Kim Sae-Ron’s Death Underscores the Huge Pressure on South Korean Celebrities

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In the about 1,000 days between her drunken-driving crash in May 2022 and her death, South Korean mainstream news organizations published at least around 2,000 stories on film actor Kim Sae-rom.

They illustrate how the local media often cover a celebrity’s fall from grace. Previously one of the brightest young stars in South Korean cinema, Kim was condemned and ridiculed for driving drunk; for talking about her financial struggles after losing roles; for taking a job at a coffee shop; for attempting a comeback in theater; for going out with friends instead of “showing remorse”; and for being seen smiling on set while shooting an indie movie.

After the 24-year-old actor was found dead at her home Sunday, the headlines predictably swung to calling for changes to the way celebrities are treated in the public arena.

Kim’s death, which police consider a suicide, adds to a growing list of high-profile celebrity deaths in the country, which some experts attribute to the enormous pressure celebrities face under the gaze of a relentlessly unforgiving media that seizes on every misstep.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: In South Korea, callers can receive 24-hour counseling through the suicide prevention hotline 1577-0199, the “Life Line” service at 1588-9191, the “Hope Phone” at 129 and the “Youth Phone” at 1388.

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Here’s a look at the intense pressure faced by South Korean celebrities who fall from grace.

A sudden fall from grace

South Korea is notoriously harsh on its celebrities, particularly women.

Kim rose to stardom as a child actor with the 2010 hit crime thriller “The Man from Nowhere” and garnered acclaim and popularity for her acting in movies and TV dramas for years.

But that changed after May 18, 2022, when Kim crashed a vehicle into a tree and an electrical transformer while driving drunk in southern Seoul. She posted a handwritten apology on Instagram and reportedly compensated around 60 shops that lost power temporarily because of the crash, but that did little to defuse negative coverage and she struggled to find acting work.

When a Seoul court issued a 200 million won ($139,000) fine over the crash in April 2023, Kim expressed her fears about the media to reporters, saying many articles about her private life were untrue.

In the wake of Kim’s drunken-driving crash, celebrity gossip channels on YouTube began posting negative videos about her private life, suggesting without providing evidence that she was exaggerating her financial straits by working at coffee shops, and arguing that social media posts showing her socializing with friends meant she wasn’t showing enough remorse.

Other entertainers, especially female, have struggled to find work after run-ins with the law, including drunken driving or substance abuse, and experts say many of them are reluctant to seek treatment for mental health problems like depression, fearing further negative coverage.

Kwon Young-chan, a comedian-turned-scholar who leads a group helping celebrities with mental health issues, said celebrities often feel helpless when the coverage turns negative after spending years carefully cultivating their public image. Kwon, who stayed with Kim’s relatives during a traditional three-day funeral process, said her family is considering legal action against a YouTube creator with hundreds of thousands of subscribers for what they describe as groundless attacks on Kim’s private life.

Peter Jongho Na, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, lamented on Facebook that South Korean society had become a giant version of “Squid Game,” the brutal Netflix survival drama, “abandoning people who make mistakes or fall behind, acting as though nothing happened.”

Media blamed for celebrity deaths

The National Police Agency said officers found no signs of foul play at Kim’s home and that she left no note.

But a spate of high-profile deaths has sparked discussions about how news organizations cover the private lives of celebrities and whether floods of critical online comments are harming their mental health. Similar conversations happened after the 2008 death of mega movie star Choi Jin-sil; the death of her former baseball star husband, Cho Sung-min, in 2013; the deaths of K-Pop singers Sulli and Goo Hara in 2019; and the death of “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-kyun in 2023.

Sensational but unsubstantiated claims like from social media are widely recycled and amplified by traditional media outlets as they compete for audience attention, said Hyun-jae Yu, a communications professor at Seoul’s Sogang University.

Struggling with a sharp decline in traditional media readership, he said, media turn to covering YouTube drama as the easiest way to drive up traffic, often skipping the work of reporting and verifying facts.

Following the 2019 deaths of Sulli and Goo Hara, which were widely attributed to cyberbullying and sexual harassment both in the public and media, lawmakers proposed various measures to discourage harsh online comments. These included expanding real-name requirements and strengthening websites’ requirements to weed out hate speech and false information, but none of these proposed laws passed.

Reforms remain elusive

South Korean management agencies are getting increasingly active in taking legal action to protect their entertainers from online bullying. Hybe, which manages several K-Pop groups including BTS, publishes regular updates about lawsuits it’s filing against social media commentators it deems malicious.

But Yu said it’s crucial for mainstream media companies to strengthen self-regulation and limit their use of YouTube content as news sources. Government authorities could also compel YouTube and other social media platforms to take greater responsibility for content created by their users, he said, including actively removing problematic videos and preventing creators from monetizing them.

The South Korean office of Google, YouTube’s parent company, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Heo Chanhaeng, an executive director at the Center for Media Responsibility and Human Rights, said news organizations and websites should consider shutting down the comments sections on entertainment stories entirely.

“Her private life was indiscriminately reported beyond what was necessary,” Heo said. “That’s not a legitimate matter of public interest.”

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

‘Kansas’ Singer Ronnie Platt Announces Cancer Diagnosis, Cancels Multiple Concerts

After the legendary rock band canceled several upcoming shows, Ronnie Platt, who became Kansas’ frontman singer in 2014, revealed his cancer diagnosis.

Kansas is best known for songs like “Carry on Wayward Son,” “Dust in the Wind,” and “Point Of Know Return,” — still being featured in television shows and films.

Platt, 64, who is also the former lead singer of the band Shooting Star, posted a statement regarding his diagnosis on Facebook, though he still appeared to be in an optimistic mood.

“For all of you asking, Tuesday I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer but before everyone gets all excited, it has a 99% survival rate, it has not spread. It’s contained to my thyroid. I just have to have my thyroid removed. Go through some rehab time and be right back in the saddle. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s positive thoughts and prayers. I have some absolutely amazing people going to bat for me!! as it has been put to me, this is just a bump in the road and will be behind me very soon! so everyone please CARRY ON,” the rocker posted.

The Mayo Clinic states that thyroid cancer can develop without showing any symptoms. The malignancy may eventually result in “difficulty swallowing, voice changes, and swelling in your neck.” Thyroid cancer comes in a variety of forms.

“Our goal is to be back on the road as soon as possible,” assistant band manager J.R. Rees told Ultimate Classic Rock in a statement. “Right now, we’re all focused on supporting Ronnie through this.”

“This is just a bump in the road,” the band wrote in a social media post, speaking on Platt’s cancer diagnosis.

Kansas had already canceled two performances in Oklahoma that were originally scheduled for February 14 and 15 until November — before revealing his diagnosis.

Additionally, the rock group postponed their March 1 performance in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as well.

“The band apologizes for the inconvenience and hopes to be back on the road soon,” Kansas wrote on Instagram.

Kansas began as a “garage band” in Topeka, Kansas, fifty years ago. In 1974, the rock group’s first album, “Kansas,” was released. According to the group’s website, Kansas spent 200 weeks on the Billboard chart in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Review | ‘The Monkey’ brings screams and laughs in equal, if not abundant, measure

Writer-director Osgood Perkins follows “Longlegs” with a Stephen King-derived horror comedy.

(2.5 stars)

Osgood Perkins has become one of the leading lights of the Gen Z horror renaissance, and I guess he comes by it honestly: He did play an adolescent version of Norman Bates, the character his father Anthony Perkins made famous, in 1983’s “Psycho II.” Those bloodlines, if you will, have shown up in Perkins’s work as a writer-director, starting with “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” in 2015 and leading up through last year’s critical and commercial hit “Longlegs,” a fever dream of nagging dread that featured a nightmarish Nicolas Cage and more than a little filmmaking self-seriousness.

Thankfully — and your opinion may vary on this — Perkins has recovered his sense of humor for “The Monkey,” a splattery horror comedy that balances yucks with yuks. It’s a gonzo gross-out tale based on a Stephen King short story and starring Theo James (“The White Lotus,” “Sanditon”) in a double role as twin brothers Hal and Billy Shelburn. They’ve inherited a toy organ grinder’s monkey from their airline pilot father (Adam Scott of “Severance”), who appears in a brief opening scene that nicely establishes the movie’s gut-busting air of mischief.

Once Dad is out of the picture, young Hal and Billy (Christian Convery) do their best to support their disillusioned single mother (Tatiana Maslany of TV’s “Orphan Black”), even though the boys couldn’t be more different, with Hal a sensitive sort and Billy a bully. This is one of those King stories where everyone is an awful human being except the put-upon hero, which means they deserve what’s coming to them. The difference here is that Perkins thinks that’s funny. And maybe it is.

Cue the monkey, discovered in a box Dad has left among his things: It’s a supremely creepy wind-up creature that, once wound, causes a fatal and ungodly messy accident somewhere in the windee’s vicinity. There’s no predicting exactly who will die — as young Hal finds to his distress, the monkey doesn’t take requests. It also proves impossible to dispose of, not that the brothers don’t give it a good go.

Twenty-five years later in the modern day, Hal (James) is a shell-shocked loner who avoids human relationships, terrified the monkey will come back and work its dark magic. That means he’s abandoned his teenage son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), to the boy’s mother (Laura Mennell) and her preening second husband (a cameo by Elijah Wood, who seems to have stopped by with nothing better to do). Father and embittered son do have one final week together before the boy is adopted by his stepdad, during which the toy comes back, and all hell breaks loose.

So, yes, it’s a little like the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw,” except here you get the entire monkey. James does a good job as both the adult Hal and, eventually, his twin brother — although I spent the entire movie convinced I was looking at James Franco, my bad — and there’s a nice gallery of character actors who parade through before getting butchered in novel ways, among them Danica Dreyer as a babysitter with an unfortunate taste for Benihana-style steak houses, Corin Clark as a woman diving into the wrong swimming pool, Tess Degenstein as a real estate agent so annoying you pray for the movie to get on with it, and Perkins himself as the boy’s Uncle Chip, whose demise I will not share other than to note that he ends up looking like 200 pounds of spaghetti Bolognese in a sleeping bag.

The macabre cynicism of “The Monkey” works with its gnawing sense of horror but sometimes against it. The laughs are there, especially in the well-timed gusto with which Perkins unleashes the movie’s gore, and the monkey itself is an eerie creation imaginatively and unsettlingly filmed. If you’re looking for upbeat bulletins about the human condition, you’ve come to the wrong movie, but the callousness can still get wearing, and the director’s haphazard way with narrative coherence (what are those cheerleaders doing there? who’s the dude in the Army uniform?) betrays his lack of interest in anything but the money shots. It’s a fun movie to see with a rip-roaring midnight crowd; watched on its own, it’s a little depressing. You can only shock the monkey so many times before the shock wears off.

R. At area theaters. Contains strong bloody violence throughout, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use. 98 minutes.

Ty Burr is the author of the movie recommendation newsletter Ty Burr’s Watch List at tyburrswatchlist.com.

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio Team With The Rock and Emily Blunt for Hawaii Crime Drama

Can you smell what The Rock (and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Martin Scorsese, and Emily Blunt) is cooking? Scorsese’s next film, after 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon, will be a mob flick set in Hawaii that bears strong similarities to Goodfellas and The Departed. It seems that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will be playing a Hawaiian mob boss, based on a real life figure, who battled for control of Hawaii’s organized crime underworld.

Deadline reports the movie will be written by Nick Bilton, a journalist and documentarian. The synopsis is as follows: “In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land…igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”

If it seems bizarre that The Rock is being asked to take on such a serious leading role, it’s probably due to rumors of his Oscar-worthy performance in his upcoming biopic The Smashing Machine, the latest film from A24 and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) that features him playing MMA fighter Mark Kerr. It’s no surprise that The Rock is quickly building off of that movie’s likely success.

This marks the seventh reunion for Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, who have worked on Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Audition, and Killers of the Flower Moon together. It is also the third reunion for Johnson and Blunt, who previously worked together on Disney’s Jungle Cruise and the aforementioned Smashing Machine.

The new film is currently seeking a distributor — which it will likely find, given the talent attached — and begin production sometime next year.

Liam Payne’s Friend and Workers at Hotel Where He Fell to His Death Cleared of Charges: Reports

Marina Watts is a Digital Writer, Music at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Bustle, The US Sun, Newsweek and OK! Magazine.

Liam’s Payne’s friend and workers at the hotel where the singer died have reportedly been cleared of charges.

Rolling Stone and the BBC reported that Roger Nores, along with Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi, two employees of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel had charges against them dropped after a hearing in Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Court.

Nores, Martin and Grassi were charged with manslaughter in December relating to Payne’s death. They each would have faced one to five years in prison if found guilty, the BBC reported.

Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz, who have been accused of selling Payne drugs, will remain in prison as they await trial. If convicted, they could face four to 14 years behind bars.

“Glad this is finally over,” Nores told Rolling Stone. “I’m happy I’m now going to be able to travel to the UK and say goodbye to my friend.” Per the Argentina Court of Appeals ruling, obtained by Rolling Stone, Nores was not involved in the late singer “obtaining or consuming alcohol” and wouldn’t have been able to prevent Payne’s death.

“It is possible that, if he had stayed in his company at all times, [Payne] would not have obtained the drugs and alcohol in the quantities necessary for the state of intoxication he exhibited at the time of his death,” the ruling stated.

“But it cannot be ruled out that, even if he had taken those extreme precautions… that [Payne] would have managed to obtain the substances anyway, as is common among addicts, even when they are under the loving care of their family.”

Nores had been charged in December after prosecutors alleged he failed “to fulfill his duties of care, assistance and help” for Payne after he allegedly “abandoned him,” aware that the singer suffered from “multiple addictions.”

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The court also ruled that Nores’ responsibility was no different than Payne’s family, referring to an email Nores sent to Payne’s father in August 2024 where he shared his concern for the One Direction alum.

“Despite accusing Nores of failing to communicate and raise alarms with the victim’s family, they remained silent about the email through which the accused had expressed his concerns and warned that he would not be able to look after Payne’s health,” the court docs stated.

Per prosecutors, Martin, head of security at CasaSur Palmero Hotel, had been initially accused of failure to prevent Payne from going up to his hotel room before his death.

Prosecutors also claimed that Grassi, the chief receptionist who called emergency services just before Payne died, asked three people to “drag” Payne, who was unable to stand, to his hotel room instead of keeping him safe.

The judges determined that there was not enough evidence against the CasaSur Palermo employees to have engaged in “thoughtless, reckless, or merely negligent behavior” regarding Payne’s death.

Payne died on Oct. 16, 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling from the CasaSur Palermo Hotel’s balcony. He was 31 years old.

A preliminary autopsy after he died stated that he died of multiple injuries and “internal and external” hemorrhages. According to his toxicology report released in November, Payne had “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his body.

Per the BBC, in January, his cause of death was confirmed by an inquest in the UK as “polytrauma,” according to a hearing in December at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court.

‘Survivor’ alum Brandon Hantz charged in indictment against Bandidos motorcycle gang

“Survivor” alum Brandon K. Hantz is facing racketeering and arson charges after being named in a federal indictment connected to a violent, transnational motorcycle gang in southern Texas.

The former reality star was indicted in Houston along with 13 other current and former members of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang and Mascareros Motorcycle Club, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas, said Wednesday in a statement. The 22-count indictment, unsealed Feb. 11, alleges that the Bandidos, a self-identified “outlaw” motorcycle organization, allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to commit racketeering activity and committed violent crimes, including murder, attempted murder and assault.

Read more: How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Jeff Probst

Hantz, 33, also known as Loco and Gun Drop, is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering activity, as well as arson. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years on each count.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the indictment is “an important step in eliminating” the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.

“The Bandidos declare war on rivals — and they wage that war on our streets,” Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the news release. “Criminal behavior like this has no place in America, and the Department of Justice is fully committed to bringing peace back to our communities.”

Read more: Outlaw biker clubs in Central California raided. Investigators seize 50 guns, explosive materials and drugs

The indictment alleges a violent turf war erupted in 2019 between the Bandidos and B*EAST, a rival motorcycle gang, in the Houston area. Federal prosecutors allege that the Bandidos’ national leadership allegedly put out a “smash on site” order to commit physical assaults, including murder, against B*EAST members. The turf war, they said, resulted in gunfire exchanged on public roadways and in public establishments with civilians present.

“Ensuring the safety of the public is SDTX’s paramount concern,” U.S. Atty Nicholas J. Ganjei said. “The indictment here not only alleges shocking crimes of violence, but also alleges that these offenses were committed openly and wantonly, where any innocent member of the public could have been hurt or killed.”

Read more: These ‘Survivor’ icons made a career out of reality TV. Now they’re back for more

The Bandidos allegedly have approximately 1,500 to 2,000 members in the United States and an additional 1,000 to 1,500 members internationally, including in Mexico, according to the the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Several of the individuals named in the indictment are expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo on Wednesday at 2 p.m. It is not yet clear if Hantz will be among them. Representatives for the DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

Hantz, the nephew of notorious “Survivor” villain Russell Hantz, is from Crosby, Texas, and appeared in Season 23 of “Survivor: South Pacific” in 2011 and in Season 26 of “Survivor: Caramoan” in 2013. In the latter season, he infamously dumped his tribe’s food reserves after an altercation with another cast member. According to TMZ, a family member said Hantz’s home was raided Wednesday by the FBI and that he left the Bandidos last year.

‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Premiere Date Revealed

The hit series returns for its seven-episode second season on April 13.

The Last of Us Season 2 finally has a premiere date. HBO announced Wednesday that the hit Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey-starring postapocalyptic drama will debut its second season on Sunday, April 13 at 9 p.m. ET, sliding into The White Lotus Season 3’s timeslot just a week after the hit series wraps its current season on April 6. Episodes will be available to stream on Max.

The Season 2 premiere date marks a two-year break between seasons after the Season 1 finale aired in March 2023. After Season 1 covered the events in Naughty Dog’s hit video game The Last of Us, Season 2 will follow the sequel, The Last of Us: Part II. Per the official logline, “years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”

Along with Pascal and Ramsey reprising their respective roles as Joel and Ellie, returning cast members include Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Rutina Wesley as Maria. New cast members include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. Catherine O’Hara will also guest star in an undisclosed role.

Spanning seven episodes, Season 2 will only cover a fraction of The Last of Us Part II. Co-creator Craig Mazin previously explained that the “story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons. When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”

While the season will be two episodes short of the debut season’s episode count, Mazin promised that “each episode is like a meal. You can have a light dinner or you can go to a 12-course French restaurant.” Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, he said the episodes “are high-calorie, dense episodes. If you consider action and drama and scope to be the things that create an epic nature, each one of these episodes packs quite a wallop. You will not be bored.”

Court Clears Liam Payne’s Close Friend Of Manslaughter Charges

A court has cleared Liam Payne’s friend Roger Nores and two hotel employees of manslaughter charges related to the singer’s fatal balcony fall in Argentina.

Judges ruled that Nores wasn’t responsible for Payne’s drug use or death. An autopsy had confirmed the singer had a lethal mix of substances in his system.

Meanwhile, two men accused of supplying Liam Payne cocaine remain in custody, facing up to 15 years in prison.

In a recent ruling, a close friend of the late Payne, along with two hotel employees, has been cleared of manslaughter charges related to the former One Direction star’s fatal balcony fall in Argentina.

Payne’s close friend, Nores, an Argentine energy fund tycoon, had been facing charges alongside hotel security chief Gilda Martin and receptionist Esteban Grassi.

However, on Wednesday, a court ruled that they bore no responsibility for Payne’s tragic plunge from his balcony at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires last October following a night of drug use.

In an interview with Rolling Stone following the ruling, Nores said: “Glad this is finally over. I’m happy I’m now going to be able to travel to the UK and say goodbye to my friend.”

Nores’ attorney, Rafael Cuneo Libarona, expressed relief over the court’s decision, stating that they are “happy to have reversed the decision.”

He emphasized that they had always maintained Nores bore no responsibility for Payne’s death, adding: “We have always maintained that Rogelio Nores was not responsible for Liam Payne’s death. He was only his friend and had no duty or legal obligation to ensure his safety.”

Nores and the two hotel employees were among five individuals charged in December as authorities investigated the singer’s untimely death.

Prosecutors still have the option to appeal the dismissal of charges but have not yet indicated whether they will pursue it.

Meanwhile, two men, Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz, remain in custody as they await trial for allegedly supplying Payne with cocaine that night.

Paiz, a waiter, and Pereyra, a suspended hotel employee, are facing serious drug-related charges. They could receive prison sentences ranging from 4 to 15 years if convicted.

An autopsy revealed that Payne had a lethal mix of drugs in his system at the time of his fatal fall on October 16, including crack cocaine and “pink cocaine,” a potent combination of ketamine and other substances.

Nores, who had spent nearly every day with Payne during the singer’s two-week stay in Buenos Aires, initially came under scrutiny for allegedly abandoning his friend, as he had left the hotel just hours before the tragedy.

However, in a detailed ruling issued Wednesday, judges concluded that Nores was not responsible for Payne’s access to alcohol and drugs, nor could he have prevented the fatal incident.

“It is possible that, if he had stayed in his company at all times, [Payne] would not have obtained the drugs and alcohol in the quantities necessary for the state of intoxication he exhibited at the time of his death,” the ruling stated.

It continued, “But it cannot be ignored that, even with strict supervision, [Payne] could have still found a way to access the drugs — something often seen in cases of addiction, even when individuals are surrounded by the care of their loved ones.”

The court also determined that there was no evidence suggesting the hotel staff acted with negligence, recklessness, or disregard in the events leading up to Payne’s death.

Nores had consistently denied any responsibility for his friend’s fatal fall, arguing that Argentine authorities unfairly targeted him as a “scapegoat.”

“I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened,” Nores said in the aftermath of the tragedy. “There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.”

“I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend,” Nores added, per the BBC.

TMZ previously obtained documents showing that Nores filed a lawsuit against the singer’s father, Geoff.

In the lawsuit, Nores accused his friend’s father of smearing his name after Payne’s passing. He appeared to reference Geoff’s public claims that he was responsible for caring for Payne.

Nores also suggested that Geoff had made him a target of the Buenos Aires police by submitting a sworn declaration which claimed that Nores had “full responsibility for Liam’s care during this last period.”

According to the 35-year-old, Geoff’s claims were false as he had “never agreed to be and was never the caretaker of Liam.”

He went on to say that he shared a strong bond with the late singer and that they supported each other, but it was solely because they were “dear friends” and not due to any paid arrangement.

‘Avatar: Seven Havens’ From Original Series Creators Ordered at Nickelodeon

The 26-episode animated series will follow a young Earthbender who discovers she’s the new Avatar

Tied to the 20th anniversary of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Nickelodeon is expanding Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s beloved world with “Avatar: Seven Havens.” The new 26-episode 2D animated series is in production and will follow a young Earthbender who learns she is the new Avatar after Korra.

“For two decades, the richly crafted world of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ has introduced audiences to a world of compelling characters and groundbreaking storylines, captivating fans globally,” Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, said in a statement. “We can’t wait to embark on the next chapter of this epic saga, with a new story set within the Avatarverse, envisioned by the original creators, Michael DiMartino and

Bryan Konietzko.”

“When we created the original series, we never imagined we’d still be expanding the world decades later,” DiMartino and Konietzko said. “This new incarnation of the Avatarverse is full of fantasy, mystery and a whole new cast of amazing characters. Get ready to take another epic and emotional adventure!”

Set in the universe of “Avatar,” “Seven Havens” takes place during a time when the world has been shattered by a cataclysm. But during this dangerous era, becoming the Avatar is the last thing anyone wants.

“Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse,” a press release for the series reads.

The upcoming project is currently in production under the Avatar Studios banner from Burbank’s Nickelodeon Animation. There will be two books — seasons in the “Avatar” universe — with Book 1 encompassing the series’ first 13 half-hour episodes, and Season 2 encompassing the other 13. The series is co-created and executive produced by DiMartino and Konietzko, who previously created both the first “Avatar” series and “The Legend of Korra.” Ethan Spaulding is an executive producer, and Sehaj Sethi is a co-executive producer.

A premiere date for the series as well as casting will be announced at a later date.

“Seven Havens” is far from the only “Avatar” project coming from Nickelodeon in the near future. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies are planning to release “Aang: The Last Airbender” on Jan. 30, 2026. Dave Bautista, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten and Román Zaragoza will star in that movie as well as newcomer Eric Nam.

Any project from DiMartino and Konietzko is an exciting prospect for fans, let alone one with brand-new characters. The duo behind the beloved cartoon was originally attached to the live-action adaptation of Netflix’s “The Last Airbender.” They later left the project, citing creative differences and started the Nickelodeon Animation-owned Avatar Studios. Since that departure, fans have been more desperate than ever to see new content from the pair.

Nicolas Cage’s ex Christina Fulton sues him and their son Weston for…

Nicolas Cage is being sued by his ex, Christina Fulton, after their son, Weston Cage, allegedly physically assaulted her last year.

Fulton, 57, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on Wednesday against both Cages, claiming Nicolas, 61, allegedly enabled Weston’s behavior prior to the alleged incident of assault, according to the court documents obtained by People.

In July 2024, Weston, 34, was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly assaulted Fulton in April. He was released on bond and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the time, Fulton claimed her son was suffering from a mental health crisis when he allegedly beat her.

In her lawsuit, Fulton is suing Weston for assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and Nicolas for negligent supervision and negligent undertaking. She’s suing both for negligence, per PEOPLE.

Fulton claimed the “Longlegs” actor, whom she dated from 1988 to 1991, allegedly failed to stop Weston from being violent, despite knowing that their son “has a long history of mental and psychological disorder and a history of committing violent assault and battery.”

Nicolas’ ex said Weston’s alleged assault caused her “severe and life threatening injuries,” including a brain concussion, multiple contusions, a disfiguring eye injury, dental trauma, PTSD and psychological damages.

After the alleged incident, Fulton was seen out with a black eye and several facial bruises.

Fulton further claimed in her lawsuit that the alleged attack “derailed her life,” to the point where she was unable to film a Netflix series she was working on at the time, or go to brand promotion events.

As for Nicolas, Fulton claimed her ex “failed to take action to prevent Weston from committing acts of violence and harming others.”

The lawsuit accused Nicolas of bailing his son out of jail several times, drinking alcohol with Weston “despite knowing his substance abuse history,” and buying Weston a condo in Los Angeles next door to him.

Fulton is seeking unspecified damages in her lawsuit.

The Post has reached out to Nicolas and Weston for comment.

Fulton first spoke out about the alleged assault in July and claimed Weston “was in the midst of a manic rage” when he allegedly attacked her.

“As a mother, I am deeply saddened and concerned about Weston’s ongoing mental-health crisis,” she said in a statement at the time. “It is imperative that he receives the help he desperately needs.”

Weston was reportedly arrested for a DUI and a hit and run back in 2017. Six years earlier, he was reportedly arrested and booked on felony domestic violence charges after an incident at his and his then-wife Nikki Williams’ apartment in LA.