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An American porn star has sparked anger after visiting Iran – despite the risks of being detained and sentenced to the death penalty.

Whitney Wright, 32, filmed herself in Tehran and visited the abandoned US embassy which has been turned into an anti-American museum.

In remarks made on social media, Wright, whose real name is Brittni Rayne Whittington, said she “HAD to visit” the embassy where Iranian students held staff members hostage for 444 days after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“I’m sharing exhibits from a museum that are never seen,” Wright, from Oklahoma, wrote on Instagram in a since-deleted post. “It’s not an endorsement of the government.”

She filmed herself throughout the Iranian capital despite her work in pornography putting her at risk in theory to criminal charges that carry the death penalty.

Wright also posted several pictures of her visit, including one that showed her in a headscarf and conservative clothing – required by law in Iran – standing next to a lowered US flag at the former embassy.

Posting on her Instagram story on Monday, the adult actress said she doesn’t know “half of what is being said here, but I’m no longer in Iran, but elsewhere”.

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Her visit comes in the wake of Iran imprisoning Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi, as well as the country’s mandatory headscarf law and nationwide protests over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini two years ago.

Entrance to the former US Embassy - now an anti-American museum - in Tehran, Iran. Pic: AP
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The entrance to the former US embassy – now an anti-American museum – in Tehran. Pic: AP

Backlash to visit

Masih Alinejad, a US-based activist who faced assassination and kidnapping attempts by Iran, condemned Wright for making the trip and for alleged remarks where the actress said “if you respect the law, you will be safe in Iran”.

She wrote on X: “Iranian women don’t want to obey a discriminatory law. Rosa Parks stood up against racist laws in America and became a symbol of resistance.

“We the women of Iran want be like Rosa Parks and not Whitney Wright. And by the way, the true warmongers are the agents of the Islamic Republic who will execute you if you be true to yourself.”

Iranian actor Setareh Pesiani also said on Instagram: “You punish people of this country in various methods for removal of hijab but you allow a porn actress to come here for tourism!?”

Questions over visa

Under Iranian law, making pornography is illegal and can carry the death penalty.

Iran Human Rights reports that so far in 2024, some 74 people have been executed by the government.

US citizens also require a visa to visit the country, and it is unclear how the actress obtained one.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted an anonymous official who claimed those who issued the visa were not “aware about the nature of her immoral job”.

Iran’s foreign affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani said during a weekly news conference: “Naturally, US citizens face no impediments in travelling to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iranian citizens are able to travel to the US.”

The US State Department, when asked about Wright’s trip, said it has warned Americans to avoid travelling to Iran and “exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detention”.

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Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

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Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

An antiques expert from the TV show Bargain Hunt has been charged by police following an investigation into terrorist financing.

Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, 53, is accused of eight counts of “failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector”, the Met Police said.

The force said he was the first person to be charged with that specific offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Ojiri, from west London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

It comes “following an investigation into terrorist financing” and relates to the period from October 2020 to December 2021, a police spokesperson said.

They added that the probe had been carried out in partnership with Treasury officials, HMRC and the Met’s Arts & Antiques Unit.

Mr Ojiri, who police described as an “art dealer”, has been on Bargain Hunt since 2019.

He has also appeared on the BBC‘s Antiques Road Trip programme.

In a statement, the BBC said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

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Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

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Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.

The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.

Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.

A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.

There were no reports of anyone being injured.

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Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.

He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.

His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).

He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.

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“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.

Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.

She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.

Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.

She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.

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Giles Martin on AI plans: ‘It’s like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’

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Giles Martin on AI plans: 'It's like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to'

Producer Giles Martin has said plans to allow AI firms to use artists’ work without permission, unless creators opt out, is like criminals being given free rein to burgle houses unless they are specifically told not to.

Martin, who is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and worked with Sir Paul McCartney on the Get Back documentary series and the 2023 Beatles track Now And Then, spoke to Sky News at a UK Music protest at Westminster coinciding with a parliamentary debate on the issue.

Under the plans, an exemption to copyright would be created for training artificial intelligence (AI), so tech firms would not need a licence to use copyrighted material – rather, creators would need to opt out to prevent their work from being used.

Creatives say if anything it should be opt-in rather than out, and are calling on the government to scrap the proposals and stop AI developers “stealing” their work “without payment or permission”.

Giles Martin at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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Giles Martin at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

“If you create something unique it should be unique to you,” says Martin. “It shouldn’t be able to be harvested and then used by other people. Or if it is, it should be with your permission… it shouldn’t be up to governments or big tech.”

Sir Elton John and Simon Cowell are among the celebrities who have backed a campaign opposing the proposals, and Sir Paul has also spoken out against them.

“This is about young artists,” says Martin. “If a young Paul McCartney at the age of 20 or 22 wrote Yesterday, now… big tech would almost be able to harvest that song and use it for their own means. It doesn’t make any sense, this ruling of opting out – where essentially it’s like saying, ‘you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’.”

More on Artificial Intelligence

‘I’m not anti-AI – it’s a question of permission’

The Beatles’ track Now And Then was written and recorded by John Lennon in New York in the late 1970s, and AI was used to extract his vocals for the 2023 release. The Get Back documentary also used audio restoration technology, allowing music and vocals to be isolated.

The Beatles have released a music video to accompany the last “new” Beatles song.
Image:
AI was used to release The Beatles’ track Now And Then in 2023. Pic: Apple Corps Ltd

“I’m not anti [AI], I’m not saying we should go back to writing on scribes,” Martin said. “But I do think that it’s a question of artist’s permission.”

Using AI to “excavate” Lennon’s voice was with the permission of the late singer’s estate, he said, and is “different from me getting a 3D printer to make a John Lennon”.

He added: “The idea of, for example, whoever your favourite artist is – the future is, you get home from work and they’ll sing you a song, especially designed for you, by that artist, by that voice. And it’ll make you feel better because AI will know how you’re feeling at that time. That’s maybe a reality. Whoever that artist is, they should probably have a say in that voice.”

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Crispin Hunt, of 1990s band The Longpigs, who also attended the protest, said “all technology needs some kind of oversight”.

“If you remove the ability for the world to make a living out of creativity, or if you devalue creativity to such an extent that that it becomes a hobby and worthless to do, then humanity in life will be far less rich because it’s art and culture that makes life richer,” he said. “And that’s why the companies want it for free.”

The Data (Use and Access) Bill primarily covers data-sharing agreements, but transparency safeguards were removed at committee stage.

Critics say changes need to be made to ensure that companies training generative AI models disclose whether work by a human creator has been used and protect creatives under existing copyright rules.

In February, more than 1,000 artists and musicians including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Sam Fender and Annie Lennox released a silent album in protest at the proposed changes.

At that time, a government spokesperson said the UK’s current rules were “holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential – and that cannot continue”.

The spokesperson said they were consulting on proposals that better protect the “interests of both AI developers and right holders” and to deliver a solution “which allows both to thrive”.

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