Hollywood blockbuster Oppenheimer has topped the Critics Choice Awards taking home eight gongs.
London-born filmmaker Christopher Nolan won the award for best director for his film about J Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb.
The film also won best picture, while Robert Downey Jr won the award for best supporting actor for his role as Lewis Strauss, the former head of the US Atomic Energy Commission.
However, Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who played Oppenheimer, was snubbed in the best actor category, with the award going to The Holdovers star Paul Giamatti.
The 29th ceremony also saw success for Greta Gerwig’s box office hit Barbie, which picked up six awards including best comedy, best original screenplay and best original song for British star Mark Ronson’s I’m Just Ken – sung by Ryan Gosling.
The TV categories saw Succession, Beef and The Bear dominate in the major awards.
Image: Christopher Nolan receives the best director award
Image: Robert Downey Jr receives the best supporting actor award for his role in Oppenheimer
Collecting his award for best director, Nolan said: “To mangle a quote from Sir Isaac Newton, ‘If I appear tall it’s because I stand on the shoulders of giants’ – the particular giants I am standing on is Kai (Bird) and Marty (Sherwin) who wrote the incredible book American Prometheus and spent 25 years doing it.
“I thank you Kai for trusting me with your work and Marty, unfortunately he left us before I was able to show him the final script, but Kai your constant reassurances once you saw the film that he would have approved meant the world to me.”
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Image: Greta Gerwig (L) and Margot Robbie receive the best comedy award for Barbie
Image: Emily Blunt collects the award for best acting ensemble for Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt, who played the American physicist’s wife Katherine, also thanked Nolan for his “ability to connect with actors” as she collected the award for best ensemble on behalf of the cast.
“I love that we’re calling this an ensemble and we’re very grateful, but most of us were part-timers that gathered around this completely riveting fire of Cillian Murphy. Truly,” she said.
While Downey Jr read his own worst reviews from critics as he accepted the award for best supporting actor.
“I was thinking this morning, I just love critics… you know, they’ve given me such beautiful feedback, really just so many great moments, and some of it is so poetic. I just want to share some of their thoughts with you over the year.
“The first one is kind of like Haiku: ‘Sloppy, messy and lazy’. The next one is more metaphoric: ‘Like Pee-Wee Herman emerging from a coma’. This was from a Brit: ‘A puzzling waste of talent’. And lastly, and this one lingered: ‘Amusing as a bed-locked fart’.”
Image: Sarah Snook, winner of the best actress in a drama series award for Succession, poses with Kieran Culkin, winner of the best actor in a drama series for the same programme
Image: Emma Stone won best actress for her role in Poor Things
He went on to thank his “Oppen-homies” who he worked alongside on the film, joking: “Every day of filming was like having my ego’s ass handed to me at the door, and I think it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
However, Cord Jefferson trumped Nolan’s Oppenheimer in the best adapted screenplay category for his directorial debut American Fiction based on the 2001 novel titled Erasure by Percival Everett.
A number of awards, including best comedy for Barbie, were not televised, however Critics Choice presenter Chelsea Handler encouraged Gerwig and Robbie to come on stage to collect the award – which was not part of the scheduled show.
The ceremony also saw best supporting actress go to Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers, while Emma Stone won best actress for Poor Things.
An American Idol TV executive and her husband have been found dead in their LA home.
Robin Kaye was a music supervisor on the long-running reality TV series.
The bodies of the 70-year-old and her husband Thomas were discovered after officers conducted a welfare check at their home.
Both had died from gunshot wounds.
Image: Robin Kaye and her husband Thomas. Pic: Facebook
Detectives say Raymond Boodarian has been arrested in connection with their deaths.
It is alleged the 22-year-old had burgled their property while they were away on 10 July – killing the couple upon their return.
According to Los Angeles Police, there were “no signs of forced entry or trouble” at the property.
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Ms Kaye was an industry veteran – and had previously worked on shows including Lip Sync Battle and The Singing Bee, as well as several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
In a statement, an American Idol spokesperson said: “Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her.
“Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
Huge steel fences have been erected to prevent ticketless fans from watching the Oasis reunion tour in Manchester.
Liam and Noel Gallagher will resume their sold-out run of shows – their first since 2009 – with a performance at Heaton Park tonight, and two more on Saturday and Sunday.
While tens of thousands bought tickets for Oasis’sfirst two shows last weekend, crowds gathered to glimpse the large screens above the stage in the distance – in an area dubbed “Gallagher Hill” by some on social media.
Image: People walk past a temporary security fence erected ahead of concerts by Oasis in Heaton Park on 1 July. Reuters file pic
Manchester City Council has now said more steel fences have been erected around parts of the park to prevent ticketless fans from watching the gigs, and to protect nature in the park.
“After taking stock of how the first two nights went, additional measures have now been deemed necessary and will be in place for the next three concerts,” it said.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there.
“The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”
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The fences will cover a large area of the hill within the park’s cattle field, which is being developed as a new woodland area with around 300 young trees planted.
The council added that there would be no facilities for people without a ticket, and said the event area is “double-walled with solid high security fencing all the way round”.
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will also be on duty around the site “to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticket-holders and that only those who have tickets access the concert”, it said.
John Hacking, the council’s executive member for employment, skills and leisure, also said in a statement that “unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place”.
He added: “Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time.
“We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy, whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
MasterChef presenter John Torode will no longer work on the show after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld, the BBC has said.
His co-host Gregg Wallace was also sacked last week after claims of inappropriate behaviour.
On Monday, Torode said an allegation he used racist language was upheld in a report into the behaviour of Wallace. The report found more than half of 83 allegations against Wallace were substantiated.
Torode, 59, insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident involving him and he “did not believe that it happened,” adding “racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.
Image: John Torode and Gregg Wallace in 2008. Pic: PA
In a statement on Tuesday, a BBCspokesperson said the allegation “involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace”.
The claim was “investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm Lewis Silkin”, they added.
“The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said.
“We will not tolerate racist language of any kind… we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken.
“John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”
Australian-born Torode started presenting MasterChef alongside Wallace, 60, in 2005.
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A statement from Banijay UK said it “takes this matter incredibly seriously” and Lewis Silkin “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against John Torode which occurred in 2018”.
“This matter has been formally discussed with John Torode by Banijay UK, and whilst we note that John says he does not recall the incident, Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint,” the TV production company added.
“Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”
Earlier, as the BBC released its annual report, its director-general Tim Davie addressed MasterChef’s future, saying it can survive as it is “much bigger than individuals”.
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Speaking to BBC News after Torode was sacked, Mr Davie said a decision is yet to be taken over whether an unseen MasterChef series – filmed with both Wallace and Torode last year – will be aired.
“It’s a difficult one because… those amateur chefs gave a lot to take part – it means a lot, it can be an enormous break if you come through the show,” he added.
“I want to just reflect on that with the team and make a decision, and we’ll communicate that in due course.”
Mr Davie refused to say what the “seriously racist term” Torode was alleged to have used but said: “I certainly think we’ve drawn a line in the sand.”
In 2022, Torode was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for services to food and charity.