Justin Bieber, Hailey Baldwin are not yet married
Speculation is rife that Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin quietly tied the knot at New York City's courthouse on Friday.
A day earlier, photos of the two at the New York City Marriage Bureau went viral and led to speculation that they may have tied the knot.
However, Baldwin has set the record straight.
"I understand where the speculation is coming from, but I’m not married yet!" she said.
CNN reported that a source said that the pair, who got engaged in July, were at the courthouse to obtain their wedding license.
Once submitted to the court, a New York marriage license application is valid for up to 60 days and a marriage ceremony must be performed either there in the office or anywhere in the state within that time frame in order for the couple to be eligible to receive a marriage certificate.
It's safe to say that the couple could be heading down the aisle very soon
A lady vanishes: In China, a movie star disappears amid culture crackdown
BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Fan Bingbing, an A-list Chinese movie star who has appeared in the X-Men and Iron Man film franchises, has more than 62 million followers online in China and fronted campaigns for Montblanc watches and De Beers diamonds, has disappeared.
The star’s vanishing act — she dropped off the radar in June when reports started to swirl that she was involved in a probe into tax evasion in the film industry — has sparked wild speculation in China about her fate, including reports the actress had been detained.
Reuters was unable to contact Fan. Calls to her agent went unanswered. When asked about Fan, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry replied: “Do you think this is a question of diplomacy?” The Beijing Public Security Bureau declined to comment.
The real-life drama has been playing out at a time when Beijing is tightening the reins on popular culture, looking to stamp out behavior seen as going against the ruling Communist Party’s ideological line and co-opting movie stars, pop bands and online celebrities to endorse socialist values.
“It is written in our new movie promotion law that entertainers need to pursue both professional excellence and moral integrity,” said Si Ruo, a researcher at the School of Journalism and Communication at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University.
“In the unbridled growth of the industry in the past few years, we might have overlooked the need for positive energy, so the government’s intervention is reasonable.”
Fan Bingbing is the most prominent example. The actress, 36, is China’s equivalent of Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence. She topped Forbes’ China celebrity rich list last year with earnings of 300 million yuan ($43.78 million).
A Chinese TV anchor in May was widely reported to have posted tax-dodging pay agreements online known as “yin-yang” contracts - one setting out the real agreed payment terms and a second with a lower figure for the tax authorities - that appeared to implicate Fan.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that Fan’s studio denied she had ever signed separate contracts for a single job. China’s tax bureau said in June it was launching a tax evasion investigation into the film and television industry.
Culture clean-up
But the culture clean-up is more widespread, snaring video games, online bloggers and rap artists. Critics say it threatens to stifle creativity in some sectors, and is hitting the bottom lines of firms such as tech and gaming giant Tencent.
State-run media have begun using phrases such as “tainted artists”, with official bodies pledging to ban stars who behave badly, including drug taking, gambling or visiting prostitutes.
An open letter earlier this month from members of the Beijing Trade Association for Performances said the body would “purify” the city’s entertainment and performance sector and guide artists towards “core socialist values”.
“Celebrities are seen as a weapon in the Party’s ideological battle, which is fought across all sectors all the time,” said Jonathan Sullivan, Director of China Programmes at the University of Nottingham.
China has long sought to control the creative arts, from censoring movies to literature. However, a boom in online media has prompted a new push to cleanse the arts world, as President Xi Jinping looks to tighten his grip over a huge and diverse cultural scene popular with China’s youth.
That drive has created a dragnet that has swept over the creative arts, leaving few unaffected.
Fangu, a grunge band from Beijing, which has toured across China, said it had hit an issue with its name, which translates literally as “anti-bone”, though means something closer to “rebellious spirit”.
The band was forced to change its name this week ahead of a concert in Shanghai.
“The relevant bodies do not allow the word ‘anti’ so we have to change the name temporarily,” Qi Tian, an assistant to the band, told Reuters.
Video game makers have had to tweak their offerings to add patriotic Chinese elements. Others have simply seen approvals withheld. Big media platforms have been rapped for not censoring their content enough and some have had to take sites offline.
A report this month from a state university and circulated in official media, ranked Chinese stars in order of their social responsibility, including their moral conduct - underscoring an increasingly puritanical focus on good behavior.
Fan came in last place with zero points.
The ongoing shake-up is also hitting China’s burgeoning movie and entertainment industry hard. Share prices of related companies tanked after the government probe was announced and many are conducting self-checks on their tax situations.
Claire Dong, partner and attorney at Beijing-based Tiantai law firm, said there has been a surge of consulting requests since Fan got into hot water.
New policies are swiftly eroding the favorable tax treatment that actors and artists once enjoyed.
“This is what the government needed to do,” Dong said. “The government needed to guide the actors to be more focused on acting, not money making.” ($1 = 6.8528 Chinese yuan renminbi
Not everyone will be happy with 'Game of Thrones' finale: Kit Harington
Actor Kit Harington says, not everyone will be happy with the Game of Thrones finale.
Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival Harington said, “I think a TV series that's spanned eight, nine years is an incredibly difficult thing to end. I think not everyone's going to be happy, you know, and you can't please everyone.”
The 31-year-old actor who plays the role of Jon Snow on the hit television series compared the show’s finale to those cult shows such as The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.
“My favorite TV shows are Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and The Wire and they all ended in a way that…It’s never going to satisfy you,” Harington added.
Earlier, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who plays the role of Jamie Lannister on the show had revealed the fate of the Lannisters.
“It was a surprise. God, every time we got a new script I thought, ‘OK, this is probably going to be the one.’ But no. The Lannister kids made it to the end,” he said.
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones is set to premiere sometime in the first half of 2019, with no exact date released yet
Escapism or realism? Top Emmy races pose a choice
LOS ANGELES: Fantasy or realism? That’s the question at the Emmy Awards this year as voters choose whether to reward television dramas and comedies that provide comfort and escapism, or bleaker fare that echoes troubled times.
Dragons and castles saga “Game of Thrones” and heart-tugging family drama “This is Us” square off against chilling series “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Cold War spy show “The Americans” for the highest honors in television on Monday.
Comedies have changed since “Cheers” and “Friends” in the 1990s. This year, the absurdist hip-hop-inspired “Atlanta” and “black-ish,” which both delve into race in contemporary America, compete for best series against the sunny 1950s housewife tale “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Larry David’s chronicle of everyday annoyances in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“What’s fascinating about the Emmys this year is that they are really a reflection of the pressing ideas of our time,” said Tom O’Neil, editor of awards website GoldDerby.com.
“In the big races, it’s the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter,” O’Neil said.
Drama series frontrunner “The Handmaid’s Tale” featured disturbing scenes of women being raped, mutilated, beaten and drowned in its vision of a near-future patriarchal society in which women are forcibly separated from their children.
Fan favorite “Game of Thrones,” a medieval fantasy of warring knights, is seen as the biggest challenger to “Handmaid’s Tale” for the top Emmy prize.”If people are voting for something a little more light-hearted and easier to go down, then ‘This is Us’ would be the spoiler,” said Indiewire executive editor Michael Schneider.
Elsewhere, the grisly limited series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” throws a spotlight on serial killings and homophobia in the 1980s, while Laura Dern is seen as the favorite to take home an Emmy for her role in the television film “The Tale” about child sexual assault.
Comedy series front-runners “Mrs. Maisel” and “Atlanta” could not be more different from each other in tone.
“Mrs. Maisel,” about a mother who turns to stand-up comedy after a divorce, is an exuberant period piece with a dash of early feminism.
“Atlanta,” created by and starring actor-singer Donald Glover, is set in a hard-scrabble community on the margins of the city’s hip-hop culture.
“This season of ‘Atlanta’ was so inspired,” said Schneider. “The fact that it is a good story for representation, with a predominantly African-American cast, would be a strong message to send to give the top prize to that.”
The Emmy Awards will be handed out at a ceremony on Monday in Los Angeles
Henry Cavill reportedly out as Superman in DC movies
British actor Henry Cavill best known for playing Superman in the DC universe is reportedly parting ways with Warner Bros, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cavill who first donned the blue suit for 2013's Man of Steel, then three years later in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and then for last year's Justice League, is said to be hanging up the red cape.
According to reports, Cavill is parting ways with DC after negotiations fell apart.
THR's Tatiana Siegel who broke the news about Cavill's departure said, "As for who broke up with whom, Warner Bros. was the one who decided to move on from Henry Cavill."
As for who broke up with whom, Warner Bros. was the one who decided to move on from Henry Cavill hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/he… via @thr
Hours after the news broke Warner Bros released a statement clarifying their position.
"We have a great relationship and great respect for Henry Cavill that continues to remain unchanged. Additionally, we have made no current decisions regarding any upcoming Superman films."
There are also reports that Warner Bros isn’t planning to make a standalone Superman film for several years; instead, the studio will be focusing on a recently announced Supergirl film as the studio attempts to refocus its struggling superhero franchise.
“Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors,” a studio source reportedly said.
Cavill can next be seen as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's upcoming series adaptation of The Witcher.
Star is Born' actress Lady Gaga recalls time she 'couldn't get an audition'
TORONTO: Lady Gaga, making her debut as a movie actress in “A Star is Born”, said on Sunday she was humbled by the role, calling herself “just a girl from New York who couldn’t get an audition.”
Gaga, the “Born This Way” singer best known for her flamboyant stunts on stage, plays an aspiring singer in the third remake of the romance between an ageing star and a newcomer.
“I’ve always wanted to be an actress and this is more than I ever imagined,” she told reporters on the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday. “I am just so honoured and grateful and humbled.”
Gaga insisted that all the songs in “A Star is Born” were performed live, including those by her co-star Bradley Cooper, a novice musician.
“Singing live, there really was no question,” Cooper, who also directed the film, told a news conference earlier on Sunday.
“When we first met, Stefani was very adamant about it,” said Cooper, referring to Lady Gaga by her real name, Stefani Germanotta.
“A Star is Born” tells the story of country music singer Jackson Maine (Cooper), who meets, nurtures and falls in love with aspiring musician Ally (Lady Gaga). As Jackson deals with addiction and tinnitus and his own star wanes, Ally’s career takes off.
As well as marking Cooper’s directorial debut, the film is also the first to showcase his voice, songwriting and musical abilities. The “Silver Linings Playbook” actor has said he took singing and music lessons for six months.
“Preparation was the hardest thing,” he said. “Starting to sing and realizing that I really couldn’t; starting to learn guitar and piano and realizing I couldn’t.”
Gaga made her television acting debut in “American Horror Story: Hotel” winning a Golden Globe in 2016. But taking the lead role in “A Star is Born” was a big leap.
“At the beginning of making this film, we shook hands literally, and he said to me, ‘You’re an actress’,” Gaga said. “And I said to him, ‘You’re a musician’.”
The movie’s concert scenes were shot on the stages of some of the world’s biggest music festivals, including Coachella in California and Glastonbury in England.
“A Star is Born” is the third remake of the original 1937 film. It was remade in 1954 with Judy Garland, and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand
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