Global Pulse

分类： entertainment

  • Channel 4 pulls episodes of ‘Married at First Sight UK’ after sexual misconduct claims

    Channel 4 pulls episodes of ‘Married at First Sight UK’ after sexual misconduct claims

    U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has removed every episode of its popular reality dating series *Married at First Sight UK* from all its streaming and on-demand platforms, following explosive claims from three former contestants that they were sexually assaulted by their on-screen matched partners on the show.

    The allegations mark one of the most serious controversies to hit reality television in the U.K. in recent years, with both the broadcaster and national government weighing in on the gravity of the claims. A spokesperson for the British government stated Tuesday that any criminal activity or unethical behavior connected to the case must face appropriate consequences.

    First developed as a Danish original format, *Married at First Sight* has grown into a global reality franchise, with localized adaptations airing in more than a dozen countries including the United States, Australia and South Africa. The show’s core premise pairs complete strangers based on compatibility assessments from relationship experts, who then walk the participants down the aisle for a legally non-binding wedding ceremony, before requiring the new couples to immediately move in together and begin living as spouses.

    According to claims unearthed during an investigation by BBC’s flagship current affairs series *Panorama*, two female former contestants allege they were raped by their on-screen husbands, while a third contestant says she endured a non-consensual sexual act at the hands of her matched partner. The BBC has confirmed that none of the three accusers have formally filed reports with law enforcement, and all three men named in the allegations have publicly denied the claims.

    Caroline Dinenage, a Conservative lawmaker who chairs the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which oversees broadcasting standards in the U.K., told the BBC that the series’ premise inherently creates avoidable risk for participants. “It’s a TV show that almost expects and anticipates people that have only just met will have to become really quite intimate with each other,” Dinenage explained. “They’re expected to share a bed and a life together within minutes of meeting. It almost feels like an accident waiting to happen.”

    The British adaptation of the series is produced by independent production studio CPL, which has aired 10 full seasons on Channel 4 to date, with an 11th season already scheduled to premiere later in 2025. CPL had not issued a formal response to requests for comment on the allegations as of Tuesday.

    Channel 4 officials defended the network’s existing participant protection policies, noting that the series was produced under “some of the most comprehensive and robust welfare protocols in the industry.” These measures include mandatory criminal background checks for all contestants, a publicly shared code of conduct outlining clear behavioral standards, and daily check-ins with each participant carried out by a dedicated specialist welfare team. Even so, the network has launched a full independent review of all participant welfare standards and protocols connected to its unscripted programming.

    “I want to express my sympathy to contributors who have clearly been distressed after taking part in *Married at First Sight UK*,” said Priya Dogra, Chief Executive of Channel 4. “The well-being of our contributors is always of paramount importance.”

    The allegations are the latest in a long line of scandals that have fueled ongoing public debate across Britain about the ethical treatment of reality TV contestants and the excessive psychological and emotional pressure placed on participants. High-profile past controversies include the 2018 and 2019 suicides of two former *Love Island* contestants, followed by the 2020 death by suicide of *Love Island* host Caroline Flack, which prompted widespread calls for sweeping industry reform.

    Other major British broadcasters have also faced growing scrutiny over participant treatment in recent months. Just this year, the BBC introduced mandatory chaperones for all contestants and professional partners on its hit dance competition *Strictly Come Dancing*, following a wave of bullying and harassment allegations in 2024. In 2024, the network also fired long-time *MasterChef* hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode after internal investigations into separate claims of inappropriate workplace behavior.

    This story includes discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 in the U.S.

  • Kylie Minogue says cancer experience ‘still with me’

    Kylie Minogue says cancer experience ‘still with me’

    Global pop icon Kylie Minogue has bared her soul in a revealing new three-part Netflix documentary, confronting two decades of lingering trauma from her breast cancer diagnosis and opening up about the harsh media mistreatment that marked the early days of her career.

    Twenty years after receiving the life-altering news that she had breast cancer, the Australian superstar said the emotional weight of that experience continues to shape her life to this day. When recalling the moment she got her diagnosis, Minogue described an overwhelming state of disbelief that left her scrambling to process uncharted territory. “Where do I even start? Shock,” she told BBC London in an interview about the project. “You’re trying to understand something you’ve never thought about before. It’s a crash course. It’s very deep and extended and it’s still with me today in many ways.”

    Having called London her home for more than 30 years, Minogue also pulled back the curtain on the unflattering side of her early rise to fame, when she made the transition from starring on the hit Australian soap opera *Neighbours* to building her global music career. Revisiting old interview footage from that era for the documentary remains a distressing experience, she said, recalling the relentless, unkind scrutiny that left her feeling deeply humiliated as a teenage newcomer to the spotlight. “When I see some of that footage back, I’m still as confounded as I was even as a 19-year-old,” she shared. “Sometimes it felt like just humiliation and having to sit within that frame and handle it.”

    Minogue noted that the aggressive, demeaning treatment she endured as a young star would be unlikely to unfold the same way in the modern entertainment industry, but she acknowledged that contemporary public figures face a new set of intense pressures stemming from social media platforms.

    For years, Minogue repeatedly turned down offers to make an in-depth documentary about her life and career, saying she was never ready to confront her most painful memories on screen. This time, however, she realized the moment had come to lay her full story bare. “I’ve been asked many times and I always said no,” she explained. “If not now, when?”

    Completing the project required her to push past lingering anxiety and embrace vulnerability to revisit chapters of her life she had long avoided. “In the end, I just had to take the plunge and really open myself up a little more,” she said.

    Beyond looking back at past struggles, the pop star also shared her plans for the future: she hopes to return to acting down the line while continuing to create new music, a craft she described as both “a best friend” and “a saviour” that has carried her through her hardest days. Minogue also left fans with an exciting tease, hinting that she could return to perform at London’s iconic Hyde Park following her standout 2024 set at the venue. “I’ll see you again at Hyde Park,” she said, before adding with a playful smile, “I said that like I’m assuming I’m going to play Hyde Park again. Maybe I will. It was amazing.”

    The documentary marks the most comprehensive look at Minogue’s decades-long career and personal journey ever created, giving fans an unprecedented glimpse into the resilience that has defined one of pop music’s most enduring stars.

  • Love, lust and gnomes as top UK flower show bursts into bloom

    Love, lust and gnomes as top UK flower show bursts into bloom

    The 2026 edition of the UK’s most prestigious horticultural event, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, opened this week in London, blending centuries of gardening tradition with boundary-pushing modern themes, ambitious sustainability projects and unexpected playful touches that have drawn crowds and sparked conversation across the country. Opening its gates to the public starting Tuesday, the five-day event is projected to welcome more than 150,000 attendees, with all tickets sold out weeks in advance — a testament to the enduring public love for the iconic show, which has been hosted at the Royal Chelsea Hospital on the banks of the River Thames since 1913.

    Clare Matterson, director of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), framed the 2026 event as a particularly vital celebration of green spaces at a moment of global uncertainty. “We’ve never needed the joy of gardening, the power of plants for our planet or the peace of simply sitting in a garden, more,” she shared in an official opening statement.

    Thirty custom-designed gardens are competing this year for the show’s coveted annual awards, with exhibits running the gamut from tranquil community-focused spaces to provocative, conversation-starting installations. Turning heads and stirring mild controversy is standout exhibit *Aphrodite’s Hothouse*, a bold reimagining of floral display that designer James Whiting describes as a theatrical celebration of love and lust. Marked by pendulous, heart-shaped and suggestively sculpted blooms, the lush, fragrant indoor garden also includes discreet nods to adult intimacy in the form of small sex toys — a choice that has drawn pushback from some traditional gardening circles, which Whiting has openly dismissed.

    “People are excited to see something a bit fresh… and to see the RHS opening the doors to more modern topics,” Whiting told reporters from Agence France-Presse, arguing that the theme is inherently organic to horticulture. “Flowers are all about sex. So why not bring that to the Chelsea Flower Show?” he added, noting that this year’s show features a growing cohort of young, innovative new wave gardeners pushing the boundaries of the traditionally genteel hobby.

    Beyond the bold provocative displays, many 2026 exhibits center on themes of conservation, sustainability and community impact, carrying on the show’s growing focus on environmental action. One standout exhibit from the Campaign for Protection of Rural England, designed by Sarah Eberle, features a massive sculpture of the sleeping Greek goddess Gaia — or Mother Nature — carved entirely from fallen native trees. Titled *Garden on the Edge*, the installation emphasizes the natural world’s innate power of regeneration and protection, highlighting joy to be found in ordinary natural spaces. After the show closes, the entire garden, including the Gaia sculpture, will be relocated to a new communal public park for a housing estate in northern Sheffield, extending its impact far beyond the Chelsea showgrounds.

    Another sustainability-focused exhibit, the *Bring Me Sunshine* garden, is built to become a permanent part of the UK’s second Eden Project, which is scheduled to open in 2028 in Morecambe, northwestern England. Built to highlight coastal ecosystem restoration, the garden is surrounded by a retaining wall constructed entirely from recycled waste materials: waste shells from clams, mussels and cockles, paired with reclaimed coastal limestone, creating a low-carbon alternative to traditional concrete. The space is planted entirely with native edible coastal species from the Morecambe Bay area, including samphire, which is making its debut at the Chelsea show this year, sea kale and sea buckthorn.

    Designer Harry Holding, a keen professional forager, explained that food acts as an accessible entry point for new audiences to connect with nature. “An important way to connect with nature is using food as that gateway,” he said. The original Cornwall-based Eden Project, which transformed a disused clay pit into a world-famous global garden destination 25 years ago, has injected £6.8 billion ($9.1 billion) into the local Cornish economy and draws one million annual visitors. Organizers hope the new Morecambe site will replicate that success, bringing jobs, skills training and economic regeneration to the historically impoverished coastal region. Co-designer Alex Michaelis called the project a story of “hope and regeneration” for left-behind coastal communities.

    For vulnerable young people, the *Children’s Society* garden offers a quiet, informal safe space designed to help overstimulated teenagers step back from digital connectedness and reconnect with the natural world. Designer Patrick Clarke described the space as “a garden of safety, it’s a garden of calm, of protection,” noting that moving into the dense, green core of the garden feels like stepping into “the hug of the garden” for the always-on generation, giving them space to reflect and slow down. Clarke included small, hardy native plants that he calls “little jewels, that just need that little bit of love, that little bit of care that we all need,” mirroring the support the Children’s Society provides to vulnerable young people across the UK.

    In a playful break from tradition, this year marks only the second time in the show’s 113-year history that whimsical, often divisive garden gnomes have been allowed back onto the official showgrounds. A collection of gnomes painted by high-profile celebrities, including Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett and Queen guitarist Brian May, will be auctioned off after the show to raise funds for RHS charity programs.

    This year also features a special garden curated with input from King Charles III, who is expected to visit the show alongside Queen Camilla. Titled the RHS and The King’s Foundation Curious Garden, the exhibit celebrates the diversity of plant life and its profound impact on human life. Co-created by football icon David Beckham and designer Frances Tophill, the garden centers on King Charles’ favorite flower, the stately delphinium, with Tophill and her team tracking down one of the world’s rarest delphinium cultivars: the cornflower blue *Delphinium elatum* “Alice Artindale”. Beckham, who has long been an amateur gardener, echoed the exhibit’s core theme, saying: “In my experience, gardening is all about being curious.”

  • Star of Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar admits: ‘I was never a priest’

    Star of Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar admits: ‘I was never a priest’

    For years, a grinning face has stared out from magazine kiosks across Rome, gracing the cover of one of the capital’s most tourist-popular souvenirs: the infamous “sexy priest” calendar. Countless visitors to the Vatican, the global seat of Catholicism, have snapped up the annual publication for upwards of 10 euros ($11.65) as a quirky memento of their trip, charmed by the idea of a unusually handsome man of the cloth fronting the project. Now, four decades after the iconic cover shot was taken, the man behind the face has spilled a long-held secret: he was never a priest at all.

    In a recent interview with Italy’s leading daily newspaper *Repubblica*, 39-year-old Giovanni Galizia, now a flight attendant instructor, opened up about the accidental decades-long hoax. The story dates back to when Galizia was just 17 years old, when a chance encounter with a photographer led to the fateful photoshoot. The photographer was working on a project highlighting iconic local figures across major Italian cities: gondoliers for Venice, priests for Rome. With a full priest’s outfit already prepared, he asked the teen Galizia if he would step in for a quick shot as a casual favor.

    “It was just a game,” Galizia recalled of the 2001 shoot, which took place in Palermo, far from Rome where the calendar would later become a staple. He never took a single euro for the photo, he said, and had no idea the image would become a permanent tourist fixture decades later. Of the cover shot that’s drawn thousands of admiring glances from tourists, Galizia downplayed the hype that earned the calendar its “sexy priest” nickname. “I don’t see anything sexy in that photo… there’s nothing sensual about it,” he told the outlet. He also added that his current 39-year-old face shows the passage of time far more clearly than the decades-old teen shot.

    Galizia went on to confirm that his non-priest status is not a one-off, hinting that many of the other “priests” featured across the calendar’s monthly pages may also be fake models, not actual clergy. Today, Galizia lives an ordinary life out of the spotlight: while his face is instantly recognizable to anyone who has wandered Rome’s tourist streets, he is able to move completely incognito outside the capital. The only reminder of his unexpected fame comes when friends travel to Rome, who almost always send him a photo of his face staring back from a kiosk calendar.

  • The breathless Korean sci-fi monster movie ‘Hope’ leaves the Cannes Film Festival floored

    The breathless Korean sci-fi monster movie ‘Hope’ leaves the Cannes Film Festival floored

    CANNES, France — Big-budget, alien-centered action blockbusters rarely earn a spot in the official competition for the Cannes Film Festival’s most coveted honor, the Palme d’Or. But South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin’s latest project, ‘Hope,’ is far from an ordinary sci-fi feature. A decade in the making, it emerged as one of the most hotly anticipated premieres of this year’s festival, marking the director’s first release since his critically celebrated 2016 thriller *The Wailing*. While other iconic Korean genre filmmakers like Bong Joon Ho have already cemented worldwide fame, many global film lovers have long argued Na is overdue for the widespread international acclaim that only a high-profile Cannes debut can deliver.

  • Shakira wins £50m tax refund from Spanish government

    Shakira wins £50m tax refund from Spanish government

    After nearly a decade of high-stakes legal conflict that upended the global superstar’s personal and public life, a Spanish national high court has delivered a landmark ruling ordering the country’s tax agency to return €55 million ($64 million) to Colombian singing icon Shakira, finding the sum was wrongfully seized amid a years-long disagreement over her 2011 tax status.

    The Grammy-winning artist, famous for decades of global hits including *Hips Don’t Lie*, *Waka Waka* and *Whenever, Wherever*, has consistently maintained she never committed tax fraud. The court’s ruling backed her core argument: tax officials failed to provide sufficient evidence that Shakira spent the 183 days required to qualify as a Spanish tax resident during the 2011 fiscal year. Judicial calculations put her total time in Spain that year at just 163 days, 20 days below the legal threshold for mandatory personal income tax obligations for residents.

    The €55 million repayment order includes roughly €24 million in improperly collected income tax and €25 million in unlawful fines that authorities had issued labeling the case a “very serious” infringement. The court explicitly struck down the fines, noting they were rooted in the unproven assumption that Spain was Shakira’s primary tax residence in 2011.

    In an emotional public statement following the ruling, Shakira said the court had “finally set the record straight” after eight years of what she described as “brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family’s well-being.”

    “There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true,” she said. “Yet, for nearly a decade, I was treated as guilty. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of the taxpayers. Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling.”

    The singer dedicated her legal victory to “thousands of ordinary citizens” who face similar pressure to prove their innocence in tax disputes, often at the cost of “economic and emotional ruin.” Writing for Spanish daily *El Mundo* in 2024, the 49-year-old artist compared the ongoing tax investigations against her to an “inquisition trial.”

    Shortly after the high court’s announcement, Spain’s tax agency confirmed it would appeal the ruling to the country’s Supreme Court, and no funds will be repaid until a final definitive ruling is issued. It is important to note this 2011 dispute is separate from other tax conflicts between Shakira and Spanish authorities, including a broader fraud case that the singer settled in 2018 to avoid trial. The current ruling also does not address her tax status for years after 2011.

    Shakira’s connection to Spain stems from her 11-year relationship with former FC Barcelona and Spanish national team footballer Gerard Pique, whom she met in 2010 while filming the music video for *Waka Waka*, the official anthem of that year’s South Africa FIFA World Cup. The couple separated in 2022.

    The legal victory comes as Shakira is at the peak of a massive global career resurgence. Earlier this month, she drew a crowd of two million fans to a free open-air concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, one of the largest live audiences for a solo performer in recent history. The singer is set to conclude her *Women Don’t Cry Anymore* world tour with a high-profile residency in Madrid starting this September. Just last week, organizers confirmed she will perform alongside pop icon Madonna and K-pop group BTS during the halftime show for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup final this summer.

  • What to Stream: John Krasinski, ‘Ladies First,’ Rod Stewart, Brooke Shields and a ‘Lego Batman’ game

    What to Stream: John Krasinski, ‘Ladies First,’ Rod Stewart, Brooke Shields and a ‘Lego Batman’ game

    As streaming platforms continue to flood audiences with new content every week, Associated Press entertainment writers have curated a handpicked selection of the most notable new films, series, music releases, and video games hitting digital platforms between May 18 and 24. From long-awaited franchise returns to genre-bending original stories, this week’s lineup offers something for every type of viewer and gamer.

    ## New Films Premiering This Week
    Four years after wrapping up his hit Amazon Prime Video series adaptation of Tom Clancy’s iconic spy franchise, John Krasinski is pulling the CIA analyst’s suit back on for the new standalone feature *Jack Ryan: Ghost War*, premiering Wednesday on Prime Video. Marking the sixth theatrical/streaming entry and third overall reboot of the decades-long Jack Ryan franchise, the new film also brings back fan-favorite series regulars Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, and Betty Gabriel to round out the core cast.

    Over on Netflix, the sharp gender satire *Ladies First* debuts Friday, May 22, headlined by Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike. Cohen steps into the role of an unapologetic chauvinist who wakes up one morning to find himself trapped in a parallel reality where women hold all the social and political power. The supporting cast is packed with acclaimed talent, including Charles Dance, Emily Mortimer, and Richard E. Grant.

    Hulu is adding Oscar-nominated animated fantasy *Arco* to its lineup this Friday, May 22. A vivid, rainbow-hued French time-travel adventure, the film follows 12-year-old Arco, who lives in the distant year 2932, only to accidentally warp back to 2072. There, he befriends a young girl growing up in a world reshaped by extreme climate disaster, where robots handle most child-rearing duties. In an earlier assessment, AP film critics praised the feature as a whimsical, dreamlike parable that “directly confronts ecological apocalypse and yet still finds a thrillingly optimistic note to end on.”

    Quentin Tarantino’s unified cut of his two-part revenge epic, *Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair*, makes its streaming debut Friday, May 22 on Peacock. The reworked film merges *Kill Bill Vol. 1* and *Kill Bill Vol. 2* into a single continuous narrative, adding a previously cut 7.5-minute animated sequence that was omitted from the original standalone releases after the project was split in two back in the early 2000s.

    ## New Music Releases to Stream
    With the Grammy Awards set to move their annual broadcast to ABC starting next year, CBS and the Recording Academy are celebrating one last collaboration this week with *Forever Young: A Grammy Salute to Rod Stewart*, a two-hour television special airing Tuesday on CBS. Blending live concert performances, intimate new interviews, and never-before-seen archival and behind-the-scenes footage, the special is a must-watch for any fan of the iconic British rock star. Paramount+ Premium subscribers can stream the special live or on-demand the same day, while those on the Essential tier will be able to watch it starting Wednesday.

    Acclaimed British singer-songwriter Maisie Peters expands her discography this week with the release of her new folk-pop album *Florescence*, out Friday. Peters, known for her sharp, intimate storytelling, leans into themes of new love across the album’s tracklist, creating a warm, relatable soundtrack that will appeal both to long-time fans and new listeners drawn to melodic, heartfelt pop.

    Indie rock duo Lowertown — made up of Atlanta-born, New York-based collaborators Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg — release their most polished and compelling work to date this Friday with *Ugly Duckling Union*, out via their own Summer Shade Records. Early in their career, the pair built a following as a lo-fi bedroom pop act heavily influenced by indie cult hero Alex G, signed to Dirty Hit Records, the label behind The 1975. The new record finds the duo refining their sound: hook-driven tracks like the standout love song “I Like You A Lot” trade scrappy lo-fi edges for catchy, accessible melodies, while experimental cuts like “Big Thumb” lean into stream-of-consciousness folk-jazz arrangements featuring harmonica and 12-string guitar. Narrative tracks like “Worst Friend” play to the pair’s chemistry, with Osby and Weinberg trading verses to amp up emotional impact. The release is already being tipped as one of the best indie rock records of 2024.

    ## New Streaming Series to Watch
    Acorn TV’s new six-episode murder mystery *You’re Killing Me* premieres Monday, starring Brooke Shields as a beloved novelist who teams up with a true crime podcaster to unravel a small-town killing.

    Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany leads the new Apple TV+ original *Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed*, which drops its first two episodes Wednesday. Maslany plays a recently divorced woman down on her luck who witnesses a violent crime unfold in real time over a webcam feed, with Jake Johnson of *New Girl* fame co-starring as her ex-husband.

    *Stranger Things* creators the Duffer Brothers are stepping into a new genre as executive producers for Netflix’s *The Boroughs*, debuting Thursday. Leaving behind the teen-focused supernatural drama of their hit Netflix series, the Duffer Brothers’ new project centers on a very different group of heroes: residents of a quiet, picturesque retirement community who band together when monstrous threats emerge in their small town. The star-studded cast includes Geena Davis, Bill Pullman, Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, and Denis O’Hare.

    Lena Waithe’s beloved Chicago-set drama *The Chi* returns for its eighth and final season this Friday, May 22 on Paramount+. The long-running coming-of-age series has followed a group of residents on Chicago’s South Side for nearly a decade, exploring how they navigate systemic racism, community violence, and the fight to build better lives for themselves and their families.

    ## New Video Games to Play This Week
    The most ambitious Lego Batman title ever made, *Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight*, launches Friday, May 22 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Developed by TT Games, a studio long known for balancing playful humor with heartfelt love for the DC franchise, the new release acts as a full career retrospective for the Caped Crusader, pulling inspiration from 80 years of Batman comics, films, and television shows. Players will face off against classic Batman villains including the Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, and Bane, and can even team up with a friend in co-op mode to play as Robin, Batgirl, or Catwoman. The open-world version of Gotham City built for the game is the studio’s largest and most detailed to date.

    Nintendo’s iconic dinosaur hero Yoshi headlines a new family-friendly adventure for the Switch 2, *Yoshi and the Mysterious Book*, launching Thursday. The game kicks off when Yoshi stumbles upon a talking encyclopedia named Mr. E, where every two-page spread opens into a brand new explorable world for Yoshi to bounce through. Staying true to classic Yoshi gameplay, the hero can swallow enemies with his long tongue and carry friendly creatures on his back to borrow their unique abilities. While the game is designed specifically for younger players, the vibrant, lush animation style is sure to appeal to adult players as well.

    Microsoft’s open-world racing franchise *Forza Horizon 6* hits Xbox Series X/S and PC this Tuesday, bringing the beloved series to Japan, one of the world’s most iconic destinations for car culture. The new entry features a diverse range of terrain, from winding mountain roads and coastal coastal trails to the neon-lit city streets of Tokyo. Beyond hundreds of on-road and off-road races, players can complete side activities including stunt challenges, food delivery missions, and collectible hunts for fast-food mascots — even a surprise giant robot encounter is hidden across the map. With 550 real-world licensed cars available to collect and upgrade, completionists will have dozens of hours of content to enjoy filling out their garages.

  • In Cannes standout ‘Fatherland,’ Sandra Hüller stuns again

    In Cannes standout ‘Fatherland,’ Sandra Hüller stuns again

    CANNES, France — For acclaimed German actress Sandra Hüller, unbridled emotional outbursts are not her default performance style, nor her preferred mode of being. Soft-spoken and drawn to quiet reserve, Hüller often builds her most riveting on-screen intensity through stillness, through the quiet power of simply watching a scene unfold. But when her character does finally break into rage, grief, or even unexpected joy — like her viral karaoke scene in this year’s box office hit — the result is nothing short of spectacular.

    “It’s not something I particularly enjoy doing,” Hüller shared in a candid interview in a sun-dappled Cannes garden, pausing to take a drag from a cigarette before reflecting further. “I’m actually more drawn to characters who don’t erupt constantly. To be honest, people who lash out all the time can be pretty draining, right? I much prefer observing others to being the center of attention myself. When you deliver a big, explosive performance, all eyes are on you — I think that’s probably the root of my preference. Don’t worry, I won’t drag you into playing therapist today to unpack all that,” she said with a warm laugh.

    This year, audiences and critics alike are getting the full, breathtaking scope of Hüller’s talent, with four wildly diverse new releases showcasing every corner of her range. The most anticipated of these projects is *Fatherland*, the latest feature from award-winning Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, the visionary behind Oscar-winning works *Ida* and *Cold War*, which premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

    Within days of its first screening, *Fatherland* — set for a global release later this year via Mubi — has emerged as one of the festival’s most widely praised standout entries and an early frontrunner for the festival’s top prize. Staying true to Pawlikowski’s signature aesthetic, the film is shot in elegant, stark black-and-white, clocks in at a tight 82 minutes, and hums with the unprocessed grief and fractured identity of post-World War II Europe.

    Hüller stars as Erika Mann, daughter of iconic German author Thomas Mann, played by Hanns Zischler. In 1949, the pair return to their divided homeland for a cross-country road trip, moving seamlessly between the U.S.-administered West Germany and Soviet-controlled East Germany. Their old country has ceased to exist, leaving them caught between two opposing new worlds — what Thomas Mann dubs the choice between “Mickey Mouse or Stalin.”

    For Hüller, who was born in former East Germany, *Fatherland* comes on the heels of her chilling, Oscar-nominated turn in Jonathan Glazer’s *The Zone of Interest*, which was set on the grounds of the Auschwitz concentration camp. While her *Zone of Interest* character was complicit in Nazi atrocities, Erika in *Fatherland* is a vehement anti-Nazi, forced to live among former collaborators who refuse to reckon with their actions.

    “Portraying emptiness is an enormous challenge, and I think tackling that is a really big deal,” Hüller explained. “We talk about this period constantly in German history classes, but I never got a real sense of what it actually felt like to live it. We have thousands of photos of women clearing rubble from the streets, because most men were dead or imprisoned after the war. But that feeling of waking up and no longer recognizing the country you were born into — that’s something we rarely connect with.”

    *Fatherland* is far from Hüller’s first iconic turn at Cannes. The festival has already hosted two of her most celebrated career performances: the 2016 critically adored comedy *Toni Erdmann*, and 2023’s Palme d’Or-winning *Anatomy of a Fall*. What makes 2026 unique is the sheer volume of high-profile, diverse work coming from the actress, a career streak most performers only dream of.

    Earlier this year, Hüller took home the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for *Rose*, a meditative exploration of gender set in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War. In the spring’s blockbuster hit *Project Hail Mary*, she co-starred opposite Ryan Gosling, who encouraged her to lean into the spontaneous energy of what became the film’s most beloved scene: a raw karaoke performance of Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times.” She will also appear in Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s highly anticipated upcoming feature *Digger*, set for release later in 2026.

    “I’m almost 50 now, and I feel incredibly lucky to be having this run of experiences right now,” Hüller said. “For a lot of my peers at this age, work slows down, or it feels like the end of the road. That’s not the case for me, and I don’t take that for granted.”

    Just as Erika is torn between two competing worlds in *Fatherland*, Hüller currently moves seamlessly between European art house cinema and major Hollywood blockbusters, thriving in both spaces. “I’ve just been looking at every project that comes my way and asking myself if I can say yes, if I’m ready to take it on,” she explained. “So many new experiences are coming my way that I’ve never had before — I’d be so stupid to turn them down. It’s not about chasing success, really. It’s about growing as a person and an artist, getting to know new spaces so you can move more freely through the world. That brings me so much joy. It’s dangerous, it’s way outside of my comfort zone, but it’s worth it.”

    Despite this unprecedented career high, success has come with a trade-off for Hüller, who identifies first and foremost as a theater actor. She is eager to return to the grassroots theater collective where she honed her craft early in her career; she still directs productions with the group, but her widespread fame makes it impossible for her to step back into an ensemble role without drawing unwanted attention.

    “I miss theater like a heartbroken person misses someone they love,” she said, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke. “Even talking about it right now, I can’t hold back the tears.”

    Pawlikowski, known for his stripped-back, minimalist filmmaking style, occasionally adds spontaneous moments to his meticulously crafted shots. During filming, he came up with a last-minute scene where Erika, who has grown quietly skeptical of her father’s cautious optimism for a new, united Germany, finally confronts him in a shouting match.

    “I told her, ‘Listen, if the scene doesn’t work, I won’t put it in the final cut — just give it your best shot,’ and she was brilliant,” Pawlikowski recalled in an interview at Cannes. “That’s the luxury of working with an actress who can do anything. I just watched her and thought, how did she pull that off? It was even better than what I’d imagined.”

    Hüller didn’t expect Pawlikowski’s unique directorial approach to reshape her acting process, but it did. Pawlikowski’s framing leaves an enormous amount of empty space for performances to breathe, and Hüller had to learn how to occupy that space without falling into stillness that reads as lifeless on camera.

    “It all comes down to presence, awareness, and focus, and having a rich inner life that isn’t necessarily visible on the outside,” she said. “But audiences can feel it, somehow. The more precise that inner movement is, the better it works within Pawlikowski’s very precise, carefully constructed frames. That’s a lesson I had to learn through making this film, and it’s one I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.”

  • Bulgaria gives its Eurovision winner Dara a grand welcome upon her return home

    Bulgaria gives its Eurovision winner Dara a grand welcome upon her return home

    Hundreds of enthusiastic supporters flooded Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport on Sunday, waving Bulgarian national flags and cheering loudly to welcome home Dara, the newly crowned winner of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. Looking exhausted but beaming with joy, the 27-year-old artist stepped off the plane holding aloft her Eurovision trophy, marking a historic milestone for the small Southeast European nation. All major Bulgarian broadcast networks interrupted their scheduled programming to carry live, uninterrupted coverage of the homecoming celebration for viewers across the country.

    Dara, whose full legal name is Darina Yotova, secured Bulgaria’s first ever Eurovision win on Saturday at the competition held in Vienna, topping the leaderboard with her high-energy, crowd-pleasing hit “Bangaranga”. Outperforming 24 other competing artists from across Europe and beyond, the track’s catchy, infectious beats and polished synchronized choreography resonated strongly with both professional jury panels from participating nations and global public voters, whose combined scores determine the annual contest’s champion.

    In brief remarks to reporters upon her arrival, Dara framed her victory as more than just a personal achievement. “This award marks the beginning of my future international career,” she said, adding that the win should draw attention to the depth of creative talent emerging from her home country. “We have done something great for Bulgarian music, and I hope this sends a message that Bulgaria’s performers and artists deserve stronger support. Bulgaria is an exceptionally talented nation that will continue to receive more and more attention,” she added.

    The win has sparked a wave of national pride across Bulgaria, with top political leaders joining public celebrations of Dara’s achievement. Parliamentary Speaker Mihaela Dotsova described the victory as “an inspiration for the nation,” while President Iliana Yotova called it a “triumph for Bulgaria.” Prime Minister Rumen Radev echoed that praise, noting the win is “a victory with global resonance” for the country.

    Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev was also on hand at the airport to greet the new champion, and confirmed that the Bulgarian capital is already prepared to host the 2027 edition of the iconic song contest. The 2027 event would align with the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union, creating a fitting milestone for the country’s first time hosting the long-running competition.

  • Israel booed at Eurovision final as Bulgaria wins competition

    Israel booed at Eurovision final as Bulgaria wins competition

    The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest concluded Saturday with a historic milestone for Bulgarian pop artist Dara, born Darina Yotova, who secured the country’s first-ever victory in the competition’s 70-year existence. But the milestone win was overshadowed by widespread controversy and public uproar centered on Israel’s second-place finish, which was met with loud boos from the audience during the official score announcement.

    This year’s final went down as one of the least-watched and least-attended events in Eurovision history, triggered by a mass withdrawal of five competing nations: Spain, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia. All five pulled out in protest of the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) December ruling that allowed Israel to retain its spot in the 2026 contest. A coordinated international boycott campaign also pushed large swathes of global audiences to skip viewing the event, further dragging down audience numbers.

    Addressing reporters following her win, Dara struck a confident tone: “Everything is possible: Bulgaria just won Eurovision. I really like breaking rules. I’m really good with following my rules – not anybody else’s. We wanted to give to the audience something new and fresh, something that is not expected.”

    Outside the contest venue in Vienna, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered Saturday for a large-scale protest that drew roughly 2,000 attendees, per local police estimates. The controversy surrounding Israel’s inclusion has roiled the competition since the EBU’s initial decision, with reporting from The New York Times revealing that Israel has invested more than $1 million into leveraging Eurovision as a soft power instrument. According to the outlet, the country launched its promotional campaign as early as 2018, when scrutiny of its participation grew amid ongoing territorial expansion and military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the explicit goal of improving its tarnished global image and rallying international backing.

    Bulgaria’s win ultimately spared the EBU from a far larger PR crisis: a first-place finish for Israel would have required the 2027 contest to be hosted on Israeli territory, a move that would have sparked even broader global backlash. Still, industry analysts and long-time Eurovision figures warn the damage done to the competition’s reputation may be irreversible. Many note the controversy threatens the long-term future of the annual event, which has long branded itself as a unifying cultural celebration of European artistry.

    The fallout has already strained relationships with major participating nations. Spain, one of Eurovision’s so-called “Big Five” funding countries that automatically qualify for the final and contributes a large share of the contest’s annual budget, pulled its public broadcaster RTVE from airing the 2026 final entirely. In a formal statement, RTVE said: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition, but human rights are not. There is no room for indifference. Peace and justice for Palestine.”

    Belgian public broadcaster VRT issued a stark pre-final warning, stating it would likely withdraw from 2027’s contest unless the EBU holds a general membership vote to reevaluate Israel’s eligibility to compete. Even former Eurovision winners have spoken out about the lasting damage to the competition’s brand. Emmelie de Forest, who took home the 2013 title for Denmark, told independent outlet Middle East Eye that while her relationship with the contest has long been deeply personal, the EBU’s choices have increasingly alienated fans and created deep rifts within the global Eurovision community.

    “It breaks my heart, but Eurovision’s decisions increasingly leave people feeling conflicted, divided or alienated from it. I think it has already done a lot of damage to Eurovision, and that makes me genuinely sad to say because the contest has been such a meaningful part of my life. I sadly think the contest is creating more division than unity. The controversy surrounding Israel’s participation, the backlash from fans and artists, the countries withdrawing and the growing distrust toward the EBU have all fundamentally changed the atmosphere around Eurovision,” de Forest said.