It’s time for London to get the Hollywood treatment, with the great and the good of the film world in town for this year’s BAFTAs ceremony.
All Quiet On The Western Front, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Elvis and Tar are the films everyone is talking about ahead of this year’s ceremony, but of course there’s always more to the show than just the best picture prize.
Here are a few things to look out for ahead of the BAFTAs ceremony.
Celeb spotting
Image: Cate Blanchett, pictured at the Critics’ Choice Awards earlier in 2023, is a favourite for best actress. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
Organisers have said this year’s awards are shaping up to be one of the most well-attended on record, which hopefully means it’s a good year for A-list bingo.
Plus, there are the awards presenters too, with Ana Taylor-Joy, Ariana DeBose, Brian Cox, Catherine-Zeta-Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Eugene Levy, Geri Halliwell Horner, Jamie Dornan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Julianne Moore, Lashana Lynch, Lily James, Martin Freeman, Rami Malek, Rege Jean Page, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Sir Patrick Stewart, Sophie Turner, Taron Egerton and more all set to appear.
There’s also royalty too, thanks to the Prince and Princess of Wales.
And let’s not forget the host, Richard E Grant, who will be assisted by Alison Hammond presenting from the new BAFTA Studio area.
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Moving house
Image: Pic: BAFTA/Morley von Sternberg
The BAFTAs ceremony has been held at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the last few years, but this year moves to the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall – the same venue as BAFTA’s TV and Games awards.
“The move will see BAFTA programme its most ambitious and accessible night yet, bolstered by a refreshed production and format,” the organisation said when it announced the move.
Don’t expect a roast from ‘fanboy’ Grant
Image: Pic: BAFTA/Charlie Clift
Speaking of Grant, the 65-year-old actor is taking over hosting duties from Australian star Rebel Wilson, who helmed the ceremony in 2022.
“I’m going to be singing like Billy Crystal, dancing like Fred Astaire, funnier than Bob Hope, more beautiful than Joanna Lumley,” he has said. But he’s just kidding: “I have no idea. It’s very hard to see yourself on the outside.”
Wilson made some risque jokes about the Royal Family, Vladimir Putin, the gender pay gap, her flop film Cats and her own weight loss during her time on stage last year. Known for his roles in Withnail & I, Gosford Park, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker and Can You Ever Forgive Me? – for which he was BAFTA and Oscar nominated – Grant has said the humour may be a little different.
His own nominations in 2019 saw the actor becoming one of the stars of awards season that year, thanks to his unashamedly excited videos and posts on social media. “[Organisers] must know that I’m going to be a celebratory person rather than somebody who’s there to roast other actors so hopefully, that will work out, I don’t know yet,” he said ahead of the ceremony.
Grant also said he is “amazed” to be in the company of other previous hosts including Stephen Fry and Graham Norton – and that he is “such a fanboy” of fellow thespians that he found it an “incredible privilege” to meet BAFTA nominees.
Some of the show will be live for the first time ever
Image: Pic: BAFTA/Marc Hoberman
Unlike other awards shows, the BAFTAs ceremony has always previously been recorded a few hours before it is broadcast on air.
This year is sort of different. While most of the ceremony will air on a delay, the final four categories will be televised live for the first time in BAFTAs history.
Let’s hope the celebs are on their best behaviour, eh?
It’s clearly on Grant’s mind, as he’s said that rather than thinking about who will win those final prizes, he’ll be hoping that there are no fisticuffs on live TV.
As if that would ever happen at an A-list film awards show watched by millions…
The bookies’ faves
Image: Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin. Pic: 20th Century Studios
All Quiet On The Western Front leads the nominations with 14, but The Banshees of Inisherin is the favourite to win the big prize, for best film, according to bookies including Betfair and William Hill. Banshees star Farrell is the favourite to take home the best actor gong.
In the best actress category, it looks like the prize will go to either Blanchett for her performance in Tar, or Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once. And Everything Everywhere directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – aka The Daniels – are the ones to beat in the directing category.
How to watch
Image: Everything Everywhere All At Once. Pic: A24
The ceremony will be broadcast from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Sky News will be covering live from the red carpet beforehand and throughout the ceremony before the programme itself begins – follow our live blog here from about 2.30pm.
All the best actor nominees are first-timers
Image: Brendan Fraser in The Whale. Pic: A24
This year has been a big year for acting first-time nominees at all the film awards – the Oscars as well as the BAFTAs – but in the best actor category, every single nominee is up for the first time.
Here’s a reminder of the shortlist:
• Austin Butler – Elvis • Colin Farrell The Banshees of Inisherin • Brendan Fraser – The Whale • Daryl McCormack – Good Luck to You, Leo Grande • Paul Mescal – Aftersun • Bill Nighy – Living
Yes, even veteran Nighy has never been nominated before. And it’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for the likes of Mescal, just three years on from the release of his breakthrough series, Normal People; for McCormack, too, who is also in the running for this year’s BAFTA rising star award.
Fraser has received standing ovations at film festivals for his performance as an obese teacher in The Whale, and Butler’s performance has also received praise – but it looks like Farrell is the one to beat.
Overall, 14 of the 24 shortlisted in performance categories are first-time nominees, with de Armas, Danielle Deadwyler, Hong Chau, Kerry Condon and Ke Huy Qua among the newbies.
Tribute to the Queen
Image: Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her performance in The Queen. Pic: Granada Screen (2005) Ltd/ Pathe Renn Productions/Sky UK
Who better to lead the BAFTAs tribute to the Queen than Dame Helen Mirren, who has portrayed the monarch on both the big screen and stage throughout her career.
The veteran actress, 77, won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for her depiction of the royal in 2006’s biographical drama The Queen.
The Queen had a close association with the BAFTAs which spanned 50 years, during which she attended many events and also supported the organisation’s initiatives.
In April 2013, the monarch received an honorary BAFTA from Sir Kenneth Branagh at Windsor Castle, for her “tireless support” for the industry.
William and Kate on the guestlist
Image: Pic: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
In other royal news, William and Kate will be among those attending the ceremony – their first appearance at the show in three years.
The Prince of Wales has been the president of BAFTA since 2010.
The royal couple will watch the ceremony before meeting the winners and rising star award nominees.
Blue ribbon tributes
Image: The Swimmers (L to R): Nathalie Issa as Yusra Mardini, Manal Issa as Sara Mardini. Pic: Laura Radford/Netflix
Blanchett, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Yusra Mardini, who are goodwill ambassadors for the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, are set to be among artists wearing a blue ribbon to show support for refugees and those who have been displaced due to war and other events such as the Turkey-Syria earthquake over the past year.
A spokesperson for the organisation said: “The human themes of displacement, separation and loss are present in many of the films nominated this awards season, including The Swimmers (based on the story of UNHCR goodwill ambassador Yusra Mardini and her sister, Sara Mardini); Bad Axe; and Marcel The Shell.
“Through effective storytelling, these films can help to erode prejudice and misunderstandings, offer new perspectives, and help to build compassion…
“The wearing of the blue #WithRefugees ribbon on the red carpet sends a powerful visual message that everyone has the right to seek safety, whoever, wherever, whenever.”
Little Simz due to perform
London-born rapper Little Simz will perform at the show and has said she is “excited and honoured” to take part.
The star’s 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert saw her win Mobo, Ivor Novello and Brit awards – plus the coveted Mercury Prize.
The musician also has a starring role in BAFTA-winning series Top Boy.
“Powerful individuals” at the BBC are making the lives of their colleagues “unbearable”, the corporation’s chairman has said, after a review into its workplace culture.
The independent report, sparked by the Huw Edwards scandal, was carried out by Change Associates, the same management consultancy that led a similar review in 2013, following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
BBC chairman Samir Shah told staff ahead of the report’s release on Monday morning: “There is a minority of people whose behaviour is simply not acceptable. And there are still places where powerful individuals – on and off screen – can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable.”
He said the report made recommendations to “prioritise action over procedural change”, as well as addressing “deep-seated issues” including staff not feeling confident enough to speak up.
Mr Shah added: “In the end, it’s quite simple: if you are a person who is prepared to abuse power or punch down or behave badly, there is no place for you at the BBC.”
While the review, which heard from around 2,500 employees and freelancers from 19 different countries, found no evidence of a toxic culture within the corporation, some staff said there was “a minority of people at the BBC – both on and off-air – who were able to behave unacceptably without it being addressed”.
The report said: “Even though they are small in number, their behaviour creates large ripples which negatively impact the BBC’s culture and external reputation.”
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It said these people were “dotted across the organisation in different functions and departments”, and were “often in positions where power could be abused”.
While no specific names were mentioned in the report, it did note “some names were mentioned several times”.
Image: Huw Edwards was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence in September. Pic: PA
Some considered ‘indispensable’
One example of poor behaviour given included an “untouchable” presenter being “called out for exceptionally inappropriate language”. It said that while “a report was made” and sanctions promised, a senior manager who was in the room at the time of the incident was “perceived as deferring so as not to rock the boat”.
It said a blind eye could be turned to poor behaviours “when productions were award winning or attracting large audiences”.
The report went on to warn that, “at its worst”, the corporation “rewards” such individuals “by providing little or no consequence to their actions”.
It recognised that some of those displaying “unacceptable behaviour” were perceived as “indispensable” to the corporation, and that by moving “potentially vexatious issues” to formal grievance without appropriate due diligence, the BBC was “tolerating” the problem.
It also said that by keeping those who formally raised an issue “in the dark about progress and outcomes,” it was unfairly punishing them.
The BBC board has fully accepted the report and its findings, as has BBC management.
Image: BBC chairman Samir Shah. Pic: PA
BBC director-general Tim Davie called the report “an important moment for the BBC and the wider industry”.
He said the corporation would implement the recommendations “at pace”, making sure that BBC values are “lived and championed by the whole organisation each and every day.”
Actions being taken include:
• A strengthened code of conduct, with specific guidance for on-air presenters • A more robust disciplinary policy, with updated examples of misconduct and clear consequences • All TV production partners must meet Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) industry standards • A new “Call It Out” campaign to promote positive behaviour, empower informal resolution and challenge poor conduct • Clear pledges for anyone raising concerns, setting out what they can expect from the BBC
Further actions include succession planning for the most senior on-air roles, a new “resolving concerns helpline”, more training for managers and clearer behaviour expectations for freelancers.
A difficult year for the BBC
The BBC has been under pressure to act after a string of complaints against some of its top talent over the last 12 months.
Brand, who worked for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music between 2006 and 2008, denies all allegations against him and says all his sexual encounters were consensual.
The BBC also apologised in January after a review found it “did not take adequate action” upon learning about concerns over former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood following claims of “bullying and misogynistic behaviour”.
And late last year, Greg Wallace stepped down from his presenting role on MasterChef after multiple historical allegations of misconduct.
Wallace’s lawyers have said it is “entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”. Wallace has since said he is seeking “space to heal”.
In October 2016, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint – with jewellery worth millions of dollars stolen during the audacious heist in Paris.
It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years – and made front pages around the world.
Now, almost a decade on, the case is finally coming to court.
Why has it taken so long? Will Kardashian give evidence? And who exactly are the “grandpa robbers” facing trial?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Image: Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
What happened?
Two years after Kardashian and rapper Kanye West tied the knot in an ostentatious week-long celebration spanning Paris and Florence, the Kardashian-West clan were back in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week.
Her then husband had returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour – but Kardashian, along with her sister Kourtney and various members of their entourage, remained in Paris, staying in an exclusive set of apartments so discreet they’ve been dubbed the No Address Hotel.
Nestled on Tronchet Street, just a stone’s throw from Place de l’Opéra, and close to the fashionable Avenue Montaigne, the Hotel de Pourtalès is popular with A-list stars staying in the French capital.
A stay in the Sky Penthouse, the suite occupied by Kardashian, will currently set you back about £13,000 a night.
Image: Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales
On the evening of 3 October, after attending a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian remained in the apartment alone while the rest of her convoy – including her bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.
At about 2.30am, three armed men wearing ski masks and dressed as police forced their way into the apartment block – and according to investigators, they threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to lead them to Kardashian’s suite. He later told police they yelled at him: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”
Kardashian said she had been “dozing” on her bed when the men then entered her room.
She has said she believes her social media posts provided the alleged robbers with “a window of opportunity”.
“I was Snapchatting that I was home, and that everyone was going out,” she said in the months after the incident.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star vividly described the attack in a police report, as reported in the French weekly paper Le Journal Du Dimanche.
“They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. They tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs.”
She said they pointed a gun at her, asking specifically for her ring and also for money.
Image: Police guard the entrance to the Hotel de Pourtalès the day after the robbery
Kardashian says they carried her into the bathroom and put her in the bathtub. She said she was wearing only a bathrobe at the time.
She had initially thought the robbers “were terrorists who had come to kidnap me”, according to a French police report taken in New York three months after the robbery.
Kardashian told officers: “I thought I was going to die.”
According to police, the robbers – who left the room after grabbing their haul, escaped on bicycles with items estimated to be worth about $10m (£7.5m), including a $4m (£3m) 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.
After they had left, Kardashian said she escaped her restraints and went to find help. After speaking to detectives, she immediately returned to the US on a private jet and later hired a completely new security team.
Image: Kardashian shows off her $4m ring on Instagram
What was stolen?
As well as her engagement ring, Kardashian said the thieves took her large Louis Vuitton jewellery box, which she said contained “everything I owned”.
In police reports given to the French authorities at about 4.30am on the night of the alleged robbery, Kardashian listed these items as having been stolen:
• Two diamond Cartier bracelets • A gold and diamond Jacob necklace • Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz • Yanina earrings • Three gold Jacob necklaces • Little bracelets, jewels and rings • A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace • A necklace with six little diamonds • A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds • A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross • A yellow gold Rolex watch • Two yellow gold rings • An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry
Police recovered only the diamond-encrusted cross that was dropped by the robbers while leaving.
It’s likely the gold in the haul was melted down and resold, while the diamond engagement ring that is now so associated with the robbery would be far too recognisable to sell on the open market.
Image: Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
What will happen in court?
The hearing will begin at the Court of Appeal of Paris – the largest appeals court in France – on 28 April and is scheduled to last a month.
It will consist of a presiding judge, two professional assessors, and six main jurors.
The hearing involves more than 2,000 documents and there are four civil parties.
Image: Kardashian at the Balenciaga show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Pixelformula/Sipa/Shutterstock
Who is being tried?
There were initially 12 defendants in the case, but one person has died and another has a medical condition that prevents their involvement. This means 10 people – nine men and one woman – are standing trial.
Five of them, who were all aged between 60 and 72 at the time of the incident, face armed robbery and kidnapping charges. They are:
• Yunice Abbas • Aomar Ait Khedache • Harminv Ait Khedache • Didier Dubreucq • Marc-Alexandre Boyer
Abbas, 72, has admitted his participation in the robbery. In 2021, he published a book about the robbery, titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian. In 2021, a court ruled he would not benefit financially from the book.
Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, known to French crime reporters as “Old Omar”, has also admitted participating in the heist but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was the ringleader.
The remaining five defendants are charged with complicity in the heist or the unauthorised possession of a weapon. They are:
• Florus Heroui • Gary Madar • Christiane Glotin • François Delaporte • Marc Boyer
Among those, Mader was a VIP greeter who worked for the car company Kardashian used in Paris, and Heroui was a bar manager who allegedly passed on information about Kardashian’s movements.
With many of the accused now ageing and with various serious health conditions, and some having spent time in jail following their arrest, all are currently free under judicial supervision.
If found guilty, those accused of the more serious crimes could face 10 years to life imprisonment.
Image: Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Photo Image Press/Shutterstock
Will Kardashian give evidence?
Yes, Kardashian will face the robbers in court in May.
Lawyer Michael Rhodes said Kardashian has “tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system” and “wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case”.
A trainee lawyer herself, Kardashian has become a high-profile criminal justice advocate in the US in recent years.
Image: (R-L) Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner in the front row three days before the robbery. Pic: Caroline Blumberg/EPA/Shutterstock
Why has it taken so long to come to court?
There was initially a manhunt after the robbery, with French police under pressure to prove that Paris’s security was not in question.
Just the year before in 2015, the capital had been shaken by terrorist attacks by Islamic militants, in which 130 people were killed, including 90 at a music event at the Bataclan theatre.
French police initially arrested 17 people in the Kardashian case in January 2017 – three months after the robbery – assisted by DNA traces found on plastic bands used to tie her wrists. Twelve people were later charged.
It was ordered to be sent to trial in 2021 – at a time when limited court proceedings were happening due to multiple COVID lockdowns, and France was holding its largest ever criminal trial over the November 2015 terror attacks.
Image: Kardashian at the Givenchy show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Bukajlo Frederic/Sipa/Shutterstock
What has Kardashian said about the incident?
Kardashian has described the robbery as a “life-changing” moment. She took three weeks away from filming her reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and took a three-month break from social media.
In a March 2017 episode titled Paris, Kardashian first spoke publicly about her ordeal.
She described first hearing a noise in her apartment, and calling out, thinking it was her sister and assistant: “At that moment when there wasn’t an answer, my heart started to get really tense. Like, you know, your stomach just kind of like, knots up and you’re like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I knew something wasn’t quite right.”
She went on: “They asked for money. I said, ‘I don’t have any money’. They dragged me out to the hallway on top of the stairs. That’s when I saw the gun, clear as day. I was looking at the gun, looking down back at the stairs. I was like, I have a split second in my mind to make this quick decision.
“Either they’re going to shoot me in the back or if I make it [down the stairs] and the elevator does not open in time or the stairs are locked, there’s no way out.”
Three months later, she told a Forbes Power Women’s Summit she had changed her approach to posting on social media: “They had followed my moves on social media, and they knew my every move and what I had.”
She added: “It was definitely a huge, huge, huge lesson for me to not show off some of the things that I have. It was a huge lesson to me to not show off where I go.
“It’s just changed my whole life, but I think for the better.”
Image: West and Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
In October 2020, Kardashian told US interviewer David Letterman she feared she would be raped and murdered during the heist, and that her sister had been at the forefront of her mind during the incident.
Speaking on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Kardashian said: “I kept on thinking about Kourtney, I kept on thinking she’s going to come home and I’m going to be dead in the room and she’s going to be traumatised for the rest of her life if she sees me… I thought that was my fate.”
When speaking to French police about the impact the robbery had had on her three months after it, Kardashian said: “I think that my perception of jewellery now is that I am not as attached to it as I used to be. I don’t have the same feeling about it. In fact, I even think that it has become a bit of a burden to have the responsibility of such expensive jewels.
“There is nothing of sentimental value to compare with the act of going home and finding one’s children and one’s family.”
She went on to describe Paris as “not the right place” for her, and didn’t return to the French capital for two years following the robbery.
Kardashian has since said in a 2023 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she did not purchase any jewellery in the seven years following the robbery, kept no jewellery at her home and only wore items that are either borrowed or fake.
She said the realisation that material items don’t matter has made her “a completely different person in the best way”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded the prosecution of rap trio Kneecap after video emerged of the band allegedly advocating for the death of Tory MPs.
Footage of the group at a November 2023 gig appears to show one member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Downing Street has described the alleged comments as “completely unacceptable”.
Police are investigating – and are also assessing footage reportedly from a gig a year later in London’s Kentish Town Forum.
In the November 2024 video, a member of the band appears to shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – referencing groups which are banned as terrorist organisations in the UK.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We were made aware of a video on 22 April, believed to be from an event in November 2024, and it has been referred to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.
“We have also been made aware of another video believed to be from an event in November 2023.”
Mrs Badenoch said it was “good” the police were looking into the allegations, adding: “Kneecap’s glorification of terrorism and anti-British hatred has no place in our society.
“Now footage shows one of them saying: ‘The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP’.
“After the murder of Sir David Amess, this demands prosecution.”
Image: Kemi Badenoch. Pic: PA
Conservative MP Sir David was stabbed to death while meeting constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in 2021.
Kneecap, made up of Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, have said they are facing a “co-ordinated smear campaign” after speaking out about “the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.
Mrs Badenoch and Kneecap are already known to each other.
The Tory leader blocked a government grant to the bilingual Belfast group while she was business secretary.
But last November, Kneecap won a discrimination challenge over the decision to refuse them a £14,250 funding award after the UK government conceded it was “unlawful”.
Downing Street condemned the alleged comments.
“We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.
Asked if the money should be returned, the spokesman added: “That’s up to the group, but clearly the PM rejects the views expressed … does not shy away from condemning them.”