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fromThe Independent
6 days ago

James McAvoy says he's faced 'bias' in industry over Scottish accent

"[Bias] is that thing that stops you being regarded as a person and makes you something smaller. With my accent, I've had that experience where I'm suddenly no longer a person with infinite possibilities and potential - I am 'that Scottish person'. I'm reduced to a noise that comes out of my mouth."
Film
Music production
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

UK music industry highlights need for black talent in executive roles

Support for black talent in executive roles is crucial as black music has generated 80% of UK music revenue over the past 30 years.
Television
fromVulture
1 week ago

The 2026 BAFTA TV Awards: Full Nominees List

Stephen Graham's series 'Adolescence' received 11 nominations for the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards, including major acting categories.
Film
fromKqed
4 days ago

Riz Ahmed's 'Hamlet' Is a Frenetic Take on the Tragedy

Riz Ahmed's portrayal of Hamlet emphasizes fighting injustice rather than merely questioning life in a modern adaptation of the classic play.
#riz-ahmed
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago
London

The dream is to be a standup, but everyone who knows me says: Please don't' Riz Ahmed on chaos, comedy, and defying categorisation

fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago
London

The dream is to be a standup, but everyone who knows me says: Please don't' Riz Ahmed on chaos, comedy, and defying categorisation

#peaky-blinders
fromKqed
2 weeks ago
Independent films

The 'Peaky Blinders' Movie Is Easy to Watch, Impossible to Forget

fromKqed
2 weeks ago
Independent films

The 'Peaky Blinders' Movie Is Easy to Watch, Impossible to Forget

Podcast
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Cillian Murphy opens up about Peaky Blinders: best podcasts of the week

Multiple new podcasts explore diverse topics including Peaky Blinders behind-the-scenes content, an unsolved attack on America's Stonehenge, creative fiction writing, family history archives, and a historical investigation into a proposed Palestinian resettlement plan.
London music
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed first three guest hosts of UK Saturday Night Live

Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, and Riz Ahmed will host the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live UK, premiering live on Sky on 21 March with an 11-person cast and original music acts.
UK news
fromwww.independent.co.uk
3 weeks ago

London's Burning actor dies in prison while serving sexual assault sentence

Former actor John Alford died in prison two months after being sentenced to eight-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting two teenage girls at a party in 2022.
Media industry
fromThe Independent
3 weeks ago

Sinners star says Baftas Tourettes debacle cast a 'shadow' over her award win

Wunmi Mosaku's Bafta Best Supporting Actress win was overshadowed by the BBC's failure to censor a racial slur broadcast during the ceremony.
Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

I lost every good acting job to Riz Ahmed annoyingly, his James Bond comedy is a jaw-dropping hoot

Bait explores racial identity and ambition through the story of an Asian actor vying for the role of James Bond amidst toxic online reactions.
fromPinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
3 weeks ago

Danny Dyer condemns rising homophobia: 'It's petrifying'

We're just so f****** divided right now. The working classes, no matter what colour your skin is, are fighting each other and the elites are taking the f****** p***. It's now very apparent they're taking the p***, but instead of everyone coming together and looking up, we're just fighting and blaming each other.
LGBT
Film
fromwww.bbc.com
1 week ago

John Boyega to appear in BBC Damilola Taylor film

John Boyega will appear in a documentary about his childhood friend Damilola Taylor, who was fatally stabbed in 2000.
#bbc-broadcasting-error
NYC LGBT
fromQueerty
1 month ago

Colman Domingo on the beautiful reason his stepfather fired him from his summer job - Queerty

Colman Domingo received the President's Award at the 57th NAACP Image Awards, honoring his achievements and crediting his parents' influence on his success and values.
SF LGBT
fromTime Out London
3 weeks ago

BFI Flare: 10 films to see at the UK's biggest LGBTQ+ film festival this month

BFI Flare, the UK's largest LGBTQ+ film festival, celebrates its 40th anniversary with 65 feature films, 62 shorts, and special programming across London and nationwide starting March 18.
Film
fromVulture
2 weeks ago

Riz Ahmed Went 'Too Far' in His Slumdog Millionaire Audition

Riz Ahmed wrote and stars in Bait, a show about a struggling actor auditioning for James Bond that explores the anxiety and desperation inherent in pursuing acting careers.
Media industry
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Baftas host Alan Cumming criticises BBC for broadcasting slurs and censoring free speech'

The BBC failed to edit out a racial slur from the Baftas telecast despite having time to do so, while removing other controversial moments, causing widespread criticism from Alan Cumming and others.
#tourette-syndrome
fromFortune
1 month ago
Medicine

The BAFTA Tourette racial slur controversy, explained, by a sociologist with Tourette's who studies social stigma | Fortune

fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago
SF LGBT

Bi emcee Alan Cumming apologizes after awards show turns into racist, ableist "sh**show" - LGBTQ Nation

Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

I was at the Baftas and while hearing the N-word was unsettling, all anger should be aimed at the BBC | Jason Okundaye

A Tourette syndrome campaigner's involuntary tics at the BAFTA Awards included offensive language, creating an awkward moment that highlighted tensions between inclusion, disability accommodation, and social sensitivity.
fromFortune
1 month ago
Medicine

The BAFTA Tourette racial slur controversy, explained, by a sociologist with Tourette's who studies social stigma | Fortune

SF LGBT
fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago

Bi emcee Alan Cumming apologizes after awards show turns into racist, ableist "sh**show" - LGBTQ Nation

Alan Cumming apologized for the BAFTA Awards ceremony being disrupted when a Tourette syndrome attendee involuntarily shouted offensive words, causing widespread pain and misunderstanding about the neurological condition.
#oscar-nomination
fromThe Independent
3 weeks ago
Film

Never too late: Delroy Lindo isn't first Oscar star to be celebrated in golden years

Delroy Lindo receives his first Oscar nomination at age 73, fifty years after his screen debut, for his role in Sinners.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago
Film

Utterly overwhelmed': British writer-director's short film earns Oscar nod

Lee Knight's 22-minute short A Friend of Dorothy, inspired by a real neighbour, earned an Oscar nomination for best live action short.
Film
fromThe Independent
3 weeks ago

Never too late: Delroy Lindo isn't first Oscar star to be celebrated in golden years

Delroy Lindo receives his first Oscar nomination at age 73, fifty years after his screen debut, for his role in Sinners.
#tourettes-syndrome
fromVulture
1 month ago

Alan Cumming Apologizes for a 'Trauma Triggering' BAFTAs

It's now a week since I hosted the BAFTAs. What should have been an evening celebrating creativity as well as diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma triggering shitshow. I'm so sorry for all the pain Black people have felt at hearing that word echoed round the world. I'm so sorry the Tourettes community has been reminded of the lack of understanding and tolerance that abounds regarding their condition.
Media industry
London music
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Andrew Sid' Siddall obituary

Andrew Sid Siddall was an outdoor performance maker who worked with Emergency Exit Arts and Lift, pioneering site-specific participatory performances across multiple continents for nearly 25 years.
fromVulture
1 month ago

Sinners' Jayme Lawson Says BAFTAs Were Exploitative, Not Inclusive

Institutionally, we still don't understand what inclusion means. Just because you invite someone into a space, but you don't provide the necessary resources to keep them and everyone else in that room safe by them being there, that's not inclusivity. That's exploitation. That man's disability got exploited that night, and it led to multiple offenses.
Media industry
fromwww.independent.co.uk
1 month ago

BBC to conduct fast-track investigation into racial slur incident at Baftas

The BBC has been reviewing what happened at Bafta on Sunday evening. This was a serious mistake and the director-general has instructed the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) to complete a fast-tracked investigation and provide a full response to complainants.
UK news
Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Did I just hear what I thought I heard?' Sinners' Delroy Lindo on Bafta N-word controversy

Actor Delroy Lindo addressed the N-word controversy at the BAFTAs, explaining he and Michael B Jordan focused on their presenting duties despite hearing the racial slur shouted by Tourette syndrome activist John Davidson during the broadcast.
fromThe Independent
1 month ago

Delroy Lindo shares what he thought during Baftas racial slur incident

With all due respect, I'm actually not going to talk about this. I'm laughing because in the intro when you said, 'Oh, yes, we'll be talking about what happened with Bafta', I chuckled because I said, 'No, we're not'.
Film
#bafta-awards
fromQueerty
1 month ago
Film

Alan Cumming issues statement following "trauma triggering" BAFTAs "sh*tshow" - Queerty

Film
fromQueerty
1 month ago

Alan Cumming issues statement following "trauma triggering" BAFTAs "sh*tshow" - Queerty

Alan Cumming apologized following a BAFTA ceremony disrupted by offensive outbursts from a Tourette's syndrome campaigner, including a racial slur that the BBC failed to edit out before broadcast.
UK news
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

BBC apologises again for Baftas N-word incident as show removed from iPlayer for re-edit

The BBC apologised, removed the Bafta broadcast from iPlayer and will re-edit after a Tourette-afflicted attendee’s involuntary use of the N-word was aired.
fromwww.bbc.com
1 month ago

The Victorian aristocrat who became first British Muslim lord

It's nearly 200 years since the birth of a British aristocrat who became the first Muslim member of the House of Lords. But few have heard of Lord Henry Stanley, who "defied convention and his family's wishes" when he converted to Islam in 1859, according to historian Jamie Gilham. Little remains of Stanley's letters and diaries "which is really frustrating but adds to the idea that he was a private man," he said.
History
fromThe Drum
2 months ago

It is beyond time the media, marketing and communications industries woke up to the BAME opportunity

The stats speak for themselves. In 2015's 'A List', out of 418 executives, 79 (19 per cent) were women and only eight (2 per cent) were BAME. Shockingly, in the second decade of the 21st century, it is still possible to go to a leading marketing or communications industry event and only see a handful of black or Asian faces in the room.
Marketing
Humor
fromIndependent
2 months ago

'I just poured out all this stuff about getting divorced': John Bishop on saving his marriage - and how it became a Hollywood movie

John Bishop's first open-mic joke in 2000 launched his stand-up career and played a pivotal role in saving his marriage while inspiring a film.
Arts
fromThe New Yorker
2 months ago

Mark Strong, on the Clock

Mark Strong portrays a contemporary politician Oedipus on Broadway with an onstage countdown, mixing modern political traits and personal history.
fromwww.standard.co.uk
1 month ago

Little Britain's Matt Lucas targeted by pro-Palestinian activist on London Underground

In a now-deleted video, the 51-year old Little Britain star was filmed and followed by Thomas Abdullah Bourne on the escalator of a London Tube station. Mr Abdullah Bourne, known on social media as White British Muslim, was heard shouting Free Palestine. Free Palestine, Matt Lucas. After initially attempting to hide his face, Lucas calmly acknowledges his pursuer at the top of the escalator and asks: Hi, how are you?
London
Arts
fromTime Out London
2 months ago

Adrian Lester returns to London's West End to star in 'Cyrano de Bergerac'

Adrian Lester returns to the West End in Simon Evans' traditional-period Cyrano de Bergerac at the Noël Coward Theatre, June 13–Sept 5.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Olivia Colman sometimes thinks of herself as a gay man. As a gay man myself, I say welcome | Jason Okundaye

In an interview last week with the American LGBTQ+ publication Them, when asked about her penchant for taking roles in films featuring LGBTQ+ characters (say, The Favourite or Heartstopper), the actor said that she feels that she has a foot in various camps. Throughout my whole life, I've had arguments with people where I've always felt sort of nonbinary I've never felt massively feminine in my being female.
LGBT
fromPinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
2 months ago

Hollyoaks star pitched cross-dressing story himself for important reason

Labey stars as Rex Gallagher, a former gang member and the son of Fraser Black (Jesse Birdsall) and the late Grace Black (Tamara Wall). Rex has not been the nicest person to the residents of Hollyoaks but is trying to make amends whilst also processing his grief over Grace's death. As part of a new storyline, Rex was seen admiring his mother's clothes and put on her lipstick.
LGBT
Television
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Tariq Ali claims BFI has frozen him out of multicultural TV season

Tariq Ali, editor of Bandung File, was not invited to the BFI season and objects that its selections present a skewed vision of the programme.
Television
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Watching The Office recently, my heart just sank' Mackenzie Crook on comedy, cruelty and being TV royalty

Mackenzie Crook portrays Gordon in Small Prophets, a pedantic DIY-store manager amid a melancholic story centered on Michael's quiet grief and middle-age rumination.
LGBT
fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago

Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman says she's "always felt sort of nonbinary" - LGBTQ Nation

Olivia Colman feels nonbinary, describes herself to her husband as a gay man, and is drawn to queer-inclusive projects and communities.
#bridgerton
#bafta
Television
fromVulture
2 months ago

Kal Penn Was Ready to Get Naked for Industry

Jay Jonah Atterbury transforms stoner charm into casual racism and entitlement, becoming a wealthy fintech co-founder betrayed by his partner and cast as a tragic figure.
#baftas
fromIndependent
1 month ago
Film

Shock wins, swearing and a bit of Paul Mescal slagging - 8 big moments from the Baftas on Sunday night

fromIndependent
1 month ago
Film

Shock wins, swearing and a bit of Paul Mescal slagging - 8 big moments from the Baftas on Sunday night

Television
fromThe Independent
1 month ago

Downton Abbey star opens up on working with 'proper multi-tasker' Guy Ritchie

Hugh Bonneville praises Guy Ritchie's multitasking directing, hints at an unconfirmable Gentlemen role, reflects on Downton Abbey's unexpected longevity, and doubts further Paddington appearances.
Television
fromEsquire
1 month ago

Are You Sure We Can Really Trust Jack Whitehall?

Jack Whitehall experiences playful optical illusions at the Museum of Illusions and balances self-mockery with a growing acting career while promoting a new comedy series.
fromPinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
2 months ago

British public name all-time favourite TV huns - and results might surprise you

From Gemma Collins' 'I'm claustrophobic Darren!' to Jessie Wallace's delivery of Kat Slater's infamous '... YES I AM!' quote, the huns of Britain know how to make a defining TV moment - and a meme. Now, with hun-dreds of such TV moments to choose from, delivered by a plethora of small-time gay icons, the voting British public have declared who they believe to be the biggest hun in TV history. And no, it's not Natalie Cassidy.
Television
Film
fromIndependent
1 month ago

Hula Hoops, Hobnobs and Hollywood: How host Alan Cumming stole the Bafta show

Alan Cumming hosted the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards with humour and handed British snack baskets to celebrities, introducing them to local treats.
fromVulture
1 month ago

The 2026 BAFTA Film Winners

The Paddington actor-animatronic hybrid from the West End run of Paddington: The Musicalpresented an award! To whom? Does it matter. Bear on stage! Of course it matters who won a BAFTA off Paddington. Congratulations to Boong. Sinners is also have a good night, though not quite as good as anyone who gets to meet Paddington. The film has already won Editing, Original Screenplay and Supporting actress at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.
Film
Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Every role I do, I'm going to be a Black man first': David Jonsson on winning Baftas, rebooting Alien and leaving TV's hottest show

David Jonsson delivers a deeply personal, physically transformed performance as heroin addict Taylor in Wasteman, reflecting his upbringing and earning critical recognition.
Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Sope Dirisu: 'If the west doesn't say a film is good, that doesn't mean it's no good'

Sope Dirisu embraced his Nigerian identity by filming My Father's Shadow in Lagos as lead actor and executive producer, reconnecting with family and cultural roots.
Film
fromVulture
2 months ago

The Bone Temple May Be the Best Thing Ralph Fiennes Has Ever Done

Ralph Fiennes delivers a multifaceted, essential performance in The Bone Temple that anchors the film's ideas and emotional core.
fromABC7 Los Angeles
1 month ago

Olivia Colman and John Lithgow star 'Jimpa,' new queer family drama

"Jimpa," a semi-autobiographical drama from director Sophie Hyde ("Good Luck to You, Leo Grande"), stars Academy Award winner Olivia Colman and Emmy winner John Lithgow in a story spanning three generations of the queer community. The film follows filmmaker Hannah (Colman) as she takes her trans non-binary teen, Frances, to Amsterdam to visit her gay father, Jim (Lithgow). When Frances decides to stay there for a year, Hannah is forced to confront her past and her parenting choices. "I think it's a sign of the times," John Lithgow told On The Red Carpet at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. "This is not just a great film; it really is an important film for this moment."
Film
Film
fromwww.independent.co.uk
2 months ago

How Jessie Buckley went from an Andrew Lloyd Webber reality show to Oscar hopeful

Jessie Buckley has carved an unconventional acting career, earning critical acclaim and awards for her role in Hamnet while avoiding social media-driven stardom.
Film
fromwww.independent.co.uk
2 months ago

Full list of Bafta 2026 nominations

Donations keep The Independent sending on-the-ground, paywall-free journalists to cover reproductive rights, climate change, Big Tech investigations, and cultural events like BAFTA nominations.
Film
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Animol review gritty young offenders drama challenges conventional machismo

A young offender institution forces vulnerable inmates into violent gang hierarchies where phones, drugs, and respect become survival currency amid complicit, underpaid staff.
Film
fromThe Drum
2 months ago

Let me entertain you

Covid-19 pushed entertainment and brands to innovate, shifting releases and creating digital experiences to maintain connection and reach audiences.
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