David Seidler: Oscar-winning screenwriter behind The King’s Speech dies – reports
David Seidler – best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind the film The King’s Speech – has died at the age of 86, according to reports.
The London-born screenwriter, who had a stammer as a child, was inspired to write about the true story of how King George VI, on the eve of the Second World War, overcame his speech impediment.
Seidler died on Saturday during a fly-fishing trip in New Zealand, according to his manager Jeff Aghassi – US media reported.
Mr Aghassi said: “David was in the place he loved most in the world – New Zealand – doing what gave him the greatest peace, which was fly fishing.
“If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it.”
Seidler won the Oscar and BAFTA awards for best original screenplay for the 2010 film The King’s Speech.
“I accept this on behalf of all the stutterers throughout the world. We have a voice, we have been heard,” he said, when collecting his Oscar at the 2011 Academy Awards.
The historical drama starred Colin Firth, who also won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of the king.
Seidler was also behind the stage adaptation of the film, which first opened on the West End in 2012.
Colin Firth as King George VI in The King’s Speech. Pic: Weinstein/Everett/Shutterstock
His other work included the 1988 biopic Onassis: The Richest Man In The World – starring Raul Julia as the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis – for which Seidler won his first Writers Guild award.
The same year Seidler co-wrote Francis Ford Coppola’s comedy drama Tucker: The Man And His Dream.
Other projects included writing for the animated children’s musicals The King And I, Quest For Camelot and Madeline: Lost in Paris.
He is survived by his two adult children, Marc and Maya.
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Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
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