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More than 100 actors are backing calls for a Green Rider – an environmentally friendly contract between performers and film and TV production companies.

Stars including Bella Ramsey, Stephen Fry and Natalie Dormer all signed a statement created by Equity For A Green New Deal setting out proposals to improve sustainability in the UK’s film and TV industry.

Riders are a set of clauses that actors can add to their contract – often before a job is accepted – detailing their requirements on set.

However, they are perhaps most infamously known for being used by high-profile talent to make demands, with stories of stars asking for all-white furniture, cute puppies and kittens on arrival, or the use of a private jet.

In contrast, the Green Rider would insert commitments to eco-friendly practices into the contracts of the stars, with suggested clauses including:

• Artists avoiding large trailers, private air travel, or fossil-fuel powered road vehicles

• Producers providing low carbon transport options such as trains and electric vehicles

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• Artists considering the carbon/environmental cost of additional food or comfort requests that require runners to go off site, and reducing them accordingly

• Artists sharing trailers and dressing rooms to reduce energy use

• Producers providing the artist with their carbon reduction plan

The Last Of Us star Ramsey, 19, called the Green Rider a “practical route to positive change” in the film and television industry.

They said: “We can make all the films in the world about climate change but unless we are environmentally conscious in the process of making them, our efforts are superficial”.

Film set
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The average big-budget movie production produces 2,840 tonnes of CO2

Is it hypocritical?

However, some will greet the proposed contracts with scepticism, with the film and TV industry known for transporting both casts and crews around the world for filming, as well as many non-sustainable practices around costumes, props and promotional events.

According to a report created by BAFTA’s albert (an environmental organisation aiming to encourage the TV and film production industry to reduce waste and its carbon footprint) the average big-budget movie production produces 2,840 tonnes of CO2.

Meanwhile many celebrities have taken flack for contradictory behaviour with regards to their climate credentials. In 2019, actress Emma Thompson faced a backlash after taking a 5,400-mile flight from Los Angeles to London to join climate protests in London.

Celebrities themselves have noted the problematic nature of high-profile performers – who by their very nature have high carbon lives and work in industries with a huge carbon footprint – fronting climate change movements.

The same year as Thompson’s flight faux pas, more than 100 celebrities, including actor Jude Law, and Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, called themselves “hypocrites” in an open letter backing climate change protesters Extinction Rebellion and urging the government to “tell the public the truth” about the climate crisis.

Equity says that it is currently discussing a scheme with the BBC, ITV Studios and Sky Studios to pilot the Green Rider in upcoming productions, with a view to it becoming part of future collective agreements.

The UK government says it wants to produce net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The campaign will be considered further at an Edinburgh TV Festival panel on Tuesday called The Green Rider: Actor/Industry Collaboration Towards Sustainability.

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

More on Sabrina Carpenter

Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

Read more from Sky News:
Pope urges Trump not to oust Venezuelan president by force

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In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

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Matthew Perry’s parents say doctor is ‘among most culpable of all’ ahead of first sentencing over star’s death

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Matthew Perry's parents say doctor is 'among most culpable of all' ahead of first sentencing over star's death

Matthew Perry’s parents have criticised the “jackals” involved in dealing drugs to the star – and accused a doctor of being “among the most culpable of all” ahead of his sentencing today.

Emotional victim impact statements by Perry‘s mother Suzanne and stepfather Keith Morrison, and father John and stepmother Debbie, have been submitted to the US district court for Central California ahead of Salvador Plasencia’s hearing.

They say “no one alive and in touch with the world” could have been unaware of the Friends star’s struggles with addiction, and that the doctor broke his vows “repeatedly” to “feed on the vulnerability of our son”.

Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with the 54-year-old’s death, and has pleaded guilty to illegally selling him large amounts of ketamine. He is not accused of selling the dose that killed the actor, but had been supplying the drug to him in the weeks beforehand.

Salvador Plasencia appeared in court to change his plea to guilty earlier this year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake
Image:
Salvador Plasencia appeared in court to change his plea to guilty earlier this year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake

Perry was found in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023. A medical examiner later ruled that ketamine and other factors had caused him to lose consciousness and drown.

In their letter filed to the court, Suzanne and Keith Morrison share their grief, saying they feel a “confusion of emotions”.

Anger “seethes away down deep, whether you want it to or not”, they say, detailing how they play out “unalterable events, over and over and over” in their minds, “as if it could make any difference now”.

They also write about the impact Perry’s death has had on others, saying they often find Friends mementos, as well as flowers and notes and other tributes, left at his grave.

The star’s story “moved so many people”, they add. “And he wanted, needed, deserved a third act. It was in the planning. And then, those jackals.”

Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends. Pic: Everett/ Shutterstock
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Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends. Pic: Everett/ Shutterstock

‘This doctor conspired to break his most important vows’

Saying they find Plasencia’s actions “truly hard to understand”, they tell the judge: “I believe the man you are going to sentence today is among the most culpable of all…

“Why become a doctor? To cure the sick of course. To heal people. To save lives.”

Crimes can be easier to understand in some circumstances, they say. “Maybe in the heat of passion, or because that person makes one very bad decision… Or some drug dealer, bad to the bone, who takes the calculated risk of getting caught and spending many years in prison.

“But… a doctor? Who trades on respect, and trust? And not just one bad decision. No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles.

“But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son.”

Read more:
The drug network exposed by Perry’s death
Obituary: The one who made everyone laugh
Matthew Perry: A life in pictures

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

‘You don’t deserve to hear our feelings’

Addressing Plasencia directly in their statement, John and Debbie Perry say: “You don’t deserve to hear our feelings. How you devastated our family contributing to the loss of Matthew, our only son.”

They describe Perry as a “warm, loving man” and say his recovery counted on Plasencia “saying NO”.

Their letter continues: “Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?

“How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow? Did you care? Did you think?”

Prosecutors are asking Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett to sentence Plasencia to three years in prison.

John and Debbie Perry have asked the court to extend the sentence beyond the mandatory period.

Ahead of sentencing, Plasencia’s lawyers have described him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, and say his selling to Perry was “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life”.

In their sentencing memo, they say “remorse cannot begin to capture the pain, regret and shame that Mr Plasencia feels for the tragedy that unfolded and that he failed to prevent”.

However, they say Plasencia has already lost his medical licence and career, and a prison sentence is “neither necessary nor warranted”.

The other four people charged in connection with Perry’s death have also accepted plea deals and are due to be sentenced over the next few months.

They are: dealer Jasveen Sangha, also known as “the Ketamine Queen”, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, another doctor, Mark Chavez, and Erik Fleming, an associate of the actor.

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

Published

on

By

Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

More on Sabrina Carpenter

Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

Read more from Sky News:
Pope urges Trump not to oust Venezuelan president by force

Government delays Chinese ‘super embassy’ decision

In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

Continue Reading

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