Liam Payne died of ‘polytrauma’, UK inquest hears

Polytrauma is a term used to describe a person’s body and internal organs sustaining multiple injuries.

Singer Liam Payne’s cause of death has been confirmed in the opening of an inquest in the UK.

The former One Direction star died on October 16 last year after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires.

Dr Roberto Victor Cohen confirmed his medical cause of death was “polytrauma” — a term used to describe a person’s body and internal organs having sustained multiple injuries.

Senior Coroner Crispin Butler told the hearing, held on December 17, it would take “some time” to formally confirm what led to the 31-year-old’s death.

“Whilst there are ongoing investigations in Argentina into the circumstances of Liam’s death … it is anticipated that procuring the relevant information to address particularly how Liam came by his death may take some time through the formal channel of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

The UK inquest has been adjourned until a pre-inquest review on November 6.

Drugs found in system

In November, the prosecutors office in Argentina said toxicology tests found traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s body.

A document released by the public prosecutors claimed Payne was so drunk and drug-affected in the hours before his death that he was unable to walk, leading three people to drag him to his room.

Medical reports also suggested the singer may have fallen into semi or total unconsciousness.

The prosecutor’s office argued this evidenced Payne’s fall was not a voluntary act.

In the published update, Judge Laura Bruniard described Payne as “a picture of addiction”, who had demanded cocaine and alcohol from hotel staff.

“On October 16, moments before 5pm, Payne could not care for himself,” she said.

A post-mortem examination found he suffered “multiple trauma” as a result of his fall from the balcony.

Charges laid against hotel staff, friend

A Casa Sur Hotel manager, a receptionist, and Payne’s friend Roger Nores have each been charged with manslaughter over the singer’s death.

The judge was quoted as saying Mr Nores, “is held criminally responsible for the death”, because he “abandoned” the singer, “having full knowledge of the state of intoxication, vulnerability and helplessness in which he found himself”.

A hotel employee and a waiter have also been charged with drug offences, accused of selling Payne cocaine in the days preceding his death.

A private funeral service was held for Payne in Buckinghamshire, England in November, attended by his family, friends and former band mates.

Paris Hilton ‘heartbroken’ after watching Malibu home burn ‘to the ground on live TV’

In an emotional post on X Wednesday, the media mogul shared she was “heartbroken beyond words” over the loss of her home. “Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience,” Hilton wrote.

Hilton is married to entrepreneur Carter Reum, and the couple shares two children: son Phoenix, 1, and daughter London, 1.

“This home was where we built so many precious memories,” Hilton continued. “It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London.”

Powerful Santa Ana winds have whipped up several wildfires across LA County since Tuesday, killing at least five people and setting homes ablaze. Winds were expected to ease overnight Wednesday, but forecasters warned conditions will remain critical through at least Thursday.

The Eaton Fire, which ignited 30 miles inland in Altadena near Pasadena, quickly grew to more than 16 square miles, or 10,600 acres. The Pacific Palisades Fire, which pulverized buildings, was burning at 15,832 acres between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu. A third blaze, the Hurst Fire, ignited in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley northwest of downtown Los Angeles and burned at least 500 acres, prompting evacuations of some nearby residents.

As a result, more than 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.

“While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family is safe,” Hilton wrote. “My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires. To all the people who have lost their homes, their memories, and their beloved pets.

“My heart aches for those still in harm’s way or mourning greater losses. The devastation is unimaginable. To know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking.💔”

Hilton isn’t the only star who’s been displaced by the raging wildfires. Actors James Woods and Cameron Mathison, reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, and songwriter Diane Warren similarly lost their homes in the blaze.

The fiery conditions have also brought several disruptions to Hollywood, including the postponement of Sunday’s Critics’ Choice Awards and the cancellation of movie premieres.

Hilton concluded her post with a heartfelt thank-you to “the brave firefighters and first responders risking their lives to protect us,” writing, “I am so grateful for your courage, dedication, and the incredible sacrifices you’re making to save lives and fight this unimaginable battle.”

“Let’s protect one another and hold onto hope that these fires will soon be contained.🙏,” Hilton wrote. “We’re in this together, LA.✨Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight. You never know when everything could change. 🥺”

Jessica Alba Reportedly Getting Divorced After 17 Years Of Marriage

After 17 years of marriage, 43-year-old Jessica Alba is getting divorced from her husband Cash Warren, 45, according to reports published on Wednesday. The couple reportedly separated sometime over the past few weeks and had not been seen together recently.

Jessica Alba, one of the famous “Jessicas” of the 2000s, along with Jessica Biel and Jessica Simpson (and to a lesser extent 90210 star Jessica Lowndes), first gained fame for her role as Max Guevara / X5-452 on the television show Dark Angel. She has since gone on to act in numerous other movies and shows, in addition to founding The Honest Company, which has at various points been valued at over $1 billion.

TMZ reports that both Jessica Alba and Cash Warren have been seen recently in public without their wedding rings. Most recently, Alba was seen not wearing it at W Magazine’s annual pre-Golden Globes party at Chateau Marmont.

Last month, Alba also was spotted out in Rome having dinner with film producer Andrea Iervolino, again without her wedding ring. She and Iervolino were in Italy working on the film Maserati: The Brothers.

The last time the couple were photographed together in public was on November 10 sitting courtside together at a Lakers game. It was just five days ago, however, that Jessica Alba shared a photo to her Instagram account of the entire family together, including Cash Warren, during a trip to Universal Studios.

“The best day at #UniversalStudios celebrating our 7 year old, Hayes!” she wrote in the photo’s caption. “Thank you for having us, @unistudios.”

Alba and Warren, the son of actor Michael Warren, met while filming the Fantastic Four movie in 2004. Warren worked as a director’s assistant, while Alba played Sue Storm, AKA The Invisible Woman. They couple were later married in May 2008 and have three children together, two daughters and a son.

Winter Trade Buzz: Could Elias Pettersson Be the Game-Changer the Rangers or Sabres Need?

As trade speculation swirls around the NHL, Elias Pettersson remains a hot topic of conversation, with various teams eyeing the Vancouver Canucks’ star center. The landscape of potential deals is evolving, and the stakes are sky-high. The trade market has a way of moving quickly—like a puck sliding across the ice—so let’s break down the possibilities on where Pettersson might be landing if a move is in the works.

One fascinating scenario involves the New York Rangers. Imagine this: a trade package that includes defenseman Braden Schneider. Such a move might just keep the Canucks on ice—pun intended—preventing them from entertaining other offers while the details are meticulously sorted out. Schneider, with his blend of grit and skill, could be the kind of asset Vancouver might need, especially if they’re looking to reshape their defensive lineup.

Then there are the Buffalo Sabres, where general manager Kevyn Adams has all the young players, picks, and prospects to orchestrate a blockbuster deal—talk about a treasure trove! Friedman’s 32 Thoughts podcast has thrown some intriguing names into the mix, notably Dylan Cozens and Bo Byram. Cozens—a fiery competitor who has had his struggles this year—boasts a noteworthy 31 goals from two seasons ago. Though he’s only 23, that competitive spirit and scoring touch would be invaluable to any team looking to bolster their ranks.

Let’s not overlook Bo Byram, who has been nothing short of impressive in his pairings with Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. However, the Sabres already face salary cap intricacies with Dahlin and Power locked into long-term deals. Byram—to become a restricted free agent this summer—could potentially add another layer of complexity to the negotiations. Swapping Pettersson for Cozens would signal a seismic shift for both rosters, especially considering that Pettersson would find a familiar face in Dahlin—his good friend—if the trade materializes.

But losing Byram could strike a painful chord for the Sabres, especially after they traded Colorado’s Casey Mittelstadt to acquire him just a year ago. Despite the depth Buffalo boasts on the blue line, other defensemen have yet to earn the same level of confidence from coach Lindy Ruff, which could make losing a talent like Byram a gamble they may not want to take.

While the possibilities on paper seem enticing, it’s vital to remember that trades of this magnitude come with grave risks. If either team misses the mark, the consequences could linger for years, casting a long shadow over the franchise. The delicate balancing act of negotiating a trade involving figureheads like Pettersson and Cozens—each with their own narrative of potential and promise—adds a layer of intrigue and uncertainty.

Should the Sabres decide to part ways with one—or both—of these young talents, the ripple effects could be felt throughout the league. Names like Jack Quinn, Jiri Kulich, and Zach Benson also come to mind, young, skilled players who could be part of a compelling package for the Canucks.

In this high-stakes game of NHL chess, every move counts, and the future of franchise players hangs in the balance. With winter approaching and the trade deadline looming, teams will need to act decisively—because in the world of professional hockey, opportunity waits for no one. Remember, what’s easy on paper may become a whirlwind of challenges come game time; that’s just how the league operates.

Paris Hilton saw her ‘home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV’

Paris Hilton says she watched her waterfront Malibu home burn to the ground on live television in an emotional social media post Wednesday.

‘Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience,’ the socialite, 43, said on X/Twitter, accompanied by a clip from KABC depicting the damage.

Hilton was among the celebrities who have lost their homes amid a series of deadly wind-fueled wildfires scorching select areas of Southern California.

The hotel heiress posted to the site a lengthy message after insiders told TMZ the house was ‘burned to a crisp’ and ‘reduced to a pile of burning rubble’ amid the fiery outbreak which has been concentrated in the Los Angeles communities of Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

This Is Paris star – who shares two one-year-old children with husband Carter Reum, 43, son Phoenix Barron and daughter London Marilyn – said she was ‘heartbroken beyond words’ amid the damaging wildfires.

‘This home was where we built so many precious memories,’ Hilton said. ‘It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London.’

Paris Hilton, 43, says she watched her waterfront Malibu home burn to the ground on live television amid a series of wildfires scorching select areas of Southern California. Pictured in NYC in October

Hilton was among the celebrities who have lost their homes; the property was pictured in January of 2024

She continued, ‘While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family is safe. My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires.

‘To all the people who have lost their homes, their memories, and their beloved pets. My heartaches for those still in harm’s way or mourning greater losses.’

Read More All the celeb restaurants destroyed in the LA fires

Hilton – who recently made headlines for her political efforts – said that ‘the devastation is unimaginable’ and ‘to know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking.’

Hilton said members of her 11:11 Media Impact Team were ‘reaching out to nonprofit organizations today to figure out how we can best support the communities impacted by these fires’ and remain ‘committed to offering help as soon as possible and making a meaningful difference for those who need it most.’

She added, ‘To the brave firefighters and first responders risking their lives to protect us – you are true heroes.

‘I am so grateful for your courage, dedication, and the incredible sacrifices you’re making to save lives and fight this unimaginable battle. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Hilton encouraged her followers to ‘stay safe and follow evacuation orders’ amid the trying time, as ‘you never know when everything could change.

‘Let’s protect one another and hold onto hope that these fires will soon be contained. Sending so much love and strength to all of you. We’re in this together, LA. Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight.’

Hilton shared with her followers a television report she recorded documenting the damage to her oceanfront Malibu home

The socialite posted to X/ Twitter a clip from KABC depicting the damage

Sources told TMZ that the home burned in the blaze was not the ‘main residence’ the hotel heiress lives in, as she owns ‘multiple properties,’ including a mansion in Beverly Hills.

Hilton took to Instagram with a series of posts documenting the tough times, writing that she was ‘praying for LA/California’ atop an images of fires spreading throughout the area scorching homes and businesses.

The reality star offered options on how to help to more than 26 million followers, listing organizations including the American Red Cross, LA Food Bank and LAFD Wildfire Emergency Fund among the options

California firefighters on Wednesday remained battling wind-whipped fires tearing across the area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained.

Officials said the death toll was at five people as of Wednesday afternoon.

Hilton was one in a number of Hollywood stars impacted by the blaze, as celebrities who lost their homes included Anna Faris; Adam Brody and Leighton Meester; Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag; James Woods; Eugene Levy; Miles and Keleigh Teller; John Goodman; and others.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Mark Hamill and Mandy Moore were among the celebrities who said they had to evacuate their homes.

Curtis said Wednesday on Instagram that her family is safe, but suggested her neighborhood and possibly her home is on fire. She said many of her friends lost their homes.

Hilton posted an emotional statement to social media on Wednesday amid the fires

The reality star offered options on how to help, listing organizations including the American Red Cross, LA Food Bank and LAFD Wildfire Emergency Fund among the options

Moore said her family evacuated too and has since tried to shield her kids from the ‘immense sadness and worry’ that she currently feels.

‘So gutted for the destruction and loss,’ she posted in her Instagram story. ‘Don’t know if our place made it.

‘It’s a terrifying situation and I’m grateful to the firefighters and all of the good Samaritans who are helping people get out of the way of the blaze.’

Other stars who have homes in the area include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg; many are awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames.

Woods posted footage Tuesday of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.

‘Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,’ Woods said in the short video on X. Later, he confirmed he had evacuated and added: ‘It tests your soul, losing everything at once, I must say.’

Officials didn´t give an estimate of structures damaged or destroyed in the wildfire, but they said at least 70,000 residents were under evacuation orders and nearly 30,000 structures were under threat.

Paris took to Instagram with a series of posts documenting the tough times

Hilton included a clip depicting a deer running through the fire-ravaged region

The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit Surfin´ USA.

In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.

‘Evacuated Malibu so last minute,’ wrote Hamill in an Instagram post Tuesday night. ‘Small fires on both sides of the road as we approached (the Pacific Coast Highway).’

Less than 72 hours before, Hollywood´s highest-wattage stars had convened to walk the Golden Globes’ red carpet, the first major event of the exuberant and, for many, triumphant awards season.

The revelry of awards season had quickly been snuffed out, too: Premieres of contenders like Better Man and The Last Showgirl were canceled, the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced via press release instead of at a live event and weekend events like the AFI Awards were preemptively scrubbed.

‘American Primeval’ Review: Betty Gilpin Leads Netflix’s Relentlessly Brutal Peter Berg-Helmed Western Miniseries

‘The Pitt’ Review: Noah Wyle Scrubs in for Max’s Effective ‘ER’-Adjacent Medical Procedural

In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes famously described the life of man in an uncivilized state as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

In Netflix’s American Primeval, a new six-episode miniseries about life on the Western edge of civilization circa 1857, an Army captain played by Lucas Neff simplifies matters. He writes, in a generally pompous missive that doubles as voiceover, “There is only brutality here.”

This nihilistic observation about the nature of man and Ye Olde West could also apply to American Primeval itself, which hails from previous chronicler of Western brutality Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) and director Peter Berg.

Blessed with the vast emotional palette of human existence, Smith and Berg fill their canvas primarily with “brutality,” working with a bloody, intense precision that makes American Primeval effective for a while, but ultimately monotonous. Boasting a strong ensemble of actors buried under period-appropriate layers of troweled-on grime and scruffiness, the show has an undeniable visceral impact and should find a Taylor Sheridan-primed audience willing to buy in. But it fails to find any fresh insights to give it a place in the Deadwood/Godless/Unforgiven pantheon of the well-trod genre.

The story is set in the Utah Territory, where horrible conflict is simmering between Zion-seeking Mormons, Manifest Destiny-driven pioneers, Native American tribes getting pushed further and further into the corner of the land that was once theirs, and the U.S. Army entrusted with keeping the peace. Some of the settlers are driven by fear, some by zealotry and others by the promises of limitless wealth, but in this moment, life is unquestionably solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) and her son Devin (Preston Mota) arrive at Fort Bridger, a generally neutral stopping place overseen by Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham). She’s going to meet her husband somewhere deeper in-country, but she misses her convoy. Warning her that “civilization and civilized are two different words entirely,” Bridger gets Sara situated with a small party of Mormons led by Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan) and his new wife Abish (Saura Lightfoot Leon), who are heading in the right direction. Don’t google “Mountain Meadows Massacre” if you don’t want to know what’s coming. Short version? Brutality, complicated by a Mormon militia and some renegade Shoshone warriors.

Soon, Sara and Devin are witnesses to something that the Mormons — including Brigham Young (Kim Coates, oozing rectitude) — don’t want them to witness. Before long, the Mormons are pursuing the Rowells, who are also being pursued by several bounty hunters, including a party led by Jai Courtney’s Virgil. Sara and Devin might not be seeking a new life so much as fleeing the old one.

The only people who can help Sara and Devin are Isaac (Taylor Kitsch), a grouchy mountain man, and Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier), a mute Shoshone girl fleeing her own violent past.

I will always be an appreciator, at least on a basic level, of the muscularity of Berg’s direction. His clear-eyed bluntness helped make Netflix’s Painkiller a more successful anti-Sackler screed than the more acclaimed Dopesick. Here, he brings a charge to the familiar Western iconography that helps American Primeval stand out from most of the rushed Sheridan/Yellowstone factory output. Berg’s depiction of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is disorienting, nightmarish and terrifyingly immersive, a bravura symphony of whizzing arrows and curdling screams. There isn’t anything especially fresh about the tableaus of solitary riders making their way across the prairies or the shots of snowy mountain passes, but Berg has studied his John Ford and Robert Altman, and he executes the genre clichés with panache. His efforts are boosted by a grimy and grinding score from frequent collaborator Explosions in the Sky.

The visual flair peaks in the first episode, along with the series’ shallow, if not necessarily inapt, insight into life in this particular time and place. I have no doubt that 1857 Utah was pervasively miserable, and Berg captures a miasma of gangrenous wounds, rarely rotated attire, lice-infested beards and freshly butchered meat. It’s easy to find things to be disgusted or unsettled by, but harder to find sources of empathy — which never used to be the case on earlier Berg projects like Friday Night Lights. Too often, the scripts here lean into the ongoing threat of scalping or sexual violence — integral to the narrative of nearly every female character in the series — as a way to make viewers not so much care about any individuals as root for additional retaliatory violence.

American Primeval is likely to earn the ire of Mormons and Native American advocacy groups alike (the U.S. military is presented as pompous and ineffective, but somewhat hygienic). Abish is the most sympathetic of the Mormon characters, and the least ideologically Mormon; while one or two of the Shoshone characters have admirable attributes, the choice we’re given is essentially between slow-speaking “wise” figures and warriors likely to have “ululating” as their only close-captioned dialogue. The ensemble is a mishmash of fictional and historical figures, all rendered similarly glum and all destined for similarly cynical — Hobbes should have added “ironic” to his list of adjectives — fates.

If Hobbes’ quote is generally presented as advocating for governance or control, American Primeval almost seems willing to accept the nastiness in exchange for the scruffy solidarity. It lands on the side of the outsiders — Whigham’s Bridger delivers some straight-talking glimpses of humor, Kitsch’s Isaac some Eastwood-ian monosyllabic heroism and Gilpin’s Sara some proto-feminist backbone. Those were probably my favorite performances, though Leon — who gives a Missing Mara Sister vibe — has welcome punchy attitude and a story arc that makes no sense. Meanwhile, I watched the first half of the first episode and thought, “What an unusually relaxed and normal part for Dane DeHaan.” Needless to say that didn’t last.

Like DeHaan’s performance, everything in American Primeval gravitates toward the wretched and, yes, the brutal. The finale is either a powerful confirmation of what came before if you previously bought into it or a ridiculous and wildly predictable repetition of everything that came before. I’m going with the latter. If you spend five episodes talking about the nihilistic brutality of Ye Olde West and reach a finale in which you reveal the nihilistic brutality of Ye Olde West — accompanied by on-the-nose compositional sampling of “This Land Is Your Land” — you haven’t really taken your audience on much of a journey, have you?

‘Wicked’ tops SAG Awards nominations, many big-names are snubbed

“Wicked” topped nominations to the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday, landing a leading five nominations including best ensemble, and individual nods for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.

Out-of-control wildfires that swept across Los Angeles and Southern California on Tuesday night forced the Screen Actors Guild to cancel its plans to announce the nominations live Wednesday morning. The nominations were instead issued by press release by SAG, which last year began a multiyear deal with Netflix to stream the awards.

The smash hit musical “Wicked” saw its Oscar chances rise in nominations to the SAG Awards, one of the most predictive Academy Awards bellwethers. The movie’s big morning — it even scored a nod for stunt ensemble — came after a celebratory night, too. The film was honored by the National Board of Review Awards in New York on Tuesday.

The other nominees for best ensemble are: “Anora,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez” and “A Complete Unknown.”

It was an especially strong showing for the Bob Dylan drama “A Complete Unknown.” It came away with four nominations, including Timothée Chalamet for best male actor, and supporting nods for both Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro.

The best male lead nominees were largely as expected: Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Daniel Craig (“Queer”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) and Chalamet.

Coming off her rousing victory at the Golden Globes, Demi Moore was among the nominees for best female actor in a leading role for “The Substance.” She was joined by Erivo, “Emilia Pérez” breakout Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison of “Anora” and Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl.”

That surprisingly left out some big names. Angelina Jolie (“Maria”) missed out, as did Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”). A few of the most acclaimed actresses of the year, Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) and Globe-winner Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”), also were overlooked.

“The Last Showgirl” had more to celebrate, too, with an unexpected nomination for Jamie Lee Curtis in supporting female actor. Her fellow nominees are: Barbaro, Grande, Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”) and Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Perez”).

Jeremy Strong was nominated for his supporting performance as Roy Cohn in the Donald Trump film “The Apprentice,” but his co-star, Sebastian Stan, went unnominated for both “The Apprentice” and “A Different Man.” The other nominees for best supporting male actor were: Bailey, Norton, Yura Borisov (“Anora”) and the category frontrunner, Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”).

A few widely forecast supporting performance were snubbed there, too, including Denzel Washington (“Gladiator II”) and Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”).

The SAG Awards are arguably the most telling Oscar forecast there is. Their picks don’t always align exactly with those of the film academy, but they often come very close to mirroring them.

The last three best ensemble winners — “Oppenheimer,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “CODA” — all went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards. All but one of the SAG acting winners of the last three years has also won at the Oscars. The sole exception was Lily Gladstone, who won SAG’s award for female actor last year for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” but the Oscar trophy went to Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) at the Oscars.

In all likelihood, the Oscar field will look a lot like the SAG nominees. While some overlooked performances might still land an Oscar nomination, any eventual Academy Award winner, including the best-picture recipient, is almost surely coming from those nominated Wednesday.

That’s bad news for Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” which triumphed at the Globes but missed out on a SAG ensemble nomination. Best picture contender “Sing Sing” also came away with a single SAG nod.

In nominations also announced Wednesday, the Directors Guild favored most of the same films. For outstanding directorial achievement, it nominated Sean Baker (“Anora”), Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), Edward Berger (“Conclave”), James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”) and Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”). That left out “Wicked” filmmaker Jon M. Chu, as well as “Dune: Part Two” director Denis Villeneuve. The guild also failed to nominate a female filmmaker such as “The Substance” director Coralie Fargeat.

Those nominations only further muddied the waters in a hard-to-predict best picture race. Rarely does a film win the Academy Awards’ top prize without a DGA nomination. The only exceptions in recent history are “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989) and “CODA” (2022). That means as well as “Wicked” did with the screen actors, it still can’t be called an Oscar favorite.

Coming of sweeps at the Emmys and the Golden Globes, FX’s “Shōgun” continued to run roughshod through the competition, landing a leading five nominations Wednesday, including best ensemble and individual nods for Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and Tadanobu Asano.

Also faring well were “The Bear” (nominations for Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Liza Colón-Zayas), “Hacks” (Jean Smart) and “The Diplomat” (Keri Russell, Allison Janney).

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be held Feb. 23 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The ceremony, to be hosted by Kristen Bell, will be streamed live on Netflix. In addition to the competitive awards, Jane Fonda will be presented with the guild’s Life Achievement Award.

“Wicked” leads with 4 SAG Award nominations; live announcement canceled due to Los Angeles wildfires

The Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations canceled an in-person announcement planned for Wednesday morning due to devastating wildfires and winds in the Los Angeles area, instead opting to release them on their website.

When the organization announced its nominations, it was the Broadway musical adaptation “Wicked” that stood at the top of the list among motion pictures, with four nominations, including a surprise nod for Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero alongside expected nominations for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and outstanding performance by a cast.

Additional movies that received multiple nominations were “Anora,” “Emilia Pérez” and “A Complete Unknown,” all of which received three nominations total and were represented in the award for best cast.

Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis were also both nominated for their roles in the independent drama “The Last Showgirl.” Anderson’s nomination in a crowded lead actress category came at the expense of a number of highly touted hopefuls such as Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”), Angelina Jolie (“Maria”) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who has all but swept the main critics’ award groups with her performance in “Hard Truths.”

The SAG Awards are a reliable Oscar bellwether for the acting and best picture categories. Over the weekend, “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” cleared space around themselves as serious contenders with their multiple wins at the Golden Globes. “Wicked” settled for an Golden Globe for box office achievement.

Among movies, Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres won best actress awards for “The Substance” and “I’m Still Here,” respectively, while the best actor awards were won by Adrian Brody for “The Brutalist” and Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man.” (The Globes separate the acting categories between dramatic films and musicals and comedies.)

Of that group, only Moore and Brody repeated with nominations from the Screen Actors Guild. Stan’s co-star in “The Apprentice,” Jeremy Strong, was nominated for best supporting actor in a motion picture.

On the television side, Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner “Shōgun” topped the list with five nominations. “The Bear” also received four nominations.”

Homes and structures are burning in a pair of wind-swept fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and Altadena, a neighborhood near Pasadena, California.

Kristen Bell will host the 31st annual awards ceremony, which will stream live on Netflix on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Idris Elba hosted last year’s ceremony.

The fires have led to the cancellation of several entertainment events, including Wednesday’s premiere of the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man,” a premiere of Jennifer Lopez’s “Unstoppable” movie and the premiere of Universal Pictures’ upcoming horror film “Wolf Man.”

School of Rock cast have rare reunion at co-stars’ wedding 20 years later

The cast of the 2003 coming-of-age movie School of Rock have reunited for the best reason as two of their co-stars tied the knot.

The hit comedy follows fake substitute teacher Dewey (Jack Black) who forms an unconventional rock band with his students.

Well, now the kids are all grown up as the motley crew of musicians got back together for the wedding between co-stars Angelo Massagli and Caitlin Hale who met on the set when they were just 10 years old.

Caitlin played backup singer Marta, and Angelo starred as security guard Frankie. The rest of the cast included Miranda Cosgrove, Sarah Silverman, Mike White and, of course, comedic legend Jack.

It was actually years later in Florida in 2018 that the pair reconnected after leaving show business behind that they started dating.

‘Even though it wasn’t romantic, that familiarity we had and our families had when we were younger, really cut through some of those early relationship hurdles,’ Angelo, who works as a lawyer, told the New York Times.

And Caitlin, now an OB-GYN sonographer, added that she ‘knew very early’ that she was going to marry Angelo. The rest, as they say, is history.

Plenty of their former co-stars attended the big day, which took place at a dreamy venue in New Jersey, and although Jack wasn’t able to attend himself, the couple confirmed he ‘commemorated it privately’ with ‘generous’ words.

Rivkah Reyes, who played Katie in the film, uploaded a TikTok with clips from the day set to Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen (a nod to the movie).

‘Celebrating the marriage of Caitlin and Angelo with my forever fam,’ Rivkah captioned the video.

The video showed the cast sitting together at the table, taking glam photos and having a boogie on the dance floor, before ending with a shot of the happy couple.

Caitlin also recalled a ‘time capsule’ moment, adding: ‘We were just dancing together to some old-school disco and then there was some sort of ad-lib in the song and we all just hit it.

‘We looked at each other and we’re like, ‘That just happened. We still got it.’

Meanwhile, Rivkah told Hearst Connecticut: ‘We’ve always remained close after filming and it’s rare that we all get together.

‘I’m grateful to have not only witnessed the union of two of my dear friends of 20+ years, but also getting to catch up with my bandmates.’

The other stars present included Brian Falduto (Billy), Joey Gaydos Jr. (Zack), Robert Tsai (Lawrence), Maryam Hassan (Tomika), Aleisha Allen (Alicia), Cole Hawkins (Leonard), Z Infante (Gordon) and James Hosey (Marco).

2023 marked two decades since School of Rock came out and Miranda reflected on the anniversary with Metro.

Talking about filming with Jack, she said: ‘I didn’t know what improv was until I saw Jack Black change it up so many times when we were doing the classroom scenes.

‘He would always do something different. So it kept everybody on their toes and excited waiting to see what he was going to do next.

‘I think it made a lot of that feel real because we really are all like, “What’s he gonna do?” and laughing. A lot of those reactions are just natural.’

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Noel Gallagher’s Cosmic Collision: Oasis Icon Joins Psychedelic Supergroup Before Reunion Tour

Noel Gallagher’s musical journey takes an unexpected turn as he joins forces with an eclectic supergroup, Mantra Of The Cosmos, led by none other than Zak Starkey, son of the legendary Beatles drummer Sir Ringo Starr. This surprising collaboration comes mere months before Gallagher’s highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour, set to hit the road in 2025.

The supergroup’s latest psychedelic offering, “Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous),” features an all-star lineup that includes Gallagher on guitar, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder on vocals, former Oasis guitarist Andy Bell, Starkey on drums, and Happy Mondays’ iconic percussionist Mark “Bez” Berry. “Mantra Of The Cosmos is like Dylan, Dali and Ginsberg on a rocket ship to the moon to have it with the clangers,” Gallagher quipped, hinting at the group’s cosmic ambitions.

Starkey’s connection with Gallagher dates back to 1995 when they first crossed paths in a London rehearsal room, before Starkey eventually joined Oasis as their drummer in 2004, contributing to the albums “Don’t Believe The Truth” and “Dig Your Own Soul.” Reflecting on the collaboration, Starkey said, “It’s not every day that the greatest songwriter of my generation — not to mention Shaun, the greatest beat poet of our times — sends a tune to me, and I was in a daze for a bit cos it’s not something you want to f*** up.”

The admiration between the artists is palpable, with Gallagher referring to Ryder as “the British Bob Dylan” and “the king of lyrics.” Starkey echoed this sentiment, saying, “Noel loves Shaun. He texted me to say ‘Do you know what you’ve got? The British Bob Dylan’ — and he’s not f****g about because now I’ve witnessed what Shaun does.”

While the collaboration may seem unlikely, it is a testament to the enduring spirit of creativity and the willingness of artists to push boundaries. As Gallagher gears up for the highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour, his detour into the cosmic realms of Mantra Of The Cosmos showcases his versatility and hunger for new artistic endeavors.

With Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous) — a nod to Bez’s first band — already making waves, the supergroup is set to take the stage at the iconic Cavern Club in Liverpool on January 19th, a venue steeped in Beatles history. “Can’t believe I’ve never even been there,” Starkey mused. “There’s a great deal of family heritage at the Cavern, aside from the Beatles, my parents courted there… Who knows I may have even been conceived there.”

As the world eagerly awaits the return of Oasis, Gallagher’s foray into the psychedelic realm with Mantra Of The Cosmos offers a tantalizing glimpse into the boundless creativity that continues to drive him. Whether it’s the anthemic rock of Oasis or the cosmic explorations of this supergroup, Gallagher’s musical journey remains an ever-evolving tapestry, weaving together diverse influences and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.