North America – Page 31 – Michmutters

Tag: North America

Categories
Sports

Trans cheerleader kicked out of cheerleading camp over alleged altercation

Trans cheerleader kicked out of cheerleading camp over alleged altercation

A transgender cheerleader in the United States was kicked out of a cheerleading camp after she allegedly attacked a teammate who made a transphobic remark.

Last week Averie Chanel Medlock, 25, was expelled from Ranger College cheerleading camp in Texas after she was alleged to have choked a 17-year-old female teammate, identified only as Karleigh.

The girl and other cheerleaders reportedly locked themselves inside a room to hide from an angry Ms Medlock.

Police were called to the scene and Ms Medlock was booted from the camp.

Stream the news you want, when you want with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

Ms Medlock took to Facebook to explain the incident and said she “stood up” for herself.

“Well guys I’m officially retired as a cheerleader as of last night at 5:30am. A girl on the team was being very disrespectful and told me I am a MAN with a PENIS and that [guys] should not be on the team,” she wrote.

“I stood up for myself and she called her mom and dad because she was scared because I [stood] up for myself.

“Her father said, ‘She still has testosterone and a penis and I will kill anyone who comes after my daughter.’”

Karleigh’s father Mike Jones was also called to the scene by his daughter, and denied attacking Ms Medlock’s gender or race.

“I ask you what you would have done when receiving a phone call at 1am in the morning from your daughter stating they had locked themselves in the room with other girls,” he wrote on Facebook.

“At no time did I ever say anything about your race or your gender.”

He has begun pushing for police to release body camera and CCTV footage of the incident.

Ranger College said in a statement that the school will investigate the incident.

“Ranger College takes all allegations of this nature seriously and is committed to providing a learning environment free from discrimination,” the school said.

The incident comes as debate continues to rage about transgender participation in female athletics, most recently in the case of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.

Ms Thomas competed for the school’s male swim team between 2017 and 2020, but transitioned to compete with females for the 2021 season.

She became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division 1 national championship in 2022, and has since been at the center of debate around transgender participation in sports.

The controversy has led to 18 US states passing legislation that bans or limits transgender participation to the athlete’s birth sex.

– with The New York Post

.

Categories
Business

TikTok: US woman makes surprising claim about Aussie driver

TikTok: US woman makes surprising claim about Aussie driver

An American woman living in Sydney has divided the internet after claiming that she did not use a handbrake on her car.

The woman, known as Brit, claimed in a now viral TikTok post that there was no need to use the handbrake except in certain circumstances because cars weren’t “rolling away”.

“If you’re American, do you use the parking brake when you drive?” she said in the video which has been viewed nearly 500,000 times and attracted over 2000 comments.

“Because I’ve never used one in my entire life but I think everyone uses them in Australia.

“And my boyfriend asks me to drive and I have to look at it and say ‘Is it on? I don’t know’.”

In a later video, Brit, who describes herself as a “Midwest girl living in Sydney”, clarified that there was only one circumstance in which she used the parking brake.

“I don’t know if the cars are built differently or something. A few people have commented and said that American cars have some sort of anti-roll s*** that Australian cars don’t,” she said.

“But the cars aren’t just f***ing rolling away guys. When you put it in park you can lean on it, you can push, it doesn’t just roll anywhere.

“We don’t need to put the parking brake on unless you’re on a really steep hill, that’s what we’re taught.”

Her post split the comments section in half, with some questioning how she was able to drive safely’.

“Que?!?! I’m American and I use them EVERYTIME! How did y’all pass your exam?,” one user said.

“This is why we see so many videos of parked cars rolling into traffic in the US,” another added.

Another user added: “Using the park break not only is a failsafe it’s to take away stress and strain from your gearbox/transmission.”

However some users from the US said that Brit was correct.

“These comments are killing me… we only use them on hills. IDK if our cars are different or what but I would never just use it,” one said.

Another added: “ONLY when i’m parked in an incline. idk why people just use them to use them. it’s not necessary.”

Read related topics:sydney

.

Categories
US

Kentucky Flooding: Officials call for critical recovery supplies as dozens are found dead in flooding and death toll is expected to rise

Kentucky Flooding: Officials call for critical recovery supplies as dozens are found dead in flooding and death toll is expected to rise



CNN
—

As the death toll in flood-stricken areas of Kentucky continues to rise, rescue workers and officials are focused on recovering missing people in several counties and coordinating vital aid for thousands of displaced residents.

At least 28 people, including four children, have died due to severe flooding that struck parts of Kentucky last week, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday. The governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes recovery crews are “going to be finding bodies for weeks, many of them swept hundreds of yards, maybe a quarter-mile plus from where they were last.”

While reading a breakdown of those killed in each county during a news conference Sunday, Beshear became visibly emotional when he reached the four children dead in Knott County, where 15 people have been found dead.

“It says ‘minor,’” the governor said looking at the list. “They are children. The oldest one is in second grade,” Beshear said.

The flooding – which swelled onto roads, destroyed bridges and swept away entire homes – displaced thousands of Kentuckians, according to the governor. It also knocked out vital power, water and roadway infrastructure, some of which has yet to be restored.

There was risk of flash flooding Sunday night into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. A slight chance of excessive rainfall is possible throughout the affected region on Monday and Tuesday. Conditions are expected to begin improving Monday, but the region could receive two-day totals of up to two inches of rain. Some areas could see more.

In Perry County, as many as 50 bridges are damaged and inaccessible, according to county Judge Executive Scott Alexander.

Debris surrounds a badly damaged home near Jackson, Kentucky, on July 31, 2022.

“What that means is there’s somebody living on the other side or multiple families living up our holler on the other side that we’re still not able to have road access to,” Alexander said.

Kentucky State Police are still actively searching for missing residents in several counties and ask that families inform law enforcement if their loved one is missing.

Search and recovery efforts could face yet another obstacle as temperatures are expected to soar Tuesday and through the rest of the week, placing crews, volunteers, displaced people and the area’s homeless population under pressing heat.

As the climate crisis fuels more extreme and frequent weather events, several areas of the US are currently experiencing flash flood risk, including swathes of the desert Southwest, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Tucson, Arizona.

State officials are immediately focused on getting food, water and shelter to the people who were forced to flee their homes.

Power outages and storm damage left 22 water systems operating in a limited capacity, a Sunday news release from the governor’s office said. More than 60,000 water service connections are either without water or under a boil advisory, it said.

Nearly 10,000 customers in the eastern region of the state were still without power as of early Monday, according to PowerOutage.us.

Officials overseeing the recovery efforts say bottled water, cleaning supplies and relief fund donations are among the most needed resources as the region works toward short and long term recovery. FEMA is providing tractor trailers full of water to several counties.

Volunteers work at a distribution center of donated goods in Buckhorn, Kentucky.

“A lot of these places have never flooded. So if they’ve never flooded, these people will not have flood insurance,” the mayor of Hazard, Kentucky, Donald Mobelini told CNN Saturday. “If they lose their home, it’s a total loss. There’s not going to be an insurance check coming to help that. We need cash donations,” he said, referring to a relief fund set up by the state.

Beshear established a Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund to pay the funeral expenses of flood victims and raise money for those impacted by the damage. As of Sunday morning, the fund had received more than $1 million in donations, according to the governor.

The federal government has approved relief funding for several counties. FEMA is also accepting individual disaster assistance applications from impacted renters and homeowners in Breathitt, Clay, Knott, Letcher and Perry counties, the governor said, noting he thinks more counties will be added to the list as damage assessments continue.

Though the recovery effort was still in the search-and-rescue phase over the weekend, Beshear said in a news conference Saturday that he believes the losses will be “in the tens if not the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

“This is one of the most devastating, deadly floods that we have seen in our history,” Beshear told NBC Sunday. “It wiped out areas where people didn’t have that much to begin with.”

And it wasn’t just personal possessions washed away by the floodwaters. A building housing archival film and other materials in Whitesburg, was impacted, with water submerging an irreplaceable collection of historic film, videotape and audio records that documented Appalachia.

Appalachian filmmaker Mimi Pickering told CNN that the beloved media, arts and education center, Appalshop, held archival footage and film strips dating as far back as the 1940s, holding the stories and voices of the region’s people. Employees and volunteers were racing to preserve as much material as they could.

“We’re working as hard and fast as we can to try to save all that material… The full impact, I don’t think you have totally hit me yet. I think I don’t really want to think about it,” Pickering said. She noted the Smithsonian and other institutions have reached out offering assistance.

The extensive loss Kentuckians are suffering will likely also take a mental toll, Frances Everage, a therapist and 44-year resident of the city of Hazard told CNN. While her home de ella was spared, she said some of her friends de ella have damaged homes or lost their entire farms.

“When you put your blood, sweat and tears into something and then see it ripped away in front of your eyes, there’s going to be a grieving process,” Everage said. “This community will rebuild and we will be okay, but the impact on mental health is going to be significant.”

.

Categories
Business

Cadillac Lyriq: review, pricing, specifications

Cadillac Lyriq: review, pricing, specifications

This is the car that will spearhead a new assault on world markets for the famed Cadillac brand.

The Lyriq electric SUV will form the foundation for a Cadillac return to Europe and other markets – potentially including Australia.

A mid-sized SUV similar in size to BMW’s X3 and Audi’s Q5, the Lyriq’s a handsome looking thing in the metal. It has a long bonnet, muscular haunches and daring detail work on the headlamps, grill and tail lamps.

The door handles fold flush with the door panels – much like Tesla’s Model Y – and the cabin is dominated by a huge curved digital screen that houses a driver display and center touchscreen.

Bright chrome highlights lift the cabin and there’s an abundance of storage space, thanks to the fact that there’s no transmission tunnel running through the center of the vehicle.

Second-row passengers will find more leg and knee room than they would in a mid-size German luxury SUV, while the read load area is a decent size.

It’s on the road that the Lyriq impresses, though.

A 250kW rear-mounted electric motor moves things along swiftly and silently, although there’s not the brutal launch off the line that you’d feel in a Tesla Model Y.

Once you’re on the move, though, there’s an impressive surge at most speeds when you floor the throttle.

The venue for our brief test drive was GM’s huge Milford Proving Ground outside of Detroit and we put the Lyriq through its paces on a variety of surfaces designed to replicate public roads. That included large bumps and dips, a simulated rail crossing and some sweeping, high-speed corners.

The Cadillac impressed with its composure, setting well after larger bumps and sitting flat through corners, even when confronted with broken, corrugated bitumen.

Precise steering and reassuring grip add to the driving enjoyment, although you can feel its considerable weight shift when it is asked to change direction in a hurry.

Cadillac claims the Lyriq is good for a range of 500km, although that may come down once the more realistic WLTP standard for range is applied.

In the US, the Lyriq starts from $62,990 in rear-drive form. A dual-motor version will launch early next year with roughly 370kW of power for just $2000 extra.

GM won’t confirm whether the Lyriq will be available in right-hand-drive but it would appear likely, as it seems the most logical fit for a Cadillac rebirth in European and international markets.

The president of GM International, Shilpin Amin, says designing vehicles for either left or right-hand drive is “much more simple” on an electric vehicle platform.

“Because of how efficient it is to build it upfront with left and right-hand-drive markets in mind no longer do you need the volumes to justify it. You can actually do it pretty efficiently at all volumes for markets around the world,” he says.

That is encouraging news for Aussie Cadillac fans.

Christian Soemmer, managing director of GM strategic markets, alliances and distributors, says the brand has “ambitious goals” in overseas markets, including Australia.

“We want to grow our international scale. Australia and New Zealand is an absolute key pillar of that region. We are always looking into more opportunities,” he says.

Cadillac will lead GM’s transformation to a leading EV maker, taking the fight to Tesla.

It will not launch any new petrol vehicles after 2026 and will become EV-only by 2030.

Cadillac interior design manager Tristan Murphy said the shift in focus to electric cars gave the design department an opportunity to reimagine the once-storied brand.

“I think it was a good opportunity for us to take a step back and say OK as we move forward into the future what do we want Cadillac to be? It was a chance to reinvent it,” he says

The design team was also mindful of its duty to honor the heritage of the badge.

“I don’t want to say it’s retro by any means but there are some retro cues because there are some things in our history that we want to hold on to. There are these little winks and nods at our history because that is something that an EV Start-up company doesn’t have,” he says.

.

Categories
Entertainment

Tom Cruise’s daughter Suri makes movie debut in Katie Holmes’ upcoming film, Alone Together

Tom Cruise's daughter Suri makes movie debut in Katie Holmes' upcoming film, Alone Together

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter has made her on-screen debut.

Holmes, 43, directed and stars in the newly released movie Alone Togetherand her daughter Suri Cruise, 16, joined her on the big screen.

“I always want the highest level of talent,” Holmes said in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment. “So, I asked her [Suri].

“She’s very, very talented. She said she would do it, and she recorded it, and I let her do her thing about her. That’s the way I direct in general. It’s like, ‘This is what I think we all want – go do your thing.’”

In the movie, Suri sings a cover of bluemoon, which plays during the opening credits of the film. Holmes told the outlet this will not be her daughter’s only on-screen singing gig, Fox News reports.

“She actually did sing in Rare Itemswhich is the film we did last [autumn],” Holmes said. “Other than that, she she’s a 16-year-old kid doing high school.”

Cruise and Holmes were married from 2006 to 2012. Suri is their only child together, and her uber-famous parents opted to keep her out of the public eye for the majority of her childhood.

Holmes directed, wrote and stars in Alone Together – a romantic comedy set during the Covid pandemic. Also appearing opposite her in the film is English actor Jim Sturgess.

The film follows a man and woman fleeing New York City during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

They end up booking the same Airbnb and ultimately decide to stay at the upstate property together.

Sturgess praised Holmes’ directing style and shared that she gives actors wide latitude when they are in front of the camera.

“She gives you this incredible space between action and cut,” Sturgess said of his co-star.

“She very rarely shouted, ‘Cut!’ actually. You’d think the scene had ended and she just kind of left it hanging. I love that she was always searching for those little nuggets of authenticity.”

This story originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission

.

Categories
Entertainment

Margot Robbie sent Neighbors cast champagne for finale

Margot Robbie sent Neighbors cast champagne for finale

Hollywood star Margot Robbie has told how she will be “eternally grateful” to soap Neighbors after it launched her acting career.

Margot, 32, who began her TV career as Ramsay Street’s Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, appeared in the show’s finale, which aired last Thursday.

While the A-lister filmed her scenes for the final show in Los Angeles, she made a sweet gesture to her fellow castmates, sending 37 bottles of champagne to the Melbourne set, as revealed by Neighbors actress Christie Whelan on social media last week, The Sun reports.

Robbie said that the final episode marks “the end of an era”.

Now Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, she said: “I owe so much to neighbors.

“There are so many of us that owe [the show] for giving us a big break.

“It wasn’t just about giving me a break either – it gave me a real chance to work on my craft. It was the perfect training for Hollywood and I will always be eternally grateful.”

thursday’s neighbors finale saw Robbie return alongside a host of other fan favourites, including Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance and Natalie Imbruglia.

Anne Charleston, who played Ramsay Street legend Madge Bishop, also returned – with her late character appearing as a ghost.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

Remembering her time on the soap, Robbie said it was only when she moved to London that she realized how widespread neighbors‘popularity was.

“It really is an end of an era for fans. When I lived in London, I understood at its peak how big it was. People would come up to me and tell me how they watched it every day after school.”

From fruit farm to Hollywood Hills

The actress, who grew up on a fruit farm on the Gold Coast, moved to LA after leaving neighbors in 2011 and landed a role in US TV show Pan Am.

But it was her part opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street that caught the eye of movie bosses in 2013.

Soon after, she moved to South London where she shared a four-bedroom pad in Clapham with six other friends that they dubbed “The Manor”.

Her housemates were friends she had met filming wartime flick French Suite – including the assistant director and her now-husband Tom Ackerley.

Robbie went on to star in 2015’s focus opposite Will Smith and played The Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn in 2016 hitSuicide Squad.

In 2016, she and Ackerley also married, and the following year they swapped their Clapham flat for a $3.6 million villa in Hollywood.

But she said leaving London had not been an easy move for the couple.

She said: “It was such a hard decision to leave, but I just couldn’t keep living out of a suitcase.”

Back in LA, the actress went on to star as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya – which she also produced – and alongside Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron in Bombshell.

Both roles won her Oscar nominations.

She also starred as rising movie star Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywoodappearing with former co-star DiCaprio as well as Brad Pitt.

Next year will see her hit the big screen in neon pink and sky-high heels after she was cast as Barbie in a romantic comedy about the iconic doll.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film also stars Ryan Gosling as Barbie‘s love interest Ken.

Robbie said: “When I read the script, I genuinely thought, ‘This is one of the best scripts I have ever read.’ I needed to be part of this story.

“I remember speaking with Ryan before we started shooting and we were just so excited to be part of this incredible script.

“Whatever people expect the Barbie movie to be like, they need to totally rethink it because Greta has done something special here.

“And Barbie is such a role model. She was a surgeon back in the early ’70s when a tiny percentage of females were applying for medical school.”

It is expected that in the hands of director Greta – whose last films were Lady Bird and Little Women – Barbie will get a thoroughly modern makeover.

‘Things have changed a lot’

It comes after Hollywood’s own makeover in recent years following the #MeToo scandals.

That movement was the focus of 2019 movie Bombshell, which was based on the sexual harassment of women working at Fox News.

Robbie, who starred as Kayla Pospisil, told at the time that it was only while working on the film that she realized what sexual harassment was.

She told Net-A-Porter: “I’m in my late twenties, I’m educated, I’m worldly, I’ve travelled, I have my own business – and I didn’t know. That’s insane.

“I didn’t know that you could say, ‘I have been sexually harassed,’ without someone physically touching you.

“That you could say, ‘That’s not OK.’ I had no idea.”

The actress also said that she has experienced harassment, but “not in Hollywood”, adding: “I struggle to find many women who haven’t experienced sexual harassment on some level.

“So yes, lots of times. And to varying degrees of severity throughout my life.”

Speaking last week, Robbie said: “I think things have changed in Hollywood over the past few years.

“There have been some difficult conversations and very brave people.

“We live in hope that all this courage that has been shown means nothing like this ever happens again.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

.

Categories
Sports

Sad milestone in Princess Charlotte video

Sad milestone in Princess Charlotte video

I’m going to make an argument that might make you scoff: To be born a prince or princess in

the British royal family would be a rotten fate.

Oh yes, I know about the castles, the family’s $645 million wealth and the just under $3 billion trusts which only some members hav access to, not to mention the indescribably vast collection of jewels including questionable Romanov pieces, rubies the size of quail’s eggs and that their Gan Gan owns the world’s largest private collection.

To live life, from your first squalling breath, as an HRH means nearly unthinkable privilege, far too much venison and always getting to board a RyanAir flight first.

But, it would still be a rubbish life.

Exhibit A) the video released by William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram and Twitter accounts on Sunday night ahead of England’s Lioness soccer team playing in the Euro 2022 final. There the duke sat in some bucolic garden somewhere in England of the sort that Beatrix Potter would have given her best bonnet to sketch. On his knee he sat Princess Charlotte, age seven-years-old, with what looked like a plastered-on, slightly forced smile.

You can see her eyes dart off to the side, possibly to her mother the duchess who, as we know, is a dab hand with a camera. William wishes the team luck before Charlotte gets to deliver her line from Ella at the end, saying “Good luck, I hope you win, bye,” and offering a cheery wave.

It’s short, sweet and should be nothing more than a source of a few million more likes.

Except that, watching the video, something occurred to me. Here we have the future king delivering his lines with genuine warmth and enthusiasm and a small child staring down the barrel of a totally new sort of royal childhood, one where she and brothers Prince George and Prince Louis won’t just be obliged to occasionally appear. in public but will be required to help churn out the social content needed to keep the monarchy afloat.

Sure, all royal kidlets, including a cherubic Queen in the 1920s, have been rolled out to charm and delight the masses, tiny curiosities, waving gamely, that the press could slap on their front pages with glee abandon.

However, what sets the youngest Cambridges totally apart is that they are now also required to help their parents keep the pipeline of photos and videos for social media purposes coming.

Not only are George, Charlotte and Louis already expected to take part in key ceremonial family moments but on top of that, their childhoods are going to be intruded upon in an unprecedented way in the royal annals all in the name of likes, retweets and views .

You can already, clearly, see this pattern emerging if you contrast William and Charlotte at seven.

The year the prince was that age, he took part in the carriage procession for Trooping the Color and the later Buckingham Palace balcony waving session, appeared at the Beating Retreat military parade, and was photographed attending two weddings (his uncle, now the Earl Spencer , and that of the Duke of Hussey’s daughter) and alongside his brother Prince Harry on the younger boy’s first day at school.

Contrast that with the 12-months to date for Charlotte. In August last year she appeared in a Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Instagram post about a conservation effort called the Big Butterfly Count; there was the family’s Christmas card image, snapped during a private holiday to Jordan, that was shared widely; she attended the memorial service for her de ella Great Grandfather Prince Philip in March and the royal easter service in April, before the usual birthday shots of her were released in May.

Come June, Charlotte and her siblings took part in their first Trooping the Colour, did the balcony waving thing, undertook her first official engagement with her parents and George in Cardiff where she participated in an official walkabout, before taking center stage with her family during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, along with filming a video baking cakes with Kate, George and Louis.

Also in June, the Cambridge Three appeared in a sweet family shot, taken in Jordan, that was posted to mark UK Father’s Day.

Sure, the young Cambridges may never know the hell of being chased by the paparazzi, but often in the coming months and years we are very likely only going to more regularly see their small faces popping up on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook feeds. (A gambling woman would put money on William and Kate making a foray onto TikTok soon too.)

For the duke and duchess, being on most of the major platforms means they have agreed to a post-industrialist Faustian bargain. They can plug their brand of royalty – an accessible, warm and relatable one – directly to Britons via the most powerful marketing platforms ever created. The cost? They have to energetically and regularly generate the sort of personal and intimate photos and videos that are expected in these environments, that is, they are going to have to serve up their children at times.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, about 160 years ago, had the canny idea of ​​remaking the monarchy’s image by marketing their own family unit (and all nine children). This they did by releasing photos of what had hitherto been entirely personal moments such as christenings and the family on holiday. (In the 1860s, tens of thousands of copies of souvenir photos called carte-de-visites of the family were sold in the UK.)

This is a very similar strategy to the one that William and Kate are pursuing now, with their Happy Normal Family routine one of the building blocks of Cambridge Inc.

Cast your mind back to April last year when the duo released a totally unexpected departure of a video of the family gambolling on a beach, playing in a pristine garden and roasting marshmallows, to mark the duke and duchess’ tenth wedding anniversary.

The whole thing looked and felt like a commercial for a luxury station wagon, complete with atmospheric guitar music.

That was not an accident because fundamentally, William and Kate’s job comes down to the same thing a German car brand does: selling. In their case, selling the UK on a hereditary monarchy again and again to ensure it survives well into the 21st and 22nd centuries.

And, while every generation of royal parents have made their children accessible to the world via whatever the new technology of the day is, before now there was at least some sort of line between their private and public selves.

What sets George, Charlotte and Louis apart is that that distinction, that line, has quietly blurred in the last couple of years. We have seen content shot during family holidays, while ensconced on their private estates and after school in the Kensington Palace garden, shared on social media by their parents.

Obviously William and Kate are deeply protective of their children but they also have a responsibility to the monarchy too and that means embracing whatever new marketing weapons they can add to their arsenal.

Social media is a beast that must be fed and in recent years William and Kate have seriously upped their game on this front, hiring David Wakins, who formerly ran the Sussex Royal social media accounts, and launching a YouTube channel with a charming sizzle reel of sorts.

We are now served up, via the various Cambridge accounts, made-for-social content to promote their good works or news, such as when Kate was named as the Patron of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union in February, with Kensington Palace putting out a sweet 30 second video starring the duchess amongst others.

These days it is hours, at the very most, after they attend any sort of engagement or event that videos and/or multiple images taken by the Cambridge team are posted, chirpily informing the world of what they have been up to and increasingly offering behind -the-scenes access.

Take their recent, somewhat disastrous tour of the Caribbean where they paid for their own photographer Matt Porteous to record their trip and where the couple’s digital team put out daily videos and photo montages.

A video of them scuba diving, shot by Porteous, to view marine conservation work was an interesting first – an official engagement conducted while the credentialed press pack were nowhere in sight and which was exclusively shared with the world via social media.

Clearly, William and Kate are devoting time, energy and budgetary resources to building up their social media presence as they inch ever closer to the throne but that is a path that involves their kids, whether any of them like it or not. (I’d wager it’s the latter.)

To be seven-years-old and on school holidays, and yet to be expected to take a break from your childhood to record a video in service of an ancient, stultifying institution? I’m not sure there are enough emeralds in the world to make up for that.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.

.

Categories
Entertainment

Meghan Markle is the victim of bullying, Trisha Goddard says

Meghan Markle is the victim of bullying, Trisha Goddard says

Meghan Markle has made headlines recently for her alleged acts of “bullying”, and in the process has copped a substantial amount of vitriol.

But now the tables have been turned in a Channel 9 60 minutes segment that dug deep into the latest royal scandal involving the claims that the Duchess of Sussex intimidated and belittled her staffers.

When the allegations first emerged, Buckingham Palace announced it was conducting an inquiry, but it has since said it won’t release the findings. It’s a curious move that’s left many puzzled. What did they discover, that they don’t want us to know about?

And could it be that the facts actually reveal instead of being the bully, Meghan is the one who’s been bullied?

In the segment, 60 minutess reporter Tom Steinfort asked British television host Trisha Goddard, a rare and staunch supporter of the Duchess of Sussex: “Who do you think is the victim of bullying?”

“Meghan Markle,” replied Trisha Goddard, who was also a former Australian TV star featuring on such shows as Play School.

“They can’t go too all out on Prince Harry, so let’s go for the evil scheming woman, that whole thing about women taking men away and driving them somewhere and destroying them. I mean how misogynistic is that?

“I think what’s she done wrong is not to be of the correct stock. I think what she’s done wrong is to be an American, to be an outsider… also she she’s a strong woman.

“I’m not saying she’s perfect, but I’m sorry but Prince Andrew doesn’t get as much consistent vitriol.”

Steinfort then asked: “So what do you think is at play here – is it sexism, racism, or a heady combo of both?”

To which Goddard replied: “It’s all those and above. We know through the polling that the Sussex’s poll highest among youngsters, under 25s.

Stay up to date with the latest news on the British Royals with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

“It’s the dinosaurs screaming when it comes to an outsider, and a female, and a female of color, then that is something that you are going to come down on because it shouldn’t be allowed,” she said on 60 minutes.

When asked if she noticed a pattern in the kind of people that attack Meghan, Goddard said: “Yeah. White, male, pale and stale”.

“Can we just stop messing around and call this for what it is – it’s bullying.”

She said it’s quite baffling why Prince Harry and Meghan are loved in America, but there’s so much controversy around them from the Brits.

“In the US people really like them they – they can’t understand what’s going on in Britain other than snobbishness, and I’m sure there’s a lot of that going on.

“You can’t blame them if they want to stay in the States can you?”

However, the bullying claims continue to swirl around Markle.

Also featured on the 60 minutes segment was Valentine Low, the royal correspondent for UK newspaper The Times. He said it was Meghan’s explosive Oprah interview that was the tipping point for several palace staffers who decided to reveal their claims of bullying to the world.

“What I was told was that in late 2018, Jason Knauf, who was Harry and Meghan’s communications secretary – so one of their very closest advisers – sent an email to his boss saying that Meghan had been bullying staff,” Mr Low said.

“He said that a couple of members of staff had been driven out by Meghan’s behaviour. and

he was also concerned for how much pressure was being put on their private secretary, their

very closest adviser, an Australian woman called Samantha Cohen.

“Now this was an explosive allegation, but the point is, nothing happened,” he said.

He said the palace simply didn’t know what to do.

“They didn’t know how to cope with such an unusual situation, and they didn’t know how to cope with Meghan.”

Read related topics:Meghan Markle

.

Categories
Entertainment

Sylvester Stallone slams Dolph Lundgren over upcoming ‘Drago’ spin-off

Sylvester Stallone slams Dolph Lundgren over upcoming 'Drago' spin-off

Sylvester Stallone has hit out at his long-time friend and co-star Dolph Lundgren over an upcoming spin-off to Rocky.

The 76-year-old US actor created the smash-hit Rocky franchise back in the ’70s, in which he stars as Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa across six films spanning three decades. He also reprized the iconic role in two believe films, with the third to be released in 2023.

And now, the cult favorite story is set to be repurposed yet again, with TheWrap announcing a new MGM project focusing on Lundgren’s Rocky IV character, Russian boxer Ivan Drago.

But the news hasn’t gone down well with Stallone, who launched an explosive post claiming Lundgren kept the production a secret from him, despite Stallone having created the character.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

Taking to Instagram with a lengthy statement, Stallone also hit out at original Rocky producer Irwin Winkler, 91, who won the Oscar for Best Picture for the breakout 1976 film.

“ONCE AGAIN, IRWIN WINKLER, this PATHETIC 94-year-old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles and David, are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me,” Stallone wrote alongside a screenshot of the news.

“I APOLOGIZE [sic] to the FANS, I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites …

“By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him!!! REAL FRIENDS are more precious than gold.”

Stallone followed up the post with another furious rant, which featured a photoshopped image of Winkler wearing vampire teeth having sucked blood from Rocky’s neck.

“After IRWIN WINKLER and FAMILY SUCK ROCKY DRY!” Stallone captioned the post. “Presumed to be the most hated, untalented, decrepit [sic]producer in Hollywood and his cowardly children have found their next meal… Drago, RETURN MY RIGHTS BLOODSUCKERS!”

Rocky IV, which was released in 1985, is considered one of the most popular films in the franchise. It follows Rocky’s emotional journey to the ring to fight against Drago, who had fatally punched Rocky’s best friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) during an exhibition bout.

Stallone has previously opened up about his frustration over failing to secure rights to Rockytelling Variety in 2019 he had “zero ownership” of the franchise.

“Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault. It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’” Stallone said.

“I was very angry. I was furious. Rocky is on TV around the world more than any other Oscar-winning film other than Godfather. You have six of them, and now you have believe and Believe II.”

.

Categories
Entertainment

Margot Robbie sent Neighbors cast champagne for finale

Margot Robbie sent Neighbors cast champagne for finale

Hollywood star Margot Robbie has told how she will be “eternally grateful” to soap Neighbors after it launched her acting career.

Margot, 32, who began her TV career as Ramsay Street’s Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, appeared in the show’s finale, which aired last Thursday.

While the A-lister filmed her scenes for the final show in Los Angeles, she made a sweet gesture to her fellow castmates, sending 37 bottles of champagne to the Melbourne set, as revealed by Neighbors actress Christie Whelan on social media last week, The Sun reports.

Robbie said that the final episode marks “the end of an era”.

Now Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, she said: “I owe so much to neighbors.

“There are so many of us that owe [the show] for giving us a big break.

“It wasn’t just about giving me a break either – it gave me a real chance to work on my craft. It was the perfect training for Hollywood and I will always be eternally grateful.”

thursday’s neighbors finale saw Robbie return alongside a host of other fan favourites, including Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance and Natalie Imbruglia.

Anne Charleston, who played Ramsay Street legend Madge Bishop, also returned – with her late character appearing as a ghost.

Remembering her time on the soap, Robbie said it was only when she moved to London that she realized how widespread neighbors‘popularity was.

“It really is an end of an era for fans. When I lived in London, I understood at its peak how big it was. People would come up to me and tell me how they watched it every day after school.”

From fruit farm to Hollywood Hills

The actress, who grew up on a fruit farm on the Gold Coast, moved to LA after leaving neighbors in 2011 and landed a role in US TV show Pan Am.

But it was her part opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street that caught the eye of movie bosses in 2013.

Soon after, she moved to South London where she shared a four-bedroom pad in Clapham with six other friends that they dubbed “The Manor”.

Her housemates were friends she had met filming wartime flick French Suite – including the assistant director and her now-husband Tom Ackerley.

Robbie went on to star in 2015’s focus opposite Will Smith and played The Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn in 2016 hitSuicide Squad.

In 2016, she and Ackerley also married, and the following year they swapped their Clapham flat for a $3.6 million villa in Hollywood.

But she said leaving London had not been an easy move for the couple.

She said: “It was such a hard decision to leave, but I just couldn’t keep living out of a suitcase.”

Back in LA, the actress went on to star as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya – which she also produced – and alongside Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron in Bombshell.

Both roles won her Oscar nominations.

She also starred as rising movie star Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywoodappearing with former co-star DiCaprio as well as Brad Pitt.

Next year will see her hit the big screen in neon pink and sky-high heels after she was cast as Barbie in a romantic comedy about the iconic doll.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film also stars Ryan Gosling as Barbie‘s love interest Ken.

Robbie said: “When I read the script, I genuinely thought, ‘This is one of the best scripts I have ever read.’ I needed to be part of this story.

“I remember speaking with Ryan before we started shooting and we were just so excited to be part of this incredible script.

“Whatever people expect the Barbie movie to be like, they need to totally rethink it because Greta has done something special here.

“And Barbie is such a role model. She was a surgeon back in the early ’70s when a tiny percentage of females were applying for medical school.”

It is expected that in the hands of director Greta – whose last films were Lady Bird and Little Women – Barbie will get a thoroughly modern makeover.

‘Things have changed a lot’

It comes after Hollywood’s own makeover in recent years following the #MeToo scandals.

That movement was the focus of 2019 movie Bombshell, which was based on the sexual harassment of women working at Fox News.

Robbie, who starred as Kayla Pospisil, told at the time that it was only while working on the film that she realized what sexual harassment was.

She told Net-A-Porter: “I’m in my late twenties, I’m educated, I’m worldly, I’ve travelled, I have my own business – and I didn’t know. That’s insane.

“I didn’t know that you could say, ‘I have been sexually harassed,’ without someone physically touching you.

“That you could say, ‘That’s not OK.’ I had no idea.”

The actress also said that she has experienced harassment, but “not in Hollywood”, adding: “I struggle to find many women who haven’t experienced sexual harassment on some level.

“So yes, lots of times. And to varying degrees of severity throughout my life.”

Speaking last week, Robbie said: “I think things have changed in Hollywood over the past few years.

“There have been some difficult conversations and very brave people.

“We live in hope that all this courage that has been shown means nothing like this ever happens again.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

.