Connect with us

Published

on

Take That star Howard Donald has been dropped as one of the headline acts at Groovebox’s Pride Festival after it came to light he’d liked a number of tweets that were critical of trans people.

Donald had been due to perform at the Nottingham event on Saturday 29 July, which also features acts including Horse Meat Disco, Essel, Sam Sax and a drag cabaret from stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – but he will now be replaced by another act.

Social media users had earlier questioned Donald’s inclusion in the Pride line-up, highlighting some of his previous Twitter likes, including one calling for Disney to be “defunded” after holding a Pride event, and another criticising an inclusive menstruation campaign with the message: “Only women have periods! Men cannot menstruate. Transgender ‘women’ cannot menstruate.”

Other likes from Donald’s account included a tweet from controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, claiming “the only superhero a boy should have is his father” and another listing “realities” including “there are only two genders,” “Covid was a scam,” and “obesity isn’t beautiful or healthy”.

His other likes included conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, criticism of Bill Gates and his charitable work and false theories around Covid vaccinations.

Take That performing at Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert in May
Image:
Take That performing at Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert in May

Take That, who are among the nominees for the Best British Newcomers award at the Music Industry Oscars, at the Hard Rock Cafe in London. (L - R) Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Robbie Williams and Jason Orange.
Image:
Take That in 1993. (L – R) Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Robbie Williams and Jason Orange

Confirming his removal from the event, Groovebox’s Pride Festival posted a statement on their official Instagram page, saying: “In light of recent events, Howard Donald will no longer be playing at our Nottingham Pride Festival on Saturday 29th July at Binks Yard.

“We would like to offer our thanks to the public for alerting us to the situation this morning and also appreciate your patience whilst we spoke to the relevant parties.

More on Take That

“We are working on confirming a replacement headliner alongside Horse Meat Disco, Tayce, Danny Beard & ESSEL for Nottingham Pride and will make an announcement in due course.”

Donald has since deleted his Twitter account, and posted an apology on his Instagram story.

He wrote: “I have made a huge error in my judgement liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community and for that I am deeply sorry and I know I have let everyone down.

“I am really disappointed in myself and I am sorry for any hurt that I have caused by my uneducated actions I clearly have a lot to learn and it’s a priority for me that I do this.”

Howard Donald's apology on Instagram. Pic: @Howarddonald
Image:
Howard Donald’s apology on Instagram. Pic: @Howarddonald

Earlier on Saturday, the official Nottinghamshire Pride organisers had tweeted to clarify that they were not part of the Groovebox event, which is not affiliated with the city’s main Notts Pride.

Read more on Sky News:
In pictures: King joined by royals for first Trooping the Colour as monarch
Teachers to go on strike for another two days this term

They tweeted: “It has been brought to our attention that there has been some anti LGBTQ+ endorsement from a performer at the Groovebox Pride Festival which has not been organised by Notts Pride.

“We are really concerned about this and we reject Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in our City.”

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

Donald, 55, rose to fame in the early nineties as one-fifth of boyband Take That, alongside Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Jason Orange, and Mark Owen.

While Williams and Orange have since left the group, Donald is one of the remaining three members, with the band headlining the King’s coronation concert in May.

Sky News has contacted Howard Donald and Groovebox for further comment.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘Love you bro’: Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate’s death

Published

on

By

'Love you bro': Zayn Malik's tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate's death

Zayn Malik paid tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he kicked off his solo tour.

Payne died last month of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, according to a post-mortem.

Images from Leeds’s O2 Academy on Saturday showed Malik – who delayed his Stairway To The Sky tour due to Payne’s funeral on Wednesday – shared a tribute.

A message was displayed with a heart on a large blue screen behind the singer reading: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro.”

The 31-year-old also previously postponed the US leg of the tour after the “heartbreaking loss”.

He later rescheduled the Edinburgh shows, which had been planned for 20 and 21 November, to December due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Following Payne’s death, Malik said he “never got to thank” him for his support during some of the “most difficult” times.

“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever,” he said in a post on Instagram.

Read more:
Kanye West accused of sexual assault
Ed Sheeran ‘helped Ipswich sign player’

Malik rose to fame in 2010 when Simon Cowell teamed him up with Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan on talent show The X Factor.

Malik left the band in 2015 and all members went on to pursue their own solo careers.

An investigation has been launched into Payne’s death by prosecutors and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Published

on

By

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that alleges he strangled a model on the set of a music video.

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing

The lawsuit alleges the musician shoved his fingers in the claimant’s mouth at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in 2010, in what it refers to as “pornographic gagging”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

The model who brought the case – which was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York – was a background actor for another musician’s music video that Ye was guest-starring in, NBC said, citing the lawsuit.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the 47-year-old.

A representative for Ye was approached for comment by NBC News on Saturday.

The New York City Police Department said it took “sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”.

The lawsuit alleges that a few hours into the shoot, the rapper arrived on set, took over control and ordered “female background actors/models, including the claimant, to line up in the hallway”.

The rapper is then believed to have “evaluated their appearances, pointed to two of the women, and then commanded them to follow him”.

The lawsuit adds the claimant, who was said to be wearing “revealing lingerie”, was uncomfortable but went with Ye to a suite which had a sofa and a camera.

When in the room, Ye is said to have ordered the production team to start playing the music, to which he did not know his lyrics and instead rambled, “rawr, rawr, rawr”.

The lawsuit claims: “Defendant West then pulled two chairs near the camera, positioned them across from each other, and instructed the claimant to sit in the chair in front of the camera.”

While stood over the model, the lawsuit clams Ye strangled her with both hands, according to NBC.

It claims he went on to “emulate forced oral sex” with his hands, with the rapper allegedly screaming: “This is art. This is f****** art. I am like Picasso.”

Read more from Sky News:
Cillian Murphy and his wife buy a cinema
Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF

Universal Music Group is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant and is accused of failing to investigate the incident.

The corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.

Jesse S Weinstein, a lawyer representing the claimant, said the woman “displayed great courage to speak out against some of the most powerful men and entities within the entertainment industry”.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’

Published

on

By

Joy star James Norton on the 'postcode lottery' of IVF - and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first 'test-tube baby'

Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.

In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.

The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.

James Norton stars in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
Image:
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade

Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.

“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.

“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”

Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. Pic: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Image:
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown

Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.

But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.

Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.

The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.

James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie star in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
Image:
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy

While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.

“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.

“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”

In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough

“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”

Read more:
Boy George on the price of fame
The fan club president who joined the band

In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.

“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”

Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November

Continue Reading

Trending