Connect with us

Published

on

Newly announced Strictly Come Dancing contestant Amanda Abbington has responded to threats to boycott the show over her previous tweets, which have been criticised by some fans as transphobic.

The British actress, who is best known for TV shows including Sherlock and Mr Selfridge, was one of the first stars to be revealed for this year’s Strictly, which will also feature broadcaster Angela Rippon, journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, actor Layton Williams, comedian Eddie Kadi, and TV presenter Angela Scanlon.

After Abbington’s name was announced for the hit BBC series, comments she made about a show aimed at parents and their babies aged from newborn to two resurfaced online – with some critics of the star calling her transphobic.

In a lengthy video statement posted on Instagram on Sunday, the 49-year-old clarified her stance.

“I need to make this very clear,” she said. “I love drag. I think it’s an amazing form of entertainment and I f****** love drag queens. I think they’re hilarious and brilliant… it’s an art form and I think there’s absolutely a place for it in the entertainment industry. My son played Jamie in Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, and he was a wonderful drag queen.

“But my tweet back in March was regarding a 12-year-old who was doing it in front of adults. And it just upset me because I saw a kid, a little kid, a 12-year-old, doing something very over-sexualised. And I didn’t think it was right…

“And that was my tweet. I didn’t associate that with the trans community, nor would I associate that with the trans community, because I think they’re two separate things. And I’m not transphobic… I am a firm supporter of the legitimate trans community.”

Read more on Strictly:
Anton Du Beke reveals he was stabbed by his father as a child
Strictly dance star begins chemotherapy
Tributes paid to Strictly judge Len Goodman

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

Abbington went on to say she would “support any trans person who is feeling persecuted or not listened to or not seen” and that she also supports women’s rights and “the importance of women within society”.

She continued: “And I think those two are being really pitted against each other. And what we need to do now more than ever is just make sure that everybody is looking after each other… I don’t want everyone to be at each other’s throats.

“I do believe that we need to look after kids and we need to look after women and we need to look after the legitimate trans people who are finding it really f****** difficult at the moment.”

Abbington admitted that she had said “stupid things” in the past and “instantly” regretted them.

“Everybody’s learning and we need to take a breath and take a beat and look after each other,” she continued. “So I’m sorry if you feel like you need to boycott Strictly for a tweet I made about a drag show, but I don’t think 12 year olds should be doing overly sexualised drag acts.

“That’s my personal opinion, that’s all. I’m not pushing it on anyone else, I’m just saying that’s how I feel.”

Abbington also addressed why she is no longer on Twitter (now X), saying she left voluntarily “because I don’t like it over there anymore”.

Strictly Come Dancing will be back on TV this autumn, judged by Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse, with more contestants set to be announced.

British wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin and professional dancer Jowita Przystal were the winners of the competition in 2022.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Harvey Weinstein accuser says film mogul ‘took her soul’ during alleged sexual assault

Published

on

By

Harvey Weinstein accuser says film mogul 'took her soul' during alleged sexual assault

An ex-model has tearfully told a court that being sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein when she was 16 was the most “horrifying thing I ever experienced” to that point.

Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault

Kaja Sokola told the film producer’s retrial that he ordered her to remove her blouse, put his hand in her underwear, and made her touch his genitals.

She said he’d stared at her in the mirror with “black and scary” eyes and told her to stay quiet about the alleged assault in a Manhattan hotel in 2002.

Ms Sokola told the New York court that Weinstein had dropped names such as Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow, and said he could help fulfil her Hollywood dream.

“I’d never been in a situation like this,” said Polish-born Ms Sokola. “I felt stupid and ashamed and like it’s my fault for putting myself in this position.”

Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone and is back in court for a retrial after his conviction was overturned last year.

More on Harvey Weinstein

Read more: Weinstein is back in court – but what has happened to the #MeToo movement since 2017?

Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court during his rape and sexual assault re-trial in New York.
Pic Reuters
Image:
Weinstein denies the allegations. Pic: Reuters

The 73-year-old is not charged over the alleged sexual assault because it happened too long ago to bring criminal charges.

However, he is facing charges over an incident four years later when he’s said to have forced Ms Sokola to perform oral sex on him.

Prosecutors claim it happened after Weinstein arranged for her to be an extra in a film.

“My soul was removed from me,” she told the court of the alleged 2006 assault, describing how she tried to push Weinstein away but that he held her down.

Read more from Sky News:
Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing
Attenborough’s Ocean film is ‘biggest message he’s ever told’

Ms Sokola – who’s waived her right to anonymity – is the second of three women to testify and the only one who wasn’t part of the first trial in 2020.

Miriam Haley, an accuser testifying at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial, arrives to the courtroom after a break in New York, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Image:
Miriam Haley testified previously in the retrial. Pic: AP

Miriam Haley last week told the court that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The other accuser, Jessica Mann, is yet to appear.

Claims against the film mogul were a major driver for the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and abuse in 2017.

Weinstein’s lawyers allege the women consented to sexual activity in the hope of getting film and TV work and that they stayed in contact with him for a while afterwards.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

Published

on

By

Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

An antiques expert from the TV show Bargain Hunt has been charged by police following an investigation into terrorist financing.

Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, 53, is accused of eight counts of “failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector”, the Met Police said.

The force said he was the first person to be charged with that specific offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Ojiri, from west London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

It comes “following an investigation into terrorist financing” and relates to the period from October 2020 to December 2021, a police spokesperson said.

They added that the probe had been carried out in partnership with Treasury officials, HMRC and the Met’s Arts & Antiques Unit.

Mr Ojiri, who police described as an “art dealer”, has been on Bargain Hunt since 2019.

He has also appeared on the BBC‘s Antiques Road Trip programme.

In a statement, the BBC said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

Published

on

By

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.

The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.

Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.

A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.

There were no reports of anyone being injured.

More from Ents & Arts

Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.

He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.

His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).

He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.

Read more from Sky News:
Ex-police officers cleared of murdering motorist
Woman killed by alligator in Florida lake
Motown legend accused of sexually assaulting housekeepers

“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.

Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.

She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.

Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.

She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.

Continue Reading

Trending