Lily Allen ‘excited’ to make West End debut in supernatural thriller
Lily Allen is to make her West End debut in a new supernatural thriller play launching in the summer.
The 36-year-old singer will star as Jenny in 2:22 – A Ghost Story, appearing alongside EastEnders actor Jake Wood, City Of Angels’ Hadley Fraser, and Julia Chan of Silent House.
Written by Danny Robins – best known for his docudrama horror podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, which is being made into a TV series – the play tells the story of four friends at a dinner party, but all is not what it seems.
Hadley Fraser, Julia Chan and Jake Wood will join Allen on stage
In a statement, Allen said: “I am so excited about getting to work on this play. The live performance aspect of my career has always been the most thrilling part for me, connecting with a group of individuals and the spontaneity of whatever happens on the night.
“I feel that stepping into this play is an exciting natural extension of that and affords me the best of all worlds. I get to explore mature subject matter, be a woman with a real point of view and show the West End audiences how much I love live performance and being in front of an audience. I can’t wait.”
The play follows Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted – but her husband Sam (Fraser) is not convinced.
After inviting old friend Lauren (Chan) and her new partner Ben (Wood) over for dinner, a “strange and frightening” feeling develops – and they all decide to stay awake until 2.22am to discover the truth.
Allen, who married Stranger Things actor David Harbour in September 2020, added that the play is a “brilliant investigation into the ghosts that haunt us and the hows and whys they come to be”.
Olivier Award-nominated director Matthew Dunster, who will helm the project at the Noel Coward Theatre, described it as “a unique combination of horror and social commentary”.
The play opens on 3 August.
Entertainment
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.
Entertainment
ITV newsreader Rageh Omaar ‘receiving medical care’ after on-screen behaviour worries fans
ITV News presenter Rageh Omaar is “receiving medical care” after becoming “unwell” live on-air, the TV channel says.
Omaar, 56, was presenting News At Ten on Friday when he appeared to be struggling to read the news bulletins, stumbling over words, prompting concern online.
ITV pulled the show from its scheduled re-run on ITV+1, telling viewers that the channel was “temporarily unable to bring you our +1 service”.
Afterwards, an ITV News spokesperson said: “We are aware that viewers are concerned about Rageh Omaar’s wellbeing.
“Rageh became unwell while presenting News at Ten on Friday and is now receiving medical care.
Rageh Omaar in 2021. File pic: PA
“He thanks everyone for their well wishes.”
No further details were given and it is unclear what was happening to Omaar during the broadcast.
Omaar covers major news stories as ITV’s international affairs editor, while also presenting the channel’s current affairs programme On Assignment.
He was previously a senior foreign correspondent for the BBC, rising to prominence during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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