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Louis Tomlinson Slams BBC Breakfast Over Questions About His Grief

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1 year ago

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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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Disney Eviscerates Scarlett Johansson’s “Black Widow” Lawsuit as “Callous,” but Report Suggests Emma Stone and Emily Blunt May Follow Her Lead

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1 day ago

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July 30, 2021

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“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” the company said in an uncharacteristically blunt statement that was heavily criticized online. 

Johansson/Disney Lawsuit Gets Bitter

Disney has described a recent lawsuit from “Black Widow” actress Scarlett Johansson as “sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” but Johansson may have just unleashed what is to become an even bigger legal challenge for the House of Mouse. 

At the center of this dispute, Johansson alleges she lost $50 million because Disney opted for a dual streaming/theater release of “Black Widow,” which debuted in theaters and for $30 on Disney+ with Premier Access earlier this month. 

According to Johansson’s suit, her contract with Disney — which was negotiated prior to any hint of a pandemic — stipulated that “Black Widow” would see an exclusive theater release. Notably, the actress also said her contractual bonuses were tied to the movie’s box office performance, which is an extremely common practice with films featuring A-list celebrities.

Of course, when the pandemic hit — like many other industries — movies were upended. Pandemic-related changes meant that despite having an initial release date of May 2020, Marvel fans wouldn’t get a chance to see “Black Widow” for over a year. 

Still, Johansson said she tried to contact Disney to renegotiate her contract prior to the film’s ultimate release, but she claims the company was unresponsive. 

On Thursday, she then filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, with her attorney arguing that “Disney has enjoyed the benefits of having one of Hollywood’s top actresses promote its wholly owned subscription service at no additional cost to Disney, and with the intended effect of taking money out of that actress’ own pocket.”

Later Thursday, Disney claimed that it has “fully complied” with Johansson’s contract and that the streamed release of the film “has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”

“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” the company said in its uncharacteristically blunt statement.

Are Emma Stone and Emily Blunt Next?

Speaking of blunt, it was reported Friday that both Emily Blunt and Emma Stone may also file lawsuits against Disney’s dual streaming release of their films. 

In fact, according to an exclusive newsletter run by former Hollywood Reporter Editor Matt Belloni, Stone “is said to be weighing her options” over the dual release of “Cruella” in May. Meanwhile, he suggested Blunt could also take action or speak out following this weekend’s release of “Jungle Cruise.”

Belloni went on to describe Disney as “notoriously difficult to deal with” regarding such matters and claimed that many have simply been waiting for someone powerful enough to speak out. 

Disney Criticized for Its Response

Much of the public perception of the situation has led to overwhelming support for Johansson’s camp. Online, a slew of people lambasted Disney’s response, with many calling it a deflection. 

See what others are saying: (ScreenRant) (Newsweek) (Variety)

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Candace Owens and Logan Paul in Talks to Debate

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2 days ago

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July 29, 2021

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A spokesperson confirmed to Insider Wednesday that the two have had “productive” conversations about the prospect offline.

Candace Owens Challenges Logan Paul to a Debate

Right-wing commentator Candace Owens and controversial YouTuber Logan Paul are in talks to engage in a political debate. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. 

Owens — best known for making false claims about the George Floyd protests, spreading COVID-19 misinformation, and seemingly saying that Adolf Hitler “just wanted to make Germany great” — first challenged Paul to a debate on Friday. It started with her sharing a year-old clip from Paul’s podcast where he spoke about the importance of fighting racism in the United States. 

“It is not enough to be ‘not racist.’ You have to be anti-racist,” he said.

“If you’re white, if you look like me, use your privilege,” he added. “And for those who do not think white privilege exists, you are fucking blind.” 

Because merely acknowledging the existence of racism appears to go against Owens’ core beliefs, she asked Paul to duke it out with her. 

“Logan loves to challenge people in the boxing ring,” she wrote. “I’d like to publicly challenge him to go a few rounds with me in a political debate. @LoganPaul—how about you stop by my show and explain to me how you’re *checks notes* more privileged than me because you’re white and I’m not?”

Spokesperson Confirms The Two Are in Talks

Paul  — best known for launching a boxing career and filming a YouTube video that showed a dead body in Japan’s “suicide forest” — said on Tuesday that he was “perplexed” by the offer, but was taking it seriously. 

“I started to entertain this action, I ended up speaking with her, and there may be a future where we sit down and have a civil discourse because I think there’s some meat on this bone,” he said during the most recent episode of his “ImPaulsive” podcast. 

The internet star acknowledged that Owens’ main arena is politics, while his main arena is being a “fucking idiot” online. Still, he said he does care about these issues and has a “semi-intelligent brain,” so he thinks he could “hold [his] own.”

“Candace Owens, whether you can admit it or not, is a smart person,” Paul continued. “And so I guess I’m just curious because I just fucking fundamentally disagree with her and again, I think there’s room for a conversation.” 

A spokesperson for Owens confirmed to Insider on Wednesday that the two had a “productive” offline conversation and said a public political debate between the two is “very likely.”

“Although both of them disagree on a variety of topics, they are both much more interested in learning from one another and think people would benefit from hearing an honest discussion between two parties rather than a ‘gotcha’ moment that might play well for social media,” the spokesperson added.

See what others are saying: (Insider)

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Finneas Slams Billie Eilish Troll Account for Attributing Fake Quotes to the Singer

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3 days ago

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July 28, 2021

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Eilish’s big brother said the account is spreading “relentless lies” and asked that it at least label itself as a satire account.

Troll Account Shares Fake Billie Eilish Quotes

Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas took to Twitter Tuesday to address an account that has been sharing fake quotes attributed to his sister.

The account uses the handle @BilliesUpdatess and goes by the name of “Billie Eilish Updates” in its profile. It was created in July of 2021 and as of Wednesday morning, it had amassed a following of 1,100 people. On a quick glance, it looks just like any other update account a fan might make to share news about their favorite celebrity.

@BilliesUpdatess, however, is far from the standard adoring fan page. Of the over 300 tweets it has posted, several include screenshots of forged articles that make it look like Eilish said something either offensive or totally outlandish. One post claims Eilish defended her boyfriend after he was accused of supporting former president Donald Trump.

“At the end of the day, I fucking love him you know?” the phony statement reads. “It doesn’t matter if he made some homophobic comments in the past, people change. If he [Matthew] supports Donald Trump then I don’t care if it makes him happy. I support EVERY decision Mathew has to make, even the ones some of my fans don’t agree with, like maybe some of his icky comments.”

Screenshot @BilliesUpdatess

In another sham passage, Eilish says she thinks queerbaiting “is a really good thing!” In several others, the person behind the account comes up with artificial quotes to make it looks like Eilish is feuding with “driver’s license” singer Olivia Rodrigo. 

Screenshot @BilliesUpdatess

One post with a fake article ended up being retweeted 12,000 times. That tweet included Eilish claiming she longs to be poor.

Screenshot @BilliesUpdatess

“When I got rich, I started balling my eyes out,” the fake piece says. “I wanted to be poor so I can relate to most of my fans. I still want to be broke and poor, it looks really fun and cute.”

Finneas Slams Account

As the troll account started to gain traction, Finneas asked that people report and block it to minimize the spread of its “relentless lies.”

On Tuesday, he responded to a fan that tagged him in the @BilliesUpdatess tweet alleging his sister wanted to be poor. 

“Fake obviously,” Finneas wrote. “Honestly I just wish they’d label this account satire like the onion or something. I have no problem with a joke as long as people know it’s a joke.”

Screenshot @BilliesUpdatess

The account made several jokes about the fact that Finneas was calling it out, but it seems Eilish’s big brother got what he asked for. @BilliesUpdatess added “parody account” to its bio and the account was deleted as of Wednesday afternoon.

See what others are saying: (NME) (Uproxx) (E! News)

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