Tributes streamed in Thursday from political leaders to pop stars for singer Sinead O'Connor, who was remembered for her powerful voice and...

Jennifer Aniston also shared a glimpse of her baking adventure with Sandra Bullock in an Instagram Story

Barbie director Greta Gerwig has responded to the torrent of hate that rightwingers in the US have directed at the film, saying it’s “an invitation for everybody to be part of the party”. Speaking to the New York Times, Gerwig was asked if she had anticipated the degree of woke-bashing that rightwing critics have engaged in since the film came out, with some calling it a “man-hating” movie. Gerwig said: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.” She added: “I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Barbie’s feminist themes have sparked rage from influencers like Ben Shapiro, who made a bizarre Youtube video last week in which he burned Barbie dolls. Ginger Luckey Gaetz, wife of Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, said the movie “neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalise the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively”. Gerwig also responded to criticism that Mattel, which owns the Barbie doll range and executive produced the movie, interfered in the production creatively, in a scene where a character described the dolls as “sexist and fascist”. She said: “It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!’ I got a tentative, ‘Well, OK. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead and we’ll see how it goes.’ “But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out.” The backlash has been strong, but the support has been stronger, with Barbie already breaking the record for the highest-ever opening weekend for a female director at $356m. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

It is unclear on what grounds a contestant's answer can be declared incorrect due to a tiny grammatical mistake

Eddie and Kelli Timanus' heartwarming love story was recently shared by Buzzy Cohen on his 'This is Jeopardy' podcast

Addison Rae said, 'I think it always gets better than your first kiss, so don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t be too hard on that person either'

Former Made In Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo attempted to praise David Cameron on social media and it went as well as you might expect. Toffolo, who is also known by the name “Toff”, rose to fame as a reality star and became friends with Stanley Johnson, father of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during an appearance on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. But, in a recent tweet, Toff found receiving pushback after sharing her praise for another former Tory PM, Cameron. She shared a picture of Cameron addressing a room full of people and wrote: “I can confirm that David Cameron has still got it.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It didn’t take long for many people to point out some of Cameron’s decisions made as a leader that they believe had a devastating effect on the country. Political commentator, Supertanskiii, wrote: “By ‘it’ you presumably mean the sheer audacity to show his face in public after absolutely destroying Britain with austerity and Brexit?” In a similar vein, Dom Joly, asked: “By ‘it’ I presume you mean eternal shame for panicking about empty threats from Farage and enabling Brexit, sending us into an economic death spiral?” Someone else joked: “Don’t get too close or your might catch it…” “Hope he keeps it to himself then !!!” another commented. One Twitter user asked: “The ability to f*** everything up and then walk away like it wasn't his fault? Is that 'it'?” Cameron famously called for the 2016 EU referendum that paved the way for Brexit, which many believe has been negative for the country and its economy. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The moment Sinead O'Connor ripped up a photo of the Pope has resurfaced as the singer has died. The Grammy-winning singer who shot to international stardom in 1990 with the hit ballad 'Nothing Compares 2 U', and released 10 studio albums between 1987 and 2014 has died aged 56, her family confirmed. As well as being famous for her music, she also was known for some controversial moments. O'Connor was performing on Saturday Night Live on October 1992 when she ripped up the photo of the head of the Catholic church. The then 26-year-old singer performed an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley’s 'War' to bring attention to the issue of child abuse. As she finished singing, the singer held up a picture of Pope John Paul II and tore it to pieces in front of the camera. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter She then blew out the candles on stage and walked off. The stunt was reportedly to protest the issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, long before such allegations were widely reported. The network received complaints after the stunt and O'Connor also received death threat, boos, and had to cancel lots of gigs. Remembering the incident in her 2021 autobiography, Rememberings, she wrote: "'When I walk backstage, literally not a human being is in sight. "All doors have closed. Everyone has vanished. Including my own manager, who locks himself in his room for three days and unplugs his phone." And in 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI apologized to Ireland to atone for decades of abuse, O'Connor condemned the apology for not going far enough and called for Catholics to boycott Mass until there was a full investigation into the Vatican's role. Announcing the singer's death in a statement yesterday, O'Connor's family said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. "Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time." They did not report the cause of her death. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

JiDion said, 'I just hate when people make it more than it needs to be, instead of it being funny, they're making it'

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 27, 2023--

Zoe Saldana struggled with her role in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' as the franchise was "too big" for her to cope with at the time.

There were always question marks over which lessons that executives from toy making giant Mattel would learn from the roaring success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Some said it could show the power of giving a top indie filmmaker like Gerwig the budget, time and resources to make a piece of memorable – and at times subversive – cinema which drew on people’s childhood memories. However, it looks like executives have already decided to pick option B: create an intellectual property-driven movie machine, and crank out a film about every toy they can think of to boost profits. Because that’s what people liked about Barbie, right? Mattel wants to create a cinematic universe similar to that of Marvel, following the immense success of its first feature film – and they already have more than a dozen projects in the works. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Products that are already in line to get the Barbie treatment include “Barney”, “Polly Pocket,” and “Hot Wheels”. “Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The product lines of Barbie is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, she has a lot of elements around in her universe,” Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz told Variety. “It’s a very rich universe… It’s a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities.” “At the outset, we’re not saying, ‘Okay, let’s think already about movie two and three.’ Let’s get the first one right and make that a success. And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen.” “Successful movies lend themselves to more movies,” the CEO added. “Our ambition is to create film franchises.” Robbie Brenner, the Oscar-nominated producer in charge of Mattel’s new film division, said the company was hopeful Barbie would become a box office success, so that it would open the door for franchises like “Masters of the Universe” and “Hot Wheels". “Everybody hopes that when you create a movie that there is going to be a franchise,” Brenner told Variety. “That’s the hope — that it goes on and on and it’s a gift that keeps giving. But, in this day and age, you just want to get the first one right.” Here are the films Mattel wants to make next: Barney Produced by Daniel Kaluuya, the purple dinosaur is going to be made into a live-action movie. Brenner said: I don’t know that it’s necessarily going to be darker. It’s just going to be unique — more of like [Spike Jonze films] Being John Malkovich or an Adaptation." “Any movie that has Barney is not certainly going to be straightforward,” Brenner adds. Referencing the Seth MacFarlane comedies, she quips: “We’re not making Ted. You know what I mean?” The upcoming film will apparently be about “identity and finding who you love and who feels alienated” and “what does it all mean?” Brenner says the film will “be more adult and have adult themes — and sort of be a little bit off-kilter”. Polly Pocket Starring Emily In Paris star Lily Collins, the Polly Pocket dolls will be made into a film directed by Lena Dunham. Brenner said there is already a “great” script, and that Dunham and Collins would be “an amazing collaboration. Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves and really likes to roll around in notes and listen. She’s incredible”. “Lily is so smart and so specific and so productorial. It’s just been an incredible collaboration, so we are thrilled about it. Hopefully, we’ll be making that at some point in the future.” Hot Wheels This one will be produced by JJ Abrams – because the world needs yet another film about toy racing cars, of course. Abrams has described the adaptation as “grounded and gritty” and said the film will have “real characters that you can relate to, that are three-dimensional, that have emotional journeys”. She added: “Look at any JJ Abrams movie. All of his movies have an incredible story and incredible characters. That was something that was important to him — to make a movie that’s not just going to be fun and exciting, but that has real emotion and real stakes to it.” And plenty more… There is a film about Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, starring Vin Diesel, which could be absolutely bizarre, while another doll franchise movie, American Girl, is “in the works”. Magic 8 Ball will “probably be a PG-13 thriller,” Brenner said, while a Masters Of The Universe film about the superhero He-Man could also become reality. Other projects include Thomas The Tank Engine (yep, that’s right folks) and, in a surprise turn, Uno. How corporate executives think a film about the playing card game will turn out is anybody’s guess. But it’s going to happen. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.