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Brad Pitt’s transformation ushers in new phase

Brad Pitt's transformation ushers in new phase

It was either the Dalai Lama or Shania Twain who once said, “OK, so you’re Brad Pitt? That don’t impress me much”.

But Brad Pitt is not the kind of guy who cares about impressing the Dalai Lama and Shania Twain. He knows he impresses everyone else. That’s why he’s now taking confident strides into the next era of his life from him and embarking on a style revolution.

The 58-year-old has been hitting the red carpets over recent weeks for the premiere of his new movie Bullet Train while rocking a distinct new lewk.

The key fashion elements? Cakes and skorts.

Classic. Timeless. Sophisticated. I wore the same thing to my formal school.

Brad has entered a new phase. Throughout his career, he has transitioned smoothly from Hollywood heart-throb to bona fide movie star. Now he’s keen to explore the territory of eccentric artist.

And, look: We’ll accept Brad Pitt any way we can get him. He has reached a point where he can do whatever he wants and we’ll continue to take him seriously.

In the past, the actor has been accused by memes of stealing his girlfriends’ styles. He cut his hair like Gwyneth Paltrow when the pair dated in the ’90s. I borrowed Jen Aniston’s sea salt spray in the 2000s. And when he started dating Angelina, it seemed the pair made frequent trips to the blow bar together.

But his latest style revolution is truly one to behold. Is he simply being an eccentric artist? Or has he suddenly slipped into competing with the TikTok kids?

Whoever thought we’d see the day where Brad Pitt is trying to keep up with the internet’s boyfriends Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles — with their flamboyant fashion choices of crushed velvet and bold statement patterns.

In Berlin I rocked a pink shirt, combat boots, and kilt. Then he brought a burst of color to LA with a green suit and yellow sneakers. Other appearances have seen him donning zip-up tops, relaxed jacket-shirts and baggy drawstring pants in a variety of pastel hues.

Asked about the skirt and his latest sartorial explorations, the actor simply replied: “I don’t know! We’re all going to die, so let’s mess it up”.

He makes it sound like there’s not much thought going into it at all – that he’s just taking life as it comes. But coordinated pastels don’t just happen. Co-ordinated pastels are achieved through many meetings with stylists who strategize with Pinterest boards.

For us regular people, you get to a certain age where it’s just too late for a style revolution.

When you’re younger, you can experiment with looks and people. But by the time you reach your 30s, you’ve pretty much settled into who you are. Your style is as predictable and expected as Bart Simpson’s blue shorts and orange shirt combo.

A style revolution doesn’t just affect your own life. It rocks the worlds of everyone around you. Like, imagine if your dad just started wearing accessories.

Or if your mum became one of those annoying people who really overcommits to 1950s rockabilly fashion.

Even a colleague. If your middle-aged boss waltzed into the office tomorrow morning wearing a bowler hat, it would throw the workplace off its axis. No deadlines would be met that day. The pings would be going insane.

It takes a certain kind of confidence to wake up one morning and decide on a whim that you’ll now become Bowler Hat Guy. And it’s foolish to think that the rest of the world will accept it without comment.

Remember when Karl Stefanovic shook up his personal life a few years ago and went through his own style revolution by trying to be Matthew McConaughey with a fedora and braided leather bracelets? We all had a field day.

A style revolution is only for the brave. Like those women who decide they’re going to exclusively wear purple until the end of time. They dedicate their entire lives to purple like it’s a religion. Suddenly, their entire wardrobes are a patchwork of magenta and violet. Amethyst. Lilac, plum and mauve.

They usually also get a purple streak in their hair. Then paint the front door of their home a glossy shellacked purple. If you spot one of these women in the wild, follow them to the car park and you’ll find she probably drives a purple Honda Jazz.

It goes without saying Brad’s new style revolution would be tipping his ex Angelina Jolie over the edge. Her mates of her will have been texting her relentlessly after every red carpet appearance of her: “Did ya see the skort?”

Seeing an ex move on with their life is annoying enough. But seeing an ex go through a style revolution? Enraging. Who the hell do they think they are?

In Australia, a style revolution of Brad Pitt’s scale just wouldn’t fly. Russell Crowe? The country couldn’t handle it. We as a nation will only ever allow Rusty to wear that one black Best & Less tracksuit.

TwitterFacebook: @hellojamesweir

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Business

Google employees express concern about lay-offs

Google employees express concern about lay-offs

Google executives are telling their employees to shape up or ship out, warning that lay-offs are coming if results don’t meet expectations.

Employees who work in the Google Cloud sales department said that senior leadership told them that there will be an “overall examination of sales productivity and productivity in general.”

If third quarter results “don’t look up, [then] there will be blood on the streets,” according to a message conveyed to the sales team. The warning was first reported by Insider.

Employees told the news site that they are fearful of lay-offs after the company quietly extended its hiring freeze this month without making an announcement, the New York Post reports.

The Post you have sought comment from Google.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told his employees in an all hands meeting late last month that they needed to improve their focus and productivity due to fierce economic headwinds that have forced widespread belt-tightening all throughout the technology sector.

Mr Pichai said that he wanted to solicit ideas from his employees on how to get “better results faster.”

“It’s clear we are facing a challenging macro environment with more uncertainty ahead,” Mr Pichai said.

“There are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count we have.”

The search engine also announced a two-week hiring freeze last month, but so far it has not reversed its decision — prompting employees to fear the worst, according to Insider.

Since Mr Pichai’s comments, “everyone has been talking about the company tightening its belt,” one employee told Insider.

Google isn’t the only tech company that has put its employees on notice.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and founder of Facebook’s parent company Meta, blamed “one of the worst downturns that we’ve seen in recent history” for a series of cost-cutting measures, including a hiring freeze.

Mr Zuckerberg also made it clear that the company will part ways with employees who do not perform up to par.

“Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” Zuckerberg told an all hands meeting in late June.

Facebook’s social media rival Twitter recently rescinded a job offer to a Palo Alto man as part of the San Francisco-based company’s cutting back on hiring.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal informed employees of the hiring pause in a message earlier this year, citing a recent lag on growth and revenue targets.

The company has been thrown into turmoil since Tesla CEO Elon Musk agreed to buy it for $US44 billion — only to back out of the deal. Twitter is now suing Musk in an effort to enforce the terms of the agreement.

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

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Business

Vegan Air Canada passenger stunned at lack of airline meals

Vegan Air Canada passenger stunned at lack of airline meals

A woman was left stunned and annoyed after she ordered several vegan meals on a plane – but was served nothing more than a bottle of water during meal service.

Miriam Porter, a travel blogger who goes by the TikTok handle ‘the kind traveller’, was on an Air Canada flight traveling from Toronto, Canada to Frankfurt, Germany.

In a now viral clip that has amassed almost a million views, Miriam explained she ordered several vegan meals during the more than 10-hour flight, but was left hungry after claiming to be served nothing but water.

“POV: You are on an Air Canada flight for over ten hours and order vegan meals,” her post begins.

She then shares footage from the flight showing her first ‘meal’ being a bottle of water.

For “meal 2” she showed a napkin with nothing on it.

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Miriam was eventually given some food – though not part of the proper meal service.

Instead, a flight attendant nabbed a makeshift meal for her from business class.

“Shout out to the kind flight attendant that got me fruit & dinner rolls from business class,” she captioned the clip.

“I love fruit but also like entire meals!” she pointedly added.

Air Canada has a selection of ‘special meals’ that passengers can order in advance. It varies from vegetarian to diabetic, kosher and vegan meal options.

“Special meals are available in all classes of service on all flights where a meal service is offered (except on flights offering Air Canada Bistro service),” its site states.

“We won’t be able to guarantee that your special meal request can be accommodated if it’s submitted less than 24 hours before the first flight in your itinerary.”

However, Miriam said her order was placed “well in advance and confirmed (many times)”.

“This has happened many times sadly. I always preorder in advance and bring my own food in case. But this time it was impossible,” she said.

Her clip has attracted hundreds of comments from users who asked why she just didn’t bring her own food this time.

“I always bring my own food in case but I was on a 24-hour delay and couldn’t make food to bring,” she explained.

Air Canada states: “You may bring your own snacks and food on board, or purchase meals and beverages at the airport before your flight – just make sure to purchase beverages after you’ve passed through security and take into consideration any limitations on bringing food through US pre-clearance when traveling to the US.”

Miriam described the situation as “annoying”.

“Especially since it was day two of trying to get home with little food. But I’m back so a happy ending,” she said.

Miriam added that it took her two days to get home from Berlin.

Her clip prompted others to share their horror food stories, with one woman saying she was served a “small bun with three slices of zucchini” during a long-haul flight.

Another said they were served “lettuce with six cold mushrooms on top” during their flight.

One woman said she was given “chicken on my vegan pre-booked menu”.

Others said they often had to fill up on the bread rolls and snacks such as pretzels and hummus.

News.com.au has contacted Air Canada for comment.

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Entertainment

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s ‘never-ending war’

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's 'never-ending war'

Next month will mark the six-year anniversary of Angelina Jolie shocking the world by filing for divorce from Brad Pitt.

But despite being declared legally single in 2019, the exes are still no closer to reaching a custody agreement for their children – even as they reach college age.

“It appears that Angelina is determined that Brad should never get 50/50 custody,” one source familiar with the legal battle told Page Six. “And there are some who say that she won’t rest until the kids are legally adults, so Brad will never have shared custody.”

The couple have six children together: Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and twins Knox and Vivienne, both 14.

It’s just the latest except in a seemingly never-ending war.

French estate center of bitter war

“Angelina makes a constant stream of attacks on Brad. And she deliberately sold her disputed share of their vineyard to a buyer she knew he didn’t want,” a friend of Pitt claimed.

Pitt has been seen on red carpets around the world recently for the premiere of his latest movie Bullet Trainbut he apparently can’t escape the long reach of his ex-wife.

In legal papers in June, Pitt, 58, claimed that Jolie, 47, intentionally “sought to inflict harm on” him by selling her interests of the Chateau Miraval wine brand to Russian businessman Yuri Shefler, the founder of Stoli Vodka.

Pitt said they had agreed to never sell their respective shares without the other’s permission. He also asked for a trial by jury.

“It’s his baby. He’s very proud of it and he’s put all of the revenue from the business into the vineyard and Miraval studios,” said a Hollywood friend, noting that the Correns, France, vineyard estate also houses a recording studio.

“Unfortunately, Angelina sold her part, which was contrary to their agreement, to somebody they had both turned down before,” the friend added, as Pitt had previously said no to a deal with Stoli.

And then there was the recent news that lawyers for Jolie sent process servers to the SAG Awards in February, hoping to catch Pitt off-guard with a subpoena for Miraval matters at the event. (He did not attend.) Sources claim this was another example of Jolie trying to create a public scene to exacerbate the situation.

In April, Page Six reported that Jolie had allegedly unleashed “a desperate fishing expedition” by suing the FBI under the name “Jane Doe” to find more about its investigation into an alleged 2016 private-jet altercation incident involving Pitt and their son Maddox, and why FBI agents didn ‘t charge the actor.

An anonymous call was made to authorities, which triggered the FBI investigation, but the case was closed on November 22, 2016, with no charges of wrongdoing. Days later, Jolie filed for divorce.

Dispute over psychologist

Page Six is also told that things became tense earlier this year when Pitt’s legal team believed that Jolie’s lawyers attempted to have their court-approved child psychologist sanctioned by the California Attorney-General’s office based on her perception that the doctor had sided with Pitt, concluding that Pitt should have 50/50 custody of the children.

Psychologist Stan Katz, who spoke to the Jolie-Pitt minor children for the custody case, is currently under a non-criminal investigation by the California Attorney-General’s office, per a filing submitted to the Superior Court of California and seen by Page Six.

Dr Katz is not believed to have had any complaints made about him in his 30-year career.

However, another insider with knowledge of the issues had stressed that Jolie had nothing to do with the investigation.

Meanwhile, one highly placed legal insider told Page Six that only one or both of the parties involved in the case could make a complaint. A friend of Pitt’s confirmed it was not him.

The filing noted that: “The Court finds the Petitioner (Jolie) has filed a notice of non-opposition and Respondent (Pitt) has taken no position.”

Dr Katz declined to comment. Page Six also contacted the AG’s office. The scope of the investigation is not known, and it’s unclear whether the investigation is still ongoing.

‘It was a technicality’

After years of back and forth, Pitt was granted joint custody of his minor children in May 2021.

Judge John Ouderkirk however, was subsequently disqualified from the case for not sufficiently disclosing business relationships with Pitt’s lawyers – so it was back to square one for the custody case.

Another source familiar with the case said: “Everything is at a standstill. Last year was a real rollercoaster. Brad was given 50/50 custody in a lengthy, detailed judicial decision. Then the appellate court vacated the decision based on something having nothing to do with the substance of the case.

“It was an internal dispute between the judges and the private judges in California, nothing to do with the custody agreement. It was a technicality. It’s unclear where things stand right now.”

Meanwhile, Pitt is not believed to be close to his and Jolie’s oldest child, they are Maddox, who turned 21 on Friday.

Asked how often the actor gets to see the other children, the source familiar with the case said: “He gets to see them, but he still doesn’t have 50/50. But he’s trying to ride it out.

Both Jolie and Pitt’s reps were unavailable for comment.

Jolie-Pitt brood grows up

The former couple have six children. Maddox currently studies biochemistry at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Pax, 18, is believed to be continuing with his schooling from him, and 17-year-old Zahara is about to begin college.

Jolie announced in an Instagram post that Zahara will be attending the historically black Spelman College in Atlanta this year.

“Zahara with her Spelman sisters!” the Eternals star captioned an image of her daughter surrounded by fellow students.

Daughter Shiloh, 16, showed off her hip-hop dance moves back in June in a now-viral clip set to Doja Cat’s Vegas.

Pitt joked about it at the Bullet Train premiere: “I don’t know where she got it from. I’m Mr Two-Left-Feet here.” He also said that Zahara’s acceptance of her to college “brings a tear to the eye”.

It’s a new side of the Oscar winner, who also shares 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with Jolie, as he has previously been so protective about his kids he rarely talked about them.

Pitt has been on the promo trail for Bullet Traintraveling to Paris, Berlin and London over the past month.

In Germany, the actor hit the red carpet wearing a skirt that he co-designed with Haans Nicolas Mott.

When asked why he wore the skirt, Pitt told Variety: “I don’t know! We’re all going to die, so let’s mess it up.”

The Hollywood friend said the answer is simple: “Brad travels regularly, but this was his first major event for a few years and he had a lot of fun with it.”

But “fun” doesn’t mean romance right now. Pitt is “not currently dating anyone,” said the Hollywood friend. “He’s gone on dates over the past couple of years, but he’s not dating anyone currently.”

Instead, Pitt is spending time on his art, architecture and hanging out with friends. He will appear in the Damien Chazelle-directed drama Babylon with Margot Robbie and Olivia Wilde, which opens on Christmas Day.

“He’s in a good place,” said the Hollywood friend. “He had a good break in Europe. He seems refreshed and relaxed.”

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission

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