Ja Rule denied entry to the UK – days before tour starts
US rapper Ja Rule says he is “devastated” after being denied entry to the UK – days before his tour begins.
The Livin’ It Up star, whose real name is Jeffrey Bruce Atkins Senior, is due to kick off his Sunrise tour in Cardiff on Friday before further gigs in Liverpool, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham and London.
But he says he won’t be on stage because he is not allowed to enter the country due to his criminal record, having previously served two years in prison on gun and tax evasion charges.
“I’m so devastated. I can’t believe the UK won’t let me in,” he wrote on X, adding he’s spent a “half million dollars in production” of his own money to put the tour together.
“This is not fair to me or my fans, these venues are 85% sold and now I can’t come.”
Pic: imageSPACE/MediaPunch/IPX/AP
Tickets for the shows are still available on Ticketmaster – and he said on Wednesday that he made his criminal record clear to the promoter beforehand.
He encouraged fans to ask for refunds and promised he will do “something special” for his UK fans as he will “never be able to come across the pond”.
“The UK is one of the few European countries that restricts entry to people with criminal records,” he posted.
“In general, you will likely be denied entry if you have been convicted of a crime punishable by 23 months or more under British law or served more than 12 months in prison.”
Ticketmaster told Sky News that refunds for the cancelled show will be processed automatically, and initially told fans online that “once we receive confirmed info an email will be sent to all customers for the event”.
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Pic: Reuters
Ja Rule – best known for hits such as Always On Time and Thug Lovin’ – was due to be supported on the tour by Mya, Keri Hilson and Lloyd.
The rapper was previously at the centre of controversy over the doomed Fyre Festival, but was cleared of any legal wrongdoing.
The disastrous 2017 event resulted in organiser Billy McFarland going to prison for fraud.
The festival was scheduled to take place in the Bahamas in 2017, but caused more than £20m in losses when it was cancelled for inadequate accommodation, food and water.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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