Andres Serrano says he doesn’t set out to be a controversial artist – but he’s certainly proved to be one during his career.

The 75-year-old New Yorker first found fame (or infamy in the eyes of his critics) with one of the most notorious works of art in history – his 1987 photograph titled Piss Christ.

The depiction of a crucifix submerged in urine led to protests denouncing the image as blasphemous – and it was vandalised while on display in a French art museum in 2011.

“I don’t do work to be controversial,” he tells Sky News. “I do work that I feel like I need to do.

“For some reason, I’ve touched on many cultural things that have become cultural flashpoints.”

Now, two of Serrano’s most high-profile and controversial subjects for his artwork are dominating headlines around the world.

Serrano photographed Jeffrey Epstein for a portrait in 2019, four months before the paedophile financier was found dead in a prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. It is one of the last known images of Epstein, whose death was ruled to be suicide.

Years earlier, Serrano took a portrait photo of Donald Trump in 2004 – the same year the property tycoon began starring on The Apprentice TV series.

As Trump faces scrutiny over his past links to Epstein, and pressure to release all files in the sex offender’s case, Serrano offers a rare insight into the two men.

Photographing Epstein

Serrano’s portrait of Epstein was “23 years in the making”, he says, after he agreed to do it in exchange for a sculpture the wealthy collector owned that the artist had wanted since the mid-1990s.

At the time, Epstein was already a convicted sex offender who had served time in jail after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Despite this, Serrano says he didn’t have reservations about taking the photo because he “wanted the statue” that Epstein owned.

Serrano believed the 16th century statue of the Virgin Mary should be paired with one he owned of St John.

“Jeffrey Epstein is rolling in his grave laughing about how he is still talked about,” the artist says.

“He wasn’t an interesting guy. Except for being a paedophile, there was nothing about him that should have made him so interesting to so many people.”

Epstein ‘collected people’

Serrano – who was first introduced to Epstein in the mid-90s – says he and his wife had “a few meetings” with him and considered him to be a “strange guy”.

He says he has “shocked” when he learnt Epstein had been “exposed and indicted as a paedophile”.

“We never saw that side of Epstein,” he says.

“To me, he looked like a guy who didn’t have a job and was always on a vacation having fun.

“I never asked him about where his money came from. I knew he was very rich. I also knew he knew a lot of people.

“Jeffrey Epstein did not collect art but he collected people. He made it his business to know everybody, anybody who was a celebrity, famous, rich – anyone with a reputation.”

Serrano says he doesn’t “judge” the subjects of his photography, who have also included members of the Ku Klux Klan, and he was “happy” with the outcome of the Epstein portrait.

But how does he think Epstein’s victims feel seeing the image?

“I don’t see how one thing has to do with the other,” he replies.

“Does that mean the victims would feel better looking at the portrait of him in the mugshot, which is a horrible picture?”

He adds: “Their take on Jeffrey Epstein is very different from everyone else’s. So they see something that we can’t even imagine what they see.”

Photographing Trump

While Serrano believes Epstein was uninteresting, his opinion of Trump couldn’t be more different.

He describes the US president as “fascinating” – so much so that he collected more than 1,000 items linked to him for an art installation called The Game: All Things Trump.

The objects, products and items of merchandise had been created for Trump’s businesses and brands, including Trump Vodka, Trump University and even Trump Steaks.

An 11ft-tall sign spelling the word “Ego” from the Trump Taj Mahal resort in Atlantic City also featured in the display, along with Serrano’s own portrait of Trump.

He calls the photograph “one of the best portraits I’ve ever seen of Donald Trump”, and reveals he had a particular way of working with him – staying quiet.

“I didn’t give him any reason to upset him,” Serrano says.

“He sizes you up very quickly. (I didn’t want to say) anything that would turn him off or that would bore him or that would make him in any way want to leave.”

‘Quiet’ Trump ‘tried to figure me out’

Serrano says he spent about half an hour with Trump, who he describes as being “quiet” throughout the process of having his portrait photo taken.

“I often like to leave people to their own thoughts when I’m taking a portrait,” the artist says.

“I like to make the kind of portraits where it feels like I’m not even there. It’s just you, the viewer and the sitter.

“I think he was just trying to figure me out. And so since we didn’t talk, you know it was just a silent conversation between us.”

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The artist won’t answer directly when asked if he is a Trump supporter but calls him “the epitome of the American dream”.

“I don’t think the art world has ever taken Donald Trump seriously except as a subject for ridicule,” he says.

“My perception and my intent with Donald Trump was far from that, because I think that’s a very simplistic way of doing things.

“My view of him is that he’s a really smart guy.

“Whatever you think about him, you can’t argue with the fact that he often gets his way and I think that’s because Donald Trump is persistent. He doesn’t let go. He’s like a pitbull who doesn’t let go.”

‘Epstein story will be buried’

Serrano also took a portrait photograph of Trump’s former presidential election rival Kamala Harris for The New Yorker magazine but says the circumstances were very different.

“When I do portrait for a magazine… I’m happy to do for them but there’s no skin in the game for me,” he says.

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Despite the pressure facing Trump to make public all files related to the Epstein case, Serrano believes “the story will die at some point”.

“It’s kind of like the Kennedy assassination. People have been obsessed with conspiracy theories, theories about John F Kennedy’s assassination for years,” he says.

“It’s a story that comes and goes, but I think this story will go.

“At some point, maybe some point soon, the Jeffrey Epstein story will be buried, along with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Actor Henry Cavill has suffered an injury during training ahead of filming for the remake of the Highlander film.

The British actor, best known for TV series The Witcher, playing Superman in Man Of Steel, and more recently Sherlock Holmes in the Enola Holmes film series, was hurt just days before the film was due to start production.

Filming for the reboot of the 1980s classic will now begin in 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The cast includes Gladiator actor Russell Crowe, who worked with Cavill on Man Of Steel, as well as former Doctor Who star Karen Gillan, and Dave Bautista – known for roles in Dune and as Drax in the Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy.

Cavill, 42, was injured during pre-production of the Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists (UA) film.

Highlander, which is being directed by Chad Stahelski, is based on the original 1986 film of the same name.

The film starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery and is about an ancient battle between immortal warriors.

The fantasy-action film was followed up with several sequels, including Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994), and Highlander: Endgame (2000).

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An alternate sequel to the original film was also produced as a TV spin-off series in 1992.

Speaking at CinemaCon in Las Vegas in April, Cavill told The Hollywood Reporter he was a “lover of the original movies, for better or worse” and was currently in training to play the immortal Scottish hero.

He added: “If you think you’ve seen me do sword work before, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

There has been no word on what type of injury Cavill suffered or how it occurred.

Ireland will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest next year if Israel is allowed to take part, RTE has announced.

The Irish broadcaster said in a statement that a number of European Broadcasting Union (EBU) members raised concerns over the participation of Israel in the competition at the union’s general assembly in July.

RTE added that its “position” is that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if the participation of Israel goes ahead.

The broadcaster will make its “final decision regarding Ireland’s participation” once the EBU decides whether Israel will take part, the statement continues.

It adds: “RTE wishes to thank the EBU for the extensive consultation process that was initiated on foot of that meeting, and the extension of the option to withdraw from participation without penalty to December.”

The statement added: “RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.

“RTE is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages.”

Ireland has won Eurovision seven times, the joint most of any country along with Sweden. Its last win was in 1996.

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Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. We are still consulting with all EBU Members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest.

“Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm if they wish to take part in next year’s event in Vienna. It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”

The 70th anniversary edition of the contest is due to take place in Vienna, Austria, in May after Austrian entry JJ won with his song Wasted Love in Basel, Switzerland, earlier this year.

Ireland was represented by Emmy in Basel, with the song Laika Party, while Israel was represented by Yuval Raphael, with her song New Day Will Rise.

There has been growing controversy about Israel’s participation in Eurovision with protests in host cities in the last two years.