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Louis Tomlinson Slams BBC Breakfast Over Questions About His Grief

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  • Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson said he won’t appear on BBC Breakfast again after being asked questions about his grief over the loss of his mother and sister. 
  • One of the interviewers apologized for upsetting the singer but defended the questions, which were related to a song on his new album. 
  • Despite much backlash from Tomlinson’s fans, BBC also issued a statement calling the questions “fair.”

The Interview 

Singer Louis Tomlinson vowed to never appear on BBC Breakfast again after a promotional interview for his debut solo album, Walls, included questions that made him uncomfortable.

During Monday morning’s show, journalists Dan Walker and Louise Minchin asked about how personal loss influenced his music, mentioning the deaths of his mother and sister. Tomlinson’s mother, Johanna, died of leukemia in December 2016 and his 18-year-old sister Félicité died after an accidental drug overdose just last March.

“Is there a point at which you write that stuff –and it is quite clearly from the heart when people listen to the music– do you feel that at some stage ‘I’ve put too much of myself in there’ or is that part of helping you in writing that way as well about the loss of your mom and your sister and other things?” Walker asked.

Tomilson explained that because he started his career on X-Factor, with cameras around him from such an early time, he’s always given a lot of himself. “It’s kind of all I know in my career really, so I almost use that to my advantage, you know I’m brave enough to talk about these things,” he continued. 

Minchin then added, “and you talk about grief don’t you in ‘Two of Us’’ and that’s had quite an impact I understand on fans as well actually.” The singer agreed and talked about how special it is for him to see the emotional weight of this song and what the lyrics mean to different people. 

Immediately after, Minchin asked about his relationship with former bandmate Zayn Malik.  “You’ve had a bit of a spat with Zayn. How’s that going?” she asked. 

“God, you’re proper going in it today aren’t you?” Tomlinson responded. When Walker explained that people would be interested to know the answer to this question, Louis said, “Yeah they will but people pick off on every little thing I say and, look I’m just not ready to have that conversation yet. I think that’s fair enough.”

When the presenters raised the possibility of a 1D reunion, the singer’s frustration became even more apparent. “You’ve ticked them all off now. You’ve got trauma, Zayn, and now we’re finally on this one.” However, Tomlinson eventually conceded, saying, “I’ll give you the answer I give everyone else. It’s inevitable. I don’t know when. We don’t know when. I think we’d be stupid not to get back together, but we don’t know. I’ve only just made my first album.”

BBC Defends Interview Questions 

After the segment aired, Tomlinson told his 33.5 million Twitter followers: “Defo won’t be going on there again Haha! Love to all my fans for always having my back.”

When Walker saw the posts, he said he was sorry that Tomlinson felt that way and asked what specifically made him upset. 

Tomlinson explained that he was “upset that you continued to ask me about my grief. It goes without saying how hard it is to lose both people so close to me.”

“The least I ask is that you respect my decision of not wanting to be asked in interviews about something so painful.” he continued. “I’m lucky enough to have a creative outlet for me to talk about grief this doesn’t however, give you the right to talk about it for gossip purposes.”

However, Walker defended the line of questioning, tweeting back. “We were asking you about the song on your new album about your mum. We know it’s painful which is why we didn’t dwell on it. No intention to upset you or be ‘gossipy’ about it at all. That’s not our style on #BBCBreakfast.

The singer’s tweets seemed to suggest that he or his team has previously made the show aware of topics he did not want to discuss. When one Twitter user told Walker that he should respect Tomlinson’s limits, Walker responded saying, “Totally understand that – which is why we checked. We were told by his team that he didn’t want a picture of his mum on screen (which we didn’t do) and he wouldn’t mention her specifically but would talk about grief more generally. Which is why we asked the 2 questions.” 

Another fan said the questions were not general since they specifically mentioned his mother and sister, to which Walker responded: “I get that you know his life inside out but lots of people don’t. We mentioned his loss to make it clear what we were talking about to those watching who weren’t aware what he’d been through. He was on for about 9 minutes and we asked him 2 questions about grief & moved on.”

A BBC spokesperson also told several media outlets: “We wanted to cover all aspects of Louis’s life that have influenced his new album and feel the questioning was fair.”

The incident has resulted in a ton of internet backlash against the BBC reporters, with some fans accusing the show of exploiting his grief and not asking enough questions about the album.

 See what others are saying: (CNN) (Paper Magazine) (HuffPost)

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Max to Agrees to “Properly” Credit Writers and Directors After Facing Backlash For Lumping Them in As “Creators”

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The company said the credits were laid out incorrectly due to “an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max.”


After film and television writers slammed Max for crediting all writers, producers, and directors as general “creators” on its platform, the company said it will be adjusting its credits display.

“We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” the streaming service said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. 

Max — the new rebrand of HBO Max that incorporates Discovery content — launched on Tuesday to much criticism. Amid glitches and app-switching confusion, the biggest backlash it faced was over the choice to lump creative roles into one credit section called “creators.” As one viral tweet noted, if a user were to select the film “Raging Bull,” the service’s display would not specifically credit Martin Scorsese as the director, rather, his name would be included at random with half a dozen other people, including writers and producers. 

The decision was condemned by many in the industry who argued it minimizes writers and directors by not properly giving them credit where it is due. Especially amid the ongoing writers’ strike, and with directors and actors starting negotiations with studios, some took it as a slap in the face. 

“The studios don’t want anyone to know our names,” writer Christina Strain tweeted. “It’s easier to pay us nothing if we’re faceless.”

“Another move from studios to diminish the role of writers, directors, actors and other craftspeople. Miss me wit this nonsense,” Jorge Rivera, the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild’s Latinx Writers Committee, added. 

In a statement, Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter said that Warner Bros. Discovery’s choice to “collapse” these roles into one credit “while we are in negotiations with them is a grave insult to our members and our union.”

“The DGA will not stand for it,” Glatter continued.

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm claimed the move was “a credits violation,” as well as an insult “to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions.”

On Wednesday, Max said it would rework its crediting. 

“We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake,” the platform said.

See what others are saying: (Gizmodo) (The Hollywood Reporter) (The Los Angeles Times)

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A Quarter of Young British Men Support Andrew Tate’s Thoughts on Women

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U.K. residents at large, however, do not view him favorably.


Even under house arrest in Romania, misogynist influencer Andrew Tate still holds substantial sway over young men. 

According to data from YouGov that was obtained by The Independent, 26% of U.K. men between 18 and 29 years old who know of Tate agree with his views on women. That figure was largely the same for men between 30 and 39, as 28% agreed with Tate’s opinions on the subject. 

Men in their 30s were slightly more likely to agree with Tate on his thoughts about masculinity. Three out of ten supported those views, compared to just a quarter of men 18 to 29.

Those statistics only include the thoughts of men who have heard of Tate, but per YouGov, most have. In the 18 to 29 group, 93% were familiar with him, and 86% of men in their 30s knew of him. 

The U.K. at large was less aware of Tate, with just 63% of British adults having heard of him. Of that group, only 6% held a positive view of him. 

Tate has faced substantial backlash for his sexist rhetoric over the years. In the past, he said that men should have “authority” over their wives or girlfriends, and that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped. He was previously banned from Twitter over his extremist views on women but has since been allowed back on the platform. 

He is currently being investigated in Romania for organized crime and human trafficking. He was arrested and held in custody in December but was released to house arrest earlier this year. No formal charges have been filed against him yet and he has maintained his innocence. 

Tate currently boasts a Twitter following of 6.7 million. It has grown significantly since he was enveloped in legal controversy, and many of his supporters have demanded his release. 

See what others are saying: (The Independent) (Glamour U.K.)

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Involved in “Near Catastrophic” Paparazzi Chase

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“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” a spokesperson for the couple said.


“Aggressive” Paparazzi Chase Couple in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic” paparazzi car chase Tuesday night in New York City, according to a spokesperson for the couple.

In a statement, the spokesperson described the photographers as “highly aggressive.”

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement added.

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” it continued. 

Details of the incident are still emerging, but BBC News reported that there are claims the chase involved roughly six cars driving recklessly by running red lights, driving on the sidewalk, carrying out blocking moves, going backward on a one-way road, and taking pictures while driving. 

The chase happened after Harry and Meghan were leaving the Women of Vision Awards with Meghan’s mother, Doria. They did not want photographers to learn where they were staying and attempted to avoid them in what turned into a 75-minute chase on a main road in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They eventually ducked into a New York Police Department Precinct to hide out before getting into a different vehicle.

The NYPD released a statement confirming that they assisted in protecting the couple as “numerous photographers” hindered their transport. Officials said they made it to their destination and there were no collisions, injuries, or arrests. 

The couple’s spokesperson is asking the public to not share or post footage of the incident. 

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,” the spokesperson said. 

Memories of Princess Diana

The chase evokes the brutal press hounding Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was subjected to throughout her life. The paparazzi’s obsession with her ultimately resulted in her death in 1997, when she was killed in a car crash after being chased by photographers in Paris. 

Since marrying Meghan and later bowing out of the Royal Family, Harry has made it explicitly clear that he fears those events could happen again. Meghan has been the subject of endless tabloid scrutiny, enduring racism and harassment from the press. Part of the reason they left the Royal Family was to keep their family protected from such attacks.

Mayor Eric Adams brought up Diana’s tragic passing while speaking about Tuesday night’s chase. 

“I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how [Harry’s] mom died,” Adams said while speaking to reporters. “And it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and something to have happened to them as well…I think that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.” 

Adams also questioned whether or not he believes a chase could go on for two hours in a city as congested as New York, but noted that even a 10-minute chase would be dangerous. He said he will be briefed on the exact timeline and details later. 

See what others are saying: (BBC News) (Associated Press) (Yahoo News)

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