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Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor for Black filmmakers who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in the 1971 action movie “Shaft” and several sequels, has died

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Eurovision, that famously camp song contest which has a strong pro-LGBTQ+ stance and has this year acknowledged Putin’s war in Ukraine as the reason for it being held in Liverpool on the country’s behalf, has blocked President Volodymyr Zelensky from making a video address - because it would breach the event’s “non-political nature”. Organisers behind the show, who on Thursday saw no issue with drag queens absolutely slaying on the M&S Bank Arena stage and preaching messages of love and acceptance, rejected the request ahead of the grand final on Saturday. In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – whose previous decisions to ban Russia and Belarus from participating definitely weren’t political, obviously – said the request from Mr Zelensky to address the Eurovision audience “while made with laudable intentions, regrettably cannot be granted by the European Broadcasting Union management as it would be against the rules of the event”. Belarus was disqualified from the contest in 2021 over political messaging in their planned entry (their second attempt before the deadline), while Russia was kicked out of Eurovision a year later for its illegal invasion of Ukraine. And the rules state “all participating broadcasters” must ensure that “the ESC [Eurovision Song Contest] shall in no case be politicised and/or instrumentalized and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way”. That’s ‘instrumentalise’ in the sense of using Eurovision as a platform to spread a political message, before anyone makes a musical pun (we know you want to)… Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The EBU’s decision has since been criticised by Boris Johnson, the former prime minister who became a meme over how many times he’d meet with the Ukrainian president whenever he was experiencing a turbulent moment in his premiership. “It would have been right to hear from President Zelensky at tomorrow night’s Eurovision. There is only one reason the contest is not in Ukraine and that is because of Putin’s illegal war,” he tweeted. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman told reporters: “The prime minister believes it would be fitting for President Zelensky to address the event and we’re disappointed by the decision from the European Broadcasting Union. “The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political; they’re fundamental, and Eurovision themselves recognised that last year when they rightly suspended Russia’s participation from the competition.” No 10 added, however, that they are not planning to call on the EBU to change its mind. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

With its eccentric jokes and bright pink scenery, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie was a breath of fresh air for many audiences – but it wasn’t always going to be that way. It has emerged that the director tried to get a “fart opera” scene into the film – but it didn’t make the final cut. Speaking to IndieWire, director Gerwig and the film’s editor Nick Houy said that across the three films they have collaborated on (Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie) they have always tried to sneak in a fart joke. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Sadly for fans of toilet humour, none of the jokes have ever made it into the final versions of the films. Gerwig said: “We’ve always tried to get in a proper fart joke and we’ve never done it. We had like a fart opera in the middle [of Barbie]. I thought it was really funny. And that was not the consensus.” “It was in the wrong place, too,” Houy added. “We need to work it into a more significant narrative moment next time.” Neither said where the “fart opera” would have fit into the film. Houy said: “We were just, like, ‘Let’s put it in front of people and see how they react.’ Everyone’s different and every screening’s different and we’ve definitely learned, over the years, that you really have to let things have their fair chance and then act accordingly. Once you know it’s dead, you have got to get it out of there.” Barbie was one of the most hotly anticipated movies of recent times, starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Dua Lipa, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Sharon Rooney and more. On its opening it didn’t disappoint, becoming the biggest first weekend for a film by a female director, grossing $162m over its first three days. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.