Tag: Los Angeles

  • Hadiqa Kiani invited to attend concert of Palestinian singer Saint Levant

    Hadiqa Kiani invited to attend concert of Palestinian singer Saint Levant

    Hadiqa Kiani, known for her contributions to music industry and activism, continues to use her voice to support important causes.

    In a recent Instagram post, she wrote that she felt honored to be invited by Palestinian artist Saint Levant to attend his sold- out concert in Los Angeles.

    Hadiqa shared photos of her at the venue and with Saint Levant along with the caption: “This past weekend I had the privilege of being invited to and supporting Palestinian singer Saint Levant’s sold out show in LA. I was amazed by the energy of the crowd, it was like a protest, a rally for freedom and liberation – an absolutely beautiful experience.”

    Kiani emphasized the need to support Palestinian artist and stay informed about the ongoing crises in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and the broader region. “Art is a form of resistance”, she shared, encouraging everyone to support business and organizations that are striving to end the the occupation, to free Palestine and to bring back humanity.

    Saint Levant, whose real name is Marwan Abdelhamid, is a young Palestinian- French- Algerian singer. He’s making a name for himself with his unique music style that combines English, French and Arabic. His songs often touch on themes like identity, love, and the hardships faced by the Palestinian community. Using his music as a tool for activism, Saint Levant addresses the struggles of Palestinians and other communities in the Middle East, hoping to inspire positive change and empower the youth.

    Here is post of Hadiqa Kiani:

  • American flight makes emergency landing after lice spotted in woman’s hair

    American flight makes emergency landing after lice spotted in woman’s hair

    A flight in America made an emergency landing after passengers spotted lice in a woman’s hair.

    The flight, scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to New York, was rerouted to Phoenix.

    A TikTok user on board, the flight, said in a video that passengers were left confused as American Airlines did not inform them of what caused the diversion.

    Ethan Judelson’s video reached over 1.2 million views. As soon as the plane landed, he described seeing a woman causing a commotion as she rushed through the aisle towards the front. While he was confused, no other passenger paid attention to it.

    “It just seemed like one of those people who, as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, gets up and tries to be the first to their bag,” he told People magazine, recalling the incident. “So the girl next to me … we were both like, ‘Why is she so rushed to get off? We’re all getting off together; calm down.”

    The TikToker mentioned that two women gave him “cryptic” answers when asked about what happened to them.

    After the plane made the emergency landing, Mr Judelson overheard hushed conversations among fellow passengers. According to eyewitnesses, two passengers had spotted lice crawling out of a woman’s hair, prompting them to alert the flight attendants.

    “Apparently, those two girls saw bugs crawling out of the woman’s hair and alerted the flight attendant,” Mr Judelson said in the TikTok video.

    The airline later issued a statement confirming that the flight was diverted due to a medical emergency.

  • Tom Cruise set to pull major stunt at Paris Olympics

    Tom Cruise set to pull major stunt at Paris Olympics

    Olympics 2024 are set to conclude with a bang, courtesy of Hollywood’s own daredevil, Tom Cruise. The Top Gun actor will perform a heart-stopping skydiving stunt to mark the end of the Games in Paris and hand over the torch to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympiad.
    Cruise attended the opening ceremony of the Games.

    During the women’s swimming competition, Cruise said, “It’s awesome. Great stories, great athletes. It’s incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment.”

    Preliminary data from Comcast’s NBCUniversal shows that 28.6 million US viewers watched the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, making it the most watched summer Games opening night since London in 2012.

  • ‘American Idol’ star Paula Abdul sues producer for sexual assault

    ‘American Idol’ star Paula Abdul sues producer for sexual assault

    U.S. singer, dancer and ‘American Idol‘ star Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit accusing British television executive Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her when they worked together on two popular talent shows, according to court documents.

    Paula Abdul, who rose to fame as a chart-topping singer in the late 1980s, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her in an elevator during the early seasons of TV singing competition series ‘American Idol.’

    Nigel Lythgoe, the producer of several hit television talent competitions, allegedly groped her, and got physical without consent in a hotel elevator after a day of auditions for ‘American Idol.’ Paula Abdul tried to push him away and ran as soon as the elevator doors opened, court documents said.

    Reuters was not immediately able to reach Paula Abdul or Nigel Lythgoe for comment.

    Nigel Lythogoe denied the allegations, according to TMZ.

    “For more than two decades, Paula [Abdul] and I have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues,” he told TMZ. “Yesterday, however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.”

    According to court documents, Paula Abdul immediately reported the assault by Nigel Lythgoe, an ‘American Idol’ producer at the time, to her representatives but did not take action for fear of losing her job, the lawsuit said.

    Moreover, Paula Abdul’s contracts prohibited her from speaking out, the lawsuit said.

    Another alleged assault took place years later when Paula Abdul worked as a judge on ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ according to court documents. The star, 61, enjoyed renewed popularity in the early 2000s starring as a judge on talent TV series.

    The lawsuit alleges Nigel Lythgoe, 74, assaulted her on the couch of his Los Angeles home after a work dinner. Paula Abdul again firmly rejected him and “immediately left [Nigel] Lythgoe’s home,” court documents said.

    In the lawsuit, Paula Abdul levels other allegations at the entertainment industry mogul, including that Nigel Lythgoe once called to taunt her and said it had been “seven years and the statute of limitations had run” on the alleged assaults.

    The lawsuit alleged that the star also witnessed Nigel Lythgoe assault one of her assistants on ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’

    The lawsuit was submitted days before the Dec. 31 filing deadline established under the California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act. The legislation allows individuals to bring certain sexual abuse lawsuits that would otherwise have fallen outside the statute of limitations.

  • Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Pop singer Lizzo has been sued by former backup dancers of her troupe for sexual harassment, unprofessionalism and body shaming. In the suit filed earlier this month, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez detailed instances of being shamed for weight gain, being coerced into touching nude dancers.

    On Wednesday, Lizzo’s lawyer said in a statement sent to The Independent, that the singer was now counter suing the dancers for ‘malicious content’, describing the lawsuit as a sham.

    The statement included photos of the three plaintiffs Davis, Williams and Rodriguez with “the performers after the topless cabaret show at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris” on 5 March, 2023. In their lawsuit, the dancers had claimed they were not informed by Lizzo that the dancers performing would be naked, “robbing them of the choice not to participate”.

    The plaintiff’s also described Lizzo pressurising cast members to take turns touching the nude performers “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas”.

    However, Lizzo’s statement said the images released show the plaintiff’s happily spending time in the club they had complained about in the lawsuit:

    “These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully revelling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit.”

    Neema Rahmani, representing the three dancers in the lawsuit, responded to the images, and said they had previously addressed all the instances where the plaintiff’s appeared to be happy alongside Lizzo, during the time the

    “Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.

    “We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max Love Lizzo documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”

    Furthermore, Rahmani slammed the singer’s statement as an “empty threat” and said they were ready to meet the lawyer and his client in the courtroom because they had no plans of backing down.

    “I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media,” said Rahmani.

  • ‘We are BulletProof’: BTS set to release a new album in June

    Korean pop group BTS’s agency, BigHit Music has posted a montage video on Twitter which hints that something special is coming soon. This video was first dropped at their concert, ‘Permission To Dance on Stage’ in Las Vegas.

    Their agency also posted an official statement on the fan community platform, ‘Weverse’ along with the teaser.

    “Hello. This is Big Hit Music. BTS will be back with another new album on June 10, 2022. Details on the new album will be provided in a separate notice at a later date. We look forward to your love and support for BTS’s new album. Thank you.”

    BTS dropped its last album, BE in November 2020 which includes its most listened song, Live Goes On, which depicted the impacts of covid-19 on human lives around the world.

    BTS just finished their Las Vegas Concert series, ‘Permission To Dance on Stage’ in The United States (US). The group performed for four days on the stage. According to the data compiled by the agency, around 624,000 fans joined the K-pop group BTS concerts series both online and offline.

    The agency official said, “According to Allegiant Stadium, BTS has been the one and only music act that has performed solo concerts at the venue four times in a row and attracted 200,000 people through four sessions of the show.

    “Permission to Dance on Stage” series was first launched in October last year in Seoul, Korea through Livestream. Then, they later performed in Los Angeles in November/December and then in Seoul in March 2022. BTS wrapped the concert series in Las Vegas this month.

  • Oscars 2022 Winners: Deaf actor Troy marks a historic win at Academy Awards

    Oscars 2022 Winners: Deaf actor Troy marks a historic win at Academy Awards

    94th Academy Awards kick started in Los Angeles, United States (US) on March 27, 2022. This time, the prestigious award ceremony also celebrated a win for a differently-abled actor however it also witnessed violence on the stage of Academy Awards 2022.

    American actor, Troy Kotsur has made history for the first time as a deaf male actor to win Academy Awards 2022 for Best Male Actor in Supporting Role in ‘CODA'(Child of Deaf Adults).

    Oscar-winning Korean actress, Youn Yuh Jung, presented the award to Troy Kotsur. He received heartfelt support from Yuh Jung who used sign language to announce his name as the winner. He got a standing ovation and applause in sign language from the audience.

    Troy Kotsur made an emotional speech and dedicate the award to his father.

    The actor said, “My dad, he was the best signer in our family, but he was in a car accident and he became paralyzed from the neck down and he no longer was able to sing. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You are my hero.”

    CODA also took the award for Best Picture in Oscars 2022 which is a historic win for the deaf community.

    American actor, Will Smith also sparked a controversy when he slapped comedian Chris Rock on the stage because the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jade Pinkett Smith.

    Rock made a joke about Jade Pinkett Smith starring in “G.I. Jane 2” because of her baldness while announcing the best Documentary Feature. He was referencing the 1997 movie, G.I Jane in which Demi Moore portrayed a character with a shaved head. Pinkett Smith has a medical condition, alopecia which causes hair loss.

    British-Pakistani, Riz Ahmed also bagged the first oscar award along with director/writer Aneil Karia for the Best Live-Action Short Film, The Long Goodbye. Riz Ahmed is the co-writer and also starred in the short film.

    Here is the full list of winners of the Academy Awards 2022:

    BEST PICTURE
    CODA 

    BEST DIRECTOR
    Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) 

    BEST ACTRESS
    Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

    BEST ACTOR
    Will Smith (King Richard)

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
    Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
    Troy Kotsur (CODA)

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN
    Cruella (Jenny Beavan)

    BEST SOUND
    Dune

    BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
    Dune

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
    CODA

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
    Belfast

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT
    The Windshield Wiper

    BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
    The Long Goodbye

    BEST FILM EDITING
    Dune

    BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
    The Eyes of Tammy Faye

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
    Encanto

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
    Summer of Soul

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    The Queen of Basketball 

    BEST ORIGINAL SONG
    No Time to Die

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
    Dune

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
    Drive My Car (Japan) 

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
    Dune

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
    Dune

    .

  • Brad Pitt sues Angelina Jolie for selling her shares without his consent

    Brad Pitt sues Angelina Jolie for selling her shares without his consent

    Brad Pitt is suing ex-wife Angelina Jolie, accusing her of illegally selling off her share of their French estate, Château Miraval.

    Pitt alleges they had agreed that neither of them would sell their share of the Chateau where they married in 2014 and its profitable vineyard without agreement from the other party.

    It is reported that Jolie sold off the venue to Russian businessman Yuri Shelfer despite “Pitt’s passion” for the property.

    The court documents, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, state, “Jolie consummated the purported sale without Pitt’s knowledge, denying Pitt the consent right she owed him and the right of first refusal her business entity owed his.”

    “She sold her interest with the knowledge and intention that Shefler and his affiliates would seek to control the business to which Pitt had devoted himself and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval.”

    Jolie, 46, and Pitt, 58, bought the estate in 2008 for $28.4 million.

  • Grammy nominated Pakistani Arooj Aftab in new Coke Studio season, people can’t wait

    Grammy nominated Pakistani Arooj Aftab in new Coke Studio season, people can’t wait

    Coke Studio has revealed the line-up of December 2021’s Coke Studio season 14 in which the first Pakistani woman Grammy-nominated musician, Arooj Aftab is taking part. Netizens are expressing their excitement after the singer uploaded her coke studio poster on her social media accounts.

    Netizens expressed their excitement on her social media accounts

    https://twitter.com/sshireenqasim/status/1479379167896653827
    https://twitter.com/parlegstan/status/1479164715783704579

    While promoting the music show she wrote, “For folks who are phased by this – this is not an advertisement or endorsement. It’s a sponsored music show, the only major music platform in Pakistan. So this one is really for the culture! ❤️”

    Arooj Aftab was born in Saudi Arabia where she lived until she turned 11. She then moved to her hometown, Lahore with her family. She described her family as “fiendy music lovers” as they used to sit together and had deep conversations regarding music.

    She was raised listening to legendary musician and Qawwali singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and singer-songwriters like Jeff Buckley. She also covered the song, “Hallelujah” during her teenage time in the early 2000s which went viral in Pakistan through email and file-sharing sites like Napster and Limewire.

    Last year, The Grammies, the biggest music awards in the world, nominated her in the Best New Artist category and also for the Best Global Performance for her song, Mohabbat which also made it to the Summer playlist 2021 of Former United States (US) President, Barack Obama.

    Unfortunately, the Grammy Awards have been postponed indefinitely due to the rapid spread of the Omicron type of coronavirus, according to organisers. It was supposed to be held in a downtown Los Angeles arena on January 31 and broadcast live on the CBS network.

  • 2022 Grammy Awards officially postponed due to rise in Covid cases

    2022 Grammy Awards officially postponed due to rise in Covid cases

    The Grammy Awards event, which honours the best musical performances, has been postponed indefinitely due to the rapid spread of the Omicron type of the coronavirus, according to organisers.

    The performance was supposed to be held in a downtown Los Angeles arena on January 31 and broadcast live on the CBS network.

    “Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks,” CBS and the recording Academy said in a joint statement, adding that a new date would be announced soon.

    The Grammy Awards for 2021 have likewise been postponed because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

    Organisers had hoped to return this year to something closer to the traditional celebration with a large audience inside the former Staples Center, now called Crypto.com Arena.