Bradley Cooper’s use of a prosthetic nose to play Jewish conductor Leonard Bernstein in a new movie is the equivalent of black-face or yellow-face, a Jewish actress has claimed.
But Bernstein’s children said their father, who wrote the music for West Side Story, had a “nice, big nose”, and they feared attempts were being made to bring Cooper “down a notch”.
In Maestro, the actor stars opposite Carey Mulligan in a drama that focuses on Bernstein’s relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre.
In an official trailer released by Netflix, Cooper – known for A Star Is Born and American Sniper – is seen with a notably larger nose than his real one.
Some online commentators have posted pictures of Cooper and Bernstein side by side, pointing out that Cooper’s prosthetic appears to be bigger than Bernstein’s actual nose.
Image: Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan in Maestro. Pic: Jason McDonald/Netflix
Image: Leonard Bernstein (left) with Igor Stravinsky in New York in 1960. Pic: AP
The conductor, who won 16 Grammy Awards, died in 1990.
Tracy-Ann Oberman, known for her roles in EastEnders and After Life, implied that Cooper should not have needed to wear a prosthetic.
She wrote on Instagram that if Cooper was chosen over a “Jewish A-lister who can equally play that role” then his acting should be “so magnificent and truthful that the character of Bernstein shines through what he already looks like”.
She added: “If he needs to wear a prosthetic nose then that is, to me and many others, the equivalent of black-face or yellow-face.
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“If Bradley Cooper can’t do it through the power of acting alone then don’t cast him – get a Jewish actor.”
Image: Pic: Jason McDonald/Netflix
Image: Bradley Cooper without the prosthetic
Bernstein’s three children, however, said it “breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings” of Cooper’s work.
They added: “It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose.
“Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that.
“We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”
Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein said they felt that “any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch – a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father”.
They said that Cooper “included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father”.
They said they “could feel the profound respect and, yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, our mother Felicia”.
They added: “We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can’t wait for the world to see his creation.”
Cooper also directed the movie, which is out in November, and co-wrote the screenplay.
Oberman is not alone in criticising the casting of Cooper. Daniel Fienberg, chief television critic with The Hollywood Reporter, tweeted earlier this year that it was “problematic”.
A person has been killed and several others injured after a mass shooting and fire at a Mormon church in Michigan, police have said.
Authorities said at a news conference that the suspect was shot dead by police officers, and that nine others were injured.
Two of those were said to be in critical condition, Grand Blanc Township Chief William Renye told reporters.
Image: Flames and smoke rising from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Pic: Julie J, @Malkowski6April / AP
He added that the suspect was a 40-year-old man from Burton, who drove his vehicle into the church and began firing rounds at the hundreds of people attending Sunday service.
The suspect used an assault rifle and deliberately started the blaze, Chief Renye said, before adding that officers believe they will find additional victims in the fire.
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Image: Pics: AP
The incident took place at around 11am local time at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit.
In a statement on Sunday morning, Grand Blanc Township Police Department added that the church was “actively on fire” and urged the public to avoid the area.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that “my heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community” after the shooting.
She added: “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly.”
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Genesee County sheriff Christopher Swanson said at around 12.20pm (5.20pm in the UK) that the “entire church is on fire”, and confirmed that people who were at the church have been evacuated.
Around 20 minutes later, the police department said the fire had been contained.
Image: The incident took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc
US attorney general Pam Bondi also confirmed the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to the incident.
US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that “the suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn”, before saying the shooting “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.
He added: “PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”
In the wake of the shooting and fire, the New York Police Department said it would deploy officers to religious institutions across the city “out of an abundance of caution”.
The incident occurred the morning after Russell M Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101.
Shootings reported in North Carolina, New Orleans, Texas
Meanwhile, authorities responded to a mass shooting at a coastal town in North Carolina late on Saturday, where three people were killed.
At least eight others were injured in that incident, where someone opened fire from a boat into a crowd at a bar.
Another shooting took place at a south Texas casino early on Sunday, with seven people shot and two killed.
A woman was also killed, and three others were injured in Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early on Sunday after a shooting.
It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.
Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”
The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.
Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.
Image: President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika. Pic: AP
The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.
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“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.
Image: Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters
Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.
Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.
It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.
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2:29
Trump’s major shift in Ukraine policy
Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.
In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.
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Ex-FBI chief: ‘Costs to standing up to Trump’
Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.
Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of US troops to “war-ravaged Portland” in the state of Oregon, authorising the use of “full force” if needed.
The US president said he was directing US defence secretary Pete Hegseth to make the move in order to protect the city “and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists”.
Mr Trump did not specify whether he would send in National Guard troops or the US military.
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1:02
Fatal shooting at ICE facility in Dallas
The ICE facility in Portland has been targeted by protesters since June, sometimes leading to violent clashes.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said demonstrators had “repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing centre” there, adding that several arrests were made.
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“Rose City Antifa, a recently designated domestic terrorist organization, illegally doxed ICE officers. They published their home address online and on public flyers. Individuals associated with Antifa also sent death threats to DHS personnel,” DHS wrote on X.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Trump said “anarchy” was taking place in Portland.
He said: “You go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. Portland is, I don’t know how anybody lives there. It’s amazing, but it’s, it’s anarchy out there. That’s what they want. They want anarchy.”
In separate comments, Mr Trump said people were “out of control” in Portland and pledged to “stop that very soon”.
Image: People protest against the Trump’s immigration policies in Portland. Pic: Reuters
Image: ICE agents charge towards protesters in Portland. Pic: Reuters
After Mr Trump’s announcement, Oregon’s Democratic governor Tina Kotek said she was reaching out to the White House for more information.
“We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm,” she said.
Portland’s mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement that the “number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city”.
But Republicans supported the move. US labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who previously served as a Republican house representative for an Oregon district, said she had seen how “lawlessness” had turned Portland into a “crime-ridden war zone”.
In a post on X, she thanked Mr Trump “for taking action to keep our ICE facilities protected and Make America Great Again”.
Trump has sent military troops to the Democratic-controlled cities of Los Angeles and Washington DC so far in his second presidency. He has also discussed doing the same in Memphis and New Orleans, which are also Democratic strongholds.