Lisa Vanderpump is expanding her restaurant empire by opening a brand-new restaurant in Lake Tahoe

Zayn Malik will get personal on his upcoming narrative-driven solo album.

Michael Chiarello, a chef known for his Italian-inspired Californian restaurants who won an Emmy Award for best host for “Easy Entertaining With Michael Chiarello” has died

Taylor Swift's 'The Eras Tour' will be on the road for more than a year and will span five continents

Johnny Depp has served as the face of Dior's ‘Sauvage’ perfume since its launch in 2015

When Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva divorced, he lost his home and paid $80M as settlement, a situation he wants to avoid with Christine Baumgartner

Meowko, a well-known Twitch streamer, has been banned from the platform for what she claims is a very bizzare reason

Ana Navarro explained to her followers how Patmos Island is different from Santorini, her previous stop in Greece

Fans already had their suspicions after Joe Lycett mysteriously cancelled plans for his new podcast, named Turdcast, on Friday, and now the Birmingham funnyman has confirmed that the planned audio series - and reports of a sewage “spillage” – was part of a much wider stunt calling on water companies to do more to address the sewage scandal. Last week, Lycett announced he was launching the “ploppy poddy” in which guests talk about their “toilet habits”, and even told indy100 that he’d love to have author Dr Giulia Enders on the podcast, implying it was actually a real project from the Got Your Back star. His first guest was supposedly Gary Lineker. There was even a launch event scheduled for Thursday – a day before the supposed release of the first episode - at Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, in which Lycett attempted to erect a giant inflatable toilet known as ‘The Turdis’ and interview the general public about their toilet stories. However, the publicity stunt had to be cancelled early “due to a technical issue” with the inflatable object, and windy conditions didn’t help with its inflation, either. A spokesperson released a statement which claimed that “a mechanical fault occurred with a portable toilet which saw a small spillage occur”. “This was immediately dealt with by the support team on hand to ensure there was no impact on the water into which the spillage occurred. “However, the event was cancelled with immediate effect as it was not possible for members of the public to use the toilet as planned. We apologise to disappointed fans hoping to attend,” they said. Lycett himself later put out his own statement on social media on Friday morning, in which he revealed the dramatic decision to “cancel the podcast indefinitely”, as it would be “inappropriate” to launch Turdcast off the back of the “ongoing investigation into the sewage spilled into the waters”. “I’d like to reiterate that it was entirely safe and managed by the team very swiftly. I’ll be releasing more information in due course,” he added. Well, that came on Saturday, when Lycett shared a video statement from “Miss Sue Idge” confirming that “of course” he didn’t spill raw sewage” and that it was instead another stunt to “get people talking about the big issues”. He continued: “I’m not spilling s*** in public everywhere. Who do you think I am, GB News? “No, it was fake sewage, from a fake toilet, to promote a fake podcast. Turdcast was never real, although we did record a real one with the real Gary Lineker. “It would have been better to use a fake Gary Lineker because we would have saved a lot of money on his day rate.” Lycett explained that his fake sewage was to get people talking about the “real sewage” being spilled by water companies every year, and that an hour-long special on water companies will air on Channel 4 next year. “Last year, according to one analysis, £1.4 billion in dividends was paid out to shareholders of the water companies – that’s a lot of money that could be used to improve the sewage network and reduce spills. “So I want the water companies to stop paying dividends, and invest that money in improving and solving this problem,” he said. He then called on viewers and fans to go to a website and email their water company, calling on them to sign up to “Joe’s Poo Promise” – lovely alliteration. Lycett has since been branded a “genius” and “national treasure” over the campaign: And it’s not the first dramatic stunt which Lycett has pulled off, as he pretended to shred £10,000 in protest at David Beckham being an ambassador for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and created an elaborate four-year stunt which “infuriated” MPs and formed the basis of his most recent stand-up show, More, More, More! Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel 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.

The Missouri-bred pop superstar of the future Chappell Roan released her glittery debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” late last month

Anyone hoping that Kanye West’s verbal attacks on Jewish people were a thing of the past has just been proven stomach-churningly wrong. Over the weekend, footage emerged of the disgraced rapper-producer, 46, dancing along elatedly to his new track ‘Vultures’. He was accompanied by that other paragon of male virtue, Chris Brown, 34, who bopped alongside him to some of the most offensive lyrics we’ve heard in a long time. In the song, which is a collaboration between West and Ty Dolla $ign, the former Mr Kim Kardashian says: “How I’m antisemitic (sic)? I just f***ked a Jewish bitch.” At that point, he and Brown beam at each other, before the song continues: “I just f**ked Scooter's b***h and we ran her like Olympics. Got pregnant in the threesome, so whose baby is it?” This appears to be a reference to Scooter Braun, Ye’s former manager, whom he fired in 2018. Last year, Braun divorced his wife of six years Yael Cohen Braun – a Canadian health activist and founder of a charity called “F**k Cancer” – who is Jewish. The clip, which has been widely circulated on social media, has understandably been met with horror and disgust. Sharing the video to Instagram, New York businesswoman Tanya Zuckerbrot asked: “What’s more sickening? The lyrics [...] Or the fact that both Kanye West and [Chris Brown] find it hysterical?” She followed up by branding the pair “sick, masochistic, antisemitic f**ks.” Thousands of others agreed, with one commentator writing: “Let the record industry chew on this. Let them never EVER work again.” Another urged viewers to block the two artists from their Spotify accounts, providing instructions on how to do so. While a third branded Brown and Ye “the two most problematic rappers of all time”. West, who lost his highest-profile contracts over hideous displays of antisemitism and Nazi veneration last year, continues to face demands to be axed from top streaming platforms. A year ago, a man from Milwaukee launched a petition calling on the likes of Spotify, Apple and Amazon Music to remove all of his solo tracks in a bid to “limit [his] influence on society”. Nathan Goergen wrote on the campaign’s Change.org webpage: “Kanye West has recently made statements praising Hitler and denying the Holocaust, after over a month of making harmful antisemitic statements. “Our society has no place for people who spread that kind of hate to be making millions off of their work. I call on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other streaming platforms to immediately remove all of Kanye West’s solo albums and singles from their platforms. “By doing this, I hope that we can limit Kanye’s influence on society by eliminating his ability to make money off of people streaming his music. His statements are virtually irredeemable, and the time has finally come for him to receive a major punishment. We cannot let him continue to influence our youth and our society as a whole.” It has since garnered more than 95,000 signatures. And yet, the fact that the 46-year-old is still able to release songs featuring such offensive lyrics, and celebrate this alongside a convicted domestic abuser, shows that the world as a whole simply doesn’t care enough to prevent such despicable behaviour. Sign up for 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

Pop sensation Shakira and soccer star Gerard Pique had a messy break up in June 2022 after 11 years together