Penn & Teller have finally been inducted into the Magic Circle – after 50 years of being denied membership.

Rock stars of magic, Penn & Teller found fame in the mid-1980s, earning them fans on both sides of the pond, but their habit of explaining their tricks to the audience also earned them magical disapproval.

The duo were famously barred from the Magic Circle for exposing their tricks as part of their act, flying in the face of the organisation’s belief in keeping magical secrets from the public.

Formed in 1905, the Magic Circle currently has around 1,750 members from around the world, all of whom have passed an exam to join.

Penn & Teller’s famous fans include the King (who is also a Magic Circle member), while their critics include Donald Trump, who’s said to have put them on his “enemies list”.

The presentation took place on Friday, on the steps of the Palladium, in London’s West End, where Penn & Teller are currently performing their 50th Anniversary residency.

Magic Circle president Marvin Berglas said: “In the past they may have been known as the bad boys of magic with their sometimes controversial and hard-hitting choice of material.

“There was criticism from some in the past for their apparently exposing magical secrets. However, for those in the know, the real magic was always with their original and artistic performances whereby audiences thought they understood how something may have been done only to be utterly amazed with an entirely different original method.

“For this – Penn and Teller are the kings. These days The Magic Circle is the place for a truly diverse group of creative minds and talented performers.”

Penn & Teller said: “We’re honoured that the Magic Circle has invited us to be members, after we’ve violated its cardinal rule – don’t give away secrets – for five decades. This is going to be fun.”

Penn & Teller first performed together in August 1975, breaking into the mainstream in the mid-1980s, and touring with critically acclaimed shows throughout the 1990s and achieving TV success in both the US and UK.

They will be performing their 50th Anniversary Tour at The London Palladium until Wednesday, 24 September.

US talk show host Stephen Colbert has condemned the cancellation of fellow late-night star Jimmy Kimmel as a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”, as America’s top late night presenters came out fighting.

He used the opening of Thursday night’s edition of his Late Show to address the pulling of Jimmy Kimmel Live over comments made about the assassination of the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel used his show earlier this week to accuse the Trump administration and its allies of “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”, with the president among those to pin it on left-wing extremism.

Explainer: What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

The move by Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised, with the network accused of kowtowing to President Donald Trump, who celebrated the decision.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Thursday, Mr Trump suggested certain networks should have their licenses revoked over a lack of support for him.

“When a late-night hosts is on network television there is a licence,” he said. “I read somewhere that the networks were 97% against me… they give me only bad publicity or press. I mean [if] they’re getting a licence. I would think maybe their licence should be taken away.”

Also airing on Thursday night, Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show, appeared in a garish gold set, in parody of Mr Trump’s redesign of the White House, to tell viewers the episode would be “another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show”.

Stewart, playing the role of an over-the-top, politically obsequious TV host under authoritarian rule, lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of US cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight crime.

“Coming to you tonight from the real […] crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no-one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” he said.

He then introduced his guest – Maria Ressa, a journalist and author of the book How To Stand Up To A Dictator.

Over at The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon told his audience he was “not sure what was going on” but that Kimmel is “a decent funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back”.

Fallon then promised viewers that in spite of people being “worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we will be censored”, he was going to cover the president’s recent trip to the UK “just like I normally would”.

He was then replaced by a voiceover describing Mr Trump as “incredibly handsome” and “making America great again”.

Seth Meyers also joined the fray.

“Donald Trump is on his way back from a trip to the UK,” he said at the top of his show Late Night, “while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech… and completely unrelated, I just wanted to say that I have always admired and respected Mr Trump.

“I have always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, and an even better golfer.”

Kimmel’s removal from the show he has hosted for two decades led to criticism that free speech was under attack.

But speaking on his visit to Britain, Donald Trump claimed he was suspended “because he had bad ratings”.

It came after fellow late-night host Colbert saw his programme cancelled earlier this year, which fans claimed was also down to his criticism of Mr Trump, who has since railed against Kimmel, Meyers, and Fallon.

He has posted on Truth Social that they should all be cancelled.

Figures from both the worlds of entertainment and politics lined up to lament ABC’s removal of Kimmel.

Chat show doyen David Letterman said people should not be fired just because they don’t “suck up” to what he called “an authoritarian” president.

During an appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York on Thursday night, he added: “It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It’s managed media.”

Former US president Barack Obama wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

Football and the royals are two subjects which have always attracted very outspoken fans. Now, aged 90, Lord Norman Foster is attempting to please both.

One of the one of the world’s most important living architects, he is known for being the vision behind some of the world’s most iconic designs – including London’s “Gherkin” building, the Millennium Bridge and the British Museum’s spectacular Great Court.

Arguably, however, two of his most talked about designs are yet to be built.

In June, his firm Foster + Partners was announced as having won the commission to build a national memorial in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Before that, in March, his firm’s vision for a new 100,000-seater stadium at Old Trafford was revealed, which he describes as “the project of a lifetime”.

‘A galvanising project’

“The fan base is incredible,” Lord Foster said of his excitement at being commissioned to work on the new ground.

For the renowned architect it is a homecoming of sorts, given Lord Foster’s working-class roots, having grown-up in Manchester.

Was he excited to be involved?

“You bet,” he exclaims.

“It’s a galvanising project… and so many things can naturally ride on the back of that sporting, emblematic kind of team.”

Set to cost around £2bn – with its three tall masts acting as a vast umbrella over Old Trafford – the design is part of a larger regeneration project which Lord Foster claims could be completed in five years.

It is described as a “master plan that will create streets, squares, neighbourhoods and connect with the heart of Manchester.”

Asked whether it will feel unlike any other British stadium, he said: “Manchester United is different and therefore its stadium’s going to be different… and better, of course.”

And what of the QEII memorial?

He says his design to remember the late monarch in London’s St James’ Park will be “more of all the good things”.

His plans include a statue of Queen Elizabeth II standing next to her husband Prince Philip, and a semi-glass bridge which is a nod to her wedding tiara.

As for those who’ve questioned whether maintaining its sparkle might prove to be problematic, Lord Foster insists it’ll be “less maintenance, more joy”.

He says his hope is “to address the many millions who traverse that [park], the daily commuters and many tourists, and to make that more human, to make it a better experience and a reminder of the legacy of the most extraordinary long-serving monarch”.

After collecting the London Design Festival’s prestigious lifetime achievement medal earlier this week, with six decades of experience under his belt, Lord Foster says he finds Britain’s inability to invest in infrastructure frustrating.

“I lamented, like so many, the cancellation of HS2,” he says. The long-delayed rail route’s northern leg to Manchester was scrapped by Rishi Sunak in 2023.

“That was about levelling-up. It wasn’t about getting from one place in lightning speed, it was taking the burden off the regional network so it would serve local communities better.”

He says “connectivity is the answer to many of the social issues that we talk about”.

The tendency of politicians, he says, to prioritise short-term issues doesn’t help when it comes to seeing the bigger picture.

“There is not the awareness of the importance of design and planning… you do need a political awareness,” he says.

“The city is not static, it’s dynamic. It’s always changing, evolving, adapting to change, and it can do that well, or it can do it badly. But it needs planning, it needs anticipation.”