, playing a gay man who is married to Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and is accepted by his family. But throughout the years, Ferguson has had to answer for people thinking that there is something wrong with this character, and Ferguson recently opened up about feeling the pressure from fans to not be a stereotypical gay man in the series. Ferguson was on his own podcast, Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and spoke about feeling the pressure of playing Mitchell.

    “One of the pressures I’ve always felt, specifically after being on a show like Modern Family, where I’m portraying a gay man on a television show on a network that is as popular as it is,” he said. “You receive criticism, as you do with anything you do, but the criticism that I think I heard the loudest was always from the gay community.” He did take in some of the criticism for his portrayal but noted that there is not a monolith to how gay men should act. He said of the situation that “maybe I didn’t represent their idea of what a gay relationship was, or a gay man was.”

    But Ferguson made a good point while talking about Mitchell. He is not representing all gay men or even men in one specific area. Ferguson is bringing truth to Mitchell but making him his own character. “I’m representing one person,” he said. “I’m in charge of this one character.”

    Playing Mitchell Felt Impowering to Jesse Tyler Ferguson

    Image via ABC

    On another episode of Ferguson’s podcast, he did share that playing Mitchell wasn’t about what Mitchell and Cam represent. Instead, Ferguson said that it felt empowering to bring Mitchell to life. “There was some weird superpower that I felt like I was being protected by this role that I was also playing,” he said on the podcast. He went on to explain that it is hard to let others into the work that he was doing with Mitchell. “It kind of gave me this coat of armor, and I had this protection of being this character that people also loved,” he said. “I don’t know. It was really weird.”

    Does this mean that we could see him back as Mitchell on the series sooner rather than later? You can see Ferguson as Mitchell in Modern Family.

    Source: Dinner’s on Me With Jesse Tyler Ferguson

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  • Joey King Shows Off Red Hair as “Practical Magic 2” Filming is Underway

    Joey King Shows Off Red Hair as “Practical Magic 2” Filming is Underway

    Joey King is fully leaning into being a new redhead, after she retired her signature bronde (brunette/ blonde combination) hair.

    The actor stepped out for a very English, very posh event on Saturday, June 12, as she attended Wimbledon in London. Strutting into the All England Tennis and Croquet Club with a fan in hand, King showcased her new strawberry hair, trading in her “vintage wood” color. The Uglies star first debuted her newfound look as a redhead last week in a post to Instagram, seemingly confirming the hair is part of her upcoming role in the Practical Magic sequel.

    King wore a shiny forest green dress that complemented her ginger hair perfectly, and brought out her light eyes. She wore her hair pulled back into a loose, half-up, half-down look and kept her locks wavy and textured. Her Ralph Lauren dress clung tightly at the top and flowed out in a wave of fabric down to her calf.

    Darren Gerrish/Getty Images

    King paired the dress with a brown handbag and strappy heels. She kept her glam simple with dark, drawn-in eyebrows, mascara, and a pretty pink lip.

    LONDON ENGLAND  JULY 12 Joey King wearing Ralph Lauren attends day thirteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the...

    Karwai Tang/Getty Images

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  • Jelly Roll and Logan Clash at WWE Smackdown in Nashville

    Jelly Roll and Logan Clash at WWE Smackdown in Nashville

    Jelly Roll stepped into the WWE ring once again on Friday (July 11), facing off with Logan Paul during Smackdown in the singer’s hometown of Nashville.

    Close to a year after making his WWE debut at SummerSlam 2024, the 40-year-old country star returned to the spotlight — this time at Bridgestone Arena — to perform his song “Liar,” which served as the official theme for last year’s SummerSlam.

    Dressed once again in all black, Jelly Roll opened the night with a powerful aisle-walking performance of “Liar,” his chart-topping hit that spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. But less than a minute in, the moment was interrupted by Paul, who stormed in with some cutting words for the singer-rapper.

    “Everyone is here to see real WWE superstars. Certainly not to listen to music made for people who have tattoos of their children but don’t have custody of them,” Paul said. “Listen Jelly, this ring is sacred… you belong on a stage, not a WWE ring.”

    He continued, “You know what I’m disgusted by? Celebrities, influencers, personalities — whatever you want to classify this as — coming in to our industry, leeching off of our success on a platform that we have built, brother. Clout chasers like you disgust me … The WWE doesn’t need a Jelly Roll, the WWE needs a Logan Paul.”

    As Paul continued boasting about his new long-term deal with WWE, Jelly Roll fired back with some words of his own.

    “Hold on, hold on, hold on. You must not completely understand where you are, Logan Paul,” he said. “You see, this is my hometown, Nashville, Tennessee. Just so we’re clear, down here, nobody gives a damn about your podcast, Logan.”

    As the back-and-forth escalated, WWE legend Randy Orton made a surprise entrance, stepping in to defend Jelly. Orton confronted Paul and appeared ready to settle things in the ring until wrestler Drew McIntyre stormed in and blindsided Orton with a jump kick.

    McIntyre was quickly escorted out, but the distraction gave Paul an opening, and he removed his vest and began landing punches on the disoriented Orton. Jelly stepped in to stop the attack, grabbing Paul by the hair and shoving him aside. Security then pulled Paul from the ring, but not before destroyed Jelly’s music equipment, smashing guitars, pushing over amps, and trashing the drum set.

    The altercation could be setting the stage for an official showdown between Jelly and Paul at this year’s SummerSlam, scheduled for Aug. 2–3 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

    Watch Jelly Roll face off with Logan Paul at WWE SmackDown in the clip below.

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  • AI-Powered Wearable Can Monitor Knee Joint Torque

    AI-Powered Wearable Can Monitor Knee Joint Torque

    Knee-related conditions such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis significantly impact mobility and also increase susceptibility to injuries, creating a cycle that leads to chronic pain, reduced function, and long-term disability. Now researchers have come up with an AI-powered wearable to analyse complex dynamic motion signals of the knee joint for accurate torque monitoring.


    The researchers are affiliated to the University of Oxford, University College London, and Xi’an Jiaotong University in China and their paper,  AI-Enabled Piezoelectric Wearable for Joint Torque Monitoring is included in the May 2025 issue of Nano-Micro Letters.

    The starting point for their project was that:

    “Monitoring of joint torque can offer an important pathway for the evaluation of joint health and guided intervention. However, there is no technology that can provide the precision, effectiveness, low-resource setting, and long-term wearability to simultaneously achieve both rapid and accurate joint torque measurement to enable risk assessment of joint injury and long-term monitoring of joint rehabilitation in wider environments.”

    In response, using an Arduino Nano 33 BLE on a STMicroelectronics STM32 NUCLEO F401RE development board, they designed a flexible, soft, and lightweight wearable torque sensor based on boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, which uses the peizoelectric effect to analyze data about the wearer’s knee movements while at the same time providing the power required for the device to operate.

     

    The device employs a lightweight artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm to analyse complex dynamic motion signals of the knee joint for accurate torque monitoring and to perform the consequent effective risk assessment.

    According to the researchers:

    This technology offers a sustainable solution for long-term joint health monitoring, making it particularly suited for resource-constrained environments, where established healthcare, energy and computational infrastructures are not commonly available. 

    All the code for this work is to be open accessed on GitHub allowing others to make this a reality.

    kneesq

     


    More Information

    AI-Enabled Piezoelectric Wearable for Joint Torque Monitoring
    by Jinke Chang, Jinchen Li, Jiahao Ye, Bowen Zhang, Jianan Chen, Yunjia Xia, Jingyu Lei, Tom Carlson, Rui Loureiro, Alexander M. Korsunsky, Jin-Chong Tan & Hubin Zhao

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  • Sienna Miller Brings Her Boho-Chic Wardrobe to Wimbledon

    Sienna Miller Brings Her Boho-Chic Wardrobe to Wimbledon

    What with the tropical temperatures in the U.K. this week, the vast majority of the female population has been drifting through recent days in variations on summer’s by now ubiquitous boho skirt. Sienna Miller, being something of an architect of modern boho style, is presumably no different.

    That was certainly the case at Wimbledon on Sunday, where the long-time tennis fan arrived to see Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner battle it out for the men’s singles title wearing an outfit that would have fit in equally well at the new Soho Farmhouse Ibiza as at SW19. Miller, who—along with the likes of Lila Moss and Theo James—was hosted by Ralph Lauren at Wimbledon, chose a floaty, crinkle effect maxi skirt by the brand, worn with a gently cropped crochet top and white kitten-heeled sandals.

    And wait… is that a hint of a Glastonbury-in-the-early-Aughts coin belt we spy? Okay, not quite. But the metallic accents on her Western-inspired accessory certainly hark back to those photos of Sienna’s still-influential Worthy Farm wardrobe.

    Darren Gerrish/Getty Images

    Miller was one of a whole host of famous faces in the crowd on finals day, chief among them the Princess of Wales—a patron of the All England Tennis Club—who chose a Roksanda dress in a vibrant shade of blue to take her seat in the Royal Box, accompanied by Prince William and two of their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

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  • Bob Geldof and Brian May mark Live Aid's 40th at London musical – Reuters

    1. Bob Geldof and Brian May mark Live Aid’s 40th at London musical  Reuters
    2. Ex-BBC correspondent in Africa says first reaction to Live Aid was ‘real anger’  ITVX
    3. 10 Artists Who Missed Live Aid 1985 (And Why)  Loudwire
    4. ’80s Rock Icon Bono Cringes at Career-Defining Live Aid Moment: ‘I Can’t Look Back’  parade.com
    5. “I went, ‘Jack Nicholson? You know who I am?’ He says, ‘Yeah, Georgie, I always follow the rough boys.’” George Thorogood on his Live Aid performances with Bo Diddley and Albert Collins — and the two actors who made his day  Guitar Player

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  • Brookes Brilliance Keeps Quarter-Final Hopes Alive for Ruthless Rapids

    Brookes Brilliance Keeps Quarter-Final Hopes Alive for Ruthless Rapids

    Worcestershire Rapids delivered a complete performance with bat and ball to secure an impressive six-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes at Visit Worcestershire New Road, keeping their quarter-final hopes alive heading into the final round of fixtures.

    Chasing a target of 174, the Rapids timed their pursuit to perfection, anchored by a stunning, unbeaten 56 from Ethan Brookes, his clean ball-striking and composure under pressure proving the decisive factor.

    The all-rounder arrived with the match finely poised at 134/4 and accelerated superbly through the closing overs, hitting five sixes and four boundaries in just 28 balls to seal the win with 13 deliveries to spare.

    The chase was set up by a positive start from Isaac Mohammed and Brett D’Oliveira, who added 50 for the first wicket inside the power-play.

    Though both openers departed in quick succession, Gareth Roderick’s punchy 26 from 13 balls kept the tempo up and ensured the Rapids never lost control of the required rate.

    When Kashif Ali fell for 16 in the 15th over, there was a flicker of opportunity for the Foxes.

    But Brookes, alongside a composed Henry Cullen (18* off 12), ensured there would be no further stumble, launching a fearless assault on the Leicestershire attack.

    Earlier in the day, Worcestershire’s bowlers had combined well after the Foxes opted to bat first. Tom Taylor was the standout, picking up 3 for 25 in an outstanding spell that dismantled the top order and removed both openers inside two overs.

    The Foxes were reduced to 5 for 2, and when Rehan Ahmed was dismissed for 32, they had stumbled to 59/4 inside eight overs.

    Former Worcestershire wicketkeeper Cox, however, produced a determined recovery.

    The Foxes wicketkeeper played with authority and placement en route to a defiant 70 not out off 44 balls, guiding his side to a competitive total.

    His partnerships with Louis Kimber (32) and Tom Scriven (9*) helped stabilise the innings, but the Rapids’ bowlers held their nerve well at the death. Ben Dwarshuis, Khurram Shahzad, and Adam Finch each picked up a wicket, and boundaries were largely kept in check after the 15th over.

    Despite Cox’s efforts, Leicestershire’s total of 173/6 always felt slightly under-par on a quick-scoring surface, and Worcestershire’s clinical response with the bat proved just that.

    The win keeps the Rapids back in the mix in the North Group standings ahead of the final round of fixtures, with one of their most complete performances of the campaign so far.

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  • Quickening a Rapid HCV Test Reduces True and False Positives

    Quickening a Rapid HCV Test Reduces True and False Positives

    Shortening the time to read the OraQuick HCV antibody test from the recommended 20 minutes to 5 minutes reduced false positives by 13% but missed 2.5% of viremic individuals, in a nested study1 within the QuickStart2 crossover trial of different same-day test-and-treat strategies.

    The investigators had sought a means to reduce false positives in hepatitis C virus (HCV) rapid antibody screening and the costly RNA testing that follows a positive screen, as well as to shorten overall wait time in an effort to increase acceptability of test-and-treat.

    The QuickStart study was conducted in Australia, which funds unrestricted access to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) irrespective of disease stage or risk behavior, to identify strategies to counter declining rates of testing and treatment.

    The investigators note that the reading at 20 minutes is positive for a greater range of antibody levels, including low levels from prior infection in non-viremic individuals, while the reading at 5 minutes is reactive to the higher levels of antibodies corresponding to viremia.This nested study examined the balance between efficiency and accuracy of the rapid antibody testing.

    “The feasibility of this approach (5 minute reading) for hepatitis C elimination efforts in cohorts with resolved infections on prior treatment remains uncertain due to the potential for false positives,” Katie Heath, MA, MSc, DPhil, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and colleagues explained.

    Study participants were adults who were at risk of HCV infection for having injected drugs at least once.They were also attending a participating primary healthcare clinic, and had not previously received DAA and/or interferon-based therapy.

    The investigators found that among 298 participants, the 20-min OraQuick test was positive for all 79 viremic and 156 non-viremic individuals.At five minutes, positive results decreased to 77 (97.5%) of viremic and 135 (87%) non-viremic individuals with positive 20-minute results.

    “Using a five-minute result to trigger RNA testing would have reduced unnecessary RNA testing by 13% in our cohort at the cost of missing 2.5% of viremic individuals,” they reported.

    The balance between efficiency and accuracy may be weighed differently within different contexts, and the investigators suggest that the utility of an HCV testing approach in populations with complex health needs and retention challenges goes beyond predictive accuracy.

    What You Need to Know

    Reading the OraQuick HCV antibody test at 5 minutes instead of the recommended 20 minutes reduced false positives by 13%, but missed 2.5% of viremic cases, potentially delaying needed treatment for some individuals.

    Shortening the wait time for results may enhance acceptability and engagement in test-and-treat programs, especially among people who inject drugs, who may face barriers like distrust of healthcare systems or unstable access to care.

    The authors propose a dual-read approach: use the 5-minute result to trigger RNA testing and interpret 20-minute-only positives as past (resolved) infections. This could streamline large-scale HCV screening while reducing unnecessary follow-up testing and costs.

    “People who inject drugs often face concurrent health issues and negative past healthcare experiences. Five-minute rapid antibody testing administered by nurses at the point of care provides prompt, visible results and expedites reflexive RNA testing, which may increase engagement,” they argue.

    They also propose the five-minute read time as an adjunct to the 20-min OraQuick test, with RNA confirmatory testing following positive results at five minutes and interpreting results which are only positive at 20 minutes as reflecting resolved infections.

    “This dual approach could streamline diagnosis, increase throughput in large screening programs, and lower costs through reducing unnecessary RNA testing for non-viremic individuals,” they suggest.

    Heath and colleagues call for “context-sensitive rapid-testing,” particularly in marginalized groups like people who inject drugs, and for further research on screening that accounts for previously resolved infections.

    References

    1. Heath K, Guzman R, Elsum I, et al. Balancing efficiency and accuracy in Hepatitis C apid antibody testing: Insights from a cluster randomised crossover trial. J Viral Hepat. 2025; 32:e70043. doi.org/10.1111/vh.70043.
    2. K. Heath, J. S. Doyle, I. Elsum, et al., Same- Visit Hepatitis C Testing and Treatment to Accelerate Cure Among People Who Inject Drugs (The QuickStart Study): A Cluster randomised cross- over trial protocol. BMJ Open. 2024; 14(7):e083502. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083502.

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  • Will Justin Bieber Land a No. 1 Debut with ‘Swag?’

    Will Justin Bieber Land a No. 1 Debut with ‘Swag?’

    Justin Bieber’s Swag, the superstar’s first album in over four years, is on track for a solid opening week as the album is taking over the daily charts on Spotify and Apple Music this weekend. 

    Sources familiar with the matter tell The Hollywood Reporter that the projections for the albumhis seventh full-length — are estimated at about 150,000 to 160,000 album equivalent units for week one, while Hits magazine is projecting 175,000 units.

    Those estimates would yield a respectable debut, particularly given that Swag’s week one numbers likely won’t include any physical sales. Justice, Bieber’s next-most-recent album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart back in 2021 with 154,000 equivalent units, including 30,000 physical sales. 

    Current estimates could also keep Bieber competitive for a No. 1 debut on Billboard’s 200 Albums chart, where Morgan Wallen has dominated the past two months; the country singer is projected to move more than 150,000 units this week. All of Bieber’s six previous albums have topped the chart in their opening weeks.

    Bieber also elected to surprise-release Swag instead of sharing any singles in advance, teasing the drop on Thursday (July 10) with billboards popping up around the globe. 

    Aside from Wallen’s I’m the Problem, Swag faces steep competition from Clipse — who released their first album in over 15 years this week with Let God Sort ‘Em Out — and from Travis Scott, who dropped JackBoys 2 on Sunday. Scott, in particular, is a perennial chart monster, with 2023’s Utopia debuting with nearly 500,000 units.

    The day after its July 11 release, Bieber had taken the top seven slots on Spotify’s U.S. chart, with standout “Daisies,” featuring production and writing by Gen Z darling Mk.gee, landing at No. 1 with more than 8.5 million streams. As of this story’s publication, “Daisies” remains the top song on Spotify’s chart, and Bieber holds five of the top 10 slots on the Spotify chart. “All I Can Take,” meanwhile, topped Apple Music’s US chart, where Bieber took eight of the top 10 spots overall.   

    Swag comes at a time of massive upheaval in Bieber’s life. Since the Justice era, he’d faced health issues, canceled a tour, sold his publishing catalog, had a child and notably split from Scooter Braun, his longtime manager. The two recently reconciled their remaining financial issues, with Bieber paying $31 million to settle a debt he owed Braun following the cancellation of his Justice tour, along with unpaid commissions.

    The Hollywood Reporter reported in April that Bieber had assembled a new team and was readying the next chapter of his professional career.

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  • Comedy Classic That Inspired The Naked Gun

    Comedy Classic That Inspired The Naked Gun

    Four decades ago, Police Squad! didn’t log much time with viewers but still lined up an impressive legacy. Following the success of 1980 spoof film Airplane!, which made $78 million at the box office ($214 million today) co-directors David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker hoped to make a similar comedy about police officers inspired by the 1950s Lee Marvin drama series M Squad. Then-Paramount exec Michael Eisner, who had championed Airplane!, offered them six episodes on ABC and promised that the process would be free of network meddling.

    Police Squad! centered on bumbling officer Frank Drebin as played by Leslie Nielsen, known for dramatic roles before his crackup part in Airplane! “Leslie never let on that he was in a comedy,” David Zucker tells THR of the late star’s knack for deadpan humor. Co-starring Alan North, each episode kicked off with the murder of a notable guest, followed by Drebin cracking the case. Among the guests were William Shatner and Florence Henderson; John Belushi filmed a death scene, but when the actor passed away a day after the pilot aired, his appearance was shelved. Police Squad! premiered March 4, 1982, and had critics in stitches — THR‘s review praised the show for “hitting the bullseye with uncanny accuracy” — but had trouble locking up ratings, leading to the series’ cancellation after four episodes. The Police Squad! team had the last laugh, as Nielsen’s Drebin returned for Paramount’s 1988 film The Naked Gun, which David Zucker helmed.

    After two sequels, a Naked Gun reboot hits theaters Aug. 1 with Liam Neeson playing Drebin’s son. Zucker feels burned to not be involved but is proud that the show has been rediscovered: “It has really gained a following.”

    This story appeared in the July 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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