Takeoff shooting: Migos rapper killed by ‘stray bullet’, says record label

Published

3 years ago

November 2, 2022

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Migos rapper Takeoff was killed by a stray bullet, his record label has said, releasing a statement condemning “senseless violence”.

The 28-year-old hip-hop star was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot outside a bowling alley in Houston, Texas, in the early hours on Tuesday.

Takeoff, real name Kirsnick Khari Ball, was best known as a member of Atlanta rap trio Migos along with Quavo and Offset.

Representatives for record label Quality Control Music shared a tribute on social media saying they had been left devastated by his death.

“It is with broken hearts and deep sadness that we mourn the loss of our beloved brother Kirsnick Khari Ball, known to the world as Takeoff,” the statement read.

“Senseless violence and a stray bullet has taken another life from this world and we are devastated.

“Please respect his family and friends as we all continue to process this monumental loss.”

Houston police have called on witnesses to come forward with information. No arrests had been made so far.

Police said they were called to the scene at about 2.34am local time (7.34am in the UK), with reports of a shooting outside Billiards and Bowling Alley in Houston. A private party of about 40 people, including Takeoff, had been taking place there, they said.

‘Sometimes the hip-hop community gets a bad name’

Takeoff was found dead at the scene and two other individuals, a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

In a press conference, police chief Troy Finner said he had received many calls praising Takeoff as a “great young man”.

Mr Finner said: “Sometimes the hip-hop community gets a bad name and I know, evident from this city and people who I have a personal relationship with, a lot of great people in our hip-hop community, and I respect them.

“But back to Takeoff. I got many calls from Houston and outside of Houston, and everyone spoke of what a great young man this is, how peaceful he is, what a great artist.

“And I’m calling up on everybody, hip-hop artists in Houston and around the nation, we (have) got to police ourselves.

“It is so many talented individuals, men and women in that community, who again, I love and I respect, and we all need to stand together and make sure nobody tears down that industry.”

‘Too many young men of colour being injured or killed’

Mr Finner said he would not speculate on whether Takeoff was the intended target.

“Based on what people say about him, he’s well respected, non-violent,” he said.

“I would not expect him to be involved but I do want to wait on the investigation… we have no reason to believe that he was involved in anything criminal at the time, just as people describe him as very peaceful, loving, great entertainer.”

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also spoke during the press conference, saying: “We have too many young men of colour that are being injured or killed and their future is cut off and family members and friends are left to mourn.

“This does not have to be our reality and it need not be our future. And so as it relates to this particular incident, what I would say to the people in this city and even beyond – we will solve this crime.”

Music stars including Dave, Sean Paul, AJ Tracey, Kid Cudi, Khalid and Ja Rule are among those who have paid tribute to Takeoff.

Migos comprised of Takeoff and his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset, who is married to rapper Cardi B.

The trio first rose to fame with the viral single Versace in 2013 and went on to have a number of hit tracks including the 2016 Grammy-nominated Bad And Boujee, Motorsport (with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B) and Stir Fry.

The group also played fictional versions of themselves in the American comedy-drama TV series Atlanta, created by and starring Donald Glover.

Entertainment

Robin Williams’s daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

Published

2 hours ago

October 7, 2025

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Robin Williams's daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

The daughter of late actor Robin Williams has begged people to stop sending her AI-generated “slop” of her father.

“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” actor and director Zelda Williams wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.”

She described the videos as “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” made from the lives of human beings.

“You’re […] shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross,” she wrote.

It’s not the first time Williams has written about the impact of people sending her content about her father on social media.

In 2020, on the anniversary of her father’s death, Williams posted on Instagram saying:

“While I am constantly touched by all of your boundless continued love for him, some days it can feel a bit like being seen as a roadside memorial – a place, not a person – where people drive past and leave their sentiments to then go about their days comforted their love for him was witnessed.”

“But sometimes, that leaves me emotionally buried under a pile of others’ memories instead of my own.”

The death of Robin Williams in 2014, an actor and comedian known for his quick wit and wisdom, triggered a global outpouring of grief and tributes to the star still frequently surface on social media to this day.

In 2023, Zelda appealed for the end of AI-generated content, saying in a widely-reported post on Instagram:

“I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”⁠
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“I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”

Entertainment

Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died

Published

1 day ago

October 6, 2025

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Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died, her publisher has said.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dame Jilly Cooper, DBE who died on Sunday morning, after a fall, at the age of 88,” a statement said.

The Queen paid tribute to Dame Jilly, calling her a “legend” who was a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend”.

The best-selling author was renowned for her raunchy, so-called “bonkbuster” novels, which portrayed the scandals and sex lives of wealthy country social circles, including Rivals, Riders and Polo.

She was praised for her blend of risqué storylines and critique of Britain’s class system, personified by showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black.

Her children Felix and Emily said: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds.

“Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.

“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”

Dame Jilly was propelled to commercial success in the 1980s, and sold 11 million copies of her books during her more than fifty-year career.

Last year, Rivals was adapted into a successful TV series, which she worked on as an executive producer.

Tributes to author who created ‘a whole new genre’

Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of the Queen.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, she said: “I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night.

“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.

“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.

“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family.

“And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

The author’s many fans included former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the books offered “escapism”.

‘Dame Jilly defined culture’

Her agent Felicity Blunt said: “The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago.”

She added: “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time, but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things – class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.”

The executive producers of the Disney+ adaptation, Rivals, said they are “broken-hearted” and “her legacy will endure”.

Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb added: “Jilly was and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers, and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.”

As tributes rolled in on Monday, TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp wrote on X: “I know 88 is a good age, but this is very sad news.

“A British institution, funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating, we don’t see enough of it these days.”

Her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: “Jilly may have worn her influence lightly, but she was a true trailblazer.

“As a journalist she went where others feared to tread, and as a novelist she did likewise.

“With a winning combination of glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation, she dissected the behaviour, bad mostly, of the English upper middle classes with the sharpest of scalpels.”

The ‘unholy terror’

Born in Essex in 1937, Jilly Cooper came from a Yorkshire family known for newspaper publishing and politics.

Her writing career began in 1956 as a junior reporter on the Middlesex Independent, covering everything from parties to football.

She had said she was known as the “unholy terror” at school, and was sacked from 22 jobs before finding her way into book publishing.

Dame Jilly started writing stories for women’s magazines in 1968, and found her break in 1969 when The Sunday Times published a story on being an ”undomesticated” homemaker. It gave rise to a column that lasted over 13 years.

In 2019 she won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award, and in 2024 was made a dame for her services to literature and charity.

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Entertainment

Robbie Williams forced to cancel world tour gig in ‘interests of public safety’

Published

2 days ago

October 5, 2025

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Robbie Williams forced to cancel world tour gig in 'interests of public safety'

Robbie Williams has said he is “deeply sorry” his concert in the Turkish city of Istanbul has had to be cancelled “in the interests of public safety”.

The former Take That singer said it was his “dream” to perform at Atakoy Marina on Tuesday but the decision by city authorities to cancel the show “was beyond our control”.

Williams’ Britpop world tour began in May and has taken him to cities including London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki and Athens.

The 51-year-old Angels singer said in a post on Instagram to his 3.7m followers: “The last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans – their safety and security come first.

“We were very excited to be playing Istanbul for the first time, and purposely chose the city as the final show of the Britpop tour.

“To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country.

“To everyone in Istanbul who wanted to join the 1.2 million people who have shared this phenomenal tour this year with us, I am deeply sorry. We were so looking forward to this show, but the decision to cancel it was beyond our control.”

Williams is still expected to perform a small ticketed gig on Thursday at Camden’s Dingwalls venue in London.

He will run through his upcoming album Britpop, which is yet to be released, in full, with his first solo LP, Life Thru A Lens.

After leaving Take That in 1995, Williams released his chart-topping debut album in 1997, and has achieved seven UK number one singles and 15 UK number one albums.