connection

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State fired coach Trent Bray on Sunday after the team fell to 0-7, its worst start to a season since 1991.

Robb Akey will be the interim head coach for the rest of the seson pending a national search for Bray’s successor, athletic director Scott Barnes said.

“I want to thank Coach Bray for the energy and determination he brought to the role. A former student-athlete, proud graduate, and dedicated mentor, Trent’s connection to Oregon State runs deep — he will always be a Beaver,” Barnes said. “This was a difficult decision, but the results on the field were not acceptable and after evaluating every aspect of the football program, I believe it is in the best interests of OSU football student-athletes, our fans and our university.”

The move came a day after backup quarterback Deshawn Purdie threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns in his first start for Wake Forest and the visiting Demon Deacons beat Oregon State 39-14 in front of a listless home crowd. The Beavers haven’t started this poorly since 1991, when they started 0-10.

After the game, Bray said he planned to keep showing up “until they tell me I can’t.”

“I’m frustrated. I’m disappointed. I look at myself, and I’ve got to fix it,” Bray said after the game. “It’s unacceptable to me where we’re at. That’s just how I look at it. What can I do? I’ve got to look at it. What can I do different to get these guys going?”

A week ago, Oregon State fired special teams coach Jamie Christian and Barnes said he and Bray were evaluating the program with an eye toward making immediate changes.

The buyout of Bray’s contract will be paid “exclusively using donor-generated funds,” the school said.

Akey is a veteran coach with experience in college and as an NFL assistant.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Date

Oct. 8, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET

Call participants

Chief Executive Officer — Kate W. Duchene

Chief Financial Officer — Jennifer Y. Ryu

Chief Operating Officer — Bhadreskumar Patel

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Takeaways

Revenue — $120.2 million in revenue for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025, with outsourced services revenue up 4% year-over-year.

Gross margin — Gross margin was 39.5% for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025. This was 300 basis points higher than the prior year quarter and significantly better than the high end of the company’s outlook range, supported by improved bill rates, benefits cost reductions, and higher consulting utilization.

Adjusted EBITDA — Adjusted EBITDA was $3.1 million.

On-demand segment — Revenue was $44.4 million, down 16% from the prior year; however, segment adjusted EBITDA rose to $4.4 million (10% margin), up from $2.6 million and a 4.9% margin in the prior year, driven by cost reduction.

Consulting segment — Revenue was $43.6 million, down 22% year-over-year; segment adjusted EBITDA totaled $5 million (11.6% margin), compared to $7.8 million and a 14.1% margin previously (non-GAAP).

Europe and Asia-Pacific segment — Revenue reached $19.9 million, up 5% year-over-year; segment adjusted EBITDA was $0.8 million (4.2% margin), up from $0.2 million and a 1.3% margin in the prior year.

Outsourced services segment — Revenue totaled $10 million, up 4% year-over-year, with segment adjusted EBITDA of $2.3 million (23.3% margin), compared to $1.4 million and a 14.7% margin in the prior year.

Average bill rate — Enterprise-wide average bill rate was $120 (constant currency), up from $118, while the consulting segment improved 11% from $144 to $160.

SG&A expense — $44.5 million, a 7% decrease from $47.7 million a year ago, due to reductions in management compensation, travel, and occupancy.

Balance sheet — $77.5 million in cash and cash equivalents; zero outstanding debt was reported.

Shareholder returns — Dividend distributions of $2.3 million; $79 million remained under the authorized repurchase program at quarter end.

Q2 revenue outlook — Guidance is $115 million to $120 million, with gross margin expected at 38%-39% and SG&A between $43 million and $45 million.

Annual cost savings — Management expects $6 million to $8 million in annual savings from the reduction in force initiated in early October 2025.

Consulting pricing — On new consulting projects, Patel said, “the value we’re bringing is warranting for us to be able to increase our rates, especially on net new projects,” despite ongoing pricing pressure in lower-value roles.

Summary

Resources Connection (RGP 2.47%) reported quarterly results for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, 2025, that outperformed its own expectations, credited to gross margin strength and cost controls rather than broad-based revenue growth. The company’s Europe, Asia-Pacific, and outsourced services segments posted year-over-year revenue growth and margin gains, differentiating from softness in U.S. consulting and on-demand. Management highlighted improved average bill rates and pipeline momentum in digital transformation and CFO advisory services, as well as strategic pipeline expansion through increased cross-selling initiatives across business lines.

Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Y. Ryu said business days, not foreign exchange, were the main factor in the reported year-over-year revenue decline, with currency accounting for “about a third of the business day impact.”

Outsourced services (County) is experiencing demand from venture-backed AI, fintech, and divestitures, combined with expanded AI and automation integration to extend client retention beyond early-stage companies.

New leadership was added in CFO advisory, with revenue pipeline described by management as benefiting from “a lot of momentum,” according to Kate W. Duchene, tied to leadership changes and ongoing pipeline development.

Ryu stated that the same day constant currency guide for the fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 30, 2025, implies a 16% decline at the top end of revenue guidance.

Recent board appointments added private equity perspective and transformation expertise, focusing the board on incentives, cross-team collaboration, and bottom-line optimization in a volatile market environment.

Industry glossary

Bill rate: The hourly charge to the client per professional deployed, inclusive of wage costs and overhead.

SG&A: Selling, general, and administrative expenses comprising all non-production operating costs.

Pipeline: The aggregate value or number of prospective client opportunities currently being pursued.

Adjusted EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, excluding certain one-time or non-cash items.

Constant currency: A metric that removes the impact of exchange rate changes to show financial performance as if foreign currencies had not changed in value.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Kate W. Duchene: Thank you, Operator, and welcome everyone to Resources Connection, Inc.’s Q1 earnings call. We continue to make progress in evolving the company to become more integrated, diversified, and resilient. While the global macro environment remains uncertain, disrupted, and slow-moving for professional services, we are working aggressively to evolve the business to be well-positioned for the upturn. Our activities are producing meaningful progress, which I’ll highlight in Q1. We delivered results better than our outlook for all measures. Revenue was above our outlook range. Gross margin was significantly better and G&A also came in better than our outlook. As a result, we achieved more profit than expected by a significant amount.

While we have more work to do, we have a clear plan to deliver enhanced value creation. Several parts of the business are growing, and I want to highlight those. Europe and Asia-Pacific achieved a solid quarter, delivering 5% growth, and have built a strong pipeline for Q2. Japan and India delivered growth in Q1, again with solid momentum moving into Q2. Revenue from our top ten clients also grew year over year, reflecting the global transformation and transaction work happening in the very large company client segment counts. Grew in Q1 and is busy with strong proposal activity in Q2.

Jen will share more details about our progress, especially around double-digit fill rate improvements in our consulting segment, increasing deal size, and pipeline momentum. These are the indicators that we closely monitor to track our continued progress against our strategic goals. We are engaged in our transformation to deliver more for our clients and colleagues while improving return for our shareholders. We are transforming purposefully to increase our addressable market while becoming known for a focused set of solutions. We’ve taken the company from a professional staffing organization to a diversified platform combining on-demand talent with consulting and outsourced services. We are focused on two critical solution areas across all delivery models: CFO advisory and Digital Transformation.

These services are relevant to every business today, large and small. In these areas, we help our clients drive transformation from strategy through to execution by providing heightened value and impact. Our unique value proposition is built on five key differentiators. First, we bring agility, expertise, and experience. Unlike Big Four and large consultancies, we deploy skilled, analytical consultants paired with highly experienced professionals who can plug into client teams quickly without the heavy overhead, long timelines, or rigid methodologies. Clients value this model when they need execution and results fast, not just advisory. Also, our global Talent Network is unmatched.

Our experienced professionals tend to be mid to senior-level practitioners, with 10 to 20 plus years of experience who have worked in industry, not just consulting, and have operated in our client seats. This makes them credible to the client teams immediately. Second, our diversified services model is a strength. We serve clients across consulting, professional staffing, and managed solutions or outsourcing, giving clients flexibility in how they engage. Few firms combine all three effectively, especially on a global stage like ours. Clients increasingly want more choice, including blended delivery teams that can operate around the world.

In addition, with the US changing the H1-B availability and cost model, our global delivery centers in India and Asia-Pacific allow us to quickly access outstanding global talent without extra complexity or cost. Third, our focus on CFO advisory and digital transformation is right on target for the next several years. We specialize in the high-demand areas of finance transformation, including AI and data, risk and compliance, transaction integration, supply chain optimization, digital and cloud transformation. This is a sweet spot where clients need both deep functional expertise and execution support. Our pipeline of opportunities is growing in the digital finance, ERP, and data space, and we expect that to continue.

We have accordingly upskilled our talent communities to deliver the specialized skills clients need today. Fourth, our diversified model is scalable. Our clients can flex our team up or down depending on project demand. This gives clients more control over cost and outcomes compared with traditional consulting engagements. In today’s macro environment, cost efficiency and flexibility are critical considerations for clients in making procurement decisions. The models of yesterday with large, layered teams or inflexible playbook delivery are declining. This shift will play in our favor because we don’t deliver services with layers of inexperienced generalists or juniors, often learning skills on the client’s dime. We know that much of that work is being actively disrupted by automation and AI.

Our sweet spot is in the delivery of consulting and on-demand, specialized talent that embraces AI and automation to streamline, enhance, and cost optimize the delivery of complex change and transformation work. We take pride in knowing that when our clients demand teams and talent that have been in their shoes and had experienced the problems they faced, we can quickly provide that solution anywhere in the world. In digital finance work, for example, our consultants work collaboratively with modern tools for automating, processing, and analyzing, allowing focus to shift to capturing insights and designing innovative new processes and technical architectures that enable the use of these tools at scale.

As the on-demand environment improves and clients are reintroduced to the capabilities of our GP, today, we believe the market opportunity ahead is significant. The fifth differentiator is our client-centric approach. We partner to truly integrate with client teams. We do not engage as an external firm dictating solutions. Our model is designed to be collaborative, outcome-oriented, and more cost-effective than large consultancies. As one client buyer from a $6 billion enterprise undergoing finance transformation recently shared, Resources Connection, Inc. is positively unique because you deliver strategy when I need it and specialized talent when I need it. You are a trusted partner for both types of services, providing greater control and efficiency as every day brings something new.

Next, I want to comment on the qualitative aspects of our transformation as they are important to unlocking cross-sell and upsell opportunities in our exceptional client base. We are working more collaboratively across the Enterprise’s one GP and are accelerating the integration of our consulting capabilities. The mindset and attitude of our organization have significantly changed to understand the importance of sales, delivery, and talent working together. This mindset shift and accompanying behavioral changes are beginning to produce the right results. In sum, we’re transforming to build a more stable and profitable business. The past three years have been volatile and disrupted, especially in the staffing market.

During this time, we have been building our talent base and solutions to bring to market a new model of consulting that is more affordable, more flexible, and more impactful. Larger consulting projects are already beginning to help us create stickier business and higher-level client relationships. This new playing field and approach will pay dividends quickly in an improving global environment. We’re also building more outsourced services capabilities with County as it fits into our diversification strategy and the CFO and digital agendas. County is an outsourced finance and accounting service, combining automation, AI, and highly specialized fractional CFO talent to serve startups, scale-ups, and divested assets of larger enterprises and private equity firms.

We are currently expanding our offerings to incorporate more AI and automation in these outsourced services, in turn driving growth and longer-term revenue opportunity. We believe we will increase the market opportunity for County in two ways: one, adding clients that are divested assets of larger enterprises or private equity portfolios, and two, by maintaining clients longer as they mature. County is not just a solution for the startup and scale-up stage, but a long-term solution for finance and accounting services for a broader range of clients. For example, County’s newest client base is AI technology and fintech, who want FNA as an outsourced solution long-term.

County also delivers our strongest operating margins, which will continue to benefit our consolidated results and drive shareholder value. Finally, I want to share an update on our cost structure, which we are actively redesigning to fit the current size and scale of the business, our current technology platform, and our diversified services strategy. We are streamlining organizational structure, simplifying processes, embracing automation and AI, and evaluating all functions to ensure they are strategically aligned to what we need today and where we’re headed. We’ve made good progress in reducing our run rate and will continue to do so at a meaningful level.

From a holistic point of view, we will report continued progress throughout the fiscal year as we fully optimize our technology investments to simplify processes and drive efficiency. Jen will share more on our cost structure improvements in a moment. In closing, we have a clear strategy we are executing to allow us to rebound quickly as the demand environment improves. We believe the improvements we are making in the business today will enable us to return to double-digit profitability. Our strengths, including our brand, people, client base, technology, and flexible solutions, will allow us to capitalize on the opportunities ahead, driving long-term shareholder value. With that, I’ll turn it over to Bhadresh.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. We are pleased to report another quarter of progress in advancing our transformation strategy, positioning Resources Connection, Inc. at the intersection of professional staffing, consulting, and outsourced services. Our flexible, client-centric offerings continue to resonate with clients, supporting both their transformation and operational priorities. In the first quarter, we delivered results ahead of expectations in both revenue and gross margin. This performance reflects the ongoing stabilization of our operating model, stronger cross-practice collaboration, continued focus on value-based pricing within consulting, and disciplined cost management. Together, these actions are driving stronger bottom-line performance, which Jen will cover in more detail shortly.

Despite the still choppy demand environment that Kate referred to, our pipeline returned to growth during the quarter. Demand is strengthening across CFO advisory and digital transformation, directly aligned to client priorities around cost efficiency and process automation. This demand underscores the alignment between our sales organization and practice leaders, and our positioning at the intersection of staffing, consulting, and outsourced services. Europe and Asia, as well as outsourced services, continue to deliver year-over-year growth. On-demand is stabilizing, and consulting is building pipeline while achieving higher bill rates. We are making targeted investments in leadership and services to further accelerate this momentum. With that, let me turn to our performance by segment.

For the consulting segment, revenue declined year-over-year, but we did achieve revenue growth in a few areas, including ServiceNow, project and change management, and our federal digital offerings. Additionally, we saw meaningful improvement in bill rates and utilization compared to the same quarter last year. And importantly, we’re achieving notably higher bill rate increases on new projects. This validates client demand for our specialized solutions, supports our value-based pricing initiative, and contributed to the gross margin improvement year-over-year. In addition, stronger collaboration between our sales and consulting teams is expanding the pipeline with larger, more strategic transformation opportunities, particularly in our focus areas of CFO advisory and digital transformation.

As Kate mentioned, these areas remain directly relevant to client priorities, but the longer sales cycles and slower project starts in the current environment often translate into elongated revenue conversion. While this impacts near-term quarterly revenue, we believe these engagements represent durable demand that, over time, will translate into meaningful opportunity at increasingly higher margins. Notable wins this quarter include execution of a technology strategy across multiple work streams for a Fortune 500 financial services company, a master data management implementation for a multibillion-dollar food processing company, and employee experience modernization for a large multinational technology company.

On the pipeline side, we added several significant opportunities, including global program management support for a Fortune 500 energy company, finance transformation stabilization pods for cutover support and data validation for a complex, best-in-breed ERP and data platform deployment for a large energy distributor, and transformation advisor and implementation support of the source-to-pay function for an independent business unit of a FTSE 100 global consumer goods company. Many of these wins and pipeline additions are with clients we have historically served through our on-demand talent channel, which is a testament to our unwavering focus on the value of our integrated go-to-market strategy.

Finally, on consulting, as announced in August, I’d like to welcome Scott Rottman as our new leader for CFO advisory. Scott will oversee finance transformation, risk assurance, tax and treasury, and M&A offerings. He brings deep expertise from the Big Four and Morgan Franklin, a boutique transformation-focused consultancy with a proven track record of building practices and trusted teams, and helping clients navigate complex transformation agendas. Turning to on-demand, revenue declined year-over-year, but is showing signs of stabilization over the first quarter, with improved gross margins supported by moderate fill rate increases. After the expected seasonality of summer, the pipeline returned to growth in the quarter, driven by more net new opportunities and continued focus on extension management.

Pivoting away from operational accounting as these roles will continue to be replaced by AI and automation. We remain disciplined in pipeline management and qualification, with a particular focus in the areas of ERP, finance transformation, data, and supply chain, which are more relevant in today’s marketplace. In addition, as we continue to build leadership and capabilities in consulting, we’re increasingly positioning on-demand talent alongside consulting opportunities and engagements. This integrated approach not only strengthens client impact but also creates revenue growth across our service lines. Moving to international, our Europe and Asia segment delivered solid first-quarter year-over-year revenue growth.

Europe and Asia led the way with revenue gains, higher run rates, and stronger bill rates versus last year, underscoring the strength of client relationships and the effectiveness of our regional strategy. Growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific has been driven by a dual focus on deepening multilateral client relationships and expanding our local client base. Demand for our CFO advisory and digital transformation offerings remains strong, and our ability to combine local delivery with scalable global delivery centers continues to differentiate us. Together with management and ongoing optimization initiatives, these actions position us to maintain margins and sustain growth despite longer sales cycles and competitive dynamics. Lastly, on outsourced services, we delivered year-over-year revenue growth with continued gross margin expansion.

We added new clients to our platform while also exhibiting strong retention. While bottom-line performance benefited from both operating leverage and disciplined cost management. While our outsourced services focus continues to be on startups, scale-ups, and spin-outs, we are capitalizing on the broader venture funding environment by targeting venture-backed AI startups, where demand is increasingly robust. At the same time, we are advancing our AI strategy to support a rapidly expanding client base with scalable technology-enabled solutions. This includes enhancing internal tools, evolving our go-to-market approach, and exploring new delivery models such as AI-enabled accounting agents and innovative pricing structures.

To conclude, we remain focused on disciplined execution and delivering meaningful value for our clients as we wait for the demand environment to turn. With a diversified portfolio, strong client relationships, and a winning strategy, we are positioning Resources Connection, Inc. for sustained long-term growth and profitability. With that, I’ll now turn the call over to Jen.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. We delivered strong performance this quarter against our expectations. Revenue of $120.2 million, gross margin of 39.5%, and expense of $44.5 million all beat the favorable end of our outlook ranges. We also delivered improved adjusted EBITDA of $3.1 million, or a 2.5% adjusted EBITDA margin. We’re pleased to see the return to growth in revenue for both our Europe and Asia-Pacific segment, and outdoor services segment, with 5% and 4% growth over the prior year quarter. Revenue within the on-demand and consulting segments continued to be soft as the operating environment in the US remains choppy this quarter.

Our continued focus on the number and quality of client outreaches and meetings, pipeline management, and cross-sell collaboration have yielded growth in the pipeline. Importantly, we believe the positive progress in our key operating metrics will lead to tangible improvement in revenue over time. Turning to profitability metrics, we achieved strong gross margin for the quarter at 39.5%, 300 basis points higher than the prior year quarter, and significantly better than the high end of our outlook range. Contributing to the strong gross margin are one, continued improvement in our average bill rate and expansion of the pay bill spread.

Two, significant reduction in employee benefit costs, including health care costs, holiday, and paid time off, and three, strategic management of our bench consultants. Utilization. Enterprise-wide average bill rate increased to $120 constant currency from $118 a year ago. The improvement came despite the revenue mix weighing more toward the Asia-Pacific region, and of note, we saw an 11% improvement in average bill rate in consulting from $144 to $160. As we continue to execute our pricing strategy and move up the value chain to deliver higher value, larger scale engagement, we expect more upside in bill rates, especially in the consulting business. Now on to SG&A.

Our enterprise run rate, SG&A expense for the quarter was $44.5 million, a 7% improvement from $47.7 million a year ago, primarily driven by lower management compensation expense and reductions in other G&A spend, such as travel and occupancy. Subsequent to the quarter, at the beginning of October, we further streamlined our organizational structure to rightsize leadership layers and headcount through a reduction in force. We expect approximately $6 to $8 million of annual cost savings associated with this effort. Going forward, we will continue to pull the cost levers within our control to improve operating leverage. Next, I’ll provide some additional color on segment performance. All year-over-year percentage comparisons for revenue are adjusted for business days and currency impact.

And as a reminder, segment adjusted EBITDA excludes certain shared corporate costs. Revenue for on-demand segment was $44.4 million, a decline of 16% versus prior year. However, segment adjusted EBITDA improved to $4.4 million, or a margin of 10%, from $2.6 million, or a 4.9% margin in the prior year quarter. The notable improvement is primarily driven by our cost reduction effort in this segment. For our consulting segment was $43.6 million, a decline of 22% from the prior year. First quarter segment adjusted EBITDA was $5 million, or an 11.6% margin, compared to $7.8 million, or 14.1% margin in the prior year quarter.

Turning to our Europe and Asia-Pacific segment, revenue was $19.9 million, a 5% growth from a prior year quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $0.8 million, or a 4.2% margin. Both up from $0.2 million and a 1.3% margin in the prior year. Finally, our outsourced services segment revenue was $10 million, up 4% compared to the prior year quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $2.3 million, or a 23.3% margin, up from $1.4 million, or a 14.7% margin driven by significant improvement in its gross margin as a result of more effective management of consulting utilization. Turning to liquidity, our balance sheet remains pristine, with $77.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and zero outstanding debt.

Quarterly dividend distributions totaled $2.3 million, with cash on hand. Combined with available borrowing capacity under our credit facility, we will continue to take a balanced approach to capital allocation between investing in the business to drive growth and returning cash to shareholders through dividends and opportunistic share buybacks. Under our repurchase program, which had $79 million remaining at the end of the quarter, I’ll now close with our second quarter outlook. Early second quarter, weekly revenue run rate has been largely stable compared to the first quarter. We expect to maintain revenue stability through the second quarter while continuing to push forward the momentum in the sales pipeline.

I’ll also note that while we have very limited U.S. government exposure and therefore are not materially impacted directly by our clients in the sector, the current government shutdown could lead to additional disruption in the operating environment. With that in mind, and based on our current revenue backlog and expectations on late-stage pipeline deals, our outlook calls for revenue of $115 to $120 million for the second quarter. On the gross margin front, we also expect similar trends to the first quarter with an outlook range of 38 to 39%, with Thanksgiving adding one additional holiday in the US compared to Q1.

Second quarter run rate SG&A expense is expected to be in a range of $43 to $45 million, reflecting the benefit from our cost reduction efforts. Non-run rate and non-cash expenses will be around $5 million, consisting primarily of non-cash stock compensation and approximately $2 million of restructuring expense associated with the reduction in force. In closing, we continue to be laser-focused on improving our sales execution as well as driving an efficient cost structure to deliver more value. Even in this operating environment, as better economic clarity emerges for our customers and new business prospects, we will be well-positioned for return to consolidated growth, accompanied by even stronger profitability.

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open the call for Q&A.

Operator: Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one again. One moment for questions. Our first question comes from Jessica Lewis with Northcoast Research. You may proceed.

Jessica Lewis: Hi. Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. First, I would like to congratulate you on such a positive first quarter. Amazing results. And second, I have a question for you. And then one brief follow-up. To start, what would you say regarding the trend in pricing? Are you seeing pricing pressure in any particular business?

Bhadreskumar Patel: Yeah. Hi Jessica, this is Bhadresh. From a trending perspective on our staffing business, we have been able to keep our rates pretty steady. However, in the consulting side, while we do see pricing pressures, the value we’re bringing is warranting for us to be able to increase our rates, especially on net new projects that we’re selling to our clients, which, you know, ultimately is bringing a different value to our clients than what we have historically. From a professional staffing perspective, because we’re bringing thought leadership to those projects. So there are pricing pressures for sure. Roles like operational accounting and things like that face a lot more pricing pressures from our space.

But we’re also pivoting away from those roles as AI and automation take over. And we’re focused on more high-value roles, especially around ERP data supply chain, digital transformation really aligned to the strategy that we’ve laid forth for our business.

Jessica Lewis: All right. Perfect. That’s very helpful. Thank you. And then as for the follow-up question, I know that you guys are having success with cross-selling. Looking at your pipeline now, how much of the pipeline would you attribute to cross-selling?

Bhadreskumar Patel: I mean, you know, we’re still building that pipeline, but the good news is that we continue to increase million-plus dollar deals into our pipeline. And we anticipate that with the motions we’re playing across both our sales teams and our practice leaders and consulting that pipeline will increase. And then, you know, for us to see the conversion as it relates to that increase.

Jessica Lewis: Okay. Awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you again for answering my questions. And another congratulations to the company on a great first quarter.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thank you, Jessica.

Operator: Thank you. And as a reminder to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone. One moment for questions. Our next question comes from Mark Marcon with Robert W. Baird. You may proceed.

Mark Steven Marcon: Good afternoon. I was just wondering with regards to the revenue guide that you gave us, Jen, can you break that out between the segments and specifically, you know, what are you seeing for consulting and on-demand talent?

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. Hi, Mark. Sure. The revenue guide for Q2, we’re expecting across our business units, you know, our Europe and Asia-Pacific region will continue to show strength as they did in Q1. So we expect continued strength in that, if not, it might even get better than Q1. And the other two segments, on-demand and consulting, you know, the trend is going to be more or less the same. It really depends on especially on the consulting side, some of the deals in the pipeline in late stage and the timing of conversion of that. So I would say across all of our business units, performance in Q2 will be somewhat consistent with what you’re seeing in Q1.

Kate W. Duchene: Yeah, Mark, it’s Kate. Can I just add I think it really depends on how quickly we can get some of this pipeline, especially the improving pipeline. And CFO advisory. You know, we do have, as Bhadresh shared, a new leader who’s very dynamic and has a very clear plan to improve our performance there. So, you know, he has shared that there’s a lot of momentum right now. It just depends on how quickly I think we can move that through the pipeline.

Mark Steven Marcon: Great. And then just with regards to on-demand and consulting within the US, any regional differences that you’re seeing, either from your West Coast operations or Chicago or the tri-state area?

Bhadreskumar Patel: Yeah, I mean, we are, you know, we are seeing a lot of demand in the West Coast and the southeast as well. And I think it’s really attributed to the teams and the tenure of the teams there overall in the market. We’re seeing consistent kind of demand across our core offerings. You know, we’ve aligned in CFO advisory and digital transformation for a reason because those are the two agendas that are moving in client spaces. And, you know, we’re balancing this across, you know, the tenure and the leadership that we have in other markets. And really building pipeline. And, you know, work across those markets as well.

Mark Steven Marcon: Great. And your new leader, where is he going to be based?

Bhadreskumar Patel: He’s based in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, actually.

Mark Steven Marcon: Okay. Great. Thank you.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Thanks, Mark.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Judson Lindley with J.P. Morgan. You may proceed.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just the first one on this quarter’s revenue. I know, same day constant currency revenues were down 13.9%. So could you maybe break out for me the delta between same day constant currency and reported revenue growth? How much of that was from FX and how much was the days impact?

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. More days impact, business day impact. There are some currency impacts, but it’s probably about a third of the business day impact. Most of it is, as you know. The first quarter we have I think we have one less day in business days this quarter compared to last year.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Okay, great. Thank you very much. And then maybe as a follow-up, if there was any acquired revenue in the quarter. And if you could maybe those same three components for the second quarter guide.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. In the first quarter, year over year, there’s very little acquired, as you know, we acquired reference point last year in the first quarter a month into the first quarter last year. So the inorganic piece is minimal.

Judson Garrett Lindley: And then for the second quarter, if you could.

Jennifer Y. Ryu: Yeah. For the second quarter compared. Year over year at the top end of the guidance range, it’s a 16% decline. On the same day constant currency basis.

Judson Garrett Lindley: Great. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Joe Gomes with Noble Capital. You may proceed.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Good evening.

Bhadreskumar Patel: Hi, Joe.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Just a quick question. You know, when you talk to clients or potential clients. You know, what are they saying in terms of their general appetite to move forward and spend? And how has that changed over the past year? If it’s changed?

Kate W. Duchene: I would say it hasn’t changed much, Joe. I think we’re still, you know, in a choppy environment. As we’ve said before, I expect there’s probably more of the same for the next couple of quarters. Every time I think people feel like we’re getting more stability and the foundation is getting stable, then it seems like something else happens. You know, as Jen said, we don’t have a lot of exposure to federal government or federal work, but, you know, it feels destabilizing when there’s that level of uncertainty. And so we’ve reflected that in our outlook because we’re just uncertain. As I said before, there is work that’s progressing. I mean, there’s some really interesting work.

We’re talking to clients about right now. It just depends on how quickly we can progress that work through our pipeline. I’m very impressed with some of the new talent we’ve brought into the organization, especially around, you know, whether you call it Finance 4.0, which includes ERP, cloud migration, digital finance, automation, AI data work, everything that’s happening there that work is progressing. I mean, it’s happening in our client base right now. So again, I think a lot of it is timing and making sure we’re positioned and having the right conversations with clients.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Okay. Great. Thanks for that. And one follow-up in the summer, you guys, you did a board refresh and added two new members to the board. I was wondering, you know, what, if anything, they’ve brought to the board here that is kind of new or different ways of thinking or different approaches that would be attributable to them.

Kate W. Duchene: Yeah. So let me speak to that. We have welcomed, I think, two strong board members. One brings more of a, I would say, private equity lens, if you will, to what we’re doing. Especially as we look at optimizing our bottom-line performance. Given that we all recognize the macro environment is difficult and difficult. Really across professional services. So that has been, I think, instructive for us to look at things with a fresh set of eyes. Our other board member brings a lot of operating experience and operating experience through transformation.

And I think what we’re learning from his experience is the importance of the behavioral changes that I’ve talked about, making sure that we’re getting incentive comp right, making sure that we are creating collaborative teams to hunt and farm together, and not creating silos or competitive, you know, mindset. So competitive. I by that I mean against each other and not competitive to the broader marketplace. So I think they’re both good adds to our board. And the work that we’re undertaking right now.

Joseph Anthony Gomes: Okay. Great. Thanks for that. Appreciate it. I’ll get back to queue.

Kate W. Duchene: Okay. Thanks, Joe.

Operator: Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Kate Duchene for any closing remarks.

Kate W. Duchene: Yes. Thank you, thank you, everyone for joining us today. I want to highlight that we will be participating in the Noble Capital Markets Emerging Growth Virtual Equity Conference tomorrow. So we hope to engage further with investors. Then we’ll also look forward to updating you on our strategic progress and results following Q2 in early January. Thanks again, everyone. Good night.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

President Trump has released a Gaza “peace” plan that would put Gaza under a Trump-chaired “Board of Peace”. While some in the international community have welcomed the move, some question the fact that it bypasses Palestinians and offers no path to statehood. So, with Netanyahu pledging not to fully withdraw from Gaza, will this deal bring genuine peace or cement the status quo?

This week on an UpFront special, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with one of the world’s foremost experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Norman Finkelstein.

For the past five years, I’ve been interviewing Hollywood professionals about what they wish they’d known when they were starting out. The entertainment business can feel opaque and overwhelming, and many who navigated it the hard way said they want to help level the playing field for those arriving with passion but without connections.

The best advice — which is collected in a book I co-wrote with my former Times colleague Jon Healey, “Breaking Into New Hollywood: A Career Guide to a Changing Industry” — was often about how they handled chaos. The key to longevity, many said, is how you manage the rejection, instability and heartbreak that are unavoidable in the industry.

And as Hollywood has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, strikes, recessions and periods of contraction — some reports estimate Hollywood jobs were down 25% in 2024 from their 2022 peak — many of them have had to take their own advice. Decades-long industry veterans have pivoted to adjacent professions, including teaching and advertising. Some of them have left Hollywood altogether.

But others have landed their dream jobs. They’ve learned how to build something from nothing. They’ve gotten to show what they’re capable of, once someone finally gave them a chance.

The most sensible advice to give young people who dream of working in the entertainment industry, they said, is to run in the other direction — or at least have a backup plan. There are so many practical, safer choices that can result in a happy, fulfilling career.

But dreams have a way of resurfacing, no matter how deep you try to bury them. So here’s what I would tell my own kids if they felt Hollywood was their calling.

Learn how all the different parts of Hollywood come together and figure out which jobs best suit your skills.

Many people, when they imagine working in Hollywood, think of only the most high-profile jobs: actor, writer, director and producer. But Hollywood is made of hundreds, if not thousands, of careers, from pre-production, production and post-production, to representation (publicists, agents and managers), design and more.

Some questions you can ask yourself: Do I like being in front of the camera or do I prefer being behind it? Do I want to be on set or would I prefer a desk job? Do I want a leadership role or do I prefer going deep into the day-to-day details? This can help you determine which path you should pursue.

Consider whether this is something you’d do even if no one paid you to do it.

Many Hollywood professionals will tell you not to take unpaid gigs, as it devalues your work and the industry itself. But that’s different from the time and effort you’ll have to devote to becoming extremely reliable at your craft — as well as the work you’ll do to convince people to give you the job (filming auditions, developing pitch decks, building portfolios and creating demo reels).

People across the industry consistently told us it often takes five to seven years before you earn a living wage. You not only have to keep wanting to do it for that long, with no guarantees of success, but you have to see it as an investment in yourself as an artist.

Anchor yourself with two essentials: money and community.

People who come into the industry with wealth and connections will have an advantage. But if you don’t know anyone in the industry, be diligent about saving and investing the money that you’re making from your day job or side gigs.

Prioritize networking by joining or creating your own communities. Networking isn’t just about attending intimidating Hollywood events — it can also mean going to film festivals, taking classes, joining a gym, engaging with your favorite social media influencers, collaborating on passion projects, joining Facebook groups or finding other whisper networks.

Make friends inside of the industry who are going through the same struggles so you can lift each other up. But also make friends outside of the industry who will remind you that there is life outside of Hollywood.

Figure out how you’re going to distinguish yourself.

Hollywood is an extremely competitive industry. The harsh reality is that most people are replaceable. So why would a producer or showrunner hire you over someone else? What unique skills or viewpoints could you bring to a project? Figure this out; it will be your advantage and calling card.

And once you pinpoint what sets you apart, create your own work (whether it’s sketches, designs, animations, TikTok videos or web series) and put what you’re proud of online. You’ll need to get very comfortable with self-promotion. Make sure that you’re on people’s minds if a job opens up that you’d be perfect for.

Learn AI tools.

If I were talking to a current working professional about AI, we would discuss its ethical and legal implications and what unions can do to protect worker rights and fight for fair compensation.

But if I were talking to a young person starting their career, I’d say, embrace the technology and figure out how it can make you more — not less — creative.

Know that it’s good to take breaks from Hollywood — and OK to leave.

Hollywood veterans will tell you that they’ve seen the industry rise and fall, again and again. Each time there’s an upturn, it feels like it won’t last. And each time there’s a downturn, it feels like it might be the end.

If Hollywood is your calling, you owe it to yourself to try, but if your experience in the industry starts to resemble a destructive relationship, you owe it to yourself to take some space or call it quits.

But for as long as you’re out there hustling, have fun on the roller coaster and appreciate every moment you get paid to do what you love.

Clovelly is a village in Devon that has been largely untouched by time, and has a very surprising royal connection

There’s a unique charm to some of the British coastal towns and villages that seem as though they’ve been preserved in time.

These are places where cobbled lanes have been trodden for centuries, life moves at a leisurely pace, and you’re not constantly jostled on the tube.

Such spots are rare, and many of these charming villages were discovered long ago, becoming the unwitting targets of busloads of tourists.

Travel writers often wax lyrical about “hidden gems,” but this is something else. Its cliff-side location and winding, narrow streets appear to have shielded it from throngs of holidaymakers who can’t navigate its tight lanes.

With motor vehicles banned from many of its roads, just like in the olden days, donkeys do much of the heavy lifting, helping locals transport their goods and even offering traditional beach rides, reports the Express.

This village is Clovelly, a picture-perfect spot on the north Devon coast. With its whitewashed cottages, flower-adorned balconies, and panoramic sea views, it has long been a favourite among those fortunate enough to know of its existence.

But beyond its unique mode of transport, Clovelly boasts an impressive claim to fame, having once been owned by a Queen – not our current monarch, but England’s first ever crowned Queen, Matilda of Flanders.

Initially, the estate belonged to William the Conqueror, who presented it to his wife, where it remained a private Royal settlement for centuries, until the Giffard family took ownership and it stayed relatively obscure for the following 800 years.

Currently it is owned by the Hon. John Rous, whose mother shared blood ties with the late Queen Elizabeth II, providing the village with a Royal connection that’s both surprising and remarkable.

The scenic Devon location has also sparked some of the finest creative masterpieces of its era. J. M. W. Turner captured the village’s shoreline on canvas, whilst Charles Dickens featured it in his 1860 short tale “A Message from the Sea.”

One delighted visitor sharing feedback on TripAdvisor said: “Clovelly is a beautiful village to visit, and I have been visiting with my family for the last 30 years. Yes, you pay to enter (like most historical landmarks), and yes, it’s steep! Both of which are well-advertised on the website before visiting.

“There really is no other village quite like it in the UK. The beauty of Clovelly is how it remains unchanged and hopefully will remain this way for many years to come.”

Meanwhile another added: “We were very lucky that when we first arrived at the car park it was lunch time and it was raining cats and dogs (mid-July) so we decided to have our packed lunch in the car.”

Boasting historic streets, iconic donkeys, and breathtaking views, Clovelly is a hidden gem in England that’s worth visiting on a trip to Devon – even if it does set you back £9.50.

Like many young men these days, Kamaldeep Dhanoa, a lanky 17-year-old, knew he wanted to do something with his life, be a part of something, but didn’t quite know what that meant.

Coming up with a career was important. But even more, it was finding the right friends — discovering what he wanted to be a part of.

He did both when he joined Improve Your Tomorrow, a mentorship organization for teenage boys and young men — that vulnerable, chronically online demographic from which Charlie Kirk drew many of his most ardent supporters, and where so much of our societal angst is focused in the wake of his death.

Now a senior at Florin High School in a suburb outside Sacramento, Dhanoa has a plan to become a paramedic, and more importantly, has those friendships that help him feel not just connected, but included and valued.

His something.

“I just know I have brothers around me,” he told me Tuesday. “We’re always with each other. It gives you, like, a sense of security. So if you’re feeling down, you could always, always rely on them.”

Dhanoa was hanging out in his school’s gym with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dropped by to announce the California Men’s Service Challenge, an effort to recruit 10,000 Golden State males to serve as mentors to boys such as Dhanoa, so more boys can find their something.

It’s a worthy effort and before you jump to thinking it’s a reaction to Kirk, I’ll point out that 10 years ago, California’s first partner, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, made a documentary about the crisis of connection and identity facing young men, “The Mask You Live In.”

Recently, her husband caught up.

To be fair, a lot of us have been slow on the uptake when it comes to understanding why so many young men seem drawn to the obvious loneliness and disconnection of chronically online lives.

Kamaldeep Dhanoa, 17, and Michael Lynch helped Gov. Gavin Newsom announce his new statewide initiative to engage more men in volunteer and mentorship work.

(Anita Chabria/Los Angeles Times)

“Touch grass” has become a generation’s cultural shorthand to describe both the isolation and cure for people who seem so deep into a virtual world that the real one has lost meaning. It’s a dismissive way of looking at a problem that doesn’t begin and end with boys.

But, if we didn’t see it earlier, Kirk’s killing has made it clear that there are too many boys that need to be pulled back from the brink of a very bad something. One that is less about left or right and more about exactly who and what those boys stumble upon inside those ethereal spaces that most parents can’t even find, much less understand.

“We’ve got to get these kids back,” Newsom said. “They’re very susceptible young men. They’re very vulnerable online.”

Even more concerning, when the nihilism of the darkest corners of the internet catches up to their psyches, “young people weaponize those grievances,” Newsom said — whether that anger turns inward or outward.

Suicide among young men has increased. In 2023, the male suicide rate was about 23 deaths per 100,000 men, nearly four times higher than for women, a number that has been climbing for years (albeit with some slight dips). Sadly, women attempt suicide more often, but men have a higher rate of completion, often because they use more deadly means such as guns.

But lonely boys are also more prone to commit violence on others, maybe especially when they mix their anger with politics. Once recent study by social epidemiologist Julia Schleimer at the University of Washington School of Public Health found that individuals who reported having few social connections were, “more likely than others to support political violence or be personally willing to engage in it in one form or another.”

For reference, about 15% of men have no close friendships, according to a recent poll by the Survey Center on American Life. Newsom puts that figure even higher for young men, with “one in four men under 30 years old reporting that they have no close friends, a five-fold increase since 1990.”

Kirk stepped into that gap, providing meaning and belonging not just through his podcasts, where he was best known, but through the grassroots Turning Point USA organization that gave thousands of young people (of both sexes) both an ideology and, equally as important, real-world connections and events.

“Obviously Charlie Kirk was a master at not only the work he did online, but offline, and his capacity to organize and engage,” Newsom said.

Whether you agreed with Kirk’s views or not (and I did not agree on many points, including matters of race, sexual orientation, immigration or the meaning of patriotism), he created that something that is missing for so many young people. He created a vision of an America that needed to be saved, and could be saved, through a dedication to a certain kind of family and a certain kind of faith. As Newsom described it of his own effort, young people don’t just want a cause. They want to feel invested, they want to feel an “obligation to give back.”

If Newsom’s recent foray into Trump-esque social media proves anything, it’s that he’s willing to learn, even emulate, success — wherever he finds it. Newsom is trying to offer the belonging that Kirk supplied, seeped not in the exclusion and rigidity that Kirk embodied, but in California values.

“It’s about building an inclusive community of all different kinds of voices,” Michael Lynch told me of the California Challenge. He’s the co-founder and chief executive of Improve Your Tomorrow, the organization Dhanoa belongs to.

Lynch said kids get all kinds of benefits from mentors, but when he asks what those are, the sentence usually starts, “Now that I have friends…. “

The outcome of the effort to bring boys out of the virtual world is all about who those friends are, who pulls them out.

Our boys don’t just need to touch grass, they need to be around men who don’t seek to impose values, but teach them how to craft their own, how to believe in themselves before they believe in something someone is selling.

“What the world needs is your authenticity,” Newsom told a teenage journalist who covered the event for the school newspaper. “And so I just hope we take a deep breath and discover the most important, powerful thing in the world, and that’s who you are.”

If Newsom’s effort inspires just one good man to step up and help a kid figure that out — who they are, and how to believe in themselves first and forever — it will be something.

EAGLE-EAYED Coronation Street fans think they’ve worked out another link to the cobbles for DI Costello (played by Daon Broni).

ITV viewers have previously expressed their suspicions about the detective inspector, thinking he is hiding his role in the death of his colleague DS Lisa Swain’s late wife Becky.

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After Friday’s episode of the soap, fans now think Costello has a connection to another character as the gripping storyline continues.

Dee Dee Bailey’s new love-interest Ollie appeared to take an interest in Lisa and viewers have flocked to Reddit to share their theories about his connection to Costello.

Somebody wrote: “So I’ve a new theory about Ollie and I’ve a feeling it’ll soon become popular. I think that he’s either related or connected to Costello.

“If you think about it, they came in around the same time and came to the forefront about the same time. Are both around the copshop alot lately. Both are inquisitive to people lately making sus comments.

“Who’s to say that it’s not a big corruption involving Costello, Ollie, the Radcliffes and Becky along with the infamous Tia Wardley.”

Another fan expressed: “Costello has been in it for over a year since the Joel case. But you could be onto something alright.”

Someone else responded: “I think there might be a twist that Ollie might be related to Costello and there’s a twist that he’s Costello’s son.”

The name Tia Wardley has been hanging over Lisa and her girlfriend Carla Connor for months, in connection to Becky.

In Friday’s bombshell episode, Tia finally arrived on the cobbles to explain herself – just in time for the women’s engagement party.

In the instalment, DI Costello was seen desperately trying to cover his tracks and hiding what he really knows about the mysterious Tia Wardley.

Tia turned up at the Bistro and told Lisa and Carla all about her connection to Becky.

She claimed to have been involved with the Radcliffe brothers and revealed that Becky had helped her escape her troubled life out of the goodness of her heart.

Lisa seemed genuinely touched that the truth meant that Becky had been a good cop – and had helped the woman escape a bad situation.

But after leaving the Bistro, the woman met up with Costello – and the truth soon emerged. The woman was not the real Tia Wardley.

She told Costello: “I gave them the full Meryl Streep. Really milked it. Looked like the blonde one was going to cry.”

And when the potentially dodgy cop questioned whether she actually managed to trick Lisa, the faker added: “They didn’t have a clue what the real Tia Wardley looked like, so yes…”

In addition to the on-screen confession, the credits also named her as “Fake Tia Wardley” confirming that she is definitely not the real woman Lisa and Carla were looking for.

But as Lisa and Carla made their way home from the celebrations, Lisa suddenly felt a chill.

It was then revealed that someone had been watching the couple, leaving the detective feeling completely unnerved.

Coronation Street fans will have to continue watching to find out who was following the pair and to who the real Tia Wardley is.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s foreign minister had the top U.S. diplomat in the country summoned for talks after the main national broadcaster reported Wednesday that at least three people with connections to President Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.

Trump has repeatedly said he seeks U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, a vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island.

Denmark, a NATO ally of the U.S., and Greenland have said the island is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. gathering intelligence there.

Danish public broadcaster DR reported Wednesday that government and security sources which it didn’t name, as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the U.S., believe that at least three Americans with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory.

One of those people allegedly compiled a list of U.S.-friendly Greenlanders, collected names of people opposed to Trump and got locals to point out cases that could be used to cast Denmark in a bad light in American media. Two others have tried to nurture contacts with politicians, businesspeople and locals, according to the report.

An influence operation is an organized effort to shape how people in a society think in order to achieve certain political, military or other objectives.

DR said its story was based on information from a total of eight sources, who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society.

DR said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working at their own initiative or on orders from someone else. It said it knows their names but chose not to publish them in order to protect its sources. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report.

“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement emailed by his ministry. “It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead.”

“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom will of course be unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen said. “In that light, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the U.S. chargé d’affaires for a meeting at the Ministry.”

Cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland “is close and based on mutual trust,” he added.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen directed queries on the issue to Washington.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service responded to a request for comment by saying it believes that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds” that could aim to create divisions in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.

It said it “assesses that this could be done by exploiting existing or fabricated disagreements, for example in connection with well-known individual cases, or by promoting or amplifying certain viewpoints in Greenland regarding the Kingdom, the United States, or other countries with a particular interest in Greenland.”

The service, known by its Danish acronym PET, said that in recent years it has “continuously strengthened” its efforts and presence in Greenland in cooperation with authorities there, and will continue to do so.

Director Ryan Coogler and artist Mary Corse will be honored at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 14th annual Art+Film Gala, the museum announced Sunday.

The splashy, high-fashion dinner is co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio, and is scheduled to take place on Nov. 1. It will be the last such event to occur before the museum opens its new Peter Zumthor-designed building next spring.

Los Angeles is uniquely suited for the gala, which seeks to highlight and strengthen the connections between film and visual art by bringing the two communities together in grand style. Last year’s honorees were Baz Luhrmann and Simone Leigh, and per usual, a host of celebrity guests attended the party including Blake Lively, Kim Kardashian, Laura Dern, Viola Davis, Andrew Garfield and Sarah Paulson. Charli XCX closed out the night with a banger.

LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan called last year’s event, which raised $6.4 million, its most successful ever. Proceeds go toward LACMA’s mission of making film more central to its programming, as well as toward funding exhibitions, acquisitions and educational programming.

Mary Corse will be honored at LACMA’s Art + Film gala.

(Indah Datou)

Other previous honorees include artists Helen Pashgian, Betye Saar, Catherine Opie, Mark Bradford, Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Barbara Kruger, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari. On the film side there has been Park Chan-wook, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, George Lucas, Kathryn Bigelow, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick and Clint Eastwood.

Coogler — who directed “Black Panther,” “Creed” and “Fruitvale Station” — is having a stellar year. His gory Southern-vampire horror film “Sinners,” which was released in mid-April, has been a massive hit. The film, which had a budget of $90 million, grossed $48 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, and has gone on to gross more than $365 million worldwide.

Topanga-based painter Mary Corse is known for her connection to Southern California’s Light and Space movement, but her career has been defined by her willingness to experiment with form and various materials, including ceramics and acrylic on canvas. Corse devoted much of her life to her “White Light” series, which involves layering tiny glass beads — called microspheres — over white acrylic paint for a constantly shifting, reflective effect.

“Mary Corse has continually expanded the possibilities of painting in her exquisite works, which invite us to think deeply about the nature of perception,” said Govan in a statement. “Ryan Coogler’s films do something equally transformative. Through masterful storytelling and visual innovation, he reframes history, redefines narratives and opens new worlds of possibility.”

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been arrested in connection with an assault at St Pancras railway station.

British Transport Police did not name Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, but confirmed a 42-year-old man, from Bedfordshire, was arrested over an assault in London on 28 July.

The force said the arrest took place at Luton Airport shortly after 18:30 BST on Monday, following a notification that the man had boarded an incoming flight from Faro.

The man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and will be taken to custody for questioning, police said.

The statement added he had been wanted for questioning after leaving for Tenerife in the early hours of 29 July following the incident.

British Transport Police previously said that they found a man with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries” following the incident at the railway station in Kings Cross.

The force confirmed on Thursday that he had been discharged from hospital.

Video footage on social media emerged shortly after the alleged assault showing Robinson walking back and forth near a motionless man lying on the floor, near the stairs down to the northbound Thameslink line.

The clip did not show how the man ended up on the floor.

Robinson then starts coming back up the stairs, appearing to try to talk to the passing commuter who called for help.

Robinson can be heard saying: “He’s come at me bruv.”

Robinson was contacted by a female BBC reporter for comment after the incident, but Robinson responded with a message that said “slag”.

Since the incident, Robinson has continued to post on his personal X account but has not made any comment on the arrest.

He shared a few supportive posts shortly after British Transport Police released their initial statement on the incident.

Celine Dion has been left ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of Ozzy Osbourne and has reveaeld how they knew each other at a time when their careers were so different.

Celine Dion has been left ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of Ozzy Osbourne. The Black Sabbath icon died last week at the age of 76 following a number of health issues and his funeral procession will take place in his hometown of Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon.

And the My Heart Will Go On songstress, 57, took to social media to pay tribute as she recalled a time that even though their music was placed in very different genres, there was a time when they were signed to the same record label and she developed a deep ‘admiration’ for his work.

She wrote on Instagram: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy and I were label mates for many years – and although we came from very different musical universes, I always admired his boundless spirit and ear for melody on songs like ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’. He was a true original! Fearless, and simply larger than life… but also kind, thoughtful and generous.” It comes as several other music stars including Sir Elton John, Lulu and members of Metallica offered their own condolences following Ozzy’s passing.

READ MORE: Sharon Osbourne’s heartbreaking gesture to crowd gathered to remember Ozzy OsbourneREAD MORE: Lulu makes desperate plea to Sharon Osbourne on live TV hours before Ozzy’s funeral

Ozzy was followed by his family – including wife Sharon – in the special procession that was accompanied by a live brass band, Bostin’ Brass. The procession passed by Black Sabbath bridge and bench, where floral tributes were laid out in their hundreds for the music icon.

Sharon and her three children with Ozzy – Aimee, Kelly and Jack – left the car to pay lay flowers at the bridge, showing their subtle nods to the star with their choices of outfits and accessories. In heartbreaking scenes, Sharon broke down in tears as she grieved the loss of her beloved Ozzy. Kelly and Jack stayed by her side as they comforted their mum.

The procession took place from 1pm, with Broad Street closed to traffic from 7am. Ozzy’s family are covering the costs, with the council helping with the road closure.

He was “desperate to come home” in recent years following his Parkinson’s diagnosis, and Ozzy made it back to England before his death. The poignant message above the statement announcing his death read “Birmingham, England July 22, 2025” – revealing that Ozzy made it back home for one last time.

Following the funeral, several other A-Listers spoke out amid their grief for the late rock star. Long after the crowds had disappeared, David Beckham took to his Instagram Stories to upload kind words for the Prince of Darkness. Alongside an image of Ozzy at his final gig at Villa Park just weeks ago, Beckham wrote: “When Ozzy smiled we all smiled.. Such a kind, generous and caring man Ozzy was and will always be. “

Prior to Ozzy’s send off in Birmingham, Metallica star Rob Trujillo paid a moving tribute to the rocker. He explained how he was sad, but confirmed that he would be attending the funeral of Ozzy. He said on Instagram: “Ozzy was the conduit for so many new relationships both creative collaborations and real, lasting friendships.”

And after calling the Prince of Darkness the “gateway”, he said: “Ozzy was a humble man and sometimes so honest it hurt but his sense of humor made everything absolutely amazing. Touring with Ozzy and Zakk was always a wild adventure. Those two together… it was a crazy, awesome rollercoaster.

“We’re all so thankful for his heart and soul. Ozzy and Black Sabbath were and still are the soundtrack to our lives. The inspiration they gave us is beyond words. The first real alternative rock band, in my opinion.

“Now it’s time to pay our respects, share our love, and offer our support to Sharon and the family. It’s heartbreaking but we know Ozzy gave us everything he had in his final days.”

News of Ozzy’s death broke on just over a week ago, and it came after a number of health woes for the legendary music star.

The family statement announcing his death read: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love.” We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.”

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