‘We cannot let Faye’s life end here’: Campaign to save young star fighting rare brain tumour
When the fatigue set in and the sensation in parts of her left side started flickering away, Faye Fantarrow thought she knew what was coming. At 20, the leukaemia she had survived twice as a child had returned for a third time, she feared.
“Just” the leukaemia, she says, knowing cancer is never a “just”. But having survived it twice before, at least she knew what to expect. Or thought she did.
Blood tests, however, came back normal, she says. No leukaemia. It was not until she had scans and eventually a biopsy that doctors were able to give her a diagnosis: an aggressive glioma brain tumour, believed to be an incredibly rare consequence of previous radiotherapy she had undergone as a teenager.
This was back in August. Since then Faye, from Sunderland, has had further radiotherapy to try and shrink several growths. But there is no cure in the UK.
An up-and-coming singer and musician, spotted on social media and subsequently signed by Eurythmics star Dave Stewart earlier in 2022, she was made aware of a lifeline – a trial at the City of Hope hospital in the city of Duarte in Los Angeles County, California; a complex treatment, at a total cost of £450,000.
Now, her friends and family, as well as other musicians, are doing everything possible to try to raise the money. Three-and-a-half weeks since a fundraising page was set up, donations have reached just over £121,000. A huge amount, but there is still a way to go.
“We cannot let Faye’s life end here,” her sister Abigail says on the fundraising webpage. “She is the brightest star you could ever find on the darkest night, she is strong, independent and talented… please donate… please help to help Faye fight.”
“It’s daunting but the security blanket I have around me because of the people who are putting money in and just not giving up on me – it doesn’t seem as daunting,” says Faye.
The fight is now on to raise the money for treatment in California.
Surviving leukaemia
Faye was just eight when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a form of blood cancer, for the first time. She underwent two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy that took away her hair and mobility, but as a child, she says a lack of proper awareness cushioned her from the situation, making her illness in some ways harder for her family.
And in a strange way, her cancer led to her life changing in a positive way; given a Brave Heart award for children facing illness or adversity, she chose an acoustic guitar, paving the way for her career as a singer-songwriter.
The leukaemia returned when she was 13 and this time, she would have to have a bone marrow transplant – a long, difficult process, but one she came through once again.
‘And then Mr Dave Stewart got in touch…’
Faye signed to Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records label earlier in 2022
Aged 15, Faye started playing the guitar seriously and began writing her own songs the following year. Aged 17, her music was played by BBC Introducing for the first time. And in 2021, she was named the winner of the Alan Hull award for songwriting – a prize given annually in the North East in memory of the Lindisfarne founder.
After years of cancer dominating her life, Faye was well and her music career was taking off. “And then Mr Dave Stewart got in touch,” she says.
Having first followed her on Instagram, Stewart later messaged the singer and began mentoring her, at first adding some production work to her demos remotely, then inviting her to record with him in London. Then they went to the Bahamas to record an EP.
“Things were going so well… and then I decided to mess everything up,” Faye jokes, referring to the tumour. But this is the hardest thing about being diagnosed now, she says. “I’m more aware of it now and obviously it’s affected my career as well. I don’t want this to undermine my career and everything I’ve worked to build.”
‘She’s a national treasure already’
Stewart and his Eurythmics bandmate Annie Lennox have both donated: Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
Stewart, also from Sunderland, has shared Faye’s story, calling her “an amazing young artist”. He has donated £50,000, and his Eurythmics bandmate Annie Lennox has also donated £10,000.
“Faye is a brilliant young artist, a singer-songwriter in a class of her own,” Stewart told Sky News. “Unique writers like Faye come few and far between and I knew the minute I heard her voice she was extraordinary.
“We spent an amazing time together recording her new EP this summer only to be hit with this devastating news no more than a few weeks after we finished recording.
“I cannot express enough how much I believe in Faye and her talents as a singer and performer, but it’s her astute observations of the world around her put in the words that makes me believe she deserves to be heard for a long, long time.
“At only 20 years old she’s a national treasure in my mind already and hopefully she will become one in yours, too.”
‘I can look towards a future’
Faye now suffers from seizures as a result of her tumours. She says she has good days and bad days. But she remains upbeat, saying she feels “euphoric” thinking about performing again following treatment in California; she is not thinking of it as a case of if, but when.
The treatment she needs is called CAR T-cell therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy – a “complex and specialist treatment”, according to Cancer Research UK. T cells are a type of white blood cell.
“With this treatment, a specialist collects and makes a small change to your T cells. After a few weeks, you have a drip containing these cells back into your bloodstream. The CAR T-cells then recognise and attack the cancer cells,” the charity says on its website.
“It is available as a possible treatment for some children with leukaemia and some adults with lymphoma. People with other types of cancer might have it as part of a clinical trial.”
Faye says the NHS has been “amazing” so far, but now she needs to get to the US.
“If anybody can give whatever they can, I’m eternally grateful for that,” she says. “I’m aware of the current climate… so even if it’s just sharing the story, talking about it. I’m fortunate enough that I have this option and people are getting behind me, that I can look towards a future. Even if it’s just talking about it, I can’t express the gratitude for that alone.”
But Faye’s mum puts it simply. “£450,000 seemed an insurmountable amount. But then I thought, well, if we can reach 450,000 people and they all just give a pound, then we can do it. And that’s all we ask. If someone can give a pound, then we can do it.”
You can donate to the Fight For Faye fundraiser here.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ‘private sex life’ turned into ‘crime scene’, defence says in closing argument
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a “fake trial” in which his unusual sexual preferences have been unfairly criminalised and his “private sex life” turned into a “crime scene”, his defence team has argued in the final day of closing arguments.
At the end of week seven in the sex-trafficking trial, Combs’s lead counsel, Marc Agnifilo, told the court Combs was the victim of an overzealous prosecution, who had portrayed his “swinger” lifestyle as a racketeering conspiracy.
Combs listens as his lawyer Marc Agnifilo makes his closing arguments. Pic: Reuters
Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking, and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has strenuously denied all allegations of sexual abuse. If found guilty, he could face being put behind bars for life.
Frequently adopting a sarcastic tone, Agnifilo mocked the government’s case against Combs, belittling the agents who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil at his properties last year.
Commenting that America’s streets were now “safe from Astroglide”, he went on, “Way to go, fellas”, before adding, “you do you”.
He said prosecutors had “badly exaggerated” the evidence against Combs, presenting “threesomes as racketeering”, arguing that he is not guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
The defence also highlighted the prosecution’s decision to indict Combs on a racketeering conspiracy charge alone, flagging that no alleged co-conspirators have been indicted alongside him.
The defence’s closing arguments lasted for just over four hours, with members of Combs’s family, including six of his children and his mother, watching on in the public gallery.
A court sketch of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Pic: Reuters
Agnifilo said Combs has “taken care of people”, including Jane, a former girlfriend who testified under a pseudonym, paying for her rent and for her legal representation.
The defence lawyer said: “I don’t know what Jane is doing today, but she’s doing it in a house he’s paying for.”
He went on: “This isn’t about crime. It’s about money. This is about money.”
Presenting the trial as a zero-sum game, he described his former girlfriend of almost 11 years Cassie Ventura as the “winner in this whole thing”, noting that she settled her civil case with Combs for $20m (£14m) in November 2023, as well as a $10m (£7.3m) from the InterContinental Hotel.
Cassie and Jane both gave evidence during the trial that they were coerced repeatedly by Combs to perform in drug-fuelled, days-long sex marathons with male sex workers, while Combs watched, directed, masturbated and sometimes filmed the encounters.
But the defence accused prosecutors of having invaded Combs’s bedroom and his most intimate personal affairs.
Agnifilo asked: “Where’s the crime scene? It’s [Combs’s] sex life.”
Continuing his line of sarcastic quips, he joked, “We need a bigger roll of crime scene tape”, referencing a line from the classic movie Jaws.
Agnifilio’s sarcasm irked the prosecution, who later complained to the judge that he was using “improper arguments”.
Diddy and Cassie in 2016. Pic: zz/JMA/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
The defence characterised Combs’s relationship with Cassie as “a great modern love story”, going on to describe her as a “gangster” for cheating on him with rapper Kid Cudi.
They also characterised the “freak offs” as “beautiful”, saying the videos showed “everyone smiling”, eating and listening to music, and commenting that Combs was “not the only man in America making homemade porn”.
The defence admitted Combs was a domestic abuser, but said such behaviour did not justify the grave charges he faces.
Agnifilo advised the jury to “Call this as you see it,” asking them to “acquit Sean Combs of all the counts” and “return him to his family”, who he said has been waiting for him.
Combs, who has been in a New York jail since his arrest in September last year, did not give evidence during the trial.
Following the defence’s closing argument, assistant US attorney Maurene Comey delivered a rebuttal summation in which she said the defence’s argument that Cassie, Jane and Mia, a former employee who also testified under a pseudonym, all “wanted sex” was a lie, telling the court none of the women had reason to speak anything other than the truth.
She also said the “freak off” videos tell only “part of the story”.
Comey said Combs had spent the last 20 years believing himself to be “above the law”, seeing himself as “untouchable” and “a god among men”.
She said his impunity would end now in this courtroom, before urging the jury to “find him guilty” and “hold him accountable”.
On Monday, the judge will read the law to the jury, after which deliberations will begin.
To convict Combs, the 12 jurors must vote unanimously.
Entertainment
Glastonbury performers criticise political interference in the festival after Kneecap controversy
Glastonbury 2025 is in full swing, with artists including Charli XCX, The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, and Alanis Morissette among the stars set to entertain the masses this year.
But politicians who won’t even be setting foot on Worthy Farm in Somerset have been making their thoughts known about this year’s line-up – in particular the Irish-language rappers Kneecap, who are on the bill on Saturday.
The trio made a huge Glastonbury debut last year – impressing the likes of Noel Gallagher, who turned out for a set. But the path to a bigger stage this time round has made headlines for different reasons.
Kneecap at the premiere of their self-titled film in London. Pic: PA
Outspoken on the war in Gaza, Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O hAnnaidh, appeared in court earlier this month charged with a terror offence, for allegedly displaying a flag in support of the proscribed group Hezbollah at a Kneecap gig in London last November.
He is due back in court in August. On social media, he denied support for Hezbollah after the charge was announced, but the trio have held firm on their support for Palestinians.
Removed from the bills of some festivals in the run-up to Glastonbury, there were calls from some for them to be taken off here, too – including from the prime minister.
When asked by The Sun, Sir Keir Starmer said it was not “appropriate”, and he did not think they should play.
Kneecap’s Liam Og O hAnnaidh leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Pic: PA
Protesters gather in support of Kneecap outside court in London. Pic PA
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In an interview with The Guardian as the festival got under way, O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was asked if he regretted what was depicted in a video of the alleged offence that circulated on social media.
“It’s a joke,” he replied. “I’m a character. Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I’m supposed to know every f****** thing that’s thrown on stage, I’d be in Mensa.”
He told the newspaper he did not know every proscribed organisation, saying he had enough to think about when he is on stage.
“I’m thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat.”
Glastonbury gets under way at Worthy Farm in Somerset
Dilemma for the BBC
For the BBC, which broadcasts a lot of the main sets live, it poses a dilemma.
When asked if it would be showing Kneecap’s set live, a spokesperson said artists were booked by festival organisers and their own plans would ensure editorial guidelines are met.
“Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines,” they said. “Decisions about our output will be made in the lead up to the festival.”
Which means it’s unlikely they’ll be streaming Kneecap live – but some of their set at least may be made available later.
To those who object to them being allowed a stage here at all, it’s still allowing the band a very prominent platform.
But Glastonbury has always leaned left, featuring acts unafraid to share their political views – and hosting former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on stage in 2017.
Festival founder Michael Eavis told the Glastonbury Free Press that people have always come to the festival for these reasons – and made his views clear: “People that don’t agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else.”
Glastonbury co-founder Sir Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily as the festival opens for 2025. Pic: PA
Singer and activist Billy Bragg, who organises the Left Field stage each year, said Glastonbury has always been political.
“When I first came here in 1984, it was a CND (Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament) festival, and everybody was in opposition, or every young person, was opposed to Margaret Thatcher’s policies. And whatever issues – CND, the miners, gay rights, they came, it’s always been that.
“So I don’t know why everyone’s saying this year it’s a bit political. It’s always been political. I suppose the prime minister saying who can and who can’t play might have something to do with it.”
Bragg said he was “proud” of Glastonbury organisers for “standing up to it” and ignoring the noise.
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Glastonbury Festival 2025 has started – here’s what you need to know
Accusations of ‘corporate control’
Politics and pop have always been intertwined for older acts such as Neil Young, who headlines the Pyramid Stage on Saturday – and we know the BBC won’t be showing this one live, but perhaps for different reasons.
Before his headline slot was confirmed, Young, who began his career in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield, said he had initially turned down the offer to perform, saying the festival was “under corporate control” of the broadcaster.
Earlier this week, the corporation confirmed it would not show the set live “at the artist’s request”.
Neil Young won’t have his set televised by the BBC. Pic: Getty
Singer-songwriter John Fogerty, one of the founders of US blues rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, is also on the bill this year – and said songwriters should talk about what’s going on in the world around them, “certainly if they have a point of view and they’d like to share it”.
There’s a balance, he added. “I was happy to write Proud Mary, which is sort of Americana, you know, sort of love song to America, really.
“But I wrote Fortunate Son right in the middle of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. And that has a place too. People need to feel free to write more music like that.”
John Fogerty is on the bill this year. Pic: Getty
With Donald Trump back in power, the US is in “political turmoil”, Fogerty said. “It’s almost, you know, I should go sit down somewhere and write a song about this – and then you go, oh my goodness, I already did.”
For fans at Glastonbury, music as ever is the focus here – and the feeling from most is that politicians should stay out of it.
“The prime minister and pop music don’t really go together,” said Bragg. “I don’t think anybody, leader of the opposition either, should say who can and who can’t play at a festival.”
Entertainment
Jeff Bezos’s Venice wedding celebrations begin with star-studded party after fresh protests
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s star-studded wedding celebrations in Venice have begun, with VIP guests including the Kardashians descending on the Italian city.
The billionaire Amazon founder and his journalist fiancee waved to onlookers as they left a luxury hotel to travel to their pre-wedding reception by water taxi on Thursday evening.
Hollywood star Orlando Bloom was seen flashing a peace sign to fans as he left Venice’s Gritti Palace Hotel and he was soon followed by TV presenter Oprah Winfrey, who smiled and waved.
Orlando Bloom donning all white. Pic: Reuters
Oprah Winfrey is one of the 200-250 guests. Pic: Reuters
Kim and Khloe Kardashian travelled to the reception with their mother Kris Jenner – who snapped a picture of the pair on a water taxi – and other notable figures in town for the nuptials include Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Kris Jenner snaps a photo of Khloe and Kim Kardashian. Pic: Reuters
Kim Kardashian gestures on a boat as Khloe appears to take a selfie.
Pic: Reuters
Some 200-250 A-list guests from showbusiness, politics and finance are expected to attend the events, with the wedding and its parts estimated to cost €40m-€48m (£34m-£41m).
Bezos, his soon-to-be wife and their famous guests have taken over numerous locations in the city, with the couple staying in the luxury Aman hotel, where rooms go for at least €4,000 per night.
The bride and groom leaving their hotel. Pic: AP
The first of the weekend’s many wedding parties is taking place in the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church that hosts masterpieces by 16th century painter Tintoretto.
While the couple and their A-list guests were all smiles, some in Venice are not happy about the wedding – with protesters seeing it as an example of the city being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders.
Read more: Why are activists protesting the wedding?
An activist from Extinction Rebellion unfolds a banner in front of St Mark’s Basilica. Pic: AP
An activist climbed one of the poles in the main St Mark’s Square on Thursday, unfurling a banner which said: “The 1% ruins the world.”
Elsewhere, a life-size mannequin of Bezos clutching an Amazon box was dropped into one of the city’s famous canals.
In a bid to keep demonstrators away from Thursday’s party, the city council banned pedestrians and water traffic from the area surrounding the venue, from 4.30pm local time to midnight.
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Bezos wedding protests explained
The couple will exchange their vows on Friday, on the small island of San Giorgio, opposite St Mark’s Square.
Another party will follow on Saturday – the venue for which was changed at the last-minute earlier this week.
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