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Seth Rogen says the film studios and streaming giants are unable to get on the same page because they “hate each other” as the Hollywood writers’ strike enters its 100th day with no hint of an agreement.

Both actors and writers are on strike for the first time since 1960, bringing the film and TV industry to a standstill and wreaking financial havoc in Los Angeles.

Traditional film studios like Disney, Universal and Warner Brothers and streaming giants, like Amazon and Netflix, are represented in negotiations by the same body, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

But Rogen, who is an actor, writer and executive producer, says they have hugely different priorities.

“The studios haven’t even spoken to each other, is what I’ve heard,” Rogen told Sky News.

“So not only does it seem as though the writers and actors have a great distance to go when it comes to the studios, I think the studios have a great distance to go, probably a greater one, when it goes to them getting on the same page.

A person holds a sign on the picket line of the writers' strike in Hollywood.
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A person holds a sign on the picket line of the writers’ strike in Hollywood

“These are people who hate each other. To think that Universal has the same priorities as Netflix is insane.

“What concerns me is that they will be completely unable to bring forth a coherent and unified proposal because of their own infighting and divergent priorities.”

Actors and writers are striking for a number of reasons, but dwindling pay and controls around Artificial Intelligence are the main sticking points.

‘If you need me, pay me’

Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy nominated actress, says AI threatens creativity in filmmaking.

“If we can all be artificially generated, that’s frightening,” she tells Sky News.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy nominated actress, says AI threatens creativity in filmmaking.
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Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy nominated actress, says AI threatens creativity in filmmaking

“We need something that’s far more important. We need the art of human beings. I want to know, would William Shakespeare stand for this? I think not.”

But Ralph says she would consider selling her digital likeness for use after her death, provided she had given her consent and received compensation.

“If I die and somebody wants to scan my body before I die, they can scan it for a price to make sure that generations after me are not left out of whatever money somebody else makes on my image.

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Zoe Saldana backs actors’ strike

“I don’t want somebody to take my image, repurpose it, put another face on it and I get nothing from it.

“Just be fair. Compensate me. What did Diana Ross say? ‘If you need me, pay me.'”

‘Technology not the problem – it’s how it is used’

Flawless AI is one of the biggest AI companies in film.

They designed a system, called TrueSync, to provide a better dubbing solution for films translated into other languages.

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Actors’ strike: ‘We will not allow you to take away our dignity’

Read more:
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Hollywood stars strike outside Netflix and Disney

TrueSync creates deepfake-style effects altering the mouth movements of actors to match the alternate dialogue being spoken.

Chief executive Nick Lynes recognises that AI in film faces a PR battle.

“I can understand why people are scared,” he says.

Chief Executive of Flawless AI, Nick Lynes. The company is one of the biggest AI firms in film. They designed a system, called TrueSync, to provide a better dubbing solution for films translated into other languages. TrueSync creates deepfake-style effects altering the mouth movements of actors to match the alternate dialogue being spoken
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Chief Executive of Flawless AI, Nick Lynes

“Generative AI is legitimately as powerful as people talk about, but we work very much in cooperation with all the stakeholders and we have done for a long time.

“Our view is that if any new creation has come from data born from other people’s existing creation, then the relevant consent and the relevant compensation needs to be arranged.

“I’m not sure technology is ever the bad guy, it’s how it’s being used.”

Strike may last well into the autumn

Justine Bateman, a writer and director, has been on the picket line most days of the strike.

The Hollywood writers’ strike has entered its 100th day, with no hint of an agreement around the corner.
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The Hollywood writers’ strike has entered its 100th day, with no hint of an agreement around the corner.

She views the debate in binary terms.

“I think it’s a zero-sum game,” she says.

“It’s using generative AI to make films or using people. When you’re talking about the greed that motivates people to use generative AI instead of humans, that’s what’s going to ruin this business.

“These generative AI models make little Frankenstein performances in which you can order up a character to look like Brad Pitt combined with Mickey Mantle and have them dance like Fred Astaire with a Spanish accent.”

This strike is already one of the longest – and hottest – in Hollywood history and many expect it to last well into the autumn, disrupting TV broadcast schedules and wrecking film promotion tours and the early part of the awards season.

It is a marathon, with no finish line in sight.

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‘We’re having the time of our lives’: Westlife on 25 years of touring, family fame and fans

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'We're having the time of our lives': Westlife on 25 years of touring, family fame and fans

They were one of the main staples of noughties music in the UK and Ireland and to celebrate 25 years of touring, Westlife have returned to the spotlight again.

The boy band has released a new song called Chariot, with an album following suit in February and a tour that will take them around the world next year.

“The Westlife story is fairy tale stuff and we’re very lucky and proud to be part of it”, Shane Filan tells Sky News at the Royal Albert Hall, where they have just performed for two nights.

“It took our breath away. We came out to the Royal Albert Hall thinking it might be a little bit more intimate than a big arena and just the sheer noise, the sheer screams from the women and everyone just having good fun.

“The support and love, we never felt it like we did in the room. It was amazing.”

Westlife started their 25th anniversary celebrations with two sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London
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Westlife started their 25th anniversary celebrations with two sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London

Formed by their manager Louis Walsh in the late 1990s, the group originally consisted of Filan, Mark Feehily, Brian McFadden, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan.

McFadden left the group in 2004 to pursue a solo career, but the other four have remained together.

Due to health issues, Feehily can’t join the celebrations, but representatives say he is still very much part of the band and features on their new music and upcoming album.

Westlife were blown away by the 'sheer noise' of screaming fans at the Royal Albert Hall. Pic: Sony Music
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Westlife were blown away by the ‘sheer noise’ of screaming fans at the Royal Albert Hall. Pic: Sony Music

Pic: Sony Music
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Pic: Sony Music

History-making chart successes

Westlife are joint third with Sir Cliff Richard and Ed Sheeran for the most UK number one singles in history, just behind Elvis and The Beatles.

In their first 18 months, they secured seven of those top spots thanks to songs like Flying Without Wings, I Have A Dream and If I Let You Go.

Reflecting on the years gone by, Byrne says the nostalgia hits harder than ever.

“You see the generations coming to the shows, people letting their hair down, people remembering the songs from their first kiss, the first dance, all those special things that music does,” he says.

“Not even just for the fans – we’re having the time of our lives.

“We’re singing these songs up there… I remember breaking the wardrobe door when we were promoting Swear It Again, and now we’re singing it in front of the Royal Albert Hall and look, I mean, just look at this place.”

(L-R) Kian Egan, Nicky Bryne and Shane Filan say they are having 'the time of their lives' performing together again
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(L-R) Kian Egan, Nicky Bryne and Shane Filan say they are having ‘the time of their lives’ performing together again

Famous fans and furniture

For Byrne, finding out about fans of their music never gets old, and their song Flying Without Wings seems to be a key component of their stature in music.

“I did Soccer Aid with Tom Grennan recently, and he was talking all about how he grew up listening to Westlife – his dad is Irish. Big Zuu, who scored the winning goal, he was like, ‘Flying Without Wings, man, is the best song I’ve ever heard’.”

It’s the same song Sheeran first learned to play guitar on, and years later, he began writing songs for the group, including their latest single Chariot.

Oddly, it’s their choice in furniture that receives just as much attention as their music over the years, with four stools becoming synonymous with the group.

Stemming from their lack of dancing skills, according to Simon Cowell at least, they chose to change it up and simply rise from their chair on the key change of the song.

“We are stool connoisseurs. It’s become a very strange thing and it’s nearly as big as our music. It’s genuinely as big as You Raise Me Up,” Filan laughs.

Filan (R) jokes that the band have become 'stool connoisseurs'
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Filan (R) jokes that the band have become ‘stool connoisseurs’

Keeping their kids grounded

As the band continued to release music, each member settled down and had families of their own. Now their children are around the same age they were when they first started as a group.

Egan says they all made a conscious decision to raise the next generation away from the spotlight.

“We don’t want our kids growing up in this world and at the end of the day they are privileged, so it’s really important for us to keep them grounded and to try and give them as much of a natural kind of upbringing as they possibly can, and I think that’s why we choose to bring them up in the same places that we grew up,” he adds.

Byrne chimes in jokingly: “Slightly bigger houses, though!”

It was this tour that caused Byrne’s children to realise the extent of their father’s fame.

“I have twin boys who are 18 and a half, and the middle girl is 12. So last week, when the tour went on sale in Ireland, and we went from five nights in the 3Arena to 13, and from Belfast it went from three right up to seven, and the boys are looking at me, going, ‘You’re doing 13 nights in the 3Arena’.

“And it is even me looking at them going, ‘Yeah, right’. It hits you, it hits you there in a way, to be honest with you. I got a little bit cooler then.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Running from September 2026, Westlife 25 – The Anniversary World Tour, will kick off in Dublin for 13 shows before heading to Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, London, Brighton, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and then Belfast for seven nights.

Gigs in Paris, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Cologne and Zurich will follow.

Tickets for Westlife’s UK tour dates go on sale this Friday.

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Suspects arrested over Louvre heist ‘partially admit involvement’ – as officials address inside job theory

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Suspects arrested over Louvre heist 'partially admit involvement' - as officials address inside job theory

The two suspects arrested over the Louvre jewellery heist have “partially” confessed to their involvement in the robbery, according to a prosecutor.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau revealed the development at a news conference on Wednesday.

Four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a heist pulled off while the world-famous Paris museum was open to visitors on 19 October.

It took the thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels. They forced open a window and cut into cases with power tools after gaining access via a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift.

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Suspects in Louvre robbery ‘partially confessed’

Ms Beccuau also said the jewels had not yet been recovered.

“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable,” said Ms Beccuau. “Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. It’s still time to give them back.”

‘No evidence’

Ms Beccuau also addressed reports that police believe the robbery could have been an inside job.

She said that there was “no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help”.

Under French rules for organised theft, custody can run up to 96 hours. That limit is due to expire late on Wednesday, and prosecutors must charge the suspects, release them or seek a judge’s extension.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau speaks during a press conference about the investigation into the Louvre robbery. Pic: Reuters
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Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau speaks during a press conference about the investigation into the Louvre robbery. Pic: Reuters

One suspect is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Ms Beccuau said. He was arrested Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.

Ms Beccuau said that he was living in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences.

The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers.

“There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” said Ms Beccuau.

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Louvre jewels ‘have not returned’

The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed, and on items the thieves left behind, she added.

Earlier, French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defences.

Paris police chief Patrice Faure told politicians that ageing security systems had left weak spots.

“A technological step has not been taken,” he said.

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Mr Faure also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and had not been renewed.

He said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms, but from a cyclist outside who dialled the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.

Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Pic: Reuters
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Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Pic: Reuters

Mr Faure also rejected calls for a permanent police post inside the museum, warning it would set an unworkable precedent and do little against fast and mobile thieves.

“I am firmly opposed,” he said. “The issue is not a guard at a door; it is speeding the chain of alert.”

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Five new arrests in Louvre heist investigation, with one suspect traced via DNA

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Five new arrests in Louvre heist investigation, with one suspect traced via DNA

Five new arrests have been made in the investigation into the Louvre jewellery heist, the prosecutor for Paris has said.

French radio station RTL reported the arrests on Thursday, following an interview with Laure Beccuau.

The Paris prosecutor’s department shared the interview on social media with the caption: “Louvre Burglary: Five New Suspects Apprehended.”

In the interview, Ms Beccuau said one of the five suspects was identified through DNA traces left at the crime scene, but she added that it was “too early” to comment further on the suspects’ identities.

All five were arrested in coordinated raids in Paris and its surrounding areas late Wednesday, but searches overnight “did not allow us to find the goods”, Ms Beccuau said.

It comes after the prosecutor said two suspects arrested over the jewellery heist had “partially” confessed to their involvement in the robbery.

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Suspects in Louvre robbery ‘partially confessed’

Four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a heist pulled off while the world-famous Paris museum was open to visitors on 19 October.

It took the thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels worth £76m. They forced open a window and cut into cases with power tools after gaining access via a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift.

Ms Beccuau urged the thieves to return the French crown jewels on Wednesday.

“These jewels are now, of course, unsellable,” she said. “Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. It’s still time to give them back.”

Footage shows the moment thieves escaped the Louvre with £76 million worth of jewellery in broad daylight
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Footage shows the moment thieves escaped the Louvre with £76 million worth of jewellery in broad daylight

Regarding the two suspects in custody since Saturday, Ms Beccuau previously revealed that one is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010.

He was arrested Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.

Ms Beccuau said that he was living in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences. His DNA was found on one of the scooters used by the thieves to leave the scene, according to the prosecutor.

The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers.

“There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” said Ms Beccuau.

Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Pic: Reuters

The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed, and on items the thieves left behind, she added.

The heist exposed major gaps in the Louvre’s defences, with Paris police chief Patrice Faure telling politicians that ageing security systems had left weak spots.

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“A technological step has not been taken,” he said. Mr Faure also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and had not been renewed.

He said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms, but from a cyclist outside who dialled the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.

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