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It was of course Beyonce’s night – making history and becoming the most decorated Grammy artist of all time (although she’s still waiting to win the best album prize despite multiple critically acclaimed and commercially successful records).

Queen Bey’s triumph aside, British pop duo Wet Leg smashed it and took home two awards less than two years after performing their first-ever gig; Viola Davis became only the 18th person in history to nab EGOT status (having an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) and hip hop finally got a moment in the spotlight after being snubbed by the awards for years.

Beyonce appears in the audience at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Beyonce was the big winner of the 2023 Grammys

But aside from all that, what else got people talking on the night?

Harry Styles sparkles

He had three costume changes on the night – one of which has been likened to being “sucked into a box of Christmas decorations,” but Harry Styles had the last laugh, winning one of the biggest prizes of the night – best album.

Harry Styles performs "As It Was" at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Harry Styles wore three different costumes

After starting his career working in a bakery aged 14 (W Mandeville bakery in Cheshire if you’re wondering) he has come a long way – helped of course by his worldwide fame earned on X Factor and beyond in One Direction.

While his stint in a manufactured boyband may have helped him become a household name and popular with teenage girls around the globe, it’s never a boon to musical credibility, so to finally nab such a major award is a big deal (he won his first Grammy for best pop vocal performance for Watermelon Sugar back in 2021, but winning one of the Grammy ‘big four’ gongs is on another level).

Taking it all in his stride, Styles said his winning album – Harry’s House – had been “from start to finish the greatest experience” of his life.

Following up on a stellar 2022 (he got nominated for a Mercury Prize and had chunky roles in two films), 2023 looks set to see Styles continue to shine.

Ben Affleck looks bored and Adele gets a surprise

Do we love anything as much as seeing celebrities out and about with fellow celebrities? Like another species entirely, it’s compelling to see how stars from across the showbiz spectrum interact with one another in their own natural habitat – the awards ceremony.

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All the best looks from the red carpet

Grammys 2023: Full list of the winners

Adele meeting Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was a thing of joy – leaving her laughing and blushing a year on from fangirling about how great he was.

Host Trevor Noah introduced the pair during his opening monologue, with Johnson appearing from nowhere to hug a delighted Adele and kiss her on the cheek. He later awarded her the Grammy for best pop solo performance.

Meanwhile, someone who seemed less overjoyed to be at the event was Ben Affleck, who despite being beside his new wife J Lo (who seemed to be having a wonderful time), looked somewhat miserable.

He trended on social media after being caught on camera with a blank look that appeared to show he’d rather be anywhere else than at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

Madonna’s appearance surprises

One of the performances of the night was from history-making singer Kim Petras – who became the first transgender woman to win best pop duo/group (alongside non-binary artist Sam Smith).

But it was the star who introduced her performance to the stage – Madonna – who got people talking.

Madonna
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Madonna’s appearance drew plenty of attention

The 64-year-old superstar, known for her chameleon-like ability to re-invent herself at the drop of a hat – left many fans scratching their heads over her altered appearance, and questioning her ultra-smooth skin and plumped-up cheeks.

Introducing the performance dressed in a floor-length black skirt suit and with her hair in pigtail plaits, Madonna told the crowd: “If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problem, provocative… or… dangerous, you are definitely on to something.”

Later accepting the Grammy for her duet on Sam Smith’s Unholy, Kim Petras highlighted her status as a transgender woman and paid tribute to heroes like the late transgender singer Sophie and of course Madonna.

Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon was also at the event – having managed to rock up in time – just days after being refused entry to a Marc Jacobs fashion show after arriving late.

Dave Chappelle’s controversial album triumphs

In 2021 his comedy album caused walkouts at Netflix after his special, The Closer, sparked controversy with the comedian being accused of transphobia. This year it’s won a Grammy.

Dave Chapelle
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Dave Chapelle’s controversial Netflix show won a Grammy

In his show, Chapelle said “gender was a fact” and shared his backing for Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has also attracted criticism for her comments about biological sex.

Despite the backlash, he pipped fellow comedians Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Randy Rainbow and Patton Oswalt to the post in the best comedy album category, claiming the fourth Grammy of his career.

The show – which remained available to view on Netflix after the streaming service decided it did not cross “the line on hate” – also had two Primetime Emmy nominations.

Chapelle didn’t come along to collect his award, which was accepted on his behalf by presenter and record producer Babyface.

It’s not the first time a Grammy winner has raised eyebrows. Last year controversial comedian Louis CK (who was also nominated in the category this year) won a Grammy for his album Sincerely Louis CK, despite admitting to a string of sexual misconduct allegations made by numerous women.

The Prince Of Darkness nabs two gongs

His acceptance speech – delivered by producer Andrew Watt on his behalf – was short and sweet – “I love you all and f*** off. Perfectly on-brand for the Prince Of Darkness.

Ozzy Osbourne at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2020. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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Ozzy Osbourne won his fifth Grammy award

Brummie star Ozzy Osbourne – who took home two Grammys – announced just last week he’d be stepping back from touring due to ill health.

Calling the news “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to share,” he told his legion of fans he was no longer “physically capable” of performing planned shows in Europe and the UK.

The 74-year-old former Black Sabbath singer has had extensive spinal surgery and other treatment over the past four years, after a fall at home in 2019 aggravated injuries he suffered in a near-fatal quad bike crash in 2003. And in 2020, he revealed he has Parkinson’s disease.

He won best metal performance for Degradation Rules and best rock album for Patient Number 9, taking his lifetime Grammy wins to five.

Perhaps the worthiest win of the night

While many were chuffed to see Ozzy get a gong, the real heart-warming win of the night was that of Shervin Hajipour – the Iranian singer who was awarded best song for social change.

The 25-year-old singer was seen wiping away a tear on an online video after he was announced as the recipient of the new special merit award by first lady Jill Biden.

His song, Baraye, which translates as “For” in English, has become an anthem for young Iranians protesting against Iran’s ruling theocracy, which have been sweeping the Islamic Republic for months.

Not at the event, he is currently banned from leaving the country and is on bail facing charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “instigating the violence”, due to the content of his song. If found guilty he could face up to six years in prison.

Reacting on Instagram, Hajipour simply wrote: “We won.” His fans were more emphatic, with German politician Hannah Neumann summing up the mood in her Twitter post: “Beyoncé may have won 32 #GRAMMYs- but this one surely is the most important one this year.”

And possibly the most genuinely shocked Grammy winner in the history of the event

Blues singer Bonnie Raitt may not be a household name – but that didn’t stop her beating Beyonce, Adele, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Kendrick Lamar to one of the most prestigious prizes of the night.

Images of the 73-year-old guitarist looking beyond shocked went viral, as she found out her song Just Like That had taken the prize.

The touching break-up song was inspired by a story of a heart transplant and written in the style of the late singer-songwriter John Prine.

After getting over her shock, she thanked the voters, saying: “I don’t write a lot of songs, but I’m proud that you appreciate this one”.

Her win marks the first time a song written by a solo songwriter has been victorious since Rehab by the late Amy Winehouse won in 2008.

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Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

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Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Alan Yentob, the former BBC presenter and executive, has died aged 78.

A statement from his family, shared by the BBC, said Yentob died on Saturday.

His wife Philippa Walker said: “For Jacob, Bella and I, every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

“He was curious, funny, annoying, late, and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”

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Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held a number of positions – including controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, and head of music and art.

He was also the director of BBC drama, entertainment, and children’s TV.

Yentob launched CBBC and CBeebies, and his drama commissions included Pride And Prejudice and Middlemarch.

Alan Yentob with former BBC director general Tony Hall in 2012. Pic: Reuters.
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Alan Yentob (left) with former BBC director general Tony Hall in 2012. Pic: Reuters.

The TV executive was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King in 2024 for services to the arts and media.

In a tribute, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said: “Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

“Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn’t performative – it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.”

BBC Radio 4 presenter Amol Rajan described him on Instagram as “such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

“I commend his spirit to the living.”

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Gillian Anderson warns UK homelessness ‘will only get worse’

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Gillian Anderson warns UK homelessness 'will only get worse'

Gillian Anderson has warned homelessness is a growing problem in the UK – one that will only get worse if we enter a recession.

The award-winning actress, who is playing a woman facing homelessness along with her husband in her latest film, The Salt Path, told Sky News: “It’s interesting because I feel like it’s even changed in the UK in the last little while.”

Born in Chicago, and now living in London, she explained: “I’m used to seeing it so much in Vancouver and California and other areas that I spent time. You don’t often see it as much in the UK.”

Her co-star in the film, White Lotus actor Jason Isaacs, chips in: “You do now.”

“It’s now becoming more and more prevalent since COVID,” said Anderson, “and the current financial situation in the country and around the world.

“It’s a topic that I think will be more and more in the forefront of people’s minds, particularly if we end up going into a recession.”

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in The Salt Path. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

The film is based on Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir, which depicts her and her husband’s 630-mile trek along the Cornish, Devon and Dorset coastline, walking from Minehead, Somerset to Land’s End.

Written from her notes on the journey, The Salt Path went on to sell over a million copies worldwide and spent nearly two years in The Sunday Times bestseller list. Winn’s since written two more memoirs.

Isaacs, who plays her husband Moth Winn in the movie, told Sky News that Winn told him she “hopes [the film] makes people look at homeless people when they walk by in a different light, give them a second look and maybe talk to them”.

With record levels of homelessness in the UK, with a recent Financial Times analysis showing one in every 200 households in the UK is experiencing homelessness, the cost of living crisis is worsening an already serious problem.

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

The film sees Ray and Winn let down by the system, first by the court which evicts them from their home, then by the council which tells them despite a terminal diagnosis they don’t qualify for emergency housing.

Following the loss of their family farm shortly after Moth’s shock terminal diagnosis with rare neurological condition Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), the couple find solace in nature.

They set off with just a tent and two backpacks to walk the coastal path.

Isaacs says living in a transient way comes naturally to actors, admitting like his character, he too “lives out of a suitcase” and is “away on jobs often”.

Read more:
Is this every actor’s bucket list job?

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

Shot in 2023 across Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Wales, Anderson says as a city-dweller, the locations had an impact on her.

Anderson reveals: “As I’ve gotten older, I have become more aware of nature than […] when I was younger, and certainly in filming this film and being outside and so much of nature being a third character, it did shift my thinking around it.”

Meanwhile, Isaacs says he discovered a “third character” leading the film just the day before our interview, when speaking to Winn on the phone.

Isaacs says the author told him: “I feel like there’s three characters in the film,” going on, “I thought she was going to say nature, but she said, ‘No, that path'”.

Isaacs elaborates: “Not just nature, but that path where the various biblical landscapes you get and the animals, they matter.

“The things that happen on that path were a huge part of their own personal story and hopefully the audience’s journey as well.”

The Salt Path comes to UK cinemas on Friday 30 May.

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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed: Weapons supervisor convicted in fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set freed from jail

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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed: Weapons supervisor convicted in fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set freed from jail

A weapons supervisor who was jailed for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie, Rust, has been freed.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was released on parole from the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants on Friday, after serving her 18-month sentence, NBC News, Sky’s US partner said, quoting New Mexico Corrections Department spokesperson, Brittany Roembach.

Gutierrez-Reed was released to return home to Bullhead City, Arizona, where she will be on parole for a year for the manslaughter case.

RUST armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed jailed for involuntary manslaughter of Halyna Hutchins, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA - 15 Apr 2024
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in court today as she is jailed 18 months for the involuntary manslaughter on the set of the Rust movie on October 21, 2021 over the fatal shooting of the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

15 Apr 2024
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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in court as she was jailed for 18 months for involuntary manslaughter. Pic: Rex/Shutterstock

Halyna Hutchins pictured in 2017 at an Artists for Peace and Justice party, 70th Cannes Film Festival, France
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Halyna Hutchins pictured in 2017. Pic: Rex/Shutterstock

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the Western film in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021, when a prop gun held by star and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Hutchins died following the incident, while director Joel Souza was injured.

Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted of charges of tampering with evidence in the investigation, but will be on probation over a separate conviction for unlawfully carrying a gun into a Santa Fe bar where firearms are banned weeks before Rust began filming.

Actor Alec Baldwin reacts after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. (Pool Video via AP)
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Alec Baldwin reacts after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case against him. Pic: AP

Involuntary manslaughter means causing someone’s death due to negligence, without intending to.

At her 10-day trial in New Mexico in March last year, prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of Rust and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

The 18-month sentence she was given was the maximum available for the offence.

Baldwin, 67, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the case was dramatically dismissed by the judge during his trial last July over mistakes made by police and prosecutors, including allegations of withholding ammunition evidence from the defence.

The actor had always denied the charge, maintaining he did not pull the gun’s trigger and that others on the set were responsible for safety checks on the weapon.

Rust was finished in Montana and released earlier this month, minus the scene they were working on when Hutchins was shot, Souza, speaking at November’s premiere in Poland, said.

Rust is billed as the story of a 13-year-old boy who, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents’ deaths in 1880s Wyoming, goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after being sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.

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