Diversity and equality were at the heart of discussions last week, when TV titans rolled into Edinburgh for its annual festival.
Okay, so it was a virtual festival, but the flagship industry event tackled the issue head-on, centreing largely on disabled representation and black talent.
The timing could not have been better, with a new report revealing this week that disabled people who work in the British television industry are facing “consistent difficulties” when it comes to career progression, with 80% of those surveyed saying their disabilities have adversely affected their careers.
Jack Thorne delivered this year’s headline MacTaggart Lecture at the event, slamming the TV industry saying it has “failed disabled people, utterly and totally.”
The prolific screen and play writer, who is known for projects such as His Dark Materials and Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, used the speech to launch a group named Underlying Health Condition, which will lobby the industry to be more accessible and a fund will be set up to pay for it.
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Thorne, who was diagnosed with cholinergic urticaria (which makes sufferers allergic to their own body heat) also said that his disability is invisible, and “as a white man with all the privilege that entails… I have had opportunities that my disabled family have not”.
The push towards inclusion was underlined at the festival by the likes of streaming giant Netflix, which said that its policy of “show not tell” when it came to achieving its diversity goals was working, and that viewers can expect to see changes on screens in the next few years.
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Vice president for original series Anne Mensah said that while the company is not “perfect”, it is “working towards it”.
The BBC also weighed in, with chief content controller Charlotte Moore agreeing with Thorne, saying of his speech: “I think it makes all of us say, ‘We know we’re changing but my God we’ve got to change faster’.”
Hollywood firepower also became part of the conversation too, with Hamilton writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda saying the industry needs a “chorus of voices” and to attack the inequalities that exist.
“Some of it is really attacking that stuff systemically and supporting folks who are at the ground-floor level of this industry and making sure that a living wage exists, so that I can make a living doing the thing I love,” he said.
Racial inequality was also discussed at the festival – a year on from the Black Lives Matter movement and the conversation about having black voices more represented on (and off) screen.
Queer Eye star Tan France, who acted as the international editor of the festival, said the TV industry in the UK was “lightyears” behind the US, and that he feels tokenism has become commonplace in place of actual representation.
This was a view echoed by comedian London Hughes, who said that it shouldn’t take the death of an unarmed black man to get networks to employ black talent.
Hughes had previously criticised Channel 4 for its Black To Front initiative, which she described as “performative tokenism”, telling the conference: “The people in charge need to do more… I wish George Floyd didn’t have to die for Alison Hammond to get a slot on This Morning.
“She should have had it already.”
But these were the same conversations being had 12 months ago, and networks will now need to put their money where their mouths are and follow through on their promises of better commissioning policies and more inclusive hiring practices.
Five people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction star Liam Payne in Argentina.
Three people have been charged with negligent homicide and two have been charged with supplying drugs, the Argentinian Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
Negligent homicide – similar to gross negligent manslaughter in the UK – carries a sentence of one to five years, while supplying drugs carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
Roger Nores, described as a “representative” of Payne, was one of those charged with negligent homicide, alongside hotel manager Gilda Martin and receptionist Esteban Grassi.
A hotel employee, Ezequiel Pereyra, and waiter, Braian Paiz, have been charged with supplying drugs on two occasions.
All five have been summoned to appear in court.
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A statement from the judge and public prosecutor today said Payne had been “demanding” drugs and alcohol during his stay at the hotel.
On the 16 December, Payne was in the hotel lobby and “unable to stand” due to the “consumption of various substances”, the court document said.
The receptionist and two others “dragged” the singer to his room, and the manager allowed this to happen “at least by omission”.
Given Payne’s “altered” consciousness and the access to a balcony from the room, the “proper thing to do was to leave him in a safe place and with company until a doctor arrived”, according to the judge.
They also accused Payne’s representative, Nores, of leaving Payne on his own in the hotel in a “state of vulnerability”, despite knowing about Payne’s previous addiction problems and that the fact Nores could “not trust that the rest of the hotel staff would act appropriately”.
The judge described Payne’s death as “foreseeable”.
The prosecutor’s office previously ruled out self-harm as a factor in the One Direction star’s death, and said he did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself from the fall, meaning it can be inferred he may have fallen “in a state of semi or total unconsciousness”.
The new document today reiterated the hypothesis that Payne had “tried to leave the room through the balcony and thus fell”.
The results of toxicology tests revealed that before his death, Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body.
According to the post-mortem examination, Payne died from “multiple” injuries and internal and external bleeding.
Argentine investigators found what appeared to be narcotics and alcohol strewn around broken objects and furniture in Payne’s hotel room, leading the public prosecution to surmise he had suffered a substance abuse-induced breakdown around the time of his fall.
World chess number one Magnus Carlsen is back in a major tournament after he quit because he was told to change his jeans.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has now relaxed its dress code to allow “elegant minor deviations”.
Those deviations “may, in particular, include appropriate jeans matching the jacket”, the new rules state.
Carlsen was defending his titles at the Fide World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York when he was told to change his trousers.
He had been to a lunch meeting before the competition and had to change quickly.
“I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn’t even think about jeans,” he told chess publication Take Take Take.
After playing a few rounds of the tournament, he was told he would face a fine because of his jeans, and then was told he wouldn’t be able to play at all if he didn’t change.
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The Norwegian refused and left the competition on Saturday, saying he’d go somewhere where the weather was a “bit nicer”, adding: “I am too old at this point to care too much.”
FIDE quickly rewrote the rules after the spat and Carlsen will now return to the championships, which the federation described as “great news for the chess world”.
“The situation was badly mishandled on their side,” said Carlsen in an interview with Take Take Take.
“I was about to book my plane tickets.”
But he told the publication he was pleased to be playing again, as he loved the tournament.
The chess federation has warned players against taking liberties with their outfits.
“I sincerely hope that nobody would try to undermine the festive mood, including by abusing this additional flexibility,” said Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE president in a statement.
“Special assistants” will be on hand to help judges decide whether players’ outfits are acceptable, according to Mr Dvorkovich.
Five-time World Chess champion Carlsen was previously involved in a dispute with rival Hans Niemann.
He accused Niemann of cheating after he was beaten at a tournament in 2022, but Niemann denied the allegations and said he would “strip fully naked” to prove his innocence.
The pair settled a $100m (£79m) lawsuit in August last year.
Actress Michelle Keegan is expecting her first baby with husband Mark Wright, the celebrity couple have announced.
Keegan and former The Only Way Is Essex star Wright, both 37, shared the news on their Instagram accounts with the caption “2025 is going to be a special one for us” followed by a baby emoji.
A picture on the social media site posted on Sunday shows the couple standing opposite each other on a beach as former Coronation Street actress Keegan holds her bump.
Keegan, also known for her roles in Sky comedy Brassic and Netflix’s Fool Me Once, is wearing a white off-the-shoulder top and skirt, while Wright is dressed in a beige shirt and trousers.
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