Shakira reaches deal with authorities to avoid €14.5m tax fraud trial in Spain

Published

11 months ago

November 20, 2023

admin

Pop star Shakira has reached a deal with tax authorities in Spain, avoiding a €14.5m trial on the morning it was due to begin.

The Colombian pop star attended court on Monday and agreed to pay a fine of €7m (£6.1m). She waved and blew a kiss to bystanders as she walked in ahead of the short hearing.

After answering “yes” to confirm acknowledgement of failing to pay the Spanish government taxes, she also received a suspended three-year sentence, the AP news agency reported.

In a statement sent to Sky News, Shakira said she had “always strived to do what’s right and set a positive example for others” but now wants to “move past the stress”.

The agreement means a trial which had been due to include dozens of witnesses, and was expected to last several weeks, has now been called off – and prosecutors have dropped their demand for the star to be jailed for eight years.

The Hips Don’t Lie singer said her lawyers had been “confident” the court would have ruled in her favour following a trial.

However, she said she took the decision to resolve the matter beforehand “with the best interest of my kids at heart, who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal wellbeing in this fight”.

Shakira, 46, has two sons with her ex-partner, footballer Gerard Pique.

She had faced six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government €14.5m (about £12.7m) in taxes between 2012 and 2014.

The case centred around where she was living at the time, and she had denied any wrongdoing. Her defence team had argued she had not spent more than 60 days a year in Spain during the period in question and so should not have been considered a fiscal resident.

‘Winning is getting my time back’

In her statement, Shakira said she had sought “the advice of the world’s preeminent tax authorities PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited and Ernst & Young Global Limited”, her advisers throughout the process.

“Unfortunately, and despite these efforts, tax authorities in Spain pursued a case against me as they have against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, draining those people’s energy, time, and tranquility for years at a time,” she said.

“I need to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years and focus on the things I love – my kids and all the opportunities to come in my career, including my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I am extremely excited about.

“I admire tremendously those who have fought these injustices to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my kids and my career.”

Spain has cracked down on football stars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for tax offences in the last decade.

The former Barcelona and Real Madrid stars were found guilty of evasion but both avoided jail after their sentences were suspended.

From Grammy wins to court

Shakira’s deal comes after the star was named one of the big winners at the Latin Grammys at the weekend, taking home three awards.

She was presented with one award by Sergio Ramos, former Spanish international teammate of Pique and defender for Real Madrid, rivals of Pique’s former club Barcelona.

Prosecutors announced in September that Shakira would also face separate charges of €6.7m tax evasion in Spain, relating to a period in 2018. Sky News understands this case is still ongoing but her lawyers are confident of a resolution.

Entertainment

Madonna pays tribute to younger brother Christopher Ciccone after death aged 63

Published

2 hours ago

October 7, 2024

admin

Madonna pays tribute to younger brother Christopher Ciccone after death aged 63

Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone has died aged 63, with the popstar remembering him as “the closest human to me for so long”.

Mr Ciccone, who was an artist, dancer and designer, died on Friday in Michigan after being diagnosed with cancer.

He appeared in music videos such as Lucky Star, art directed Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour and served as tour director for The Girlie Show tour.

In a post on Instagram, Madonna, 66, said Ciccone was in “so much pain towards the end”.

She said: “He was the closest human to me for so long, it’s hard to explain our bond.

“But it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society was going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo.

“We took each other’s hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood, in fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together.

“Discovering dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too. My ballet teacher, also named Christopher, created a safe space for my brother to be gay, a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived.

“When I finally got the courage to go to New York to become a dancer, my brother followed, and again we took each other’s hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City.”

She added: “My brother was right by my side, he was a painter, a poet and a visionary, I admired him.

“He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.

“We soared the highest heights together, and floundered in the lowest lows.

“Somehow, we always found each other again and we held hands and we kept dancing.”

Mr Ciccone fell out with his sister in 2008 after the release of his bestselling autobiography Life With My Sister Madonna in which he wrote about their strained relationship, her romances and memories from their time on tour together.

Speaking about mending their argument before Mr Ciccone’s death, Madonna said: “The last few years have not been easy.

“We did not speak for some time but when my brother got sick, we found our way back to each other.”

She added: “I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible.

“He was in so much pain towards the end, once again, we held hands, we closed our eyes and we danced, together.

“I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore, there will never be anyone like him. I know he’s dancing somewhere.”

Mr Ciccone directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett during his career, and was an interior designer for Madonna’s homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

In 2016, Mr Ciccone married Ray Thacker, a British actor, who was by his side when he died.

Madonna’s stepmother, Joan Clare Ciccone, died from cancer just weeks ago, and her older brother Anthony Ciccone died last year.

Entertainment

Johnnie Walker: Radio 2 DJ quitting his BBC shows

Published

8 hours ago

October 6, 2024

admin

Johnnie Walker: Radio 2 DJ quitting his BBC shows

Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker has said in a “very sad announcement” that he is quitting both of his BBC music programmes because of ill health.

Walker, who has been a broadcaster for 58 years, will step down towards the end of this month from his Sunday afternoon show Sounds Of The 70s and The Rock Show on Friday nights.

The presenter has pulmonary fibrosis which means the lungs become scarred and breathing is increasingly difficult.

Speaking earlier this year, Walker said his condition was “terminal” and getting “progressively worse”.

In a message live on air on Sunday during the Sounds Of The 70s, the 79-year-old star read out a letter from a listener whose father had enjoyed the show, but had died in 2022 due to the same condition.

The Birmingham-born host then told his listeners: “Now, that leads me to be making a very sad announcement.

“The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult… so I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end after 58 years.

“And so I’ll be doing my last Sounds Of The 70s on October 27, so I’ll make the last three shows as good as I possibly can.”

The broadcaster started his radio career in 1966 at offshore pirate station Swinging Radio England, before moving to Radio Caroline, where he hosted the night-time show.

When the station shut he joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969, continuing until 1976, when he moved to San Francisco to record a weekly show which was broadcast on Radio Luxembourg.

He went back to the BBC in the early 1980s where he has remained ever since.

Walker’s last episode of The Rock Show will air on 25 October and his final episode of Sounds Of The 70s will air on 27 October.

He will be replaced on the Sounds Of The 70s by Bob Harris.

And Shaun Keaveny will become the new presenter of The Rock Show.

Entertainment

Disfigured actor Adam Pearson hoping A Different Man changes how people see him and his condition

Published

20 hours ago

October 6, 2024

admin

Disfigured actor Adam Pearson hoping A Different Man changes how people see him and his condition

Actor Adam Pearson, who has a disfiguring facial condition, wants to help others learn about such differences as he plays a man with the same illness in his latest film.

The British star, 39, has neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic condition that causes tumours, which are most often benign, to grow along your nerves.

Pearson, who made his acting debut in the 2013 film Under the Skin, said: “There are two ways to lose your anonymity in a society – to either become famous or have a disfigurement so I’ve kind of shot myself in both feet a little bit on that one.”

But he wants to encourage acceptance of his condition and said anyone choosing to take a “vow of almost noble silence” to avoid a “politically correct minefield” can do more harm than good.

“Kindness goes a long way”, he added.

He stars alongside Marvel’s Sebastian Stan in the drama A Different Man, about an actor with NF1 who undergoes a medical trial that successfully removes the tumours on his face.

Made by A24, the film explores social norms and self-confidence and hopes to create a platform for open and honest conversations.

Co-star Stan, who plays Edward, the film’s lead, uses prosthetics to mimic the symptoms of neurofibromatosis and went out in public in character to see how people would respond.

He said there was “nothing more self-conscious or isolating than that experience.

“The recognition part is a similar concept of you being a public property just like it is you being different or being disabled or disfigured but it was 20 times the amount.

“You feel the energy shift and you feel the discomfort. And it informed everything for me from that point on”.

The actor, who plays Donald Trump in the upcoming film The Apprentice, said it made him reflect on how focused society is on physical appearance.

He said we often make huge efforts to improve our lives, hoping “something is going to change on the inside.

“But it won’t as long as you’re making decisions that are based on how you think people want you to be.”

It was a struggle to get funding for A Different Man, written by Aaron Schimberg, until Stan came on board.

The Romanian-American actor, 42, wants to use the platform he has to shine a light on important stories.

“As I’ve gotten older, certainly I’ve been feeling more of a sense of responsibility towards what kind of work I’m getting involved in and I think one of those things is finding projects that I feel speak to towards something, that ask important, difficult questions and have filmmakers that are fearless and not afraid to go there,” he said.

A Different Man is in cinemas now.