When was the last time you bought a concert ticket for $25?
Live Nation is making it possible to see several of your favourite artists for cheap this summer with their newly launched Concert Week. The promotion allows Canadian and American fans access to all-in tickets to more than 3,800 live shows across both countries, with ticket prices as low as $25.
Concert Week kicks off Wednesday, May 10, at 10 a.m. ET and lasts until May 16.
Get ready for Concert Week, May 10-16! $25 All-In Tickets to over 200 shows in Canada. It’s the perfect time to get tickets to see ALL your favourite artists and fill your year with live events. Head to https://t.co/8hCtvWw9kkpic.twitter.com/5BtN6mFqeK
So how does this work? There are at least 300 artists from a broad range of genres included in the promotion. Available concerts include chart-toppers like Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Shania Twain and Janet Jackson, along with rap and R&B legends like Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, TLC and Shaggy. The bands Mötley Crüe, Disturbed and Fall Out Boy are also among the artists listed by Live Nation.
Users can filter through tickets based on artist name or the location of the concerts they’re looking to attend. A variety of seat types will be available for sale.
In Canada, those who bank with RBC were given early access to Live Nation Concert Week. On Tuesday at 10 a.m., RBC clients who applied for an access code were given exclusive entry to try and score discounted concert tickets.
(Depending on the province or state of residence, additional fees and taxes for tickets purchased during Live Nation Concert Week may vary.)
The tickets are certain to sell out quickly, as the average price of a concert ticket has nearly quadrupled over the past two decades. In the last year, outrage over concert ticket prices has grown even louder, as inflated resale markets and surge pricing have left some fans in the dust when it comes to seeing their favourite artists on tour.
In January, top executives from Ticketmaster and Live Nation appeared before the U.S. Senate to argue they do not hold a ticket sale monopoly. The federal questioning was spurred on by a fumbled Taylor Swift ticket presale that allegedly saw software bots illegally obtain tickets and snub thousands of eager fans.
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Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation in 2010, reportedly resulting in control of more than 70 per cent of the primary ticketing and live event venues market.
A full list of artists included in Live Nation Concert Week can be viewed on the Live Nation website.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in attendance along with other leaders from the Commonwealth nations.
While the main ceremony and procession are scheduled for Saturday at Westminster Abbey, Canada is also preparing to mark the occasion with a number of events planned over the weekend in Ottawa.
Here is a look at the entertainment for the coronation weekend.
On Sunday, a special coronation concert will be held at Windsor Castle.
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The concert is open to the public and will be broadcast on BBC starting at 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET).
New rendered images have been released ahead of the star-studded concert on Sunday 7 May, produced by BBC Studios. Windsor Castle will host the spectacular live concert, with over 100 countries watching from around the world. pic.twitter.com/7Y75WWWeEx
While the palace has not released an official list of artists, several big names have confirmed they will be performing. Among them is American singer Lionel Richie, who met Charles during a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters there, Richie said performing at the coronation concert will be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Pinch me somebody,” he said. “I’m so excited, I’m a kid at Christmas time.”
Britain’s King Charles III, left, reacts with U.S. singer Lionel Richie and Lisa Parigi, during a garden party at Buckingham Palace, London, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in celebration of the coronation on May 6.
(Yui Mok/Pool via AP)
The concert will also feature British boy band Take That which is making a comeback.
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Members of the band – Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald told the BBC: “This will be our first live show since the Odyssey Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on! A huge live band and orchestra, a choir, military drummers, the backdrop of Windsor Castle and the celebration of a new King. We can’t wait.”
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will also take the stage on Sunday, performing a duet alongside Welsh singer Sir Bryan Terfel.
U.S. pop artist Katy Perry is on the lineup reported on last month by the BBC. She is an ambassador of the British Asian Trust which was founded by Charles in 2020.
On Saturday at 10 am E.T. an hour-long event will take place at 144 Wellington Street in Ottawa.
“The celebratory event will bring together artists and speakers who reflect the values that Canada and His Majesty share, such as protecting the environment, service to others, and celebrating our country’s diversity,” says a statement from Canadian Heritage.
Algonquin group Eagle River Singers, slam poet Sabrina Benaim, singer–songwriter Florence K, the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir and traditional music group Inn Echo will be among the performers.
On Saturday and Sunday, Canadians will be able to visit the residence of the Governor General as well as the Rideau Hall grounds, where they can view a recording of the coronation ceremony.
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The Peace Tower and other federal buildings will be lit up in emerald green throughout the weekend.
Canada Post will unveil new stamps featuring the King.
After ex-NHLer P.K. Subban made a jab about pop singer Lizzo‘s weight, many critics think it’s About Damn Time the former defenceman understand body positivity.
While appearing as an ESPN commentator during Tuesday night’s Florida Panthers-Toronto Maple Leafs game, Subban, 33, seemingly made a comment about the plus-sized singer.
Subban and ESPN co-host John Buccigross lamented the Leafs’ performance after the team scored only two goals during the home game.
While speaking about the Leafs’ lack of energy on the ice, Buccigross said the team should “pack a lunch” in order to improve.
“Maybe they need to pack a Lizzo-sized lunch,” Subban replied. “They weren’t prepared, in my opinion.”
After the broadcast, many social media users expressed disdain for Subban’s comment about Lizzo, 35, and accused him of fat-shaming.
It’s getting harder & harder to enjoy PK Subban. And before the “I thought you wanted hockey players to show more personality!” brigade comes through, nobody ever said we want them to be casually cruel or bigoted. We’re not so starved for personalities that we’ll embrace garbage.
Now I don’t talk about people’s mama’s. But I’m gagging that PK Subban on NATIONAL TV tryna shade @lizzo, and the woman that gave birth to him, is also what looks like a full figured black woman as well. The audacity. pic.twitter.com/z5ZnjmnVyn
Subban himself referenced the “pack a lunch” comment on Twitter after the broadcast, though he did not mention the controversy. Instead, he defined the slang expression, writing that the Leafs need to “be ready to compete! Bring your work boots!”
The Leafs were defeated by the Panthers 4-2 in the second-round series of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Catching up with former NHLer P.K. Subban
In March, Subban also stirred controversy after he said NHL players should not be made to wear gear in support of the LGBTQ2 community. The comment came amid protest from other NHLers who objected to participating in NHL Pride Night events, citing reasons including religious beliefs.
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“We cannot push everyone to be an activist, we need to be very careful,” Subban told Reuters. “I feel people pick and choose what they want to talk about and I don’t like it when we put the onus on athletes to be activists.”
Subban signed a three-year deal to be a hockey analyst with ESPN in November 2022. He spent the majority of his NHL career playing for the Montreal Canadiens.
Debates about the colour of Cleopatra’s skin have been reactivated, and this time it’s Egypt attempting to take Netflix to task.
The country has accused the streaming giant of misrepresenting history by casting a mixed-race woman to play the titular character in their upcoming show Queen Cleopatra.
Netflix released a trailer for the four-part docudrama last week, which stars Adele James as Cleopatra.
This week, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities weighed in on the ongoing controversy, posting a lengthy statement to Facebook.
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The statement, credited to the country’s Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Archeology, said that many experts in Egypt agree that “Queen Cleopatra was light-skinned and (had) Hellenic features.”
It also argues that the documentary nature of the series, which is produced by Jada Pinkett-Smith, “requires those in charge of its production to investigate accuracy and rely on historical and scientific facts.”
The ministry points to coins and statues from the time, arguing that they show a light-skinned woman, in keeping with Cleopatra’s Macedonian Greek ancestry.
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For Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Antiquities Council, depicting the Cleopatra as Black is nothing less than “a falsification of Egyptian history.”
He added that his complaint is “far from any ethnic racism, stressing full respect for African civilizations and for our brothers in the African continent that brings us all together.”
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Cleopatra was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 69 BCE and was the last queen of a Greek-speaking dynasty founded by Alexander the Great’s Macedonian general Ptolemy.
Her ethnicity has been hotly debated, but historians have been unable to pin down the identity of Cleopatra’s mother. It’s possible, historians say, that Cleopatra’s mother may have been an indigenous Egyptian or from somewhere else in Africa.
In February, Neflix companion website Tudum reported that the choice to cast James was “a nod to the centuries-long conversation about the ruler’s race.”
Egypt’s foremost archaeologist Zahi Hawass, however, says there’s nothing to debate.
“I’m not anti-Black at all but I found it my duty as a rich man to state the facts and declare that Cleopatra was not brown. Cleopatra was not Black,” he wrote on Facebook.
Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud Al-Semary is so riled up by Netflix’s depiction that he has filed a case with the public prosecutor to shut down Netflix in Egypt.
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The Egypt Independent reports that Al-Semary’s case demands that legal action be taken against those responsible for making the documentary and accused them of “forgery.”
“In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world there must be pride in the makings of such work,” he wrote.
Series director Tina Gharavi defended the casting choice in a first-person essay for Variety published last week.
“Doing the research, I realized what a political act it would be to see Cleopatra portrayed by a Black actress. For me, the idea that people had gotten it so incredibly wrong before — historically, from Theda Bara to Monica Bellucci, and recently, with Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot in the running to play her — meant we had to get it even more right. The hunt was on to find the right performer to bring Cleopatra into the 21st century,” she wrote.
“Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white? Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians it seems to really matter.”
In the essay, Gharavi details a “huge online hate campaign” that has been targeted at her since she signed on to the project.
“Egyptians accused me of ‘blackwashing’ and ‘stealing’ their history. Some threatened to ruin my career — which I wanted to tell them was laughable. I was ruining it very well for myself, thank you very much!”
However, she admits that “we don’t know for sure” whether Cleopatra was Black.
“But we can be certain she wasn’t white like Elizabeth Taylor,” she concludes, adding that there needs to be more conversations around internalized white supremacy.
Social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been bombarded by hateful rhetoric online since she partnered with Bud Light earlier this month, prompting widespread backlash from right-wing, anti-transgender voices.
Now, the 26-year-old TikToker is finally ready to talk about it.
Following a several-week break from social media, Mulvaney reappeared online Thursday to discuss the controversy. Though she did not mention Bud Light by name, Mulvaney, who is transgender, had a clear message for her 10.8 million followers.
“I’m going to try to leave gender out of this, since that’s how we found ourselves here,” Mulvaney started.
She played on her ever-popular “Days of Girlhood” series of videos on TikTok — which sees Mulvaney document her gender transition near-daily — and said she recorded the TikTok on “Day 9610 of being a human.”
“I’ve always tried to love everyone, even the people that make it really, really hard,” Mulvaney said. “It’s OK to be frustrated with someone, or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel.
“Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”
Mulvaney said she wants to go back to making people laugh online and to “never stop learning.”
She said she is trying not to share anything about her life online “before I’m ready.” The advice is an echo of encouragement she received from transgender actor Laverne Cox, who met Mulvaney at the Grammys in February and encouraged her to “keep things for yourself.”
Mulvaney joked that if reincarnation exists, she would like to be reincarnated as someone “nonconfrontational and uncontroversial.”
On April 1, Mulvaney partnered with Bud Light as part of a March Madness contest on her Instagram account. The deal, which saw Mulvaney’s face printed on a single signature blue can, sparked numerous calls for LGBTQ2 opposition to destroy their beer stockpiles and potentially boycott the brand entirely.
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Musician Kid Rock was among the most notable to criticize Bud Light for the partnership. In video posted to social media, Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, repeatedly fired an assault rifle at three cases of Bud Light. As beer bled from the bulleted blue boxes, he flipped off the camera and said, “F— Bud Light and f— Anheuser-Busch. Have a terrific day.”
Anheuser-Busch, the company that makes Bud Light, released a statement as sales started to decline amid calls for a boycott.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” wrote Bud Light CEO and Anheuser-Busch owner Brendan Whitworth.
Two Bud Light executives have since taken a leave of absence from the company. Anheuser-Busch has not publicly commented on Mulvaney’s latest TikTok.
The controversy surrounding Mulvaney and Bud Light comes at a time when the rights of transgender people in the U.S. are being called into question. Republican lawmakers across the country have filed legislation seeking to restrict gender-affirming health care for trans folks, among other things. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are currently 469 proposed anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S.
“While not all of these bills will become law, they all cause harm for LGBTQ people,” the organization wrote.
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Jerry Springer, the legendary talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati, has died. He was 79.
Springer’s family confirmed his death to several media outlets Thursday morning, saying in a provided statement that he died peacefully Thursday at his home in the Chicago suburbs.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the family, said in a statement to NBC affiliate WLWT5. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
‘The Jerry Springer Show’ ceases production after 27 years
While most famous for his popular, and at times controversial, talk show, The Jerry Springer Show, Springer wore many hats over the course of his life, including actor, producer, lawyer and politician.
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He served as the 56th mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978.
Thank you! It’s been a wonderful eight years sharing stories, thoughts, laughter, and tears with you all. Our quirky off the beat podcast is now riding off into the sunset. We appreciate all of you for coming along the way! Much love to all of you! Happy New Year!#NewYearpic.twitter.com/hVum6swu23
His long-running talk show, and all the subsequent on-stage drama, ran from September 1991 to July 2018. He also hosted the Jerry Springer Podcast for seven years, from 2015 to 2022, and hosted a show called Judge Jerry from 2019 to 2022.
Springer’s namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families willing to bare all on weekday afternoons including brawls, obscenities and blurred images of nudity.
At its peak, The Jerry Springer Show was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama. Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favorite American guilty pleasure over its 27-year run, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey’s show.
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Springer called it “escapist entertainment,” while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values.
On his Twitter profile, Springer jokingly declared himself as “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end.” He also often had told people, tongue in cheek, that his wish for them was “may you never be on my show.”
After more than 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018, never straying from its core salaciousness: Some of its last episodes had such titles as Stripper Sex Turned Me Straight, Stop Pimpin’ My Twin Sister, and Hooking Up With My Therapist.
In a Too Hot For TV video released as his daily show neared 7 million viewers in the late 1990s, Springer offered a defense against disgust.
“Look, television does not and must not create values, it’s merely a picture of all that’s out there — the good, the bad, the ugly,” Springer said, adding: “Believe this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be.”
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He also contended that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them.
A Halifax-area chef has gained a famous following after posting about his weight-loss journey on Twitter.
Derrick Bona of Eastern Passage, N.S. caught the attention of Arnold Schwarzenegger last Wednesday, who re-tweeted his progress picture saying: “You’ve got this, so I’m really just sharing your tweet to inspire everyone else. I’m proud of you.”
Bona said it’s been the craziest week of his life.
“What better person to give you some confidence than Arnold? The king of weight-lifting,” Bona told Global News Morning.
People told me to offer you some encouragement, but you don’t need any. You’ve got this, so I’m really just sharing your tweet to inspire everyone else. I’m proud of you. https://t.co/v9wrh8VfIN
Bona said he and his wife had just sat down for supper last week when his phone began to blow up with messages and tweets.
“I thought I’m like getting hacked or something,” he said, “and then a friend of mine’s like, ‘Do you realize you just got retweeted by Arnold with a personal message?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I do now!’”
In the beginning, Bona weighed about 600 pounds. He said he even had to order a special scale on Amazon that companies use to weigh packages.
However, after three weeks, Bona was weighing in at 561. As of Saturday, he’s down a considerable 83 pounds.
“I am now 517 pounds, and I’m 18 pounds away from never seeing 500 again,” Bona told Global’s Eilish Bonang.
Here it is my Saturday weight in. Last week I was 524 pounds this week I am 517 pounds I lost this week I was 7 pounds. Thank you to everyone who has shown me support this week. Your helped me get these extra pounds. I am now 18 pounds away from never seeing 500 pounds again. pic.twitter.com/YXmVLvablH
That’s when Bona knew he had to make a change, or he wouldn’t be around much longer.
“So I chose to put all the cards in and bet on myself,” he said.
As a dedicated Toronto Blue Jays fan, Bona said his internet popularity began with a simple tweet sharing his plans to lose some weight so he could get back to see them play.
“I’d seen them in 2016, and when I was there I couldn’t fit in the seats. I had to sit in a section that was wheelchair accessible, and I felt bad that I was taking up that spot,” Bona said, “Obviously, I’m doing it for me to live a healthier life, but I’m using getting back to the Rogers Centre as motivation to keep going.”
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Another motivation in Bona’s life is his wife Angie. He said she has been his rock by supporting him along his journey, and even doing it with him.
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“We keep each other accountable and I’m very proud of her,” Bona said.
Bona said he regularly sets himself goals, mostly little things he hopes to do for himself again soon — like putting on socks and tying his shoes.
His long-term goal, however, is much more exciting. Bona hopes to one day throw out the first pitch at a Blue Jays game.
“That would be the epitome of everything for me,” he said.
Bell, 36, was later found safe by police mere hours after the notice was published on April 13. The circumstances of his brief disappearance have not been officially stated.
In a since-deleted tweet that went up soon after Bell was found safe, the former child star wrote, “You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?”
Von Schmeling, 28, petitioned to divorce Bell on Thursday in a filing to the Los Angeles County’s Superior Court. According to the filing, Von Schmeling is seeking legal and physical custody of the child she shares with Bell, as well as spousal support.
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The couple have been notoriously private about their relationship, with Bell announcing their marriage in a June 2021 Twitter post, revealing that he had and his wife had wed “almost three years” prior. He also wrote they were “blessed to be the parents of a wonderful son.”
Von Schmeling’s divorce petition states they were married for three years and six months.
In early January of this year, an unnamed source told PEOPLE that Bell and Von Schmeling had separated “a few months ago.”
“Janet is devoted to raising their son,” the source said. “Drake and Janet are committed to maintaining a peaceful co-parenting relationship and giving their son the best life possible.”
News of the separation came weeks after photos and a video of Bell were published by the Daily Mail seemingly showing him inhaling balloons in his car while outside a California vape shop. Bell’s son could be seen in the backseat of the car in some shots.
Bell has faced numerous legal issues over the years.
His reputation took a massive hit in 2021 when he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. In the case, Bell admitted to sending sexually explicit photos to a 15-year-old girl in 2017. He recently completed his two-year probation.
In 2015, an ex-girlfriend accused Bell of verbal and physical abuse against her in the 2000s. He denied the allegations.
Former Menudo singer Roy Rosselló claims he was sexually abused by José Menendez, saying that the father of convicted killers Lyle and Erik Menendez – commonly known as the Menendez Brothers – sexually assaulted him when he was a teen.
Rosselló makes the startling claims in an upcoming three-part docuseries that will begin airing on NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, on May 2.
The assertion first aired Tuesday, when NBC’s Today show outlined some of the findings reported by the docuseries’ journalists Robert Rand and Nery Ynclan.
“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló is heard saying in a clip from Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. He alleges that José Menendez, who was an executive at RCA Records at the time, sexually assaulted him when he was a young member of the popular 1980s boy band.
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He claimed the abuse happened in Menendez’s New Jersey home when Rosselló was 14 years old, and alleges he was drugged before the alleged molestation.
“That’s the man here that raped me,” Rosselló says in the clip, pointing at what appears to be a photo of Menendez. “This guy. That’s the pedophile.”
Singer Roy Rossello of the pop group Menudo poses for a portrait circa 1985 in New York City, N.Y.
Michael Ochs archives / Getty Images
Menendez was affiliated with Menudo because he had signed the group to RCA Records.
In the trailer, another person is seen saying that “José Menendez was obsessed with the band Menudo.” The docuseries then asserts that Rosselló’s claims might have changed things during the Menendez brothers’ trial for the murders of their parents in 1989.
The Menendez murders
On Aug. 20, 1989, José and Mary Louise (who went by the name Kitty) Menendez were brutally murdered inside their Beverly Hills Mansion.
The scene was so gruesome that early speculation focused on the possibility of a mob hit. According to Biography.com, the parents had been rendered nearly unidentifiable by 15 rounds from two 12-gauge shotguns.
But soon the focus shifted to the couple’s sons, who were 18 and 21-years-old at the time. At first, they maintained to police they’d stopped by their parents’ house the night of the killings to retrieve Erik’s ID while on the way to a movie, and discovered their slain parents.
In this Oct. 20, 1995, file photo, Lyle Menendez looks up during testimony in his and brother Erik’s retrial for the shotgun slayings of their parents in Los Angeles, Calif.
Steve Grayson / UPI via AP, Pool, File)
However, Erik eventually confided to his therapist that he and his brother were responsible for the killings and after the therapist shared the information with his wife, the confession eventually made its way to police.
Lyle and Erik were eventually arrested for the murders and their trial kicked off an era of high-profile, televised criminal trials that captured the public’s imagination through the ‘90s.
Despite defence arguments that José had sexually molested his two sons for years and that they killed their parents out of fear, they were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. They served the first part of their sentences in separate prison, until they were reunited in 2018 and allowed to serve their sentences in the same facility.
In recent years, many have questioned whether there might have been a different outcome for the Menendez brothers if they stood trial today, given society’s changed understanding of sexual abuse and family violence.
The brothers’ prior appeals for a new trial have been denied.
Menudo’s previous allegations
Rosselló previously accused Menudo manager Edgardo Díaz of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager.
In a four-part miniseries for HBO Max, which aired in 2022, other members of the band also said they were physically, verbally, sexually and psychologically abused as part of Menudo.
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No one has ever been criminally charged in connection with the allegations.
Trailer: Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Fed up with a massive pothole in his Los Angeles neighbourhood, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided he would take matters into his own hands and fill it with asphalt.
“I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go,” he wrote, sharing that the hole had been “screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks.”
Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go. pic.twitter.com/aslhkUShvT
In the video, a neighbour is seen rolling down her car window and shouting thanks at the action movie star.
“You’re welcome,” says Schwarzenegger, decked out in work boots, a leather jacket and his signature Terminator glasses.
“You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed,” he says.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. Only, it wasn’t a pothole.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. But it was not a pothole.
However, a spokesperson for the city told NBC Los Angeles that the area is “not a pothole.”
The official told the news station that what Schwarzenegger filled in was actually a gas service trench that was dug for ongoing work being performed in the area by SoCal Gas. They said the work was supposed to be complete by the end of next month.
Despite being rebuked for his unauthorized road work, a rep for the former governor of California told People magazine that the city has left a lot to be desired when it comes to executing the gas work.
“The comment I saw from the city was that they would be filling the trench at the end of May,” the contact told People. “I’d be curious if they truly believe the best solution was to block off one direction of traffic for 2-3 months and force cars and bicyclists to drive the wrong way dangerously?”
“Honestly, the city is as bad at damage control as they are at performing basic services,” they added.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. Unfortunately, it was not a pothole.
The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP
Unfortunately, the gas company will have to undo Schwarzenegger’s work and the trench will be re-dug so they can complete their project.
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However, even if it was a true pothole that got filled, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works told ABC-7 that they would have had to re-do the actor’s work, anyway – that particular street is made of concrete, not the asphalt that Schwarzenegger used.
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Billy McFarland, the fraudster creator of the infamous failed Fyre Festival, is once again viral — this time for claims that a second Fyre Festival is currently in the works.
“Fyre Festival II is finally happening,” McFarland wrote in a tweet on Sunday. “Tell me why you should be invited.”
McFarland, who was jailed after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding about 80 festival investors, did not provide additional information.
Despite McFarland’s callout, which has been viewed 2.3 million times, social media users aren’t clamouring to be added to a guest list. Most replied to McFarland’s tweets with memes and skepticism, referencing the original festival’s lack of food and water and poor conditions.
“Tell me why you shouldn’t be in jail,” one user replied.
McFarland was released from prison in March 2022 after serving nearly four years of his six-year sentence.
“It’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working,” he wrote. “People aren’t getting paid back if i [sic] sit on the couch and watch tv.
“And because i [sic] served my time.”
it’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. people aren’t getting paid back if i sit on the couch and watch tv.
“I’ll show up with 100 crates full of bananas,” another Twitter user replied. “No one will go hungry this time around.”
McFarland jokingly replied that he was “looping in” Andy King, a former Fyre Festival producer. King became a meme when he appeared in the Netflix documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and said he had been willing to provide oral sex in exchange for water after customs seized Evian reserves en route to Fyre Festival in the Bahamas.
The first time around, the only thing Fyre Festival crushed was people’s spirits.
Originally marketed as a two-weekend-long, luxury music festival on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas, Fyre Festival and McFarland were outed as frauds when festivalgoers were met with less than suitable conditions in 2017.
Fyre Festival descends into chaos, frustration, leaving rich festival-goers angry
The 5,000 ticketholders were told all of the festival’s headlining musicians had already pulled out of the lineup. The gourmet food they’d been promised turned into below-subpar cheese sandwiches and the luxury accommodation was revealed to be FEMA disaster tents.
The festival was co-founded and marketed by rapper Ja Rule, who had influencers like Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Bieber promote the event. (Ja Rule later said he was also scammed by McFarland and was subsequently dismissed from a US$100-million class-action lawsuit.)
As part of his 2018 prison sentence, McFarland was ordered to pay back the US$26 million he’d defrauded from investors.
In March, McFarland tweeted about his plan to return the money.
“Here’s how I’m going to pay it back: I spend half my time filming TV shows. The other half, I focus on what I’m really, really good at,” he wrote. “I’m the best at coming up with wild creative, getting talent together, and delivering the moment.”
He attached his phone number and encouraged people to text him.
I owe people $26m
Here’s how I’m going to pay it back:
I spend half my time filming TV shows.
The other half, I focus on what I’m really, really good at.
I’m the best at coming up with wild creative, getting talent together, and delivering the moment.
Since his prison release, McFarland has started a new Bahamas-based business, PYRT, pronounced “pirate.” In a November 2022 appearance on the Full Send podcast, McFarland said the company is “going to be a small, permanent hotel in the Bahamas for artists and entrepreneurs to come and partake in these crazy adventures.” One such crazy adventure is apparently a treasure hunt in which participants search for one of 99 bottles containing a secret message.
In the same podcast appearance, McFarland also pitched a PYRT festival.
“So, I have to do a PYRT fest, right? It can’t be tomorrow, it can’t be in four months, but there’s going to be PYRT fest,” he said.
Actor Hilary Swank and her husband Philip Schneider are now parents to a set of newborn twins.
The Alaska Daily star shared news of the birth to Instagram on Sunday. She posted a photo of herself wearing a bathrobe and facing a sunset, holding her two babies on her chest.
“I’m so happy to share it with you, and America, right now. This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time, and my next thing is I’m going to be a mom,” Swank said in October.
“I’m going to be a mom. And not just of one, but of two,” she smiled. “I can’t believe it.”
Swank married Schneider, a reported “social venture entrepreneur,” in 2018. Throughout her pregnancy, Swank shared many updates to social media, including an ultrasound image of “Baby A flexing for the camera at their ultrasound.”
The retired optometrist suing actor Gwyneth Paltrow for allegedly crashing into him on a ski hill in 2016 took the stand Monday as the buzzed-about trial heads into its second week.
Paltrow, 50, has been accused of causing serious injury to Terry Sanderson after she allegedly collided with him while skiing at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah.
Sanderson, 76, alleged Paltrow skied into him, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out.” He claimed the collision caused “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life.”
He maintains that Paltrow left him collapsed on the slope and skied away. He is suing Paltrow for more than US$300,000.
Paltrow denies any responsibility for the crash and is countersuing for $1 and lawyers’ fees. She claims Sanderson is the one who hit her and is now suing to “exploit her celebrity and wealth.”
Before calling Sanderson on Monday, his lawyer first recalled Craig Ramon, the sole eyewitness to the ski crash, to testify again. Ramon was shown several messages he sent shortly after the ski collision, which claimed he saw Sanderson injured by Paltrow.
Sanderson next took the stand. He said prior to the accident he was an “advanced-intermediate” skier who usually hit the slopes two or three times a week.
He said recounting the accident is “hard” for him. Sanderson testified he heard a “bloodcurdling scream” before he was hit in the back by another person on skis, presumably Paltrow. He said the person’s ski poles hit beneath his shoulder blades and sent him “flying.”
Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial: Terry Sanderson testifies he was hit in the back by skier, went ‘flying’
Sanderson said he fell to the ground and briefly “blacked out.” When he came to, Sanderson testified he could not move but knew there was a man shouting at him. The unknown man, according to Sanderson, was trying to “bully” him into believing he’d hurt someone in the accident.
Sanderson testified that he only learned it was Paltrow who had allegedly hit him after he was helped down the slope and received medical attention.
“I’m living another life now,” Sanderson said, referring to the lasting injuries he claimed to have sustained from the accident. He testified that he cannot ski anymore.
Sanderson said he gets easily lost and has had “difficult” relationships with his family since the ski collision. He became emotional on the stand, recounting how his daughters have reacted to alleged changes in his personality caused by brain trauma.
He said the accident has made him a “self-imposed recluse” and caused him to lose his “spark” for life.
Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial: Terry Sanderson blames Paltrow for his ‘other personality’
Upon cross-examination, Paltrow’s lawyer, Stephen Owens, insisted there were several inconsistencies between Sanderson’s testimony and an earlier deposition. One such inconsistency Owens pointed out was the amount of time Sanderson claimed to be unconscious after the collision, with varying time frames in the deposition, his testimony and various medical records.
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After Sanderson’s testimony, Paltrow’s lawyers are expected to call on her two children, 16-year-old Moses and 18-year-old Apple — who were present on the day of the incident — along with a ski instructor.
On Friday afternoon, Paltrow told a lawyer from Sanderson’s team that she “was not engaging in any risky behaviour” on the day of the crash, saying she was skiing with her two kids as well as with Brad Falchuk — her boyfriend at the time, now her husband — and his two kids.
The group was taking ski lessons on a green run, considered to be the easiest of runs on a ski hill, at the time, when she said she felt a pair of skis come between her skis, spreading her legs apart, and felt a “large body” hit her from behind.
“There was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise,” she testified of the moment of the collision. “My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, ‘Am I… is this a practical joke? Is someone, like, doing something perverted?’ This is really, really strange,” she said in her testimony, adding that she “froze” while trying to make sense of what was happening.
The pair skied down the hill for a short period, before “someone’s ski caught an edge,” Paltrow testifed, and they collapsed, with Paltrow landing on top of Sanderson, their skis entwined.
“He struck me in the back, yes, that’s exactly what happened,” Paltrow said, as the lawyer read back a portion of her description of the events from a deposition.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom for her trial on March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah.
Rick Bowmer / Pool / Getty Images
Paltrow said she waited for Sanderson to stand up – “long enough for him to say that he was OK” – before she skied away, adding that she did not ask about his condition any further and did not know the extent of his injuries at the time.
“I think you have to keep in mind when you’re the victim of a crash, right, your psychology is not necessarily thinking about the person who perpetrated it,” Paltrow testified.
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‘I did not cause the accident’: Gwyneth Paltrow testifies in ski collision trial
During her testimony, Paltrow said she was left with an “overstretched” right knee and back pain after Sanderson collided with her from behind. In a since-viral clip, Paltrow testified she “lost half a day of skiing” as a result of her alleged injuries. Her lawyers entered the US$8,980 daily ski trip receipt into evidence on Friday, noting the amount paid for she and her two children to use the luxury slopes.
Paltrow said she feels empathy for Sanderson, but said she did not give him brain injuries that showed up on an MRI he received in 2016.
“I feel very sorry for him. It seems like he’s had a very difficult life, but I did not cause the accident so I cannot be at fault for anything that subsequently happened to him,” she testified.
NOTE: The following article contains content that some might find disturbing. Please read at your own discretion.
Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has been hospitalized after he was reportedly attacked by a group of men in a South Florida gym on Tuesday.
The rapper’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, told celebrity news website TMZ that the artist was inside a sauna at an LA Fitness when he was attacked by three or four men without warning. (Ed. Note: The preceding link contains violent footage.)
He said the 26-year-old musician attempted to fight back but was outnumbered.
One of the assailants filmed the violence. 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, is seen lying on the ground shielding his face as two men kick him.
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One attacker dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts pulls 6ix9ine’s hair in the video and can be heard taunting, “Take a picture. I want to be famous now.”
As 6ix9ine leaves the bathroom, there is blood visible on his face. The man behind the camera tells the rapper, “I’m not going to lie, bro, I’m a fan.”
6ix9ine replies and accuses the men of “jumping” him. Lazzaro told TMZ the attackers fled after employees heard the commotion and notified a manager. When an ambulance arrived at the gym, Hernandez was transported to hospital.
TMZ reported he also suffered injuries to his jaw, ribs and back. It is not clear if 6ix9ine is still hospitalized.
The rapper did not have security with him during the attack, though Lazzaro said he plans to get the artist proper protection.
In April 2020, 6ix9ine was released from federal prison, where he served a two-year sentence for charges including racketeering, drug trafficking and firearm offences, all in connection with the Nine Trey Bloods gang.
What is racketeering? Rapper 6ix9ine pleads not guilty to RICO charges
He was given a shorter prison sentence after he co-operated with federal officials and provided names of his associates. The deal earned him leniency from charges that could have subjected him to a mandatory minimum of 37 years in prison for crimes that included orchestrating a shooting in which an innocent bystander was wounded.
The deal saw 6ix9ine labelled a “rat” by the likes of rappers Meek Mill and Snoop Dogg, among others.
It is not known whether the plea deal served as motivation for Tuesday’s attack against Hernandez.
On social media, several users have insisted the video of the attack is staged, specifically because the rapper is wearing a puffer coat during the incident, despite his lawyer’s claims he had been in the sauna.
— With files from former Global News reporter Katie Scott
A 19-year-old man has been charged with assault after he allegedly attacked Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen outside a hotel in Florida on Sunday.
Police claim Ohio native Max Edward Hartley jumped out from behind a pillar and charged at Allen, who had lost an arm in a car accident in 1984. Allen, 59, was reportedly smoking a cigarette outside the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the time of the attack.
The charge from Hartley caused Allen to fall over and “hit his head on the ground causing injury,” according to a police report from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
A woman inside the hotel witnessed the attack and attempted to intervene. Police claim she was also attacked, and that Hartley continued to “batter her by striking her” while she lay on the ground. When she attempted to escape, Hartley reportedly grabbed the victim by her hair.
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Hartley has been charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult without great harm.
National Music Centre to celebrate Nickelback ahead of JUNOs honour
7News Miami asked Hartley if he was a Def Leppard fan but did not receive a response.
Allen is cooperating with police and intends to press charges, the outlet reported.
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Def Leppard, the English rock band formed in 1976, was in Fort Lauderdale to co-headline a performance with rock band Mötley Crüe at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Sunday.
“I like to eat dinner early in the evening,” Paltrow started, going on to say she does a “nice” intermittent fast. (Intermittent fasting is the practice of cycling between eating and abstaining from food for particular blocks of time.)
As part of the fast, the Iron Man star’s first meal of the day comes around noon: coffee.
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At lunch, Paltrow said she likes a bone broth soup.
For dinner, the Goop CEO follows a paleolithic diet, a fad diet that excludes processed foods, dairy, sugar and salt. Paltrow’s meal consists of “lots of vegetables.”
Paltrow said she also tries to do one hour of movement every day, either a walk, Pilates or a Tracy Anderson workout. She then uses a dry brush on her skin and gets into an infrared sauna.
A TikTok clip of Paltrow talking about her diet has since gone viral. The video has been viewed 2.4 million times as of this writing.
Social media users took instant issue with Paltrow’s restrictive diet. Many called her the “ultimate almond mom,” a term used to criticize mothers who push their own unhealthy relationships with food onto their children.
Lauren Cadillac, a registered dietician from New York City, responded on TikTok and called Paltrow’s eating habits “disordered.”
“THIS IS NOT ENOUGH FOOD,” Cadillac wrote, noting that was especially true for Paltrow, who stands about five feet, nine inches tall.
Cadillac’s rebuttals were simple: “Bone broth is not a meal.”
Kim Lindsay, another dietician from Australia, also criticized Paltrow’s “wellness routine.” She warned her followers to eat regularly throughout the day “and enjoy all foods as part of a balanced diet.”
#duet with @dearmedia #gwynethpaltrow So much diet culture in this ‘wellness routine’. I worry about how many people will follow this. Please remember to eat regulalry over the day and enjoy all foods as part of a balanced diet xx #dietculture#wellness#dietitian
Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘The Goop Lab’: Fact-checking the health claims
During the same interview, Cole asked Paltrow to name the “weirdest wellness thing” she’s done.
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“I have used ozone therapy rectally,” she answered. “It’s pretty weird.”
Paltrow said the treatment was “very helpful,” but did not elaborate.
Despite Paltrow’s claims of seeing benefit, ozone therapy is not FDA-approved. The practice uses ozone, a type of oxygen, to boost oxygen levels in the body for purported immune system and health benefits. The treatment can be applied to skin, vaginally or rectally, administered into the blood through an IV or injected into a patient’s muscle.
The FDA claims ozone therapy has no useful medical application and may irritate one’s lungs.
The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us reached its heart-wrenching conclusion, leaving viewers in awe of the show’s acting, storyline and special effects.
And while Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s characters, Joel and Ellie, steal the spotlight in each episode while trying to evade deadly fungus-ridden creatures, cannibals and rogue gangs, there’s been a lot of attention given to the stunning Alberta backdrops, which fill in as post-apocalyptic U.S. cities and states.
The show is a thrill ride on its own — the storyline closely follows the video game on which it was based — but for Albertans it’s been extra exciting to spot some of the province’s most recognizable streetscapes, buildings, mountains and parks. Sure, there’s been plenty of CGI and special effects to mask many of the Alberta landmarks, but in many instances the locations are very clear.
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Episode by episode, here are some of the Alberta locations and landmarks that stood in for Boston, Kansas City, Austin, Texas, Jackson, Wyo., and more.
** NOTE: Mild spoilers ahead for the entire first season of The Last of Us. **
Episode 1: When You’re Lost in the Darkness
The series premiere of The Last of Us sets the stage for a post-apocalyptic adventure, introducing viewers to characters Joel (Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv), who are tasked with the dangerous mission of maneuvering teenage Ellie (Ramsey) across a ravaged U.S. in the hopes of finding a cure for the fungus outbreak that has the ability to take hold in humans, turning them into creatures intent on infecting others.
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When You’re Lost in the Darkness uses Calgary’s downtown as a stand-in for Boston, and a specially designed set situated in the industrial area behind the Calgary Stampede grounds serves at the show’s Boston Quarantine Zone (QZ.)
Viewers also catch glimpses of Calgary’s historic Inglewood neighbourhood, interior shots of a couple Calgary high schools, as well as shots of the Bow River as it runs through the city’s Beaver Dam Flats.
Meanwhile, the historic Southern Alberta town of Fort McLeod doubles as downtown Austin, Texas, in the early days of the outbreak.
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Episode 2: Infected
The cold-open for the show’s second episode sets a chilling scene for just how bad this outbreak is going to be. In it, viewers see professor Ibu Ratna (Christine Hakim) suggest just one word on how Jakarta should respond to the outbreak of the cordyceps fungus in humans: “Bomb.”
The scene was filmed in a staff lounge in the Senator Burns building at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Eagle-eyed students of the polytechnic will also notice the building’s main floor lounge in an ensuing scene, and that the basement of the building, with its distinct floor-to-ceiling blue tiles, serves as part of a Jakarta hospital.
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As the show flashes forward to modern day, there’s plenty of other familiar landmarks to be spotted. Joel, Tess and Ellie are spotted hiking over the 4th Avenue flyover that leads into downtown Calgary, and enter a historic building in the city’s core that serves as the Boston Museum.
A view of Calgary’s Fourth Avenue flyover as it appeared in “The Last of Us.”
Screengrab / HBO
Perhaps no landmark in the episode is as recognizable as Alberta’s Legislature Building. It serves as a very acceptable stand-in for the Massachusetts State House and one of the show’s most unforgettable scenes.
The Alberta Legislature Building is seen in this still from “The Last of Us.”
Screengrab / HBO
Episode 3: Long, Long Time
One of the more subdued episodes of the first season, Long, Long Time gives viewers an intimate look into a tender and heartbreaking love story that blossoms in the years following the cordyceps outbreak.
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The episode largely takes place around the home of Bill (Nick Offerman), a solitary survivalist who’s doing just fine on his own, until another person stumbles into a trap on his compound. The pair bond over a love of music, wine and good food and grow old together as the episode progresses.
Bill’s bucolic hamlet was shot in the High River neighbourhood of Beachwood — an area not immune to its own real-life disaster. The neighbourhood was abandoned in 2013 when the Highwood River breached its banks during the province’s devastating flood event.
The Alberta government bought out the homeowners after the floods and returned the area back to its natural state of floodway.
A flooded neighborhood in High River, Alta., Saturday, June 29, 2013.
Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press
During the episode viewers see Bill, who had been hiding while his neighbours were trucked away by officials, visit the real-life Mezzapa Gas Plant east of High River to turn the utility back on.
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He then travels to a Home Depot to stock up on supplies, which was actually shot inside a Lowes Home Improvement location in Calgary. Strangely, a real Home Depot was located just a few blocks away from the Lowes store where the scene was shot; no word on why the show chose the Lowes.
Episode 4: Please Hold My Hand
The opening scenes of the show’s fourth episode feature lots of scenic shots near Strathmore, including a scene where, thanks to CGI, a train can be seen dangling from a broken High Level Bridge near Lethbridge.
The High Level Bridge near Lethbridge got a bit of CGI treatment in “The Last of Us.”
Screengrab / HBO
Ellie and Joel are on their way to Kansas City, but as they approach the city limits they’re stopped by a blocked freeway tunnel, which was designed around Calgary’s Airport Tunnel in the city’s northeast.
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Calgary’s Airport Tunnel, sans blockade.
@yyctransportation / Twitter
The action picks up as they manoeuvre around the tunnel and are funnelled into Kansas City, with several alleys in Calgary’s downtown core serving as a backdrop for a particularly vicious and vendetta-fuelled gang of freedom fighters.
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As our protagonists fight to evade both menacing humans and the infected, their bond grows deeper. They’re seen passing by Calgary’s Globe Cinema, whose sign was kept in the show, as they head to an office tower to hide out for a while.
The Globe Cinema in downtown Calgary, as it appears in “The Last of Us.”
Screengrab / HBO
Episode 5: Endure and Survive
In the fifth episode, viewers meet another pair of supporting characters — two brothers, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), who are also attempting to make their way out of Kansas City. The brothers pitch an escape route to Joel and Ellie in exchange for protection.
Much of the episode takes place in underground tunnels, which were provided by real-life tunnels in Calgary’s brewery district.
The Calgary Courts Centre, the largest court building in Canada, also makes an appearance, playing a U.S. Post Office building as well as a backdrop for a resistance group’s uprising against federal officials.
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The episode culminates in a massive battle, and the sets were built from scratch outside the Calgary Film Centre. The massive film studio is equipped with everything needed to make on-screen magic, making it the perfect place to watch the show’s healthy and infected battle it out.
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The final, and most heartbreaking, shot was filmed at the Ranchland Inn in Nanton, located about 45 minutes south of Calgary.
Episode 6: Kin
In the sixth episode, viewers catch up with Joel and Ellie three months into their journey and learn they’ve made it safely to Wyoming. But despite being safe, it’s the dead of winter and they’re hopelessly lost.
They come across a pair of two odd homesteaders who point them in the direction they need to go, but are warned not to cross the “River of Death.”
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The bridge that crosses said river is the picturesque Canmore Engine Bridge, a familiar sight to anyone who’s visited the mountain town, which is located about an hour from Calgary at the mouth of the Canadian Rockies.
An old railway bridge used as a walking and cycling path in Canmore, Alta., Saturday, May 29, 2021.
Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press
Joel’s on a mission to find his brother, Tommy, and the search leads them to the walled-in city of Jackson, Wyo., played by a shabby-looking Main Street in Canmore.
Main Street in Canmore is transformed into Jackson for “The Last of Us.”
Screegrab / HBO
While in Jackson, Joel and Tommy reunite and catch up over a drink at an Old West-style bar which was recreated, somewhat ironically, at the Wainwright Hotel at Calgary’s Heritage Park, which is its own old-timey replica town.
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Viewers also see Ellie and Joel share a meal at the Willow Lane Barn in Olds, which usually serves as a special events venue, popular for weddings and fundraisers.
Willow Lane Barn in Olds, Alta. was transformed into a post-apocalyptic bar.
Liane Hentscher / HBO
As their journey continues, Joel and Ellie make their way to a compound that’s new to them, but a familiar shooting location for the show. This time, SAIT doubles as the fictional University of Eastern Colorado, with the stately sandstone Heritage Hall dressed down with ominous-looking debris.
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Episode 7: Left Behind
Left Behind opens with both Ellie and Joel in a dire situation and a flashback brings us back to the Boston QZ and a time earlier in Ellie’s life.
But it’s a mall in northwest Calgary that steals the spotlight in Episode 7. Calgary’s Northland Village Mall has been closed since December 2021 as it undergoes a redevelopment into an open-air shopping centre, giving set designers a clean slate to recreate a dilapidated mall that would not have been used since the onset of the outbreak in the early 2000s.
The gutted Northland Village Mall briefly saw the return of its original carousel for the production of “Left Behind.”.
Courtesy / Warner Bros.
The designers had to rebuild much of the gutted mall, including all the storefronts. They also brought back the mall’s original merry-go-round, which had been moved to Calgary’s horse jumping tournament facility, Spruce Meadows.
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Episode 8: When We Are in Need
In the penultimate episode, viewers are taken about as far south as one can go in Alberta, to the gorgeous backdrop of Waterton Lakes National Park. However, what happens in the park, which serves as the town of Silver Lake, Colo., is downright creepy.
Photos from the set of The Last of Us in Waterton Village.
Lakeside Resort: “The cars had Colorado plates on them.”
The episode was filmed in the winter, when most of Waterton is boarded up for the season, making it the perfect setting for the disturbing and twisted events that go down.
Episode 9: Look for the Light
In the final episode of the season, without giving away too much, Ellie and Joel arrive in Salt Lake City and soon after arriving, Ellie finds herself regaining consciousness in an abandoned hospital, which was filmed at the Queen Elizabeth II Ambulatory Care Centre in Grande Prairie.
The final battle of the season ensues, and as Ellie and Joel escape and begin making their way back to Wyoming, their car breaks down, overlooking Barrier Lake in Kananaskis.
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There’s also an episode-stealing scene where Ellie has a joyful encounter with an animal she’s never seen before. The logistics of the shoot took place on-site at the Calgary Zoo, with the help of plenty of special effects, and feature one of the zoo’s most beloved (and tallest) animals.
nothing just pedro pascal and bella ramsey with a real giraffe on the set of the last of us pic.twitter.com/Kb4KCz7i3b
As she accepted her award, she joked that she was grateful to the Academy for not being offended by the words “women” and “talking” together.
“First of all, I just want to thank The Academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women’ and ‘talking’ put so close together like that. Cheers,” she said.
She also gave mention to fellow Canadian, Miriam Toews, who wrote the 2018 novel of the same name, which inspired the film.
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“Miriam Toews wrote an essential novel about a radical democracy in which people who don’t agree on every single issue managed to sit together in a room and carve out a way forward together free of violence. They do so not just by talking but also by listening,” she added.
Polley’s feature film directorial debut Away From Her was also nominated in this category in 2008, but she lost out to Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country For Old Men.
Based on a true story, Women Talking explores a remote religious colony where the male elders use a series of excuses to explain away years of drugged sexual assaults on the group’s women and girls, leaving many pregnant or dead.
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When the men responsible for the assaults are caught and put in custody, the women must decide whether to stay within the community or leave.
The story mirrors similar events that took place in a Manitoba Mennonite Colony in Bolivia.
“We felt like we were part of a movement, not a movie,” Polley said in an interview last year after the world premiere of Women Talking.
Sarah Polley attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.
Kayla Oaddams / WireImage
“There’s something essential that we feel is a conversation that should be part of our world, and we want to be part of it with every part of our being.”
In the male-dominated film industry, Polley said she was grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with so many talented women, but noted that people of all genders helped bring the film’s conversation to the big screen.
“Everyone on the cast and crew came to this in such a generous spirit,” she said. “It wasn’t just the women on set who wanted to bring those experiences of abuse and of feeling powerless, and of moving through it and a building a better life and hopefully a better world.”
Polley, who got her start as a child actor and rose to become an acclaimed writer and director, was competing against films Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Living, Top Gun: Maverick and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Polley was also up for the Oscar for Best Picture for the same film.
Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley on ‘Woman Talking’
By now, most people know that prime-time wrestling is scripted, but that’s not stopping World Wrestling Entertainment — commonly known as the WWE — from pursuing the option to allow people to legally bet on its matches.
CNBC reports that WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators in Colorado and Michigan to legalize betting on high-profile matches, catching many completely off-guard.
Sources who spoke to the site said the WWE is working with accounting firm Ernst & Young to secure scripted match results “in hopes it will convince regulators there’s no chance of results leaking to the public.”
Sports betting around the world has grown into a massive and highly lucrative business in recent years, but this latest news has some raising an eyebrow higher than Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson’s, due to the WWE’s transparent status as sports entertainment.
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@TheRock / Instagram
As it stands, wrestlers are often privy to the outcome of their matches well in advance of filming, but Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio says that would have to change if legalized betting is approved.
“The minute they tell people and it gets out, or even if it doesn’t get out, they’ll have people investigating them, and they’d be in an incredible amount of trouble for gaming violations and things like that,” Meltzer explained. “That’s nothing to mess with. They literally can’t do that. So the talent will not be able to know their finishes, at least in the matches that are being gambled on.”
Meltzer also noted that the WWE often counts on its writers and wrestlers to craft and act out storylines around the outcomes of matches, which often unfold weeks before a scheduled event. This could prove difficult and change the way the business is run, if they can’t plan out a storyline because they don’t know the end result of a match.
“If Roman Reigns is going into that pay-per-view against Sami Zayn, and he doesn’t know if he’s going to win or lose until the last minute, how (does) everyone craft the storylines for the week before and the week after and where they’re going?” Meltzer noted.
Historically, Ernst & Young has worked with awards shows like the Emmys and Academy Awards to keep results secret and allow legal betting in some states, and sources told CNBC that WWE executives have used Oscars betting as a template to convince regulators that gambling on scripted or predetermined events can be done safely.
Sports betting site Action Network says “a lot” of people within the WWE typically know the results of a match ahead of time, including top executives, key members of creative teams and often broadcast teams.
The WWE would plan to secure match results so they wouldn’t leak to the public.
“And that’s just those we have a high degree of confidence in saying know the results beforehand. There are undoubtedly others,” the site notes.
However, the site also notes that the WWE is likely pursuing Michigan and Colorado as partners in legal betting as the gaming control boards in those states “tend to be more loose with their rules” and currently allow betting on events such as the Oscars.
Learning the ropes at the Chinlock Wrestling School
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a pretty strong message for antisemites and those who participate in hate speech: “I don’t want you to be a loser.”
The Austrian-born actor and former governor of California, in a lengthy video posted to his YouTube channel on Monday, shared the horrors and atrocities that occurred at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp in Poland during the Second World War, and the emotional toll he felt after visiting.
“Today, I want to talk to the people out there who might have already stumbled into the wrong direction, into the wrong path,” said Schwarzenegger, whose father was a member of the Nazi party.
“I want to talk to you if you’ve heard some conspiracies about Jewish people or people of any race, gender or orientation and thought, ‘That makes sense to me,’” he said, looking directly into the camera.
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“I want to talk to you if you’ve found yourself thinking anyone is inferior or out to get you because of their religion or the color of their skin or their gender.”
Schwarzenegger visited the Auschwitz concentration camp site a few months ago, and called it “one of the darkest moments of my life.”
The former professional bodybuilder told viewers “there has never been a successful movement based on hate,” and added that he’s “seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs.”
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“Nazis? Losers. The Confederacy? Losers. The apartheid movement? Losers. I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak … despite all my friends who might say, ‘Arnold, don’t talk to those people. It’s not worth it.’
“I don’t care what they say. I care about you. I think you’re worth it. I know nobody is perfect … I can understand how people can fall into a trap of prejudice and hate.”
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Schwarzenegger pointed to his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, whom he grouped in with “broken men” after the war who were “riddled with guilt.”
“They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery,” Schwarzenegger said. “…In the end, it didn’t really matter why they joined (the Nazis). They were all broken in the same way. That’s the bottom line here.”
Schwarzenegger recalled seeing unclaimed suitcases that prisoners were promised to be reunited with as they filed into gas chambers. He spoke of scratches on the walls of gas chambers from the fingernails of desperate people “who tried to hold onto life.”
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He said that those “at the crossroads” of choosing a hateful and racist path in life “will not find success at the end of that road.”
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“Hate burns fast and bright. It might make you feel empowered for a while, but it eventually consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you,” Schwarzenegger said.
Instead of looking for scapegoats in other people, he recommended that people look more to personal accountability and inner strength, adding that there is “still hope” for those travelling a hateful road.
“There’s still time for you,” he said. “Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind.”
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Earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians not to become complacent as antisemitism and hatred grow across the country.
Speaking at a Holocaust Remembrance Day memorial in Ottawa in January, the prime minister warned that in times of peace, people “look back at this atrocity, bewildered at how it could ever have been permitted to happen.”
“We wonder what could ever have driven people to such cruelty. But hate never overtakes us all at once. It creeps up inch by inch,” Trudeau said.
According to Statistics Canada, hate crimes targeting the Jewish community have been on the rise. In 2021, there was a 47 per cent increase in police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people. Of the 884 religion-based hate crimes reported to police that year, 487 of them targeted the Jewish community.
On top of that, there have been high-profile incidents of antisemitism in popular culture in the last year. Rapper Kanye West publicly praised Adolf Hitler in a spate of antisemitic posts online that spurred a fierce wave of condemnation.
A study commissioned by Canadian charity Liberation75 last year found that one-in-three students of the 3,000 surveyed believed the Holocaust was fabricated or not reported accurately.
In January, Ottawa police charged two high school students with public incitement of hatred, criminal harassment, and mischief following an incident in which they were accused of displaying a hate symbol and using antisemitic language.
