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Stand-up comedian Jackie Mason – who went from rabbi to Broadway star – has died at the age of 93.

He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, his friend and lawyer Raoul Felder confirmed to Sky’s US partner NBC News.

He was having trouble breathing and had been at the hospital for two weeks before he died in his sleep.

Comic Jackie Mason addresses the media at Zanie's comedy club in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug 28, 2002, about the clubs decision to cancel comic Ray Hanania's appearance. Hanania was told hours before the show he couldn't perform because he is of Palestinian descent, Mason's manager said. (AP Photo/Stephen J. Carrera)
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Mason’s stand up comedy was often deemed controversial . Pic: AP

“He died peacefully in his sleep with his wife and a few friends by his side,” Mr Felder said.

COVID-19 was not a factor in his death.

Mason, born in Wisconsin in 1928 as Yacov Moshe Maza, was known for his quick wit and social commentary, which took him from comedy clubs to LA chat shows and Broadway stages.

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An often controversial figure, he was famed for his “Borscht Belt” style of comedy, where he embraced Jewish themes and political incorrectness as part of his act.

He got his big break in 1961 when he performed on the Steve Allen variety show – which took him to the world famous Ed Sullivan show, which he ended up getting banned from in 1964 when he apparently gave the host the finger after being told to wrap up his act.

He was later allowed back on the show in 1966, after Sullivan admitted he had made a mistake, but Mason said the situation “basically destroyed my career for at least 10, 15 years”.

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Treading the boards, Mason won a Tony Award in 1987 for his show Jackie Mason’s The World According to Me!, which ran for 573 performances in New York.

His other shows included the likes of Politically Incorrect in 1994-95, Love Thy Neighbour in 1996-97 and Freshly Squeezed in 2005.

Mason also performed in front of the Queen when his show Fearless played in the West End in 2012.

His final show, The Ultimate Jew, skipped the Broadway stage, but was described by Variety as “one long jab at the world’s hypocrisy, dusted with one-liners from the ‘take my wife, please’ vaults”.

NEW YORK, NY- OCTOBER 12: Jackie Mason having dinner at the West Way Diner on October 12, 2015, in New York City. Credit: Joseph Marzullo/MediaPunch /IPX
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Mason, pictured here in 2015, won awards for his stage shows. Pic: Joseph Marzullo/MediaPunch/IPx/AP

As well as being a stage comedian, he also had a small recurring role on The Simpsons where he voiced Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, Krusty The Clown’s father, bagging himself an Emmy win for the part in 1992. He appeared most recently in the long-running animated show in 2014.

He also played himself in an episode of the NBC workplace comedy 30 Rock in 2007.

Elsewhere, he was a commentator for BBC Scotland during the OJ Simpson murder trial, and later appeared in the film Caddyshack II – known for being a box office flop.

More recently, he has uploaded more than 200 videos to YouTube where he gave his opinions on politics and current affairs.

He is survived by his wife Jyll Rosenfeld, and daughter Sheba.

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Are Trump’s allies behind hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros?

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Are Trump's allies behind hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros?

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A new White House National Security Strategy gives us an insight into how Donald Trump views the world, and the US’s place within it.

Is this America rejecting Europe and uprooting the established world order?

Two massive media companies go head-to-head to buy Warner Bros in a media shake-up that will have a massive impact on the film and TV industry.

The Supreme Court seems poised to expand the president’s powers which could see the structure of the federal government significantly changed.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.

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Paramount launches hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros

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Paramount launches hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros

Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.

Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.

On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max

The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery's library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
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The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.

The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.

But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.

In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.

File pic: iStock
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File pic: iStock

David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.

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“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.

“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.

“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”

Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.

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President Trump may walk away from Ukraine peace process, his eldest son says

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President Trump may walk away from Ukraine peace process, his eldest son says

Donald Trump’s eldest son has said his father may walk away from the Ukraine peace process, claiming the issue is not a priority for Americans, and signalling Europe needs a better plan.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Sky’s lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim at Doha Forum 2025, Donald Trump Jr addressed issues including the US administration’s recent diplomatic efforts around the world.

He was speaking in his capacity as a business leader, setting out his agenda for “America first” investments in defence technology and artificial intelligence (AI), drawing a direct line between global stability and economic prosperity.

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Donald Trump meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington earlier this year. Pic: Reuters

When asked directly if he believed the US president would walk away from Ukraine, he answered: “I think he may, what’s good about my father and what’s unique about my father is you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s unpredictable.”

President Trump has led renewed efforts for a ceasefire deal with Russia in recent months.

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Drawing a parallel with his father’s current “war” on drug cartels, Donald Trump Jr described gangs bringing illegal drugs into America as a “far greater clear and present danger to the US than anything [going on] in the Ukraine or Russia”.

While he said he did not believe Ukraine would be “abandoned”, he said: “The American public doesn’t have the appetite [for endless wars and further funding of Ukraine’s military efforts].”

Describing Ukraine as “a far more corrupt country than Russia”, he characterised Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “one of the great marketeers of all time”, who he said had become “a borderline deity, especially to the left”.

He went on to describe President Trump’s approach as “common sense”.

China rivalry was the focus, but Musk got a mention


Yalda Hakim

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

In a country and at a conference which is friendly, even admiring of the Trump administration, Don Jr was in his element.

He’s here in his capacity as a business leader, promoting his venture, 1789 Capital which claims to be focused on “America First” investments.

But he wasn’t shy about discussing his father’s foreign policy achievements, boasting that Donald Trump had resolved seven or eight wars – conflicts that most ordinary Americans were unaware of.

His pitch is bullish and direct – the current US administration is projecting strength globally, stopping wars and creating investment opportunities which serves the American economy. It’s the MAGA mentality for the global audience.

It’s clear that the rivalry with China is their biggest focus, especially finding ways to combat their dominance over critical minerals.

“America can no longer just sit there and hope that China is going to be a good actor… I think the rest of the world understands that they want America to be at the forefront of all of that.”

When I asked him about recent efforts by President Trump to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, he responded forcefully. “We want peace, we want to stop the death.”

But he went on to say that Europe needed to shoulder the burden and currently they have no plan.

As he sat on the stage in Qatar, the country which has been at the centre of the ceasefire efforts for Gaza, he expressed hope that peace would prevail, but balanced expectations America would fund its re-construction. This would have to be a global effort.

“If there’s one thing my father is, it’s a builder… I think he can be the greatest construction manager in the history of the world, but no one in America wants to bear the entire responsibility of that.”

And, away from international diplomatic efforts, he was happy to announce a breakthrough closer to home.

The “bromance” with Elon Musk and President Trump is back on – calling the entrepreneur a “generational talent, a generational level of genius”.

‘Bromance’ back on

He also confirmed that Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was “100% back in the fold”, after previously appearing to fall out with the president.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump Jr’s investment company, 1789 Capital, heavily invested in some of Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in May. Pic: AP
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Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in May. Pic: AP

Directly comparing President Trump with Musk, he said: “Imagine dealing with one Donald Trump – now I have to deal with two.

“They’re very similar that way, so it created some headaches… but the reality is they’re both very much aligned, they’re on message with what we want to do with our country. What we want to do with freedom of speech.”

He went on: “Elon did incredible things for Twitter, really allowed the democratisation of truth and freedom and free speech to occur. That’s something that is a true threat in America right now.”

He also praised Musk as “changing the face of free speech, science and technology”, adding, “we have to protect our geniuses”.

When asked whether Mr Trump would stand for a third term, he joked that he could be “just trolling” those on the left.

He went on, “He’s the most unpredictable person, probably in the history of politics. Which is why he’s able to get something done. We’ll see.”

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