Apple has coughed up another huge pile of cash to make "Napoleon", the latest epic from director Ridley Scott that hits cinemas around the world next week, with Joaquin Phoenix donning the...

Rumors of Reba McEntire being deaf began doing rounds when she cancelled a show back in March 2019 on account of laryngitis

Comedian turned commentator Russell Brand has weighed in on the ongoing wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, flouting conspiracy theories in his usual fast-paced, flamboyant style which are so outlandish, that he’s being compared to GB News anti-vaxxer Neil Oliver. Brand, who’s switched appearances on comedy films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek for his Stay Free podcast in recent years, uploaded a video to his six million subscriber strong YouTube channel on Thursday with the title, “Something Doesn’t Seem Right”. As the baseless conspiracy theory that the devastating crisis on the US island was not aided by climate change but rather a ‘space laser’ continue to spread online, Brand jumped in and dismissed those rightly questioning such a nonsensical argument. “Now, some people would say, ‘Oh, that’s dangerous misinformation – that should be shut down.’ I think the opposite. “Discuss it, look at it, investigate it. Either it’s true or it’s not true, we can decide for ourselves, let’s not get excited,” he says. We have, Russell – that’s kind of what journalists do for a job… Towards the end of the almost 23-minute-long video, Brand turns to the conspiracy that the fires in Hawaii were “started deliberately to benefit rich elites” such as the investment management company and financial services provider BlackRock. He continues: “Now look at the Ukraine war. Ukraine have already done a deal with BlackRock to rebuild their nation using BlackRock investment. “If you apply that mentality to this situation, if BlackRock end up benefitting from the fires in Hawaii, then the conspiracy is almost a redundant detail. Did they start it? Didn’t they start it? “Is it inevitable that the suffering of ordinary people leads to the benefit of rich elites and massive organisations like BlackRock and billionaires across the globe and why is Bill Gates buying all this agricultural land when he’s not a farmer?” Yes, that’s one whole sentence. “Doesn’t it all feel like a kind of macro-conspiracy that’s so diffuse, institutional, oddly abstracted and bureaucratically opaque, that sometimes you just want to simplify it into ‘they started this fire! They started it with a laser from space!’ “And whether it’s true or not, it not only feels true, in terms of its results it is kind of true. There is a conspiracy to keep you poor and benefit rich elites,” he vented, adding that the “next time there’s a pandemic” the elite are “gonna control you more”. In other news, thesauruses are in short supply around the world. And it’s Brand’s ranting about a shadowy elite and government control during a pandemic which has likely led to social media users on Twitter/X branding Brand (ha) a “frappucino Neil Oliver”, the GB News host who has long peddled conspiracy theories about vaccines and an impending “one-world government”. Back in August 2021 he said he’d happily catch Covid – y’know, an actually deadly virus – “for the sake of freedom”, just so you know the kind of dangerous nonsense we’re dealing with here. Others, however, have pointed out to user Matthew Dimitri – who shared a clip of Brand on X – that Brand was actually making an argument about elites and organisations benefitting from natural disasters like the one in Hawaii, and that Dimitri has “misrepresented” Brand: Except instead of rejecting the laser conspiracy theory outright, remember, Brand said he ‘thinks the opposite’ and that instead we should “discuss it, look at it [and] investigate it”, which isn’t a complete dismissal of the idea. He doesn’t really give a definitive answer on whether the claim is true or not, but rather suggests that the result of the whole ‘is it or isn’t it’ debate is more important, as if it’s part of a broader conspiracy or distraction “to keep you poor and benefit rich elites”. Perhaps a far more compelling argument around all this is that Brand should learn to keep things succinct, for the benefit of everyone... Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

Kevin Spacey's defense lawyer says three of the actor's four accusers are liars

The Iron Sheik, a former pro wrestler who played a burly, bombastic villain in 1980s battles with some of the sport’s biggest stars, has died at age 81

The police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper has alleged in previously unreleased court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner

A resurfaced clip appears to show actor Ashton Kutcher creepily talking about Hilary Duff and the Olsen twins when they were underage and fans feel weird about it. In the video, which was recorded in 2003 during an episode of his reality television series Punk'd, Kutcher suggested that everyone was 'waiting for Duff to turn 18', and therefore be of legal age. At the time, Duff was 15. Kutcher said: “Hilary Duff is in Lizzie McGuire. She also has an album out. She’s going to be in a movie called Cheaper By The Dozen. “And she’s one of the girls that we’re all waiting for to turn eighteen. Along with the Olsen twins.” Kutcher was referring to the actors Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were also underage at the time. The clip was shared on X/Twitter along with the caption, “Ashton Kutcher is a slime ball” and has been viewed 21 million times. It comes as the 45-year-old actor made headlines recently after he and his wife, Mila Kunis, both penned individual letters in support of their former That ‘70s Show co-star Danny Masterson who was convicted of rape. On 7 September, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of rape in May this year. Kutcher’s letter, dated 27 July, reportedly read: “Not only is [Masterson] a good friend to me I've witnessed him be a good friend to others and the kind of brother others would be lucky to have.” In an Instagram video, Kutcher and Kunis apologised for the hurt that their “character letters” had caused. The pair said: “The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system, or the validity of the jury’s ruling. They were intended for the judge to read and not undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatise them in any way. “We would never want to do that, and we’re sorry if that has taken place.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

'Friday, I'll see Oppenheimer first and then Barbie on Saturday,' said Tom Cruise about his July 20 weekend plans

Has Christine Brown's marriage with David Woolley been canceled? Speculation swirls as 'Sister Wives' star caught wiping tears

The 18-year-old posted on social media on Tuesday, May 23, about her new gig, saying she was exploited by the media and "forced into portraying myself as something I wasn't."

'Morning Joe' co-host Mika Brzezinski coined the term 'jike-ning' as she shared her energetic uphill hiking experience on Instagram

PERTH, Australia & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 21, 2023--