NEWS OF THE WEEK: Tom Felton shrugs off J.K. Rowling controversy amid Harry Potter return

The British actor, who played Draco Malfoy in the film series is gearing up to reprise the role on Broadway in the stage production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. On the red carpet at the Tony Awards on Sunday, Felton was asked if the controversy surrounding Rowling and her remarks about transgender people impacts his work in the franchise. He replied to Variety, "No, I can't say it does, I'm not really that attuned to it.' "If anything, I remind myself I've been lucky to travel the world..."

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News.com.au

an hour ago

• News.com.au

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom reportedly had explosive fight about ‘ridiculous' space flight

He's gonna hear her roar. Orlando Bloom reportedly blasted Katy Perry's Blue Origin space flight in April as 'embarrassing' and 'cringe-worthy' in 'the middle of a fight.' The actor, 48, 'told her the whole thing looked ridiculous' during the explosive argument, a source told the Daily Mail on Friday. 'It hurt her feelings,' the insider noted. 'Of course she was hurt. Imagine going to space – motherf***ing space – and your partner isn't impressed.' The singer, 40, had reportedly 'hoped' her fiance would 'be more supportive.' She told Sirius XM's The Morning Mash Up listeners in March that Bloom was 'all about' her historic journey to space. In fact, he even was photographed on site, supporting Perry before and after the launch. Because of Bloom's reported comment, however, Perry is finding it 'difficult to accept' that her partner will be attending Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos' Italy wedding this month without her as she tours. 'He complains about her going to space, and then wants to go to the wedding of the people who made it possible for her to do this in the first place,' the outlet added. 'They're already spiralling and now the wedding is another thing that they have to fight about.' TMZ was the first to report that Perry will not be present at the star-studded nuptials due to 'prior commitments' — her Lifetimes tour. While the Grammy nominee 'does have prior commitments,' Bloom's attendance 'feels like … a 'f**k you' to her from him,' according to the outlet. 'They're really her friends more than his, and yet he's the one going to the wedding,' the insider alleged. 'And he's insistent that he goes, which annoys her because he's not particular close to either of them.' Reps for Bloom and Perry have yet to respond to Page Six's requests for comment. The couple have been together since 2016, briefly splitting up the following year before getting engaged in 2019. The duo, who share a 4-year-old daughter named Daisy, put their 2020 wedding on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic. News broke earlier this month that their was 'tension' in the pair's relationship, with People reporting that Perry's 'devastating' album flop caused 'stress.' The outlet claimed, 'Katy was deeply frustrated following the reception of her new album, [ 143 ]. It made her very stressed. Orlando was understanding, but it did cause some tension.' Page Six subsequently heard that the romance is on the rocks. 'It's over,' a source told us. 'They are waiting 'til her tour is over before they split.' Perry's tour, notably, wraps on December 7.

News.com.au

2 hours ago

• News.com.au

Picture exposes Kate's Trump nightmare

What. About. The. Lawn. In 2019 Donald and Melania Trump packed up their his and her medical-grade bronzer tubs and headed to London for a State visit, landing on the Buckingham Palace lawn in Marine One, the presidential helicopter. One was not amused. Days later Scott 'I don't hold the hose' Morrison visited the Palace and the late Queen, per the Times, 'marched him to a window to look out at the once green and pleasant grass and said: 'Come and look at my lawn. It's ruined.'' Let's hope the royal family's under gardeners are ready given that Mr Trump is set to return to London for an historic second State. (It is reportedly 'pencilled in' for September.) And let's hope that Kate, The Princess of Wales is already working on her game face for what will be the most charged, if not hardest, assignment of her royal career. Kate and Trump. Smiling side-by-side. Just imagine it. You can't quite, right? But this moment will happen, along with 98 other smiley, pose-y, 'say fromage for the cameras' instances during the visit, during which Mr Trump will try and impress the princess with big talk of his putting game and she will attempt to explain why her father-in-law is not interested in invading Iceland. What a meeting of minds. And what diplomatic heroics will the expected of Kate as she faces assuming a major role for the trip. In 2019, the last time that the Trumps and their individual hair care crates were in the UK, Kate was the Duchess of Cambridge, a significant place removed from the throne. Back then, she and Prince William were able to fly under the radar and take relatively back seat roles. Her responsibilities extended entirely to sourcing an Alexander McQueen gown and remembering to wash her hair or the State dinner. Not this time. If the 2025 trip is anything like the one six years ago, as the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate will be expected to host the Trumps for tea and to step up to help King Charles and Queen Camilla shoulder the hoisting load during the scheduled-to-the-millisecond, multi-day Cirque du Soleil-level formal production. Kate might have a few State visits as a princess under her belt (South Africa, South Korea, Japan and Qatar) but nothing like this year's American one given the involvement of the world's most famous McNugget consumer. Even months out, the Trump visit is already shaping up to be the most charged State event of Kate's 14 years on the royal clock, surpassing that time in 2015 when China's President Xi Jingping turned up for his go in a gold carriage down The Mall and faced protesters. (Courtiers no doubt all let out a collective sigh of relief that Prince Philip was several hours away in Norfolk glueing together an Airfix model of a Spitfire and couldn't be bothered to try out any new material.) For this visit, the demands put on William and Kate for a note perfect performance will be that much greater. The prince has already gotten a taste of this, having what was by all accounts a very warm and chummy meeting with Trump in Paris in December last year. (William does know something about being an apprentice after all.) The success of that face-to-face speaks to the demands put on working members to put aside all personal thought and feeling and to quiescently do what Whitehall asks of them. After all, William's marquee project is The Earthshot Prize, giving away nearly $100 million to creative and exciting climate crisis solutions; the Trump administration is opening up Millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness to drilling and mining. For Kate and William, this US State visit will be a major taste of what lies ahead for them – having to do the glad-handing bidding of Downing Street. (State visits are organised at the request of the government of the day, not based on who the sovereign fancies having over for a Scotch Finger.) Kings and Queens are required to remain blandly, politically neutral at all times, to be perpetually smiling milquetoast automatons in good quality wool separates. Their personal tastes, preferences and ideological inclinations can and will never enter the equation. Come September, the realpolitik demanded of royalty will be on full display. Even then, no matter how much hot air there will be coming out of governmental and royal functionaires about special relationships, the rest of the UK's 68 million people might not feel the same way. William and Kate will be working their smiling muscles and playing very very nice with the Cousins but on the streets of the capital public feeling could be running high. Mr Trump's trips to the UK in 2018 and 2019 were met with large-scale public resistance. There were mass protests, nearly 1.9 million people signed a petition opposing his visit; newly knighted London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan forcefully denounced the president; and then speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow barred him from addressing parliament. Things already sound a tad tense. Meeting Mr Trump's 'sky high' expectations of the visit is reportedly proving quite the royal headache. Tim Shipman, the Sunday Times ' chief political commentator, reported this week that the Palace and Downing Street 'have struggled to agree the details [of the trip] with the White House'. Unlike say Mr Xi who got to enjoy the pomp of being jostled and jigged in a wooden coach around central London beside the late Queen, 'officials say Trump is a far bigger assassination threat and there is no coach sufficiently armoured to allow him to use it.' There is also the question of where to stash Mr and Mrs Trump. Buckingham Palace is in the midst of a ten-year renovation and King Charles has, and may very well never, live there. Adding another possibly testy element – Charles is the King of Canada, a country that Mr Trump has threatened to annex. A visit earlier this month to Ottawa saw the King very obviously demonstrate his support for the country, and his speech to their parliament was 'a coded rebuke to Trump's expansionist urges,' per the Times. Unlikely to impress the president either is that French President Emmanuel Macron is set to get his own royal State visit months before the American one. 'It is an open secret,' Shipman wrote, 'that the King is happy' about this trumping. Egos, a lack of carriages, dogs, aides, renovations, helicopters, dinners, finger sandwiches, nerves, sensitivities: There is a lot involved in the Trumps' arrival, any – all – of it could go pear-shaped and Kate will be at the heart of things. Lucky girl. There is one perfect moment though that, let us pray, gets recreated somehow. In 2019, Queen Camilla went viral after being caught on camera winking behind Mr Trump's back. Oooh errrr Your Majesty. Give us another one, please.

ABC News

3 hours ago

• ABC News

From a kidnapping case involving Rupert Murdoch to an exploration of queer history, these are our favourite podcasts from June

The temperature is dropping, the days are getting shorter, and the only possible way to spend your time is curled up somewhere cosy, listening to stories. Well, that's what I've been doing lately, particularly after stumbling upon a scintillating tale of kidnap for ransom, made all the more salacious by the injection of tabloid journalism. I was fascinated to find that this case is a big part of why the Murdoch family moved from the UK to the United States, opening the doors for Rupert to create such media fiefdoms as Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. So pull out your warmest blanket and settle in for a good listen. BBC/ABC Listen On a cold night in Wimbledon, London in 1969, kidnappers set out to seize Anna Murdoch, the wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. But, as Jane MacSorley explains in Worse Than Murder, they got the wrong person. Australian woman Muriel McKay — the wife of Daily Mirror editor Alick McKay — was abducted instead, and the kidnappers demanded 1 million pounds for her safe return. This was the first kidnapping-for-ransom case that had ever occurred in the UK, and the bumbling of the police would be comical if there wasn't a real person's life on the line. The matter was made much worse by the involvement of the Murdoch press: McKay was convinced media would help put pressure on the crooks, but it only spooked them. That didn't make them stop, however; this was arguably the beginning of the voyeuristic, often harmful, tabloid journalism that still exists today. Using startling phone recordings from the time, as well as interviews with the now elderly children of McKay, Worse Than Murder lays out the bamboozling tale in heart-pounding episodes. And despite it being a 56-year-old case, new information comes to light from one of the people alleged to be involved. This story is equal parts juicy and tragic, and MacSorley's passionate narration (complete with a charming Irish accent) will have you captivated all the way through. — Katherine Smyrk Radiotopia Normal Gossip has been giving us the electrifyingly mundane tea from everyday people since 2022 and, as its eighth season comes to a close, it still has plenty to spill. The premise is simple: an anonymous person submits their tale of everyday gossip, and the host relates it to a guest — with vivifying detail, lots of side commentary and interrogations of "what would you do in this moment". Famously, this concept was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the creators missed "the fizzy thrill of overhearing a good story at a bar". When long-time host and co-creator Kelsey McKinney announced she was leaving the show at the end of 2024, loyal listeners were devastated to be losing her irreverent and infectious energy. But new host, culture reporter Rachelle Hampton, has more than filled her shoes. Over the 10 episodes of this season, stories cover things like a love triangle at a polyamorous, worker-owned bee farm; a tiny golden figurine that gets stolen in a housemate prank gone wrong; and the lengths someone will take to get the couch of their dreams. Hampton is both similar to and different enough from McKinney to feel fresh, but not jarring for long-time fans of the show. She is a funny, wry and engaging host, who generates great chemistry and rapport, and plenty of giggles, with each of her guests. — Katherine Smyrk ABC Is your screen time a shameful secret? Do you fear you have "goldfish brain"? Well, same. And it turns out we're not alone. Brain Rot is a new five-part series from ABC's Science Friction, delving into the effect of technology on our lives. The first episode looks at the science behind the anecdotal phenomenon of "brain rot", the widely held fear that the internet and our addiction to smartphones are rotting our brains and sending our attention spans into free fall. It takes us back to 2016, when Facebook introduced its stories feature, signalling the advent of the dopamine-driven time suck we know as the infinite scroll. We also learn about the science of attention, the effect of smartphone notifications on brain waves and what constitutes disordered screen use. Episode two takes on AI. We hear about the rise of AI companions in response to the loneliness epidemic and meet Kelly, a 47-year-old American woman dating Christian, an AI incarnation of the character from Fifty Shades of Grey. More eye-raising revelations ensue, questioning the effect of AI on human relationships. Ably hosted by ABC's national technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre, Brain Rot is essential listening for the chronically online (ahem, guilty) and anyone who is concerned about where technology is taking humanity. — Nicola Heath Sebastian Hendra What better way to celebrate Pride month than diving into some LGBTQIA+ history! Luckily, Historical Homos has you covered. The new fourth season of the show continues its long-standing tradition of illuminating the stories of fascinating queer folk over time. A particular highlight is the episode about John/Eleanor Rykener, a gender-diverse sex worker from London in the 1300s. Their arrest bamboozled the courts. They weren't sure whether to charge them with "prostitution" as a woman, or "sodomy" as a man. Host Sebastian Hendra chats with a historian expert — in this case, Dr Mireille Pardon — to recount John/Eleanor's rollicking tale of sex, money, clergymen and the law. Their story also throws up some juicy questions about how our modern categories of "trans" or "queer" don't map easily onto people from different times. Other highlights include an episode diving into the sexy evolution of restaurants in Paris — as well as how food culture is inherently queer — and an episode titled 'Toxic Boyfriends of Greek Mythology'. Hendra's wittiness and curiosity is a through line of each episode, making this podcast a balanced pairing of nerdy historical explorations and hilarious queer commentary. — Katherine Smyrk RNZ/ABC listen My three-year old nephew learned about the Titanic at daycare. The next time I saw him, he breathlessly recalled the story of the ill-fated ship, which set off from Southhampton, England, for New York City in 1912, before sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean just four days later. "It was a really big boat and it CRASHED into an iceberg, and all the people died," he told me. You can imagine a child like this growing up to be comedian Carlo Ritchie (one half of lauded Australian improvisers The Bear Pack). Ritchie first became fascinated with the Titanic when he was about six years old, after seeing an article about the wreckage — which was found in 1985 — in National Geographic. In the podcast Did Titanic Sink? — recently added to ABC listen — he shares a conspiracy theory with Kiwi comedian Tim Batt (The Worst Idea of All Time): maybe the Titanic didn't sink after all. At the end of each episode of season one, other comedians, including Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) and Rose Matafeo (Starstruck), join Batt to pick apart Ritchie's argument. Are they convinced? Did a different boat sink? Could the lives of the more than 1,500 people who died on board have been saved? It feels strange to call a podcast about a maritime tragedy a pure joy, but that's what Did Titanic Sink? is. It's silly, sometimes laugh-out-loud, meticulously researched, but also strangely heartfelt. It's not really about the Titanic, but the things we purport to believe — and the stories we tell ourselves and each other. As Ritchie reflects in season two: "History is not a play. We have to create a lens through which we view it and the easiest way for that to be compelling to us is this fireside story." — Hannah Story