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Kiss’s debut album at 50: how the rock legends went from ‘clowns’ to becoming immortalised

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-markowitsch-1507417">Charlotte Markowitsch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>It has been 50 years since Rock &amp; Roll <a href="https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/kiss">Hall of Famers</a> Kiss launched their thunderock-doused debut album into the pop culture stratosphere. The eponymous album, released on February 18 1974, became a platform-stacked foot in the music industry’s door.</p> <p>What followed established Kiss as one of the most memorable hard-rock bands of the 1970s and ’80s, with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac.37.1.19_1">globally recognised legacy</a>.</p> <p><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0NjpmoajQlllfKH9FaNliD?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" loading="lazy"></iframe></p> <p> </p> <h2>The early days</h2> <p>In 1972, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons shelved their first ever rock outfit following a short stint in a band called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Lester">Wicked Lester</a>. The pair then <a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/kiss-self-titled-debut-album/">hatched a plan</a> to form a far more aggressive and successful rock band. Drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley were recruited, and the new-generation Fab Four renamed themselves Kiss.</p> <p>By late <a href="https://www.kissonline.com/history">November of 1973</a>, the band had developed their bombastic live performance style, perfected their makeup and signed a deal with <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-first-record-contract/">Casablanca Records</a>. Yet they dealt with some rocky beginnings.</p> <p>Armed with reworked songs from Wicked Lester, Kiss entered New York’s Bell Sound Studios to record their debut. A mere three weeks later the album was complete – but the band quickly realised the studio recordings didn’t capture the essence of their high-energy live shows.</p> <p>As vocalist Paul Stanley <a href="https://loudwire.com/kiss-self-titled-album-anniversary/">told Loudwire</a>: "What was put down on tape was such a timid fraction of what we were in concert. I didn’t understand it because bands who were our contemporaries had much better-sounding albums."</p> <p>They took another blow while shooting the album cover with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/obituaries/31brodsky.html">Joel Brodsky</a> when, after a mishap with Criss’s makeup, the band were allegedly handed balloons by the photographer since he thought they were clowns.</p> <p>Then, soon before the album was released, Warner Brothers pulled its financial backing and <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-casablanca-records-story">distribution deal from Casablanca Records</a> after witnessing Kiss play a New Year’s eve show. Although it’s said the band’s makeup was the last straw for the label, the show in question also featured Simmons <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/features/kiss-early-years-history">setting his hair alight</a> shortly after throwing a fireball at a fan’s face.</p> <p>Despite the blunders, the release of the first album set Kiss on a path to becoming immortalised. As Stanley says in his book <a href="https://www.paulstanley.com/face-the-music/">Face The Music</a>: "For all the minuses I felt about the sound or the cover, we now had a finished album which was the prerequisite for all the other things we wanted to do. We were in the game now."</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D0lit2sT6lY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=28" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The Kiss sound</h2> <p>I first heard Kiss as a teenager. I’d just thrift-scored a pair of ’80s-era roller-skates with the band’s logo scrawled on the heels in glitter glue. The salesperson, responsible for the glitter glue, enthusiastically recounted seeing Kiss play VFL Park (now <a href="https://footy.fandom.com/wiki/Waverley_Park">Waverley Park</a> stadium) in 1980 and made me promise I’d listen to them.</p> <p>Overwhelmed by the band’s expansive discography, and the possibility that their name stood for <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/kiss-squash-long-standing-rumour-that-their-band-name-is-a-satanic-acronym-were-smart-but-were-not-that-smart">Knights In Satan’s Service</a>, I thought it best to begin from the start.</p> <p>With their reputation of on-stage pyrotechnics and gore, I’d expected something more akin to Black Sabbath’s Paranoid than the jangly riffs of Let Me Know or Love Theme From Kiss. A 1978 review by <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/kiss-194584/">Gordon Fletcher</a> for the Rolling Stone also noted this rift. Despite calling the album exceptional, Fletcher described its sound as a cross between Deep Purple and the Doobie Brothers.</p> <p>Stanley and Simmons have <a href="https://www.guitarworld.com/features/kiss-paul-stanley-gene-simmons-classic-tracks">spoken freely</a> about borrowing heavily from a number of mid-century legends, so it’s no surprise that sonically the album was nothing new. The Rolling Stones’ influence can be heard in the songs Deuce and Strutter, while Led Zeppelin and Neil Young are present in Black Diamond.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PEa4MrrG1xw?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>The album initially hadn’t risen higher than #87 on <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-kiss-debut-album/">Billboard’s album charts</a>. A studio cover of <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-nothin-to-lose/?trackback=twitter_mobile">Bobby Rydell’s Kissin’ Time</a> was released next as the lead single, but the track only bumped them up to #83. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2262575">commercial unviability</a> loomed over Kiss until the release of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive!_(Kiss_album)">Alive!</a> in 1975.</p> <h2>Success and beyond</h2> <p>As the band’s first live album, Alive! bridged the gap between the audacious intensity of Kiss’s performances and the timidness of their studio recordings. Their early tracks were repurposed to let listeners remotely experience the infamous Kiss live spectacle.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg&amp;ab_channel=KissVEVO">Rock and Roll All Nite</a> claimed #12 on the <a href="https://loudwire.com/kiss-alive-album-anniversary/">Billboard charts</a>, the platform-stacked foot burst through the door to mainstream success.</p> <p>Fifty years after Kiss first stepped into Bell Sound Studios, the band played their final sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on December 2 2023. The performance served as a crowning jewel on their End of the Road world tour, a four-year effort with more than 250 live shows.</p> <p>Promised to be their <a href="https://www.triplem.com.au/story/kiss-add-more-dates-to-their-end-of-the-road-australian-tour-172305">biggest and best shows ever</a>, the farewell became a colossal celebration of the band’s legacy. Theatrical pyrotechnics, fake blood and Stanley’s classic opening line – “you wanted the best, you got the best” – were featured at each performance.</p> <p>While both Kiss’s anthemic numbers and earlier catalogue were performed in these final shows, the music came second to the celebration of the Kiss live spectacle.</p> <p>From their carefully designed makeup, to bombastic theatrics and hoards of merchandise, it was Kiss’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac.37.1.19_1">brand building</a> that <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-au/Brands+That+Rock%3A+What+Business+Leaders+Can+Learn+from+the+World+of+Rock+and+Roll-p-9780471455172">set them apart</a> and embedded them in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2009.09.006">heritage bracket</a> of popular culture.</p> <p>Despite the end of their live shows, Kiss endeavours to stay embedded in public memory. Referring to some of the band’s 2,500 licensed products, Simmons recently spoke on <a href="http://www.tommagazine.com.au/2022/08/19/kiss/">what’s next for Kiss</a>: "Kiss the entity will continue; what’s happening now is a metamorphosis. The caterpillar is dying, but the butterfly will be born."</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yl5PGoy5X6g?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>With a <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/kiss-biopic-early-years-netflix-2024-1235291572/">Netflix biopic</a> and holographic <a href="https://www.stereogum.com/2246254/kiss-hologram-era-begins-in-2027/news/">avatars on the way</a>, Stanley and Simmons – the band’s two remaining members – <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/gene-simmons-says-kiss-farewell-tour-is-end-of-the-road-for-the-band-not-the-brand-3541117">have declared Kiss immortal</a>.</p> <p>Stanley even suggests the Kiss look has become so iconic it’s now bigger than any band member. This means the torch could be passed on to new-generation Kiss members.</p> <p>Kiss has (quite literally) breathed fire into live rock performance. Now, they’re breathing fire into our expectations of what rock royalty retirement looks like. I have to ask, who – or what – will wear the makeup next? <!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222284/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-markowitsch-1507417">C<em>harlotte Markowitsch</em></a><em>, PhD candidate in popular music studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kisss-debut-album-at-50-how-the-rock-legends-went-from-clowns-to-becoming-immortalised-222284">original article</a>.</em></p>

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King Charles rocked by death in the family

<p>King Charles is in mourning after it was confirmed that one of his close relatives has passed away. </p> <p>According to a death notice in the Dundee Courier, the monarch's first cousin once removed, Albemarle Bowes-Lyon, died on October 30th at the age of 83. </p> <p>As well as being the King's cousin, Albemarle was also a nephew of the late Queen Mother, who died in 2002.</p> <p>Albemarle was the brother of Fergus Bowes-Lyon, the Earl of Strathmore and Mary and Patricia.</p> <p>The publication went on to confirm that a "private funeral" for Albemarle would be held at a later date, which will be a "celebration" of his life.</p> <p>Albemarle was a close relative of several members of the royal family, and was invited to both the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth, and her funeral. </p> <p>However, he did not receive an invitation to King Charles' coronation in May this year. </p> <p>The news of Albemarle's death came as King Charles and Queen Camilla were en route to Kenya for a royal tour. </p> <p>The trip to east Africa is the first time the monarch has traveled to a Commonwealth country since becoming King.</p> <p>During a speech on his first day of a four-day visit, King Charles expressed “greatest sorrow and the deepest regret” for the “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed against Kenyans as they sought independence.</p> <p>However, he didn't explicitly apologise for Britain's actions in its former colony, as many Kenyans wanted.</p> <p>Charles at the state banquet hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto said there “can be no excuse” for the “wrongdoings of the past," as he said that addressing them with honesty and openness could “continue to build an ever closer bond in the years ahead.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Cause of death revealed for "Yacht Rock" legend Jimmy Buffett

<p>Iconic American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, renowned for his timeless 1977 hit "Margaritaville," has passed away at the age of 76.</p> <p>In a heartfelt statement posted on his official website, Buffett's family shared the news of his peaceful passing on the night of September 1st, surrounded by his loved ones, music and faithful canine companions.</p> <p>The statement poignantly expressed, "He lived his life like a song until the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many."</p> <p>Recent reports have disclosed that the Yacht Rock icon lost his battle with skin cancer. The announcement of his demise came via his website, while sources close to the artist confirmed the cause of death to TMZ.</p> <p>Tragically, what initially began as a diagnosis of skin cancer ultimately developed into lymphoma. A source divulged, "He lived his life in the sun, literally and figuratively."</p> <p>Buffett entered hospice care the previous Monday, and in his final weeks, he was fortunate to receive a visit from none other than Paul McCartney. Despite his illness, he continued to tour for many years, but concerns about his health arose when he had to postpone concerts in May following a hospitalisation.</p> <p>Jimmy Buffett, epitomising the laid-back "beach bum" culture, held a special place in the hearts of his fans. His journey to stardom began rather humbly, as he was relatively unknown until he penned the iconic hit "Margaritaville" in 1977, which became an anthem for those seeking a carefree, low-key life. This song played a pivotal role in the yacht rock movement, becoming a symbol of a particular state of mind.</p> <p>Buffett once shared, "There was no such place as Margaritaville. It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach."</p> <p>Expanding the Margaritaville brand worldwide, Buffett ventured into restaurants, authored books, and even ventured into the world of cruise lines. His diverse investments ultimately made him one of the wealthiest musicians globally, with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.</p> <p>Buffett embarked on his music career as a country artist in 1970 with the release of "Down To Earth." Initially, he earned his living as a busker, and while the album didn't make a significant impact, a fateful busking tour with fellow country artist Jerry Jeff Walker in Key West birthed his easygoing "beach bum" persona. Buffett skilfully fused elements of country, rock, calypso, and pop to craft his signature tropical sound.</p> <p>Buffett's artistic output was prolific, with 29 studio albums released up until 2020. However, it was his diverse business ventures that proved to be most lucrative. In 1993, he launched his own record label, followed by his beer company in 2006, the Margaritaville Casino in 2013, the Margaritaville online game in 2012, and the Margaritaville retirement village in 2021. In 2018, Buffett even introduced the Coral Reefer marijuana brand.</p> <p>A legendary musician and astute businessman, Buffett serves as an enduring testament that a career in music can follow a multitude of paths. His signature tune, "Margaritaville," was rightfully inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016, immortalising its cultural and historical significance as the quintessential sound of Key West, Florida and countless unforgettable karaoke nights.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

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"Insultingly stupid": Rock legend slams tributes to Sinead O'Connor

<p>Morrissey has taken aim at some "disingenuous" people who have paid tribute to Sinead O'Connor in the hours after her death. </p> <p>The Irish singer was <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/sin-ad-o-connor-passes-away-at-just-56" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tragically passed away</a> at the age of 56 on Thursday, after a statement from her family confirmed the devastating news. </p> <p>"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time," the singer's family said in a statement, prompting a wave of homages online from her fans.</p> <p>However, the former frontman of The Smiths has shared a furious note on his website, criticising some of the tributes which he described as "sterile slop". </p> <p>He wrote that he believes people are only praising her work and activism now that she has passed, and the gushing tributes have largely come from people who criticised her career while she was alive. </p> <p>He wrote, “She was dropped by her label after selling 7 million albums for them.”</p> <p>“She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only too well), and they are never praised until death – when, finally, they can’t answer back. The cruel playpen of fame gushes with praise for Sinead today … with the usual moronic labels of 'icon' and 'legend'." </p> <p>“You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you.”</p> <p>He also blasted others in the wider industry for not giving O’Connor props while she was alive. </p> <p>“The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold … and they would call Sinead sad, fat, shocking, insane … oh but not today! Music CEOs who had put on their most charming smile as they refused her for their roster are queuing-up to call her a ‘feminist icon’, and 15 minute celebrities and goblins from hell and record labels of artificially aroused diversity are squeezing onto Twitter to twitter their jibber-jabber … when it was YOU who talked Sinead into giving up … because she refused to be labelled, and she was degraded, as those few who move the world are always degraded.”</p> <p>He went on to compare O’Connor to other entertainers who died at a young age, such as Judy Garland, Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse, asking “why is ANYBODY surprised” that they died. </p> <p>“Where do you go when death can be the best outcome?” he asked.</p> <p>He finished with an instruction to those who had offered the “insultingly stupid” and "disingenuous" tributes that O’Connor was an “icon” and a “legend”, saying “Sinead doesn’t need your sterile slop.”</p> <p>Morrissey's rant was met with a mixed response from fans, while other celebrities shared their support of his sentiment. </p> <p>Boy George tweeted his agreeance, shared a photo of himself with Sinead and writing, “Morrissey is both wrong and right. Most people had zero influence over Sinead. She was her own person with her own issues. At time like this you can only offer prayers because we are out of solutions. My mum and I had great chats about Sinead. We all wanted her fixed.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

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Diehard fans react as iconic superband quits after 52 years of rocking

<p>The Eagles are hitting the road for the final time after 52 years as a band. </p> <p>On Thursday, the iconic US rock band announced The Long Goodbye tour that is set to kick off on September 7th in New York City.</p> <p>In a statement shared with CNN, the <em>Hotel California</em> hitmakers said, "The Eagles have had a miraculous 52-year odyssey, performing for people all over the globe; keeping the music alive in the face of tragic losses, upheavals and setbacks of many kinds."</p> <p>"We know how fortunate we are, and we are truly grateful. Our long run has lasted far longer than any of us ever dreamed. But, everything has its time, and the time has come for us to close the circle."</p> <p>The band concluded their statement by thanking those who have supported their music, saying, "At the end of the day, you are the reason we have been able to carry on for over five decades. This is our swan song, but the music goes on and on.”</p> <p>According to the statement, The Eagles members Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, alongside Vince Gill and Deacon Frey "will perform as many shows in each market as their audience demands."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CuWrpW3ObCZ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CuWrpW3ObCZ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Eagles (@eagles)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Deacon Frey is the son of the late Glenn Frey, who was a founding member and frontman of the band when they began in 1971 before he died in 2015 after a range of health complications. </p> <p>Many were devastated to hear of the band's final tour, with long-time fan of The Eagles Kathryn Packham saying, "I have always loved their music. Great songs with relatable lyrics, fantastic harmonies, and of course the unbelievable guitar riffs from Joe Walsh &amp; exceptional drumming from Don Henley. Their music is timeless."</p> <p>Despite her love for the band, it seems Glenn Frey's legacy lives on as Packham said she would "not go and see them if they were performing for free on the driveway without Glenn."</p> <p>The farewell tour is expected to continue into 2025, with no Oceania dates yet announced. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

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Tourist busted for carving name into world's most famous Roman relic

<p dir="ltr">An Irish tourist has run himself headfirst into trouble in Rome after he was reportedly caught carving his name - and his girlfriend’s - into the Colosseum. </p> <p dir="ltr">It is said that he had been making his carvings, which were six-centimetre-tall initials, with a metal point - possibly his keys - and gouged into a pillar of the 2000-year-old historic monument.</p> <p dir="ltr">The inscription, dedicated to himself and his partner, reportedly read “Ivan+Haley 23”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Carabinieri police have claimed that the 32-year-old man was caught by private security at the World Heritage Site, and that social media videos of the incident alerted police to the alleged crime. </p> <p dir="ltr">The man has been accused of damaging the historical landmark, the Carabinieri confirmed to <em>CNN</em>, with the act considered to be a crime under Italian law. </p> <p dir="ltr">The Colosseum is one of the seven wonders of the modern world, and also a World Heritage Site, and Italy’s Minister of Culture has called for the tourist to be “identified and sanctioned”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I consider it very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, the Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiancée,” he tweeted, along with footage of the incident. “I hope that whoever did this will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He later uploaded another video, accompanied by the scathing caption “Tourist scars the Colosseum.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="it">Reputo gravissimo, indegno e segno di grande inciviltà, che un turista sfregi uno dei luoghi più celebri al mondo, il Colosseo, per incidere il nome della sua fidanzata. Spero che chi ha compiuto questo gesto venga individuato e sanzionato secondo le nostre leggi. <a href="https://t.co/p8Jss1GWuY">pic.twitter.com/p8Jss1GWuY</a></p> <p>— Gennaro Sangiuliano (@g_sangiuliano) <a href="https://twitter.com/g_sangiuliano/status/1673318742057525248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">If the man is convicted, he faces a penalty of at least €2,065 (~$3,370.7) and up to one year in prison, according to <em>CNN</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">And it isn’t the first time the Colosseum has been defaced by those seeking to carve out their place in history, with a Russian tourist facing a fine of €20,000 for carving the letter “K”. </p> <p dir="ltr">It’s a serious offence in the hearts of many, with archaeologist Federica Rinaldi - who is responsible for the ancient amphitheatre - telling the publication that “the Colosseum, like any monument that represents the history of all of us, must be preserved and handed over to future generations.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is a monument that deserves everyone’s respect because it belongs to everyone, and it must remain so,” Rinaldi added.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Carving one’s initials, in addition to being a crime, seems to be a gesture of those who want to appropriate the monument. Better take a selfie!”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

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“I want to move on”: Rod Stewart announces the end of an era

<p dir="ltr">After more than six decades establishing himself as a legend in the wide world of rock’n’roll, Rod Stewart has announced that he’ll be taking things in a whole new direction. </p> <p dir="ltr">The British music star was chatting to host of <em>BBC Breakfast</em>, Charlie Stayt, when he made the revelation in response to a comment about how “rock stars are performing into incredible ages now.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“I am actually stopping,” Stewart declared, before going on to share that “I’m not retiring, but I want to move on.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He noted that he’d enjoyed “great success” with his album, <em>It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook</em>, and that he’d “just done a swing album with Jools Holland” that is set to release in 2024. </p> <p dir="ltr">“So,” he said, “I want to go in that direction.” </p> <p dir="ltr">The 78 year old had more to say on the matter, offering more in the way of an explanation to fans who may still be struggling to come to terms with his decision when he said, “I just want to leave all the rock’n’roll stuff behind. For a while, maybe.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Everything has to come to an end sooner or later.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Stewart, who was joined by Boy George for the interview ahead of their tour together, also shed some light into his immediate plans after his 2023 tour, telling Stayt that he was “really looking forward to doing something else, especially singing with Jools’ band.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“It borders on rock‘n’roll anyway,” he noted, “it’s just not ‘Maggie May’ and ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?’”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">'Everything has to come to an end sooner or later'</p> <p>Singer Rod Stewart has told <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BBCBreakfast?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BBCBreakfast</a> he's giving up rock and roll as he prepares to go on tour with Boy George<a href="https://t.co/Y29oI6E5Pk">https://t.co/Y29oI6E5Pk</a> <a href="https://t.co/odrQmQkOlT">pic.twitter.com/odrQmQkOlT</a></p> <p>— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCBreakfast/status/1667049131867529217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">And while some fans of the singer weren’t immediately onboard with the change of tune, others were supportive, taking to social media to share their well wishes ahead of Stewart’s new venture. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Good for him - I loved the <em>American Songbook</em> album,” a fan wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Something to look forward to- Love them both,” another shared. </p> <p dir="ltr">One user took the opportunity to reflect on Stewart’s career so far, writing, “he put on AMAZING shows!  Saw him first in 1975, and three others before 2010.  He really could blow!!!”</p> <p dir="ltr">And another followed suit, telling the others that “I would HAPPILY hit a Rod Stewart convert just to hear him play his <em>Great American Songbook </em>tracks. Just loved it when he did those tunes. I like all of it! Look forward to the swing album, too! Music!”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: BBC Breakfast / Twitter</em></p>

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Tributes flow for Tina Turner

<p>Tributes from fans and celebs alike are flowing in for rock legend Tina Turner, who has died aged 83.</p> <p>Turner passed away at her home in the town of Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, following years of suffering health issues including cancer, a stroke and kidney failure.</p> <p>Amongst the star-studded tributes, actress Angela Bassett, who played Turner in the film <em>What's Love Got to Do With It</em>, penned a sweet message, with the late David Bowie's estate paying homage as well.</p> <p>The official social media accounts of the late Bowie, who died 2016, shared a lengthy statement pointing out how Bowie will now "see [Turner] in the sky tonight”.</p> <p>"Sad to hear of the passing of Tina Turner, the legendary singer whose career dated back to 1960,” Bowie’s statement began.</p> <p>"Bowie fans will be aware of the duet she recorded with David for the title track of 1984's <em>Tonight</em> LP.”</p> <p>"The Bowie/Iggy Pop penned track was released as a single later that year. On 23rd March, 1985, at a Tina Turner concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in the UK, Bowie performed the song live with Tina along with a section of the Chris Montez hit, Let's Dance, segueing into Bowie's song of the same name. This live duet of Tonight was released as a single becoming a #1 hit in the Netherlands," the statement continued.</p> <p>"We'll finish with some words Tina said to The Guardian newspaper in 2020 that despite having some serious health problems, the last 10 years of her life had embodied her ideal vision of happiness.</p> <p>"'True and lasting happiness comes from having an unshakeable, hopeful spirit that can shine, no matter what,' she said. 'That's what I've achieved, and it is my greatest wish to help others become truly happy as well.’"</p> <p>In a statement obtained by <em>The Hollywood Reporter,</em> Basset, said, "How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?"</p> <p><em>The Black Panther</em> actress, who starred opposite with Laurence Laurence Fishburne's Ike Turner in the film, continued, "Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion and freedom should look like.”</p> <p>"Her final words to me – for me were, 'You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world.' I shall hold these words close to my heart for the rest of my days. I am honoured to have known Tina Turner," she said.</p> <p>"I am humbled to have helped show her to the world," Bassett continued.</p> <p>"So on today, while we mourn the loss of this iconic voice and presence, she gave us more than we could have ever asked. She gave us her whole self. And Tina Turner is a gift that will always be 'simply the best.' Angels, sing thee to thy rest … Queen.”</p> <p>Diana Ross took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, writing, "Shocked. Saddened. Sending condolences to Tina Turner's family and loved ones. ”</p> <p>Magic Johnson also shared a photo taken with Turner on Twitter.</p> <p>"Rest in peace to one of my favorite artists of all time, the legendary queen of rock n' roll Tina Turner," he wrote.</p> <p>"I've seen her many many times and hands down, she gave one of the best live shows I've ever seen. She always gave you your moneys [sic] worth."</p> <p>Actress Viola David took to Instagram, sharing an image of the late star, alongside the caption, "Iconic. Beautiful. Brilliant. A Survivor. Our first symbol of excellence and unbridled ownership of sexuality!! You were my childhood. Oh man!!! God is getting an angel today!!! Rest well Queen Tina Turner. We will bask in your legacy!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”</p> <p>Mick Jagger wrote on Twitter, "I'm so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner. She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”</p> <p>"We have lost one of the [world's] most exciting and electric performers. A total legend on record and on stage. She was untouchable,” Sir Elton John wrote on Instagram. "Condolences to Erwin and her family.</p> <p>"What a woman, what a life, what a warrior!!!” Singer Alicia Keys wrote on Instagram.</p> <p>"The day I met you Ms Tina, I couldn't believe I was standing in the presence of your greatness!! (Thanks to my big sis [Oprah]!!!)," Keys continued her caption.</p> <p>"I got to celebrate and thank you for all the love you've poured out around u. The songs you sang gave us courage to step out and be our full selves.</p> <p>"You are a fierce force as a woman and a performer! All of these things have been beacons of light for not only me, but all the people around the world finding ourselves and our fearlessness, through our vulnerability!!</p> <p>"Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts beautiful big sister! Rest well! We love and adore you infinitely!”</p> <p>Giorgio Armani also shared a statement on his fashion house’s official Twitter account.</p> <p>"I heard of the passing of Tina Turner with sadness and disbelief: with her incredible energy she seemed eternal. Her music certainly is," his statement began.</p> <p>"I will miss a great friend, whom I have also had the pleasure to dress many times. In life, she was like she was on stage – pure energy. I am deeply saddened.”</p> <p>Author Stephen King wrote on Twitter, "Tina Turner: Simply the best. ”</p> <p>Actor Josh Gad shared on Twitter, "This one hits way too hard. #riptinaturner 🙏🙏🙏💔”</p> <p>Sylvester Stallone wrote a short message alongside a photo with Turner on Instagram, "see you forever Tina Turner ❤️ #tinaturner #slystallone.”</p> <p>Director Paul Feig took to Twitter, writing, "Ugh. This is so sad. She was someone who seemed like we'd have her forever. What a huge huge loss. There will never be another like her. Rest in power, Tina."</p> <p>"RIP Tina Turner. Simply, the best," Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter.</p> <p>Musician Bryan Adams recalled the time he and Turner spent working together in his tribute, shared in a since-deleted Twitter post.</p> <p>"My condolences to Erwin and Tina's family," he wrote. "I'll be forever grateful for the time we spent together on tour, in the studio and as friends.”</p> <p>"Thank you for being the inspiration to millions of people around the world for speaking your truth and giving us your gift of your voice," Adams continued.</p> <p>"It's Only Love and that's all," he concluded, referencing the single the pair released in 1985.</p> <p>Bette Midler posted a heartfelt tribute to her Twitter account.</p> <p>"Our beloved #TinaTurner has died. From #Nutbush to the top, she was an absolutely brilliant performer and inspiration to us all,” she wrote.</p> <p>"May flights of angels sing her to her rest, but if I know Tina, she is singing lead. ”</p> <p>Singer-songwriter Ciara called Turner a "QUEEN, LEGEND, ICON” in a comment underneath an Instagram post, she followed with a tweet.</p> <p>"Heaven has gained an angel," she wrote. "Rest in Paradise Tina Turner. Thank you for the inspiration you gave us all. ”</p> <p>Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood labelled Turner as "a force of nature and a legend” in his tribute.</p> <p>His Tweet concluded, ”Rest in peace, Tina Turner.”</p> <p>"A true legend has passed," actor George Takei wrote on Twitter.</p> <p>"Tina Turner has died at the age of 83. She was our <em>River Deep</em> and our <em>Mountain High</em>, the <em>Private Dancer</em> in our hearts.”</p> <p>"She showed us that love really does has everything to do with it, and that we really did need another hero," he continued. "And she was it. Rest now, Proud Mary. Raise your voice high in the heavens.”</p> <p>Founding member of Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler, also penned a heart-warming tribute for the star on Twitter.</p> <p>"Sad to hear of Tina Turner passing," he wrote. "I saw her on her first major tour, supporting The Rolling Stones at Birmingham Odeon on 1966 & became an instant fan. RIP .”</p> <p>While Actress Sarah Jessica Parker wrote on Instagram, "Simply the best. RIP Ms. Turner. I loved and love you. Thank you. Godspeed. X, SJ.”</p> <p>"Legends never die. They live on in our collective psyche forever. Thank you for enriching our lives, Tina. Rest in power… #tinaturner 1939-2023," actor Cary Elwes wrote on Twitter.</p> <p>Andy Cohen paid homage to the star on Twitter, writing, "SIMPLY THE BEST BEST BEST. WE LOVE YOU TINA ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”</p> <p>Even NASA shared a tribute for the beloved star.</p> <p>"Simply the best. Music legend Tina Turner sparkled across the stage and into millions of hearts as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll," NASA wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of the stars in the sky.</p> <p>"Her legacy will forever live among the stars."</p> <p><em>Image credit: Twitter</em></p>

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"Who picks a fight with a rock star?" Jimmy Barnes confronts on-road "bully"

<p>Jimmy Barnes' wife Jane has ripped into a truck driver who "bullied" the couple on the road, with the driver attempting to "fight Jimmy on the roadside". </p> <p>Jane Barnes said the incident occurred on Wednesday night in the south Sydney suburb of Botany Bay, when the couple had been driving home from a charity event. </p> <p>In a furious thread on Twitter, Jane detailed the terrifying incident which resulted in the police being called. </p> <p>Jane wrote, "(He) cut us off across our lane and swiped our mirror, wanted to fight Jimmy on the roadside."</p> <p>"Trucks are like weapons, bullies behind the wheel a danger to us all," she wrote, alongside the hashtags #TOLL and #NOtobullies.  </p> <p>Jane then shared a photo of the truck drivers' side profile as he almost came to blows with the rockstar, as well as photos of the truck's license plate and the Barnes' car which shows the drivers' side wing mirror bent out of place. </p> <p>Jane went on to say the truckie had shared his details with the couple and that NSW Police had been called over the altercation. </p> <p>However, she said, officers "couldn't do much" if there were no injuries or damages.</p> <p>Jane's post drew in a wave of attention, with one fan asking, "Who picks a fight with a rock star?"</p> <p>Ms Barnes replied, "Shouldn't matter who it is. This guy was just a pig. Swearing, smug, ignorant, misogynist bully."</p> <p>The musician continued her rant on Instagram, writing, "When you drive a truck you're in charge of a weapon. A bully at the wheel can kill people."</p> <p>Many sent their sympathies to the couple, with some saying the tweet was "poignant" given the increase in accidents on Aussie roads. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Rock legend dies at 81

<p>David Crosby, founding member of <em>The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash &amp; Young</em> (CSNY) has died due to a long illness.</p> <p>Jan Dance, his wife of 36 years, confirmed his passing in a statement to <a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/news/david-crosby-dead-dies-byrds-crosby-stills-nash-1235495467/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Variety</em></a>.</p> <p>The statement read: "It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us.</p> <p>“His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly".</p> <p>The family have asked to respect their privacy during this "profound loss".</p> <p>His former CSNY partner Graham Nash, paid tribute to the guitarist through <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnnRbZ4rbRL/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a>.</p> <p>He started the post with the caption, "It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed".</p> <p>The former band members had an estranged relationship following a feud with Crosby.</p> <p>Nash acknowledged this in his tribute, he added: "I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years".</p> <p>David was fearless in life and in music. He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world. He spoke his mind, his heart, and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. These are the things that matter most," he continued.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Statement from Graham Nash: <a href="https://t.co/FRmkwNcqCr">pic.twitter.com/FRmkwNcqCr</a></p> <p>— Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) <a href="https://twitter.com/tannenbaumr/status/1616208392581746738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>He ended the tribute with: "My heart is truly with his wife, Jan, his son, Django, and all of the people he has touched in this world".</p> <p>Many fans have also taken to social media to pay their tribute.</p> <p>"No, no, no. I am sitting here shaking. Not David Crosby. He was the soundtrack of my life," tweeted one fan.</p> <p>"David Crosby dies at 81. From the Byrds to CSN, CSNY, C&amp;N &amp; his solo work, he was a unique talent... I always though his 'Almost Cut My Hair' defined the hippie movement. May his 'freak flag fly' forever," another tweeted.</p> <p>His death comes as a shock to fans who followed his very active Twitter. Just two days ago, he <a href="https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1615681363600080899" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> a joke about heaven: "“I heard the place is overrated… cloudy".</p> <p>Crosby is survived by his wife, his sons Django and James, and his daughters Erika and Donovan.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty, Twitter</em></p>

Caring

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Proof that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are our sweetest rock and roll couple

<p dir="ltr">Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman will forever be known as the sweetest rock and roll couple. </p> <p dir="ltr">The loved up couple once again proved that during one of Keith’s shows where Nicole made a surprise appearance on stage.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We love you Nashville,” a smiling Nicole said as Keith embraced her. </p> <p dir="ltr">She then turned to get off stage for her husband to start his show before telling him to “play some music”. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Happy wife, happy life. You guys know what I'm talking about,” Keith responds.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nicole later shared a stunning noir photo of her and Keith with their arms around each other backstage at the show in Nashville. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjeWh7NpWdG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjeWh7NpWdG/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nicole Kidman (@nicolekidman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Fans went crazy at the photo, with many thanking the couple for being incredible and sweet during tour. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Nicole you looked amazing last night. I loved your outfit. I waved to you as I was very close to you. You and Keith are such a beautiful blessed couple. Love to you both and your family,” someone wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Love you two Nicole and Keith! You guys are so beautiful together!” another commented. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You two were the sweetest last night - I love seeing a couple still thriving together- gives us all hope,” someone else wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Do you know what I love the most about this photo? It’s the utter love the two of you share — you’re close, you're touching, you’re communicating, you’re supporting, you're in it together. Love it!” another read. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Music

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Chris Rock opens up about THAT slap

<p dir="ltr">It was the slap that was heard all around the world and had tongues wagging.</p> <p dir="ltr">Chris Rock, who was slapped in the face at the Oscars by Will Smith after making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head (who suffers from alopecia), has spoken about the assault.</p> <p dir="ltr">While headlining stand-up shows in New York and New Jersey, Rock spoke about the infamous slap which “hurt like a motherf***er”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yeah, that sh*t hurt, motherf***er – but I shook that sh*t off and went to work the next day,” he said onstage while performing with Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Anyone who says ‘words hurt’ has never been punched in the face.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Rock then proceeded to call out those who said he was a victim, and who made a bigger deal out of the slap than necessary.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m not a victim, motherf***er. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”</p> <p dir="ltr">This is the first time Rock has publicly addressed the slap which saw movies that were set to feature Will either <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/is-this-the-end-of-will-smith-s-career" target="_blank" rel="noopener">postponed or shelved</a> following his assault on the comedian.</p> <p dir="ltr">At the Oscars, Smith shocked the crowd and viewers across the world when he stood up from his seat, walked across the stage and slapped Rock before sitting back down.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” Rock said as Smith walked off.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith then yelled back, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The only time Rock actually mentioned the slap was during a show in May at the UK’s Royal Albert Hall.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m OK, if anybody was wondering. I got most of my hearing back,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“People expect me to talk about the bullsh*t. I’m not going to talk about it right now. I’ll get to it eventually – on Netflix."</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith took to Instagram a few days after the assault and publicly apologised to Rock for slapping him on-stage.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” he wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Movies

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How climate change is erasing the world’s oldest rock art

<p>In caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, ancient peoples marked the walls with red and mulberry hand stencils, and painted images of large native mammals or <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesian-cave-paintings-show-the-dawn-of-imaginative-art-and-human-spiritual-belief-128457">imaginary human-animal creatures</a>. </p> <p>These are the oldest cave art sites yet known — or at least the oldest attributed to our species. One painting of a Sulawesi warty pig was recently dated as at least <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-the-oldest-known-cave-painting-of-animals-in-a-secret-indonesian-valley-153089">45,500 years old</a>.</p> <p>Since the 1950s, archaeologists have observed these paintings appear to be blistering and peeling off the cave walls. Yet, little had been done to understand why. </p> <p>So our research, <a href="http://nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87923-3">published today</a>, explored the mechanisms of decay affecting ancient rock art panels at 11 sites in Sulawesi’s <a href="https://www.worldheritagesite.org/tentative/id/5467">Maros-Pangkep</a> region. We found the deterioration may have gotten worse in recent decades, a trend likely to continue with accelerating climate change.</p> <p>These Pleistocene (“ice aged”) cave paintings of Indonesia have only begun to tell us about the lives of the earliest people who lived in Australasia. The art is disappearing just as we’re beginning to understand its significance.</p> <h2>Australasia’s rock art</h2> <p>Rock art gives us a glimpse into the ancient cultural worlds of the artists and the <a href="https://youtu.be/3OLaNtKoJFk">animals</a> they may have hunted or interacted with. Even rare clues into early people’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesian-cave-paintings-show-the-dawn-of-imaginative-art-and-human-spiritual-belief-128457">beliefs in the supernatural</a> have been preserved.</p> <p>We think humans have been creating art of some kind in Australasia — which includes northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia — for a very long time. <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">Used pigments</a> are among the earliest evidence people were living in Australia more than 60,000 years ago.</p> <p>Tens of thousands of distinctive rock art sites are scattered across Australasia, with Aboriginal people creating many <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/first-rock-art">styles of rock art</a> across Australia. </p> <p>Until as recently as 2014, scholars thought the earliest cave art was in Europe — for example, in the Chauvet Cave in France or <a href="https://cuevas.culturadecantabria.com/el-castillo-2/">El Castillo</a> in Spain, which are 30,000 to 40,000 years old. We now know people were painting inside caves and rockshelters in Indonesia at the same time and even earlier.</p> <p>Ongoing surveys throughout Australasia turn up new rock art sites every year. To date, more than 300 painted sites have been documented in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, in southern Sulawesi. </p> <p>Cave paintings in Sulawesi and <a href="https://theconversation.com/borneo-cave-discovery-is-the-worlds-oldest-rock-art-in-southeast-asia-106252">Borneo</a> are some of the earliest evidence we have that people were living on these islands.</p> <p>Tragically, at almost every new site we find in this region, the rock art is in an advanced stage of decay. </p> <h2>Big impacts from small crystals</h2> <p>To investigate why these prehistoric artworks are deteriorating, we studied some of the oldest known rock art from the Maros-Pangkep region, scientifically dated to between at least 20,000 and 40,000 years old.</p> <p>Given these artworks have survived over such a vast period, we wanted to understand why the painted limestone cave surfaces now appear to be eroding so rapidly. </p> <p>We used a combination of scientific techniques, including using high-powered microscopes, chemical analyses and crystal identification to tackle the problem. This revealed that salts growing both on top of and behind ancient rock art can cause it to flake away.</p> <p>Salts are deposited on rock surfaces via the water they’re absorbed in. When the water solution evaporates, salt crystals form. The salt crystals then swell and shrink as the environment heats and cools, generating stress in the rock. </p> <p>In some cases, the result is the stone surface crumbling into a powder. In other instances, salt crystals form columns under the hard outer shell of the old limestone, lifting the art panel and separating it from the rest of the rock, obliterating the art. </p> <p>On hot days, geological salts can grow to more than three times their initial size. On one panel, for example, a flake half the size of a hand peeled off in under five months.</p> <h2>Climate extremes under global warming</h2> <p>Australasia has an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027737911200529X?via%3Dihub">incredibly active atmosphere</a>, fed by intense sea currents, seasonal trade winds and a reservoir of warm ocean water. Yet, some of its rock art has so far managed to survive tens of thousands of years through major episodes of climate variation, from the cold of the last ice age to the start of the current monsoon.</p> <p>In contrast, famous European cave art sites such as Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France are found in deep caves, in more stable (temperate) climates, so threats to rock art are different and generally weathering is less aggressive. </p> <p>But now greenhouse gases are magnifying climatic extremes. In fact, global warming can be up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-will-the-tropics-eventually-become-uninhabitable-145174">three times higher in the tropics</a>, and the wet-dry phases of the monsoon have become stronger in recent decades, along with more numerous La Niña and El Niño events.</p> <p>The net effect is that temperatures are higher, there are more hot days in a row, droughts are lasting longer, and other extreme weather such as storms (and the flooding they cause) are more <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">severe and frequent</a>. </p> <p>What’s more, monsoonal rains are now captured in rice fields and aquaculture ponds. This promotes the growth of art-destroying salt crystals by raising humidity across the region and especially in nearby caves, prolonging the shrink and swell cycles of salts.</p> <h2>What happens now?</h2> <p>Apart from the direct threats associated with industrial development — such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466">blasting away archaeological sites</a> for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/21/worlds-oldest-art-under-threat-from-cement-mining-in-indonesia-sulawesi">mining and limestone quarrying</a> — our research makes it clear global warming is the biggest threat to the preservation of the trpoics’ ancient rock art.</p> <p>There’s a pressing need for further research, monitoring and conservation work in Maros-Pangkep and across Australasia, where cultural heritage sites are under threat from the destructive impacts of climate change.</p> <p>In particular, we urgently need to document the remaining rock art in great detail (such as with 3D scanning) and uncover more sites before this art disappears forever.</p> <p>If humans are ultimately causing this problem, we can take steps to correct it. Most importantly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-1-5-global-warming-limit-is-not-impossible-but-without-political-action-it-soon-will-be-159297">we need to act now</a> to stop global temperature increases and drastically cut emissions. Minimising the impacts of climate change will help preserve the incredible artworks Australasia’s earliest people left to us.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-climate-change-is-erasing-the-worlds-oldest-rock-art-159929" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Art

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Bombshell testimony rocks Chris Dawson trial

<p dir="ltr">An explosive bombshell detail rocked Chris Dawson’s judge-only murder trial on Thursday as Dawson’s former rugby league teammate testified that he was approached by Dawson and asked if he knew someone who could help “get rid” of his wife.</p> <p dir="ltr">Former Newtown Jets player Robert Silkman told the court that six years before Lynette Dawson disappeared, her husband approached him on a flight to the Gold Coast and posed the question to him.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was sitting there and Chris come along and kneeled down to my level where I was sitting and asked me did I know anyone who could get rid of his wife,” Mr Silkman told the court, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/get-rid-of-his-wife-chris-dawsons-teammates-bombshell-claim/news-story/0d90c610d2f21f701d972e9e1557968c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a> reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Well, I was taken aback. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘For good?’ He said, ‘Yeah’.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I said, ‘Look, I’ll talk to you when I get back to Sydney’. That was the end of the conversation.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Silkman told the court that he did not engage in any further conversation with Dawson.</p> <p dir="ltr">Then the former Newtown Jets player’s past was questioned due to his friendship with fellow teammate Paul Hayward, who was the brother-in-law of infamous criminal Arthur “Neddy” Smith.</p> <p dir="ltr">Neddy, a convicted murderer, drug trafficker and armed robber, spent most of his life in jail and died in 2021.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Silkman told the court that he was only socially acquainted with Neddy due to his friendship with Mr Hayward.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yeah, I wasn’t actually drinking with (Smith), I was drinking with Paul Hayward who took me to the hotel with him,” Mr Silkman told the court.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Neddy Smith was in the company.”</p> <p dir="ltr">This then led to Dawson’s barrister Pauline David questioning Mr Silkman’s criminal history and accusing him of willingly lying if there’s a “dollar” in it, the publication reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You have a very loose relationship with the truth,” Ms David said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That’s not correct,” Mr Silkman said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Chris Dawson has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife Lynette, who went missing from the family home in Sydney's Northern Beaches in January 1982.</p> <p dir="ltr">The trial continues.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Nine News</em></p>

News

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Jada's plea to Will Smith and Chris Rock

<p>Jada Pinkett Smith has directly addressed her husband Will’s infamous Academy Awards outburst in the latest episode of her online chat show, Red Table Talk.</p> <p>Looking straight into the camera, Jada called on both her husband and Chris Rock, to put aside their differences and make peace.</p> <p>Best Actor Oscar winner, Will shocked viewers worldwide when he invaded the stage and smacked Rock, who had made a joke about Jada’s bald head. She has been open in recent years about being diagnosed with hair loss disorder alopecia.</p> <p>Jada’s latest episode of Red Table Talk was dedicated to telling the stories of those with alopecia, so she addressed the elephant in the room upfront.</p> <p>“This is a really important Red Table Talk on alopecia. Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars,” she began.</p> <p>“Now about Oscar night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said, referring to her husband and Rock.</p> <p>She also seemed to suggest the reconciliation should play out on Red Table Talk, telling viewers: “The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”</p> <p>Jada has used the Red Table Talk format to publicly work through family issues in the past, famously opening up about an extramarital relationship in a past episode as her husband sat and watched.</p> <p>It’s a rare public statement from anyone in the Smith family about what went down on Oscars night, with Will keeping quiet aside from an apologetic statement released the day after the awards, saying his behaviour was “unacceptable and inexcusable.”</p> <p>Rock, too, hasn’t gone into too much detail, telling the audience at his next stand-up show: “I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that sh*t. And it will be serious and funny.”</p> <p>Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar just half an hour after slapping Rock, but since that night, his career has gone quiet, with several upcoming projects either delayed or cancelled.</p> <p><em>Image: Red Table Talk</em></p>

Mind

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Exile on Main St turns 50: how The Rolling Stones’ critically divisive album became rock folklore

<p>In May of 1972 the Rolling Stones released their 10th British studio album and first double LP, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/exile-on-main-street-96177/">Exile on Main St.</a> Although initial critical response was lukewarm, it is now considered a contemporary music landmark, the best work from a band who rock critic Simon Frith once referred to as “the poets of lonely leisure.”</p> <p>Exile on Main St. was both the culmination of a five-year productive frenzy and bleary-eyed comedown from the darkest period in the Stones’ history. </p> <p>By 1969 the storm clouds of dread building around the group had become a full-blown typhoon. First, recently sacked member Brian Jones was found dead, drowned in his swimming pool.</p> <p>Then, as the decade ended in a rush of bleak portents, they played host to the chaos of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-01/how-the-rolling-stones-killed-the-hippie-dream-at-altamont/11747188">Altamont Speedway Free Concert</a>, a poorly organised, massive free concert, which ended with four dead including a murder captured live on film.</p> <p>Yet amidst all this the Stones produced <a href="https://greilmarcus.net/2020/03/22/the-end-of-the-1960s-let-it-bleed-12-27-69/">Let It Bleed</a> (1969) and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/sticky-fingers-mw0000195498">Sticky Fingers</a>(1971), two devastating albums that wrapped up the era like a parcel bomb addressed to the 1970s. </p> <p>Songs like Gimme Shelter, the harrowing Sister Morphine, and Sway, which broods on Nietzche’s notion of circular time, exuded the kind of weary grandeur that would define Exile.</p> <h2>Rock folklore</h2> <p>The story behind Exile on Main St. has become <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXcqcdYABFw">rock folklore</a>. Fleeing from England’s punitive tax laws, the Stones lobbed in a Côte d'Azur mansion that was a Gestapo HQ during World War II. </p> <p>Mick Jagger was largely sidelined, spending much of the time in Paris with pregnant wife Bianca. The musicians were jammed into an ad-hoc basement studio, a cross between steam-bath and opium den, powered by electricity hijacked from the French railway system. The house was beset by hangers-on, including the obligatory posse of drug-dealers.</p> <p>Yet with control ceded to the nonchalant, disaster-prone Keith Richards – the kind of person a crisis would want around in a crisis – they somehow harnessed the power of pandemonium.</p> <p>The result was a singular amalgam of barbed soul, mutant gospel, tombstone blues and shambolic country, as thrilling in its blend of familiar sources as works by contemporaries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/02/roxy-music-40-years">Roxy Music</a> and David Bowie were in the use of alien ones. </p> <p>Jagger shuffles his deck of personas from song to song like a demented croupier, the late, great drummer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/arts/music/charlie-watts-dead.html">Charlie Watts</a> supplies his customary subtle adornments, and a cast of miscreants – most crucially, pianist Nicky Hopkins and producer Jimmy Miller – function as supplementary band members.</p> <p>All 18 tracks contribute to the ragged perfection of the document as a whole. Tumbling Dice and Happy are textbook rock propelled by a strange union of virtuosity and indolence. And there is an undeniable beauty to the likes of Torn and Frayed and Let it Loose, albeit a beauty that is tentative, hard-earned.</p> <p>The package is completed by its distinctive sleeve art, juxtaposing a collage of circus performers photographed by Robert Frank circa 1950 with grainy stills from a Super-8 film of the band and a mural dedicated to Joan Crawford.</p> <p>Exile confused audiences at first: Writer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/EXILE-MAIN-STREET-Rolling-Stones/dp/0028650638">John Perry</a> describes its 1972 reception as mixing “puzzlement with qualified praise”. The response of critic Lester Bangs was typical. After an initial negative review, Bangs came to regard it as the group’s strongest work. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/exile-on-main-st-mw0000191639">confirms</a> that the record over time has become a touchstone, calling it a masterful album that takes “the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme.”</p> <h2>Inspiration</h2> <p>The roll call of artists inspired by Exile is extensive, from Tom Waits and the White Stripes to Benicio del Toro and Martin Scorsese. But two album-length homages stand out. </p> <p>In 1986, underground punks Pussy Galore concocted a feral, abstract <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAEkWcgBD8">facsimile</a> of the entire double-LP. In 1993, singer-songwriter Liz Phair used the original as a rough template for her acclaimed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW1nMJ4-2qM">Exile in Guyville</a>.</p> <p>Nonetheless, journalist Mark Masters notes that by the 1980s, the social and cultural circumstances that produced Exile were waning as acts such as Minutemen, Mekons, The Go-Go’s and Fela Kuti gave listeners access to fresh modes of rebellion.</p> <p>Circa 1972, the Rolling Stones deserved the title “greatest rock and roll band in the world.” That it is still claimed 50 years on shows how classic rock continues to overbear all that followed.</p> <h2>The grandfathers of rock</h2> <p>When in 2020 Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/">magazine</a> made a half-hearted attempt to tweak the classic rock canon – elevating Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy and Lauryn Hill alongside or above Exile and the Beatles – the response was predictably unedifying. </p> <p>One reader complained that the magazine was catering to “young people with no musical history and older people who don’t know anything.” Others raged that rap is not music and the list was proof of rampant political correctness.</p> <p>Such archaic, ignorant language is typical of gatekeepers of the classic rock tradition. It is a language of exclusion, ensuring that exceptional new music by, say, <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fiona-apple-fetch-the-bolt-cutters/">Fiona Apple</a> (which sounds something like rock) or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/listening-booth/the-hypnotic-spell-of-groupers-shade">Liz Harris</a> (which sounds rather different) will always be rated below what came before.</p> <p>The Rolling Stones have an inevitable, if ambiguous, relationship to all of this. In terms of race, writer Jack Hamilton <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2016/10/race-rock-and-the-rolling-stones-how-the-rock-and-roll-became-white.html">argues</a> that they were always “fiercely committed to a future for rock and roll music in which black music and musicians continued to matter.”</p> <p>How they intersect with gender is perhaps more troubling, though also <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_url?url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13619460801990104&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=GvplYvGUEpyO6rQP_qe3mAs&amp;scisig=AAGBfm2sqr4oKv5EoKYSmkitlR44etMXqA&amp;oi=scholarr">conflicted</a>. While eminent female musicians such as Joan Jett, Carrie Brownstein and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPpCqXYoos">Rennie Sparks</a> continue to champion the Stones, their role as leading purveyors of an inherently masculine, increasingly archaic musical form cannot be avoided.</p> <p>Exile on Main St. is a significant album made by a bunch of haggard rebels whose heyday (and rebellion) is past but whose art lives on in complex ways. </p> <p>Along with Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night, it fits snugly into an aesthetic of washed out, narcotic-smeared masterpieces from the early seventies.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/exile-on-main-st-turns-50-how-the-rolling-stones-critically-divisive-album-became-rock-folklore-181704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Music

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Is this the end of Will Smith’s career?

<p dir="ltr">Movies that were set to feature Will Smith have either been postponed or shelved following his assault on comedian Chris Rock.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith slapped Rock in the face at the Oscars following a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s bald head.</p> <p dir="ltr">Netflix and Sony have both taken a stance against Smith’s assault and behaviour during the Oscars.</p> <p dir="ltr">The production of <em>Fast and Loose</em> has been stopped by Netflix since the infamous slap. They are yet to comment on their decision. </p> <p dir="ltr">Sony has also placed <em>Bad Boys 4 </em>on hold despite Smith receiving the 40 pages of script prior to the Oscars. </p> <p dir="ltr">This leaves Smith with one film, <em>Emancipation</em>, already in post production to come out on Apple+ later in the year.</p> <p dir="ltr">At the Oscars, Smith shocked the crowd and viewers across the world when he stood up from his seat, walked up the stage and slapped Rock before sitting back down.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” Rock said as Smith walked off.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith then yelled back, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith took to Instagram where he publicly apologised to Rock for slapping him on-stage. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” Smith wrote in a screenshot shared on Instagram.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Movies

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New footage shows Jada laughing after Oscars slap

<p>As the public <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/mind/opinion-why-we-need-to-change-how-we-re-talking-about-the-oscars-slap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discourse</a> around the drama on Oscars night continues, a new angle captured on camera shows a surprising reaction. </p> <p>Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith's wife, can be seen laughing as her husband returns to his seat after <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/the-slap-heard-around-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slapping presenter Chris Rock</a> in the face over a joke he made about Jada's bald head. </p> <p>In the previously unseen footage taken from behind the couple at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Smith could be seen returning to his seat after slapping Rock, who then tells the audience, "Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me." </p> <p>Pinkett Smith appears to be laughing at this line, and she also seemed to chuckle when the comedian said,  "That was the ... greatest night in the history of television."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbvthnNquBP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbvthnNquBP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Michael Rapaport (@michaelrapaport)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The Academy has since announced that following the incident, Smith was asked to leave the auditorium but he "refused" and later went on to win Best Lead Actor for his performance in <em>King Richard</em>. </p> <p>The Academy announced they would be investigating the incident, saying things unfolded in "a way we could not have anticipated".</p> <p>"While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognise we could have handled the situation differently," the Academy said in a statement released on Thursday.</p> <p>Will Smith issued an apology to Chris Rock in a statement on Instagram the day after the Oscars, with the <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/chris-rock-addresses-the-slap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comedian</a> saying he is "still processing" what happened. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Chris Rock addresses the slap

<p dir="ltr">After seemingly every celebrity shared their perspective on the incident where <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/the-slap-heard-around-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock</a> at the Oscars, Rock has addressed the topic for the first time publicly.</p> <p dir="ltr">The comedian revealed he was “still processing” the incident at the start of one of his standup shows in Boston on Wednesday night, as reported by <em><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-2022-comedian-responds-slap/d56fdda5-93dc-4418-8567-033f2353652f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9Honey</a></em>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4cbb431e-7fff-1754-ccfe-58bc141aa2f9">Footage and audio of the start of the show was also shared on social media by audience members and media outlets, including the New York Post and in the tweet below.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chris Rock breaks his silence in the most Chris Rock way <a href="https://t.co/cQaYXtKjfx">pic.twitter.com/cQaYXtKjfx</a></p> <p>— Piñata Farms 🪅 (@pinatafarms) <a href="https://twitter.com/pinatafarms/status/1509363694458875910?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">After appearing on stage in an all-white suit to thunderous applause from the crowd, he addressed the thing that was sure to be at the front of everyone’s minds.</p> <p dir="ltr">“How was your weekend?” he began, prompting a wave of laughter.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I don’t have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that s**t. And it will be serious and funny.”</p> <p dir="ltr">One audience member chanted, “F**k Will Smith!” before Rock continued on with the show.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m going to tell some jokes. It’s nice to just be out,” he said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-dcec0c24-7fff-5d01-5729-c34f71c4b78b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Outside the theatre, at least a dozen local broadcast journalists had set up, arriving up to two hours before showtime to catch a glimpse of Rock.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/GettyImages-1388644800.jpg" alt="" width="792" height="1024" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Chris Rock arrived at the Wilbur Theatre for his standup show to journalists and religious leaders, as many hoped to hear his side of the story. Image: Getty Images</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Local religious leaders also gathered outside before the show to make a statement about “the incident regarding our brothers” and to “send a message that violence is not the way to resolve conflict”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is a teachable moment so we end the cycle of violence that is underreported in the Black community,” Kevin C. Peterson, the founder of the non-partisan, non-profit organisation New Democracy Coalition, told reporters.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9c038520-7fff-847c-3bd3-d4bfc59b275f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Rock’s performances at the State Theatre in Boston, ahead of his “Ego Death World Tour” which starts next month, were sold out and were in especially high demand as many anticipated it would be the first time he would publicly address the incident.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.</p> <p>— TickPick (@TickPick) <a href="https://twitter.com/TickPick/status/1508453636862627844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">With tickets originally starting at $USD 49.50 (approximately $NZD 71), they began to sell for as much as $USD 800 to $USD 8000 (between $NZD 1150 and 11500) on secondary sites such as StubHub and TickPick, which recorded record demand and sales.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b9604807-7fff-a192-13f2-d84657f4c9f8">It comes just a day after Smith <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/an-embarrassment-ben-fordham-weighs-in-on-will-smith-drama" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued an apology</a> to Rock, and as many criticise the <em>Fresh Prince </em>star and the audience for <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/mind/opinion-why-we-need-to-change-how-we-re-talking-about-the-oscars-slap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letting a person assault another on-stage without any repercussions</a>.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Police seen outside Will Smith’s mansion

<p dir="ltr">Police were seen outside Will Smith’s LA mansion a day after he <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/the-slap-heard-around-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slapped comedian Chris Rock</a> at the Oscars.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith’s home in Calabasas was attended by officers on Tuesday afternoon, who confirmed the actor had called the cops himself, <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/5007092/cops-seen-will-smiths-calabasas-mega-mansion-oscars-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The US Sun</a> reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">It is alleged that a drone was seen flying over the mega-mansion but by the time police arrived it had disappeared. </p> <p dir="ltr">The police department also confirmed that no report was filed by Rock after he was assaulted by Smith.</p> <p dir="ltr">At the Oscars, Rock joked that he was looking forward to seeing Pinkett-Smith star in a sequel to G.I. Jane - the 1997 film starring Demi Moore as a bald Navy SEAL recruit - apparently referring to Pinkett-Smith’s bald head.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith shocked the crowd and viewers across the world when he stood up from his seat, walked up the stage and slapped Rock before sitting back down.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” Rock said as Smith walked off.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith then yelled back, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Smith took to Instagram where he publicly apologised to Rock for slapping him on-stage. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” Smith wrote in a screenshot shared on Instagram on Tuesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”</p> <p dir="ltr">LA Police released a statement confirming no report was filed by Rock but an investigation could ensue should he decide to. </p> <p dir="ltr">"The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report,” the statement read.</p> <p dir="ltr">"If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

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