Celebrities and sports stars named as UK’s most influential black people – but trailblazing businesswoman takes top spot
Sir Lenny Henry, Stormzy and Michaela Coel are among those to have been named on a list of the UK’s most influential black people – but a history-making female businesswoman has taken the top spot.
The Powerlist, which has been published annually since 2007, identifies the UK’s most powerful people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage.
The 2023 list includes actors Sir Lenny, 64, and Idris Elba, 50, actress and screenwriter Coel, 35, 29-year-old rapper Stormzy, UK Cyber Security Council chief Simon Hepburn and footballer Marcus Rashford.
But The Powerlist 2023 has been topped by chair of the John Lewis Partnership Dame Sharon White.
Sir Lenny Henry was also recognised
Dame Sharon, 55, who is the first ever female chair of the department store chain, said: “It is an incredible honour to have been chosen to receive this year’s Powerlist Award – particularly given the outstanding contributions of the other nominees.
“My hope is that we can take the serendipity out of social mobility – everyone should have the chance to be who they want to be in life, with their background as a source of pride, not a disadvantage.”
Read more:
Sir Lenny Henry ‘surprised’ by lack of black people at UK music festivals
Also featuring in The Powerlist top 10 is podcast host and Dragons Den star Steven Bartlett.
Organisers of the list say it was launched “to showcase black role models to young people”.
Many of those on the newly announced compilation, such as former professional footballer and sports presenter Alex Scott and Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya, have also featured in previous years.
Sports star and TV presenter, Alex Scott. Pic: Associated Press
Raheem Sterling
Among those featuring for the very first time are the Bank of England’s chief financial officer Afua Kyei and its senior advisor Tangy Morgan, as well as chair of the UK Cyber Security Council Dr Claudia Natanson.
Raheem Sterling, Edward Enninful, David Lammy, and Munroe Bergdorf are also on the list.
The Powerlist is selected by an independent panel of judges led by chair Dame Linda Dobbs, a judicial commissioner and former High Court judge.
‘Huge impact’
The judging panel also included businessman and winner of the first series of The Apprentice, Tim Campbell.
Michael Eboda, chief executive of Powerful Media who published The Powerlist 2023, said it was “the leading showcase, acknowledgement and reminder of the amazing individuals of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage we have in the UK”.
He added that Dame Sharon was an example of “true excellence”.
“She has been able to have a huge impact in one of the top retail companies in the UK, which is truly remarkable. I applaud the great work she is doing.”
More plaudits
Sir Lenny was also honoured at this year’s Ethnicity Awards.
He was named alongside Sir Mo Farah, 39, who won the Sports Trailblazer Award for using his platform to speak out against discrimination after he revealed earlier this year he was trafficked to the UK when he was eight.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Mo Farah on being trafficked: ‘I would lock myself in a bathroom and cry’
Sir Lenny, 64, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for championing racial equality and standing up for communities across his long career as an actor, broadcaster and comedian.
Olympic runner Dina Asher-Smith, 26, was awarded Sports Personality of the Year for opening up about her experiences of racism and Alison Hammond, 47, was given the host of the year prize.
Emeli Sande, 35, received the Music Artist of the Year Award for “fighting discrimination and equality”, while Azeem Rafiq, 31, was presented with the Media Impact Award for speaking out about the racial abuse and bullying he experienced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Saoirse Ronan has become one of the Academy Awards’ anomalies after being nominated four times without taking home a statuette.
The American-born Irish star received her first Oscars nod at the age of just 13, when she featured in the best supporting actress category for her role in Atonement.
Since then, despite being shortlisted three times for best actress for Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women, she has never won.
Now, the 30-year-old is set to compete in both the lead and supporting actress categories at the 2025 awards for her new films The Outrun and Steve McQueen’s Blitz.
Saoirse Ronan stars in The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
If she secures one or both nominations, she would become the youngest actor to receive five, or six, nods.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, The Outrun, which is inspired by the life of writer Amy Liptrot, follows a Scottish woman struggling with alcoholism while living in fast-paced London.
In a bid to maintain her sobriety, she returns home to Orkney and finds herself in the process.
“Nora really wanted us to have our input in terms of who these characters were and situations that we would find them in”, Ronan told Sky News.
“We had a script that was written and the structure of it was there, but we were sort of able to fill in the gaps a little bit.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
The Scottish drama marks the first time Ronan has worked as a producer on a project and she says she took a lot from the experience.
She said: “There is a lot going on behind the scenes that actors are protected from, and sometimes I think it would be valuable for an actor to know the drama that exists when they’re not around.
“I think it might make people behave a little bit better and to know that it is sort of like a domino effect when there’s one thing that’s out of place, it really will affect everything else by you not getting on to a call at a certain time.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
She said it gave her a new appreciation for the craft.
“It’s very difficult to get an independent movie made and to try and source the money needed to just even pay people is difficult sometimes.
“So, yes, it’s just having an awareness of and the graft involved and that has definitely made me appreciate the movies that I’m on so much more where I am just an actor and I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff at all.”
The film also stars The Lazarus Project’s Paapa Essiedu as her boyfriend Daynin.
Battling with the person she has become, her character Rona returns to the Orkney Islands to try to reconnect with nature.
Read more entertainment and arts news:
The King leads tributes to Dame Maggie Smith
Creator of controversial Netflix drama hits back at family criticism
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Oscar nominee said sea swimming at a remote location was therapeutic for the cast and crew.
“We finished [shooting] on Papa Westray, where we had to have a micro crew. There’s 90 inhabitants on the whole island.
“We stayed in people’s homes because there’s no hotels or anything like that. We ate together every night. We walked to work like it was a very stripped back experience in terms of filmmaking.
“And I think that was sort of felt like art imitating life a little bit after all the chaos of the beginning of the shoot. To have that at the end was wonderful.”
The Outrun is in cinemas now.
Pop star Lana Del Rey has married her alligator tour guide partner in Louisiana, according to reports.
The singer, 39, and Jeremy Dufrene, 49, are said to have obtained a marriage licence in Lafourche parish on Monday and had their wedding three days later.
Footage obtained by the Daily Mail appears to show Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Woodridge Grant, wearing a white dress where Mr Dufrene works as a tour guide in Des Allemandes, south of New Orleans.
Del Rey has not commented on the reported wedding.
Read more from Sky News
Maggie Smith dies aged 89
Lady Gaga can’t let go of Joker character
Comedian receiving end of life cancer care
She met Mr Dufrene in 2019, posting pictures of her on one of his tours with the caption: “Jeremy lemme be captain at Arthur’s Air Boat Tours x.”
Arthur’s Air Boat Tours gives guided tours through the local swamps, where its website says visitors are likely to see “300 species of birds” and “alligators up close and personal”.
Mr Dufrene’s profile page says he previously worked seven days a week at a chemical plant – when he would “shrimp on vacation days”.
“After a little convincing by his family, he got his captain’s licence and started running tours,” it adds.
“Jeremy’s a great airboat captain and loves interacting with wildlife & customers.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The couple were pictured together at Reading and Leeds festival this summer where Del Rey headlined.
She previously dated Scottish singer Barrie-James O’Neill for three years and was last linked to a police officer called Sean Larkin.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Woman accuses rapper of further sexual assault allegations in new lawsuit
Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with further sexual assault allegations after a woman filed a lawsuit in New York.
In the fresh civil case, the woman – identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe – claims she was repeatedly raped and drugged at the music mogul’s homes and became pregnant after one of the encounters.
It follows a series of similar legal cases brought by women against Combs, 54, who was arrested at a hotel in New York last week on sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.
The latest lawsuit was filed on Friday against Combs, his companies and several associates, and seeks undisclosed damages for physical injuries, severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety and other harm.
The woman claims she met Combs abroad in 2020 and that the assaults and harassment continued through to July this year.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rappers dodge Diddy question
She says she was often coerced and harassed into travelling to Combs’ homes in New York, Los Angeles and Miami and other cities, and during every visit the rapper would make her “perform a show” for him.
In one encounter alleged to have taken place in July 2022, the woman claims she blacked out after being forced to take drugs that included ketamine.
She later allegedly took a pregnancy test and told Combs it was positive. She said an associate of the music producer repeatedly demanded her to get an abortion. The lawsuit states she had a miscarriage.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Diddy ‘didn’t do these things’ – lawyer
The woman, who is being represented by lawyers Marie Napoli and Joseph Ciaccio, also alleges Combs and his associates tracked her location and monitored her conversations.
She claims Combs discouraged her from working and gave her an “allowance” that he used to control her.
Read more:
What is Sean Combs accused of?
Former porn actress accuses rap mogul of sex assault
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“No one is above the law. Fame and wealth do not protect Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from serious allegations of sex trafficking and abuse,” Ms Napoli said in a statement.
Combs has been facing civil allegations including rape, sexual assault, and forced drugging since November 2023.
He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but remains jailed, having been denied bail. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.
A lawyer for Combs did not respond to the allegations made in Friday’s lawsuit when contacted by the Associated Press news agency.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports6 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports11 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway