Connect with us

Published

on

Succession star Brian Cox has told Sky News the Hollywood actors’ strike could get “very unpleasant” and may not be resolved until the end of the year.

The industry looks set to effectively shut down after actors decided to join an existing walkout by writers.

It means many hit TV shows and movies will have to stop production, while actors will also stop promoting films they have already made.

Cox told Sky News: “It’s a situation that could get very, very unpleasant. It could go on for quite some time. They’ll take us to the brink and we’ll probably have to go to the brink.

“So it may not be solved… until towards the end of the year.”

The strike is over pay, conditions and concerns over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) – something Cox compared to the “boogeyman”.

Cox, 77, familiar to millions for his role as media mogul Logan Roy, said the technology could lead to a fall in standards.

More on Hollywood

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Margot Robbie says she would join actors’ strike

He said the strike was mainly in support of Hollywood writers because without them “we have nothing… That’s why we have shows like White Lotus, like Succession…”

Scriptwriters have been striking for the last few months, seeking concessions such as higher minimum pay.

The Screen Actors’ Guild decision to join them means it’s the first time in 63 years both have walked out at the same time.

An estimated 160,000 performers – many of them low-level jobbing actors – are expected to take part – with no end date set.

Cox said one of the main reasons actors are striking is over the residual payments they receive when shows and films are repeated.

Read more:
Oppenheimer stars walk out of premiere as strikes announced
Why are Hollywood stars walking out?
Eyewitness: Hollywood set to grind to a complete halt

It is a particular concern given the growth of streaming services, which pay less for residuals than broadcast TV, and where many shows are constantly available for repeat viewing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Matt Damon and Oppenheimer cast react to strikes

Cox said the system had been “failing rapidly” and these payments were vital for funding actors’ healthcare.

“If our residuals go down it means our health insurance isn’t going to be met,” said Cox.

He added: “In a way, the streaming services have shot themselves in the foot because they’ve said ‘oh, we’re going very well on this front’.

“And when we called them to task and said ‘what about our residuals, what about our money?’, everything kind of closes down and… you know, it’s not going to happen.”

Undated Handout Photo from Succession Season 4. Pictured: Brian Cox as Logan Roy
Image:
Brian Cox played Logan Roy in Succession

With AI now able to convincingly imitate actors’ appearance and voice – a theme taken to the extreme in a recent Black Mirror episode – stars are concerned over unauthorised use of their likeness.

It is another of the reasons why they have decided to down tools.

Stars including Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves are among those who have been the subject of widely viewed ‘deepfakes’.

“One of the problems is we really don’t know enough about it,” Cox told Sky News.

“We don’t know the extent to which it [AI] can operate. It’s the boogeyman, it really is the boogeyman.”

Cox added that it would be “unacceptable” if streaming services used AI to generate whole shows, saying “there would never be an original voice” and “the standard immediately drops”.

Continue Reading

US

Donald Trump says second UK state visit could happen in September

Published

on

By

Donald Trump says second UK state visit could happen in September

Donald Trump has said his second state visit to the UK could take place in September.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed over an invitation from the King when he visited Washington in February.

Trump teases return to UK – latest updates

Buckingham Palace previously only said the visit would happen “when diaries allow”, but Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday: “I think they are setting a date for September.”

“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one,” he said.

“The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”

Sir Keir Starmer the Trump charmer.
Pic: PA
Image:
Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: PA

Mr Trump will become the only elected political leader in modern times to be invited to two state visits by a British monarch.

The president called the UK a “great country” in his comments at the White House on Thursday and said it was “an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William”.

His first state visit was in 2019, when he was hosted by the late Queen.

Second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit usually get tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.

Read more from Sky News:
Four killed as cable car crashes to ground near Naples

Two dead and five injured in shooting at Florida university

The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
Image:
The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters

But Mr Trump is set to get all the pomp and ceremony laid on again in his honour – with another state banquet likely at Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Family‘s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of currying favour with the president, who’s known for his love of the monarchy and links to the UK through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

It comes as the government seeks an economic deal with the US, in the hope of potentially lessening the impact of the president’s tariffs.

Continue Reading

US

Four in hospital as police deal with active shooter at Florida university

Published

on

By

Four in hospital as police deal with active shooter at Florida university

Four people are in hospital as police deal with an active shooter on a university campus in Florida.

Videos showed people running through traffic, fleeing the scene, around the time of the shooting at the student union at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.

Local police were “on the scene or on the way”, according to an alert sent out by the school and students have been told to “shelter in place”.

The FBI is also said to be responding to the incident.

Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne
Image:
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school.
Pic: AP/Kate Payne

In a statement, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it was “actively receiving and caring for patients” from the incident.

“At this time, details are still unfolding, and we do not yet have specific information to share. However, we want to assure the community that our teams are fully mobilised and prepared to provide the highest level of care and support to all those affected,” it added.

President Donald Trump said he was fully briefed on the incident and described it as “a shame”.

More on Florida

He added: “It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, in a statement posted on X, said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”

Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles raced to the campus around midday local time (5pm UK time) on Thursday.

As students streamed away from the area of the student union in their hundreds, some were visibly emotional and others were glued to their phones.

Dozens later gathered near the university’s music school, waiting for news.

Florida State University student Daniella Streety told NBC News of the chaos that unfolded at the scene.

She remained on lockdown in a campus building and said: “I did see them carry out one student in what looked like on a stretcher and kept them in the road until an ambulance was able to pick them up.”

Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.

Police escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

US

US judge warns Trump administration could be in criminal contempt over El Salvador deportations

Published

on

By

White House rages at 'appalling' attempt to return wrongly deported man from El Salvador

A US federal judge has warned that he could hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.

US District Judge James E. Boasberg said he had found “probable cause” to hold the administration in criminal contempt and warned he could refer the matter for prosecution if it does not “purge” its contempt.

If the government doesn’t purge the contempt, charges could be brought forward by the Justice Department, NBC News reported.

And if the executive-led Justice Department refused to prosecute the matter, Judge Boasberg said he would appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.

Mr Boasberg said the administration could “purge contempt by returning those who were sent to El Salvador prison, in violation of his order, to the US.

This, he said, “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability”.

“The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the judge wrote.

Executive vs judicial

This marks a notable escalation in the ongoing tensions between the judicial and executive branches of the US government during Donald Trump’s second term.

Parts of the US president’s legislative programme have been halted by judges, as the administration strains against the restraints of the separation of powers.

Mr Trump previously called for Judge Boasberg to be impeached while the Justice Department claimed he overstepped his authority – both reflecting the administration’s attempts to overcome perceived obstacles to the implementation of its agenda.

Mr Trump’s administration has also argued it did not violate any orders.

It claimed the judge didn’t include a turnaround directive in his written order and said the planes had already left the US by the time the order came down.

‘Administrative error’

At the heart of the legal wrangling is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.

Washington acknowledged that Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”.

The US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return, upholding a court order by Judge Paula Xinis, but Trump officials have claimed that Mr Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA / AP
Image:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA/AP

Mr Garcia’s lawyers have argued there is no evidence of this.

This all comes after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele visited the White House earlier this week.

During his time with Mr Trump, Mr Bukele said that he would not return Mr Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”

The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Image:
The US and El Salvador presidents in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Along with Mr Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, whom it claims are gang members without presenting evidence and without a trial.

Democrat senator travels to El Salvador

Meanwhile, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday, saying he would seek a meeting with the country’s officials to secure Mr Garcia’s release.

“I just arrived in San Salvador a little while ago and look forward to meeting with the US embassy team to discuss Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release,” Mr Van Hollen said on social media.

Deportations have been an important part of Mr Trump’s second term, with him being vocal on the issue throughout the campaign trail and into office.

Continue Reading

Trending