Connect with us

Published

on

Ezra Collective have won this year’s Mercury Prize, with their album Where I’m Meant To Be.

The instrumental jazz group beat acts including Raye, Jessie Ware and J Hus to claim the prestigious award and the £25,000 prize at a star-studded ceremony held at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Nine of the 12 nominated acts played on stage ahead of the announcement, while live performance films were shown on screen to celebrate Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again, who were both unable to attend due to tour shows, and J Hus was unable to get to the event due to illness.

Collecting their award, bandleader Femi Koleoso thanked God, their families and team, and hailed their youth club beginnings, before performing once more.

The group is made up of Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, saxophonist James Mollison and trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi.

They released their debut album You Can’t Steal My Joy in 2019, dropping Where I’m Meant to Be in November 2022.

Mercury Prize 2023 – the 12 shortlisted albums

  • Arctic Monkeys – The Car
  • Ezra Collective – Where I’m Meant to Be
  • Fred Again – Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)
  • J Hus – Beautiful And Brutal Yard
  • Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!
  • Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B
  • Lankum – False Lankum
  • Loyle Carner – Hugo
  • Olivia Dean – Messy
  • Raye – My 21st Century Blues
  • Shygirl – Nymph
  • Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

Speaking before the ceremony to Sky News, Koleoso said it meant a lot for their style of music to be introduced to a bigger stage.

“You can’t help but type your name into Twitter [now known as X] and see what people are saying, and there’s been a bunch of people saying things along the lines of, ‘never heard of a jazz band or this jazz band before, never listened to a jazz album before, but I can’t believe it, I actually liked it’, and that’s exciting.

“I think that’s what happens when you’re in a long list of superstars that everyone in the country knows all the way to someone that they’ve never heard of, and they’ve never even listened to instrumental music, and they gave it a go.”

Read more:
Little Simz wins award with album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
How the first jazz band to visit the UK helped pave the way for generations to come

Jessie Ware, who was nominated for the second time, told Sky News she was having a “good time” with her music.

“I found my place in music – maybe it’s from raving when I was younger and that feeling of community on the dance floor, and I’ve found the most beautiful community in my fans and, I’m having a good time,” she said.

“I think also being honest and being yourself is kind of the best. It sounds really naff, but it’s great, it’s worked alright for me.”

Raye, who recently left her label in order to release her first album, told Sky News: “Being here today, it just takes me back to two years ago or whatever where I was so disappointed in myself as an artist – I was the opposite of what I feel like I am now… I didn’t ever think I would get the chance to almost start again or go again.”

Judges this year included former nominees Anna Calvi and Hannah Peel, as well as other industry names such as musician Jamie Cullum, broadcaster and DJ MistaJam, and music critic Will Hodgkinson.

First won by Primal Scream’s Screamadelica in 1992, the Mercury Prize celebrates music by British and Irish acts and recognises the 12 best albums of the year, introducing records from a range of music genres to a wider audience.

The awards are known for celebrating different artists throughout all stages of their careers, from newcomers to veterans, and for potentially putting artists who are not huge names on the map.

Rapper Little Simz picked up the prize for her fourth album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert last year, while other recent winners include Arlo Parks, Michael Kiwanuka, Dave and Wolf Alice.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Harvey Weinstein accuser says film mogul ‘took her soul’ during alleged sexual assault

Published

on

By

Harvey Weinstein accuser says film mogul 'took her soul' during alleged sexual assault

An ex-model has tearfully told a court that being sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein when she was 16 was the most “horrifying thing I ever experienced” to that point.

Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault

Kaja Sokola told the film producer’s retrial that he ordered her to remove her blouse, put his hand in her underwear, and made her touch his genitals.

She said he’d stared at her in the mirror with “black and scary” eyes and told her to stay quiet about the alleged assault in a Manhattan hotel in 2002.

Ms Sokola told the New York court that Weinstein had dropped names such as Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow, and said he could help fulfil her Hollywood dream.

“I’d never been in a situation like this,” said Polish-born Ms Sokola. “I felt stupid and ashamed and like it’s my fault for putting myself in this position.”

Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone and is back in court for a retrial after his conviction was overturned last year.

More on Harvey Weinstein

Read more: Weinstein is back in court – but what has happened to the #MeToo movement since 2017?

Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court during his rape and sexual assault re-trial in New York.
Pic Reuters
Image:
Weinstein denies the allegations. Pic: Reuters

The 73-year-old is not charged over the alleged sexual assault because it happened too long ago to bring criminal charges.

However, he is facing charges over an incident four years later when he’s said to have forced Ms Sokola to perform oral sex on him.

Prosecutors claim it happened after Weinstein arranged for her to be an extra in a film.

“My soul was removed from me,” she told the court of the alleged 2006 assault, describing how she tried to push Weinstein away but that he held her down.

Read more from Sky News:
Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing
Attenborough’s Ocean film is ‘biggest message he’s ever told’

Ms Sokola – who’s waived her right to anonymity – is the second of three women to testify and the only one who wasn’t part of the first trial in 2020.

Miriam Haley, an accuser testifying at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial, arrives to the courtroom after a break in New York, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Image:
Miriam Haley testified previously in the retrial. Pic: AP

Miriam Haley last week told the court that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006. The other accuser, Jessica Mann, is yet to appear.

Claims against the film mogul were a major driver for the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and abuse in 2017.

Weinstein’s lawyers allege the women consented to sexual activity in the hope of getting film and TV work and that they stayed in contact with him for a while afterwards.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

Published

on

By

Ochuko Ojiri: Bargain Hunt expert charged as part of police investigation into terrorist financing

An antiques expert from the TV show Bargain Hunt has been charged by police following an investigation into terrorist financing.

Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, 53, is accused of eight counts of “failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector”, the Met Police said.

The force said he was the first person to be charged with that specific offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Ojiri, from west London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

It comes “following an investigation into terrorist financing” and relates to the period from October 2020 to December 2021, a police spokesperson said.

They added that the probe had been carried out in partnership with Treasury officials, HMRC and the Met’s Arts & Antiques Unit.

Mr Ojiri, who police described as an “art dealer”, has been on Bargain Hunt since 2019.

He has also appeared on the BBC‘s Antiques Road Trip programme.

In a statement, the BBC said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

Published

on

By

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.

The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.

Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.

A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.

There were no reports of anyone being injured.

More from Ents & Arts

Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.

He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.

His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).

He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.

Read more from Sky News:
Ex-police officers cleared of murdering motorist
Woman killed by alligator in Florida lake
Motown legend accused of sexually assaulting housekeepers

“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.

Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.

She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.

Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.

She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.

Continue Reading

Trending