Accusations that tied ‘Opalite’ singer to MAGA movement, Nazi ideology and tradwife gender norms came from bot-like accounts, report finds
© AFP via Getty Images
The song contest continues with its mission of ‘unity and cultural exchange’ by rolling out the red carpet for Israel, even though at least four countries have pulled out in protest
A new acronym emerged a couple of months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza: WCNSF. “Wounded child, no surviving family”. That acronym is unique to Gaza, experts like paediatrician Dr Tanya Haj-Hasan with Médecins Sans Frontières have said. Normally it’s rare for doctors to treat a child who has lost their entire family. But there has been nothing “normal” about the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and there are more child amputees than anywhere else in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors coming back from a landscape of rubble with reports of kids being deliberately targeted by Israeli snipers.
Despite a supposed ceasefire being in place, Gaza remains hell on earth. Essential medical supplies are not getting in and Amnesty International has said Israel is still committing genocide. (Israel has denied this, of course, just as it denies everything it is accused of.) But while traumatised orphans are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is a little heartwarming news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from continuing with its mission of “unity and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to roll out a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though at least four European countries (Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia) have now pulled out in protest. Because this is what unity looks like, folks!
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
© Photograph: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
© Photograph: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
Thousands of social media posts were traced to deliberate attempts to misrepresent the singer – and showed ‘significant user overlap’ with the campaign to attack actor Blake Lively
Analysis has found that a coordinated online attack sought to align Taylor Swift and her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, with Nazi and rightwing imagery and values, from accounts feigning leftist critique and designed to encourage outrage.
The AI-driven behavioural intelligence platform Gudea produced a report examining more than 24,000 posts and 18,000 accounts across 14 social media platforms between 4 October, the day of the album’s release, and 18 October. These posts accused Swift of sowing dogwhistle references in her lyrics and alleged that a lightning bolt-style necklace from her merchandise line – a reference to the album track Opalite – resembled SS insignia.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: XNY/Star Max/GC Images
© Photograph: XNY/Star Max/GC Images
© Photograph: XNY/Star Max/GC Images
Australian psych-rockers, who removed their music from Spotify in protest against the streaming service, lament the appearance of AI band King Lizard Wizard
Spotify has removed an AI impersonator of popular Australian rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard from the streaming service, with the band’s frontman voicing despair at the situation.
King Gizzard removed their music from Spotify in July in a protest against the company’s chief executive Daniel Ek, who is the chair of military technology company Helsing as well as a major investor.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Maclay Heriot
© Photograph: Maclay Heriot
© Photograph: Maclay Heriot
‘Serial intruder’ was banned from entering Singapore after rushing Wicked star in November
© Invision
Court told Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell died ‘in relative poverty’ despite being members of ‘one of the most commercially successful acts’ of their time
© PA Archive
Wife and manager of the late Black Sabbath frontman grew emotional as she spoke about his final moments at their home in Buckinghamshire
© X/Piers Morgan Uncensored
No Doubt star has previously partnered with Hallow, a prayer and meditation app, for Lent and Christmas
© Getty Images
Pop singer was supported by some fans who pointed out ‘the worst part of parallel parking is always the witnesses’
© TikTok/Joe Jonas/Neha Nas
The 71-year-old performer’s son Micah has been arrested on suspicion of murder, Santa Monica police said
Jubilant Sykes, the Grammy-nominated opera and gospel singer, has died aged 71 after being stabbed to death at his home in California.
His 31-year-old son, Micah Sykes, was arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
© Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
© Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
No Doubt star has previously partnered with Hallow, a prayer and meditation app, for Lent and Christmas
© Getty Images
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are the latest A-listers to announce their relationship status online. But there are many ways to do it - from fancy dress to panicked deletions
As a mark of pure intent, going Instagram official has become a firmly entrenched dating marker. To post a picture of you and your new partner on Instagram – on the grid, mind you, not hiding behind the cowardice of a story – is to not only declare that you are in love, but also that you are confident enough in your future to share it with the world.
As such, Katy Perry’s decision to go Instagram official with Justin Trudeau is a classic of the genre. Long dogged by rumours that they might be together, Perry this week debuted a sanctioned image of them both. They are cheek to cheek. They are smiling, albeit in that slightly strained hurry-up-and-take-it way you do when someone decides to shoot a whole reel of photos. Katy Perry is pulling the exact same face she did when she stared into the camera that time she sort of went into space, which is how you know that it is really serious. Good luck to the pair of them.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Instagram/katyperry
© Photograph: Instagram/katyperry
© Photograph: Instagram/katyperry
The musician, who led the Grammy-winning band, had been receiving treatment for colon cancer
Raul Malo, the soulful tenor and frontman of the genre-defying, Grammy-winning band the Mavericks, has died. He was 60.
Malo died on Monday night, his wife, Betty Malo, posted on his Facebook page. He had been diagnosed with cancer. The frontman of the Mavericks had documented his health journey on social media since he disclosed in June 2024 that he was receiving treatment for colon cancer.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Stephen J Cohen/Getty Images
© Photograph: Stephen J Cohen/Getty Images
© Photograph: Stephen J Cohen/Getty Images
Singer had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer and leptomeningeal disease
© Getty
The tense confrontation happened at an Art Basel event in Miami
© Getty Images for Redken
Pop singer was supported by some fans who pointed out ‘the worst part of parallel parking is always the witnesses’
© TikTok/Joe Jonas/Neha Nas
Wigmore Hall, London
Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou were exhilarating and extraordinary in John Zorn’s monumental Jumalattaret; a beautifully intimate performance of Messiaen’s Chants de Terre et de Ciel completed an enthralling evening
One generation’s “unperformable” is another’s repertoire staple. Tristan und Isolde, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Ninth were all once declared beyond reach. But when Barbara Hannigan – the fearless, seemingly limitless soprano with more than 100 world premieres to her name – admits that a work came close, reducing her to “a state of panic” over a multi-year study period, you believe her.
Inspired by Finland’s national epic the Kalevala, John Zorn’s Jumalattaret is less a song-cycle than a musical seance, summoning a series of spirits and goddesses in sound. The singer morphs from persona to persona in yelps and keening cries, guttural moans and shouts, sometimes anchored, sometimes released by the piano (here Bertrand Chamayou) – an ever-present sorcerer’s assistant.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Sisi Burn
© Photograph: Sisi Burn
© Photograph: Sisi Burn
Comedian will host the ceremony for the sixth time as it relocates from London to Manchester
© Getty Images
Singer-songwriter had earlier posted a TikTok from his kitchen, in which he was jokingly haunted by his festive hit ‘Step Into Christmas’
© TikTok/Elton John
Connexion