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Penn Jillette says he’s on Donald Trump’s enemies list because the president-elect feels a sense of “betrayal” towards him – and more specifically because of a risqué joke about his hair.

The 69-year-old magician, who’s one-half of the double act Penn & Teller, tells Sky News: “I am reported in the New York Times on his hate list, and he’s promised retribution to everybody on that list.”

He’s referring to “an enemies list of people [Mr Trump] intends to prosecute,” which vice president Kamala Harris has previously warned of.

While Jillette admits he doesn’t know all the reasons he’s reportedly on the list, he thinks a deciding factor may have been a joke he describes as “the best thing I’ve ever said in my life”.

When asked what he thought of Mr Trump by a journalist, Jillette says he responded: “He has hair that looks like cotton candy made of piss”.

And he’s not at all repentant about his past comment, adding: “It’s exactly what it is. Yeah, he didn’t like that one bit.”

Rock stars of magic, Penn & Teller found fame in the mid-1980s, toured with critically acclaimed shows throughout the 1990s and saw TV success on both sides of the pond.

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Appearing on shows including Friends, The Simpsons, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and even popping up in a Katy Perry music video, Jillette’s fame would go on to win him a place alongside Mr Trump on US The Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, returning for an All-Stars season the following year.

It was a role Jillette says he enjoyed – with caveats.

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Penn & Teller in 1998. Pic: AP

‘Showbiz is very different from politics’

“I really liked working with Trump in that environment. The fact that I liked working with him in the show business environment is very different from him in the political context.

“Trump did not understand that he thought that it was some sort of betrayal.”

Not one to mince his words, he describes the man who is set to become America’s leader for a second time in January as “incompetent”, “stupid”, and lacking in “processing power”.

But speaking about the on-set dynamic, he does have regrets about his own behaviour: “He was a laughingstock. We all had to prop him up. And in retrospect, that’s really awful.

“If I had my time back, I would have never once called him Mr Trump, which I did. I thought I was doing it kind of snarkily, but it didn’t read that way on camera.”

Penn & Teller in 2010. Pic: AP
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Penn & Teller in 2010. Pic: AP

‘No affection’ for Teller

In the interest of balance, Mr Trump has been equally vocal in his dislike of Penn, calling him among other things “sad”, a “goofball atheist” and a “boring guy” according to a 2019 New York Times list of people, places and things Mr Trump has insulted on Twitter.

And Mr Trump shouldn’t feel too aggrieved that Jillette isn’t a fan – it turns out the magician wouldn’t vote for Teller to be president either.

Despite performing over 8,000 live shows – more than the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis and The Clash put together – and trusting Teller with his life, he admits: “If he ran for president, I wouldn’t support him… it’s a different skill set.”

But he adds: “He’d be a million times better than Trump.”

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Penn & Teller in 2011. Pic: AP

A chalk and cheese mix, with a 6’7″ Jillette towering over a 5’9″ Teller, and with Jillette famously doing all the talking, he says he has “no affection” whatsoever for his comedy partner of nearly 50 years.

He explains: “Teller and I never felt any affection for one another whatsoever. It was totally intellectual. We felt we could do better stuff together than separately. So, our relationship was that of two guys who own a dry cleaner.”

Conceding that after all these years his daughter makes him refer to Teller as his BFF, he concedes: “There is a friendship that’s very, very deep. However, we don’t hang out.”

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Backstage in 2004. Pic: AP

Ditched the gun and flag tricks

An atheist, an unlikely vegan and a peacenik, the former libertarian (Jillette rejected the libertarian movement after he was to lead a rally against masks, a move that saw him “totally, totally out”) says their act has been honed down over the years.

Their famous bullet catch trick is gone, partly Jillette says because “when people see a gun, especially in the hands of an American, the person holding that gun is expected to be making a statement about gun violence”.

And he says: “I don’t have a succinct statement to make about gun violence, except I’m against it.”

Their disappearing flag trick – once performed on an episode of The West Wing – has also been ditched.

Now “a symbol of the right-wing” he says his country’s flag has now been hijacked as “a symbol of part of the country”, a fact he says is “bothersome”.

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Penn & Teller chatting to the king at the Royal Variety Performance. Pic: Reuters

‘I’ve talked to the cat for a while’

As for us Brits, Jillette says he “likes England very much” and is on first-name terms with “the potentate formerly known as Prince” – or King Charles as he’s more commonly known.

Past royal gigs mean he’s laid back about entertaining the monarch at this year’s Royal Variety Performance, explaining: “I’ve talked to the cat for a while. So, it’s kind of like a guy I know coming to the show.”

A controversial career filled with critical acclaim, royal approval and magical disapproval (they were famously barred from the Magic Circle for explaining their tricks to the audience) has kept Penn & Teller in the spotlight for over four decades.

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Receiving their Hollywood Walk Of Fame star in 2013. Pic: Reuters

And with their record-breaking act at The Rio Hotel and Casino – once described by Mr Trump as “the worst show in Las Vegas” – scheduled up to 2026, they’ve no plans of slowing down.

Jillette says they will perform “until death”, adding: “We will die in office.”

As he ponders the possibility, his mind returns to his position on Mr Trump’s hate list, linking the two with a wry smile.

He concludes: “When I see King Charles, I may request asylum. You may be seeing a lot of me over in England.”

Penn & Teller come to the West End next year, performing at The London Palladium from Saturday 13 September to Wednesday 24 September.

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
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Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas
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Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

Kyle Shaw leaves Liverpool Crown Court, where he is charged with stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.
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Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA

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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.

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Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

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Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

Gary Glitter has been made bankrupt after failing to pay more than £500,000 in damages to a woman he abused when she was 12 years old.

She sued the disgraced singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after he was found guilty of attacking her and two other schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

Glitter, 80, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 and released in 2023 but was recalled to prison less than six weeks later after breaching his parole conditions.

A judge awarded the woman £508,800, including £381,000 in lost earnings and £7,800 for future therapy and treatment, saying she was subjected to abuse “of the most serious kind”.

The court heard she had not worked for decades due to the trauma of being repeatedly raped and “humiliated” by the singer.

Gary Glitter has lost a parole board bid to be freed from jail.
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Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015. Pic: Met Police/PA

Glitter was made bankrupt last month at the County Court at Torquay and Newton Abbot, in Devon – the county where he is reportedly serving his sentence in Channings Wood prison, in Newton Abbot.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing the woman, said: “We confirm that Gadd has been made bankrupt following our client’s application.

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“As he has done throughout, Gadd has refused to cooperate with the process and continues to treat his victims with contempt.

“We hope and trust that the parole board will take his behaviour into account in any future parole applications, as it clearly demonstrates that he has never changed, shows no remorse and remains a serious risk to the public.”

Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after he admitted possessing around 4,000 indecent images of children.

He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002, and in March 2006 was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam where he spent two-and-a-half years in prison.

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His sentence for the 2016 convictions expires in February 2031.

Glitter was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February 2023 after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.

But he was back behind bars weeks later after reportedly trying to access the dark web and images of children.

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Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films

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Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes' four Beatles films

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan will play Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles films – with a Stranger Things star also portraying one of the Fab Four.

The two Irish actors will be joined by London-born performers Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

The cast for the Sam Mendes project was revealed at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, with all four appearing on stage and taking a bow together in Beatles style.

Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan and Harris Dickinson stand onstage to promote the upcoming "The Beatles" movies during a Sony Pictures presentation.
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(L-R) Mescal, Quinn, Keoghan and Dickinson appeared together at the announcement. Pic: Reuters

Mendes is making four interconnected films – one from the perspective of each of the band members – and they are all set to be released “in proximity” to each other in April 2028.

It marks the first time The Beatles and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.

Playing McCartney is another big role for 29-year-old Mescal, who recently starred in the Gladiator sequel and was nominated for an Oscar in 2023 for Aftersun.

Barry Keoghan – who also got an Oscar nod for The Banshees of Inisherin – will portray the other surviving Beatles member, Ringo Starr.

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Pic: PA

Meanwhile, Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn, who appeared with long hair as Eddie Munson in the fourth series, takes up the role of George Harrison.

Harris Dickinson has the challenge of stepping into the shoes of perhaps the most famous Beatle, John Lennon.

The 28-year-old recently starred in erotic thriller Babygirl with Nicole Kidman and also appeared in satire Triangle of Sadness.

Mendes told the industry audience at CinemaCon there is “still plenty to explore” despite the Beatles’ rise having being well chronicled.

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The Oscar-winning British director is known for films including American Beauty, First World War movie 1917, and Bond outings Skyfall and Spectre.

Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman said the close release of all four films in three years’ time will be “the first bingeable theatrical experience”.

“We are going to dominate the culture that month,” he added.

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