New Delhi, India – In a career marked by chart-topping music and highly acclaimed performances, Punjabi actor Diljit Dosanjh is cruising towards yet another milestone on his list: Delivering the highest-grossing Punjabi film.
“Sardaar Ji 3”, the latest horror-comedy by Dosanjh, one of Asia’s most bankable artists, has been shattering records abroad. But, in his own home country, India, the film has not been released and remains out of bounds for more than one billion people.
Dosanjh and his latest film – released globally on June 27 – have been marred by a political and cultural controversy over the nationality of his film’s co-star, Hania Amir, a Pakistani actor.
Last year, Dosanjh sold out arenas in the US, Canada, and across Europe during his Dil-Luminati world tour. He became the first Indian artist to perform at the Coachella festival in California and, more recently, walked down the Met Gala carpet in an iconic turban. Dosanjh has also carved out a unique space for himself in Bollywood as both a crowd-puller and a critical favourite.
But at home, he is now facing calls for a boycott and the impounding of his passport. Film critics and political analysts, however, say this is part of a growing pattern of censorship and an attempt to restrict artistic freedom in India, to heed the nationalists’ demands.
So, why is India blocking the work of one of its most successful artists?
Diljit Dosanjh performs at the Sahara tent during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15, 2023, in Indio, California [Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella via AFP]
Why is Dosanjh’s latest film controversial?
Sardaar Ji 3, the third instalment of the popular horror-comedy franchise directed by Amar Hundal, stars a popular Punjabi pair – Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa – in lead roles, alongside Pakistan’s Hania Aamir.
Shortly after the film’s production was wrapped in April this year, suspected rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir’s resort town of Pahalgam killed 26 people, all but one of them tourists.
New Delhi immediately blamed Pakistan, which it said had supported the deadly “terrorist attack”, but Islamabad denied involvement. In the coming days, the two countries engaged in a four-day conflict, the most expansive between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.
When Dosanjh released the trailer for his upcoming film last month, the casting of Aamir took many by surprise – and prompted outrage.
Why has the Indian government blocked Sadaar Ji 3?
The film has not received certification from India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and has not been released in Indian cinemas.
The Indian government also “geoblocked” (restricted online access to) the film’s trailer in India; however, the teaser and film’s album, which do not include shots of Aamir, remain accessible.
Following the Kashmir attack in April, the Indian government swiftly brought in a series of digital crackdowns. This included blocking thousands of Pakistani social media handles on platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), including the accounts of celebrities such as Aamir, Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan.
The government, which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also blocked access to the social media accounts of Pakistani journalists and news outlets in India.
The government then issued an advisory on May 8, directing all video platforms, streaming services and digital intermediaries to immediately remove Pakistani-origin entertainment content, including web series, films, songs, podcasts and other media.
In addition, the government banned 16 prominent Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of Geo News, ARY News, and Samaa TV, which collectively had more than 63 million subscribers, for allegedly spreading misinformation, provocative narratives, and content targeting India’s armed forces and sovereignty.
Rahul Desai, a Mumbai-based film and TV critic, said blocking access to films over casting choices has become “an excuse to antagonise Pakistan” under the current government.
“It’s a vicious cycle because a lot of the cinema is informed by pro-establishment choices in India,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This has become a very neat medium for people to vent against Pakistan, just like cricket sometimes does.”
Today, the reality-based creative boundaries in India are neat, Desai said: “Do not cast artists from the other side of the border, and a lot of filmmakers self-censor themselves.”
Diljit Dosanjh attends ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, the 2025 Costume Institute Benefit, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025, in New York City, US [Taylor Hill/Getty Images]
Are cross-border artistic collaborations common?
Yes, they are. Pakistani actors are not allowed to work in India, so shoots involving them have to be carried out abroad.
“Music departments of [Pakistan’s] films used to contribute a lot to Indian cinema at least a decade or two ago in the 2000s,” said Desai. The release of the curated music show franchise, Coke Studio Pakistan, which had 15 seasons from 2008 to 2024, was almost “like a cultural moment in India”, he added.
But over the past two decades, there have been multiple instances of cross-border collaborations of artists, but they have faced boycotts and anger on both sides of the border due to political tensions between the South Asian neighbours.
For the Punjabi film and music industries, the situation is even more complex.
The partition of British India, which resulted in the creation of Pakistan with borders drawn overnight, cuts through Punjab, and millions on each side share culture and linguistic ties.
Successful Punjabi franchises like Chal Mera Putt, known for its Pakistani cast, face uncertainty, especially the upcoming Chal Mera Putt 4, amid growing demands to avoid Pakistani involvement.
“There’s obviously a lot of bullying involved by the establishment over casting Pakistani actors,” said Desai. “There’s a lot of banning and trolling involved. There’s a lot of anxiety and tension associated with such choices.”
What do Indian film bodies say about Sadaar Ji 3?
Indian film associations, particularly the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA), have voiced strong objections to the casting of Aamir in Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 3.
FWICE, headed by President BN Tiwari, labelled the collaboration a “betrayal of the nation” and accused Dosanjh of “disrespecting national sentiments and the sacrifices of Indian soldiers”. It demanded a complete ban on the film in India.
The body also issued appeals to India’s CBFC to withhold certification for Sardaar Ji 3 and emphasised noncooperation with Pakistani artists.
AICWA echoed these sentiments, condemning the film’s producers for prioritising Pakistani talent over Indian artists and calling for a widespread boycott of Dosanjh across the industry, including by music companies and event organisers.
Ashoke Pandit, the president of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association, told a local newspaper: “We are going to take action and tell the producers not to work with [Dosanjh].
“He should be fully boycotted in the country by music labels and the Punjabi film industry. Diljit is a compulsive Pakistani lover.”
However, Ira Bhaskar, a former CBFC Board member and retired professor of film studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said this episode is a reflection of the establishments of India and Pakistan, rather than pointing to a deeper divide between the people of the two countries.
“The Indian government [since Modi came to power] has not only understood the power of mass media, especially cinema, but is invested in taking control of the narratives that circulate in the public domain,” Bhaskar said.
Diljit Dosanjh performs at the Sahara tent during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 22, 2023, in Indio, California [Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella via AFP]
What has Dosanjh said about the furore over Sadaar Ji 3?
Dosanjh told BBC Asian Network earlier this month: “When this film was made, everything was fine.
“We shot it in February, and things were OK back then. After that, a lot of big things happened that were beyond our control,” the singer-actor said, referring to the Kashmir attack and the ensuing conflict.
“So the producers decided that the film obviously won’t be released in India now, so they’ll release it overseas. The producers have invested a lot of money, and when the film was being made, nothing like this was happening,” Dosanjh said.
How well has Sardaar Ji 3 done globally?
Dosanjh told the BBC that the film’s producers were aware of the potential financial loss from pulling out of a territory like India, the world’s most populous country. The previous film in the franchise – Sadaar Ji 2 – made nearly $3m at the box office in India.
Dosanjh has continued promoting his film on his social media handles, including sharing images from sold-out shows in Pakistan, where the movie has shattered records for Indian releases. Globally, the film has taken $7m at the box office, against a budget of $4m. In Pakistan, it is the highest-grossing Indian-made film in history, pulling in $1.4m so far.
In India, Desai, the critic, said “censorship goes way beyond casting … It extends to the themes of the stories that people are allowed to tell now in India.”
Spectators watch Diljit Dosanjh perform onstage at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California, US, April 22, 2023 [Aude Guerrucci/Reuters]
Are any other of Dosanjh’s works facing problems?
Yes. The release of Dosanjh’s film, Panjab ’95, directed by Honey Trehan in 2022, has stalled, primarily because of stringent demands from India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which has delayed its clearance since the project was submitted in December 2022.
The biographical drama about the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed 25,0000 extrajudicial killings and disappearances of Sikhs in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s, was given 120 suggested cuts, including removing references to political figures, documented human rights abuses, and even the protagonist’s name.
Trehan told Al Jazeera: “The CBFC was established as an independent body, which could protect artists, so that the government should not influence the art … [but] the government is arm-twisting filmmakers and their films.”
Desai, the critic who watched Panjab ’95 in a private screening, told Al Jazeera: “It’s such a well-made film that it might incite a sense of revolution among people today, especially people who are not happy with the establishment. So, we can see where a lot of the insecurity is coming from.”
Dosanjh and Trehan have publicly refused to accept the suggested cuts. And the film remains in limbo. Its scheduled premiere was pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2023, and subsequent invitations from other international festivals were declined.
The Love Island villa is about to see yet another new bombshell stir things up, and this time, it could even result in another shock dumping
18:00, 18 Jul 2025Updated 18:00, 18 Jul 2025
Angel Swift is about to cause some trouble, as she makes an early confession to Harry (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island is set to experience a huge shake-up as a new contestant, Angel Swift, enters the villa in what could be the most dramatic bombshell so far this series.
The last episode showed, after taking part in a ranking challenge, an unexpected text asking the islanders to guess which three boys a brand new bombshell wants to get to know the most. Tonight’s episode, Friday July 18, will reveal all as viewers watch the latest bombshell turn some heads.
Her big TV entrance results in a rather cheeky conversation with the ever-controversial contestant, 30-year-old Harry Cooksley. While currently being coupled up with Helena Ford after a tumultuous start to their time in the villa, in a series of on-and-off-again recouplings, he entertains the new islander following her shock entrance.
Angel admits to harry that she likes to be “the little spoon” (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Angel wastes no time getting her graft on and pulls Harry for a chat to see how he’s feeling about his current couple. As expected, it’s not long before their polite exchange turns saucy.
Harry makes intense eye contact when talking to her about mornings, saying: “You like the mornings, do you? What about…?” He stares at her intensely as he hints at a more sexual subject. Harry continues to say: “Cause I’m into that. Ends up with a little spooning.” Angel responds by telling him that she does “like being a little spoon”.
Intrigued, the OG islander asks the bombshell how her typical romantic interactions come about and if she finds she gets attached to boys easily. It’s then that Angel confesses why she can’t sleep with a boy casually, admitting: “When I sleep with someone, I get feelings. So I can’t sleep with them because I’m just like, ‘Ah, I’m in love.’”
In a flirtatious response, Harry jokes: “We might have to hold off on that spoon in the morning then.” When the conversation draws to a close Angel asks if the 30-year-old is ready to go and join the rest of the villa, but he’s pretty smitten. Harry responds to say: “No, I want to stay here with you.”
This isn’t the first time Harry has had his head turned, and it may not be the last. Despite his recent recoupling with Helena, it seems he can’t help but fall for a new girl, which will undoubtedly land him in more trouble with the girls in the villa.
Harry’s head already seems to be turned by Angel Swift (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Speaking before her villa debut, Angel confidently confessed her plans to go after exactly what she wants and knows that couples will be split in the process. She said: “That is what’s going to happen, so it’s quite exciting, really. That’s what I’m in there for.”
“I feel like people have been getting their heads turned very easily. I do feel like I have quite a good chance of turning someone’s head.”
Rumours are spreading online that Angel’s arrival will bring a new recoupling, which means she has to choose one of the boys to pair up with, leaving one of the girls single. Many are speculating that it could be a final goodbye for the likes of Toni, Shakira, or, after a rollercoaster relationship, Helena.
The annual Tomorrowland festival is set to draw about 100,000 attendees, with many expected to camp on site.
A huge fire has engulfed the main stage of Belgium’s globally-renowned Tomorrowland electronic dance music festival, two days before the event was due to open to an expected audience of 100,000.
“Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged,” festival organisers said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident,” it added.
Several hundred firefighters had fought to save the stage from the flames, and Antwerp prosecutors have opened an investigation, though they said the fire appeared accidental.
The annual Tomorrowland festival, held in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is set to begin on Friday and approximately 100,000 participants are expected to attend, with many planning to camp on site for the duration of the event.
The 2025 edition is scheduled to run over the next two weekends.
Organisers said the festival’s campground will open as scheduled on Thursday, when attendees are expected to begin arriving, and emphasised that they are focused on finding solutions for the weekend events.
Several dozen DJs and electronic music stars, such as David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Armin van Buuren and Charlotte de Witte, are to perform from Friday for the first weekend, with two-thirds of the events split between the now destroyed “Mainstage” and the “Freedom Stage”.
Founded 20 years ago by two Belgian brothers, Tomorrowland has become an internationally-renowned event. A winter festival is now held in the French ski resort of Alpe d’Huez and another in Brazil.
Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde attend the Tomorrowland 2017 music festival in Boom, Belgium, on July 21, 2017 [Danny Gys/Pool via Reuters]
Severance stood out from the competition earning 27 Emmy nods, while HBO’s dark Batman spinoff, The Penguin, secured 24 nominations.
The nominees for the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced.
Actors Harvey Guillen and Brenda Song revealed the nominations at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theater in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday in advance of the 77th annual ceremony.
Severance stood out from the competition, earning 27 Emmy nods, while Apple TV’s The Studio topped the comedy categories with 23 nominations. HBO’s dark Batman spinoff, The Penguin, secured 24 nominations.
Abbott Elementary The Bear Hacks Nobody Wants This Only Murders in the Building Shrinking The Studio What We Do in the Shadows pic.twitter.com/a98KPPARH8
Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Bill Camp, Presumed Innocent
Owen Cooper, Adolescence
Rob Delaney, Dying for Sex
Peter Sarsgaard, Presumed Innocent
Ashley Walters, Adolescence
Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, centre, and Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, right, in a scene from Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story [Miles Crist/Netflix]
Supporting actor, comedy series
Ike Barinholtz, The Studio
Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Harrison Ford, Shrinking
Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Ike Barinholtz, from left, Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders and Seth Rogen in a scene from The Studio [Apple TV+ via AP]
Supporting actress, comedy series
Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Kathryn Hahn, The Studio
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Jessica Williams, Shrinking
Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Bear for their 13 Emmy® nominations. pic.twitter.com/Kqo30C1mb0
Talk about hosts with the most! Congratulations to both Ken Jennings and Colin Jost, and the whole Jeopardy! team on the 140th Emmy® nominations for the show! Thank you @TelevisionAcad#Jeopardy! #Emmyspic.twitter.com/FByCOGKJQn
O’Donnell says the Republican US president hates her because she sees ‘him for who he is – a criminal con man’.
United States President Donald Trump has said he might revoke talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship after she criticised his administration’s handling of weather forecasting agencies in the wake of the deadly Texas floods.
Trump’s threats are the latest salvo in a years-long feud the two have waged over social media.
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has long called for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, but in recent weeks, he has suggested that he would remove US citizens that he disagrees with from the country.
“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump wrote.
Under the law, a president cannot revoke the citizenship of an American born in the US. O’Donnell was born in New York state.
Trump’s latest jab at O’Donnell seemed to be in response to a TikTok video she posted this month, mourning the 119 deaths in the July 4 floods in Texas and blaming Trump’s widespread cuts to environmental and science agencies involved in forecasting major natural disasters.
“What a horror story in Texas,” O’Donnell said in the video. “And you know, when the president guts all the early warning systems and the weathering forecast abilities of the government, these are the results that we’re gonna start to see on a daily basis.”
The Trump administration, as well as local and state officials, have faced mounting questions about whether more could have been done to protect and warn residents in advance of the Texas flooding, which killed at least 120 people earlier this month.
Trump, on Friday, visited Texas and defended the government’s response to the disaster, saying his agencies “did an incredible job under the circumstances.”
O’Donnell responded to Trump’s threat in two posts on her Instagram account, saying: “the president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.”
She added that he opposes her because she “stands in direct opposition with all he represents”.
O’Donnell has been a longtime target of Trump’s insults and jabs.
In 2014, when she opened up about her weight loss journey, Trump said on X that “she felt ‘shame’ at being fat-not politically correct! She killed Star Jones for weight loss surgery, just had it!”
During Trump’s first presidency, O’Donnell told W magazine that she feared whether she would be able to “live through” his presidency.
Following Trump’s inauguration for his second presidential term in January this year, she moved to Ireland earlier this year with her 12-year-old son.
In a March TikTok video, she said that she would return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
Earlier this month, Trump said he may look at options to deport his former aide-turned-critic, Elon Musk, a naturalised US citizen.
And last month, the White House said allegations that Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has supported “terrorism” in the past “should be investigated”, with the intent of revoking his citizenship.
Prosecutors make closing arguments in six-week trial that heard harrowing testimony from people who faced alleged abuse.
United States prosecutors argued that Sean “Diddy” Combs used his wealth and influence to evade accountability for violently abusing women in closing arguments in the entertainment mogul’s trial.
Prosecutors told the jury on Thursday that Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, oversaw a vast criminal conspiracy.
“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told jurors in her address. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
The trial of the billionaire former rapper, a central figure in the rise of hip-hop in US popular culture, has included harrowing testimony from women who described an atmosphere of cruelty, exploitation, and intimidation.
Over six weeks of testimony, prosecutors also said that Combs pushed people to participate in drug-fuelled sex parties known as “freak offs”, with footage of people engaged in sex acts then used as leverage by Combs.
Slavik said that Combs “again and again forced, threatened and manipulated” singer and former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura to have sex with escorts for his own entertainment and used a “small army of employees” from his entertainment empire to cover up abuses and intimidate anyone who tried to push back.
Combs sat with his head down while Slavik made her remarks before the jury, wearing a light-coloured sweater and khaki trousers. His lawyers have argued that while Combs has a violent temperament and has committed violent acts against romantic partners, prosecutors have misrepresented a sexually unorthodox lifestyle as evidence of crimes such as racketeering and trafficking.
Judge Arun Subramanian told the jury that they would hear final statements from the defence on Friday, with the prosecution given a chance to offer a rebuttal before jurors are instructed on their responsibilities and sent to begin deliberation.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Friday or Monday, and Combs faces a minimum of 15 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts.
The two New York teams dropped by Dodger Stadium a couple of weeks ago, first the Yankees and then the Mets, and broadcasters for each team made sure to complain about how loud it was.
“The Dodger Stadium center field speakers are in full assault mode,” Yankees radio voice Dave Sims tweeted.
On the ESPN Sunday night broadcast from Dodger Stadium that week, Karl Ravech introduced an in-game interview with the Dodgers’ Tommy Edman this way: “He’s in center field now, being blasted by, I think, arguably the loudest speaker system I have ever heard in my life.”
Notwithstanding the audacity of New Yorkers whining about someone else’s volume, the broadcasters did lend their distinguished voices to a long-running debate among Dodgers fans: Is it loud at Dodger Stadium, or is it too loud?
“It’s just all part of an entertainment show,” Mookie Betts said. “There is no ‘too loud.’”
Organists Helen Dell and Nancy Bea Hefley soothed generations of fans, but the traditional soundtrack to a Dodgers game has gone the way of $10 parking and outfield walls free of advertisements. The fan experience now includes a finely choreographed production at virtually every moment except when the ball is in play, and that includes recorded music, cranked up.
“We don’t make it louder just to make it louder,” said Lon Rosen, the Dodgers’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “It’s all part of what fits in the presentation.”
And the players, the ones whose performance determines whether the Dodgers win or lose, love the presentation.
“I think it’s great,” Clayton Kershaw said. “Even on the road, I’d rather have that than quiet. St. Louis was just really quiet. It almost felt like golf at times.
“The louder, the more fun, the better. The Dodgers have the best sound system out there. So why not use it?”
Said former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen: “When I used to come out to ‘California Love,’ that thing used to bang. The bass they have, you can feel that thing shake in your chest.”
Just how loud is it at the ballpark?
To find out, I downloaded a decibel meter and visited Southern California’s three major league ballparks during an eight-day span this month. At Dodger Stadium, I walked around the ballpark, and up and down to different levels, but the readings were relatively consistent no matter where someone might be sitting.
Bottom line: It’s pleasant at Angel Stadium, lively at Petco Park, booming at Dodger Stadium.
Caveat: Even with all other things equal, it always will be louder at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers sell 50,000 tickets to a game more often than not; no other major league ballpark even holds 50,000.
At 60 and 30 minutes before game time, as fans settled into the ballpark, Angel Stadium and Petco Park registered in the 65-75 dB range, roughly the sound of a normal conversation on the low end and household appliances on the high end.
The introduction of the home team lineup registered in the 80-85 dB range at Angel Stadium, 85-90 dB at Petco Park, and 90-95 dB at Dodger Stadium, roughly the sound of a noisy restaurant at the low end and power tools on the high end.
The high-end levels would be hazardous if sustained throughout the evening, but sounds ebb and flow as the game does. (Decibel levels are measured logarithmically, so an increase of 10 dB means sound is heard 10 times louder and an increase of 20 dB means sound is heard 100 times louder.)
The highest levels at any stadium occur not when a voice pleads “Get loud!” or “Everybody clap your hands!” but organically, as the result of a big moment in the game.
My decibel meter hit 100 dB twice during my three test games: immediately after the Angels’ Travis d’Arnaud homered in Anaheim, and as the Dodgers’ Will Smith slid safely into home plate with the tying run at Dodger Stadium, as the opposing catcher tagged him but dropped the ball.
What distinguishes the Dodger Stadium experience is the hour or so before the game starts. The Angels offer music, spotlight fans on the video board, and “invite you to enjoy the hospitality of Angel Stadium.” The Dodgers impose a relentlessly loud pregame show, with hype guys and hype girls, pounding away well above the 65-75 dB levels in Anaheim and San Diego, with dB readings into the 80s.
A Dodger Stadium screen encourages fans to be loud during Monday’s game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers’ pregame show attempts to force anticipation upon the audience, as if that is somehow necessary. It’s not. You’re about to see Shohei Ohtani!
There is always something happening before the game in the center field plaza: a band, product giveaways, Instagram-worthy photo opportunities, the live pregame broadcast for SportsNet LA. You can get hyped there, if you like. Or you can enjoy a conversation with your friends in your seats, instead of getting a headache before the game even starts.
Tyler Anderson, who pitches for the Angels now and used to pitch for the Dodgers, said he finds no fault in the traditional way of presenting the game, or in the Dodgers’ way.
“It’s like you’re trying to turn that venue into one of the best bars in town, where you just go to the bar and listen to loud music and people are having a good time,” Anderson said. “I think that’s the atmosphere they’re trying to create. It’s a fun atmosphere for the fans too.
The center field plaza area at Dodger Stadium is always a lively spot for fans before a game.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“And then some places are more family-based. They’d rather have kids and older families, and young kids and grandkids coming to games. They probably have less of a party atmosphere and less of a bar kind of atmosphere.
“There is no right or wrong way.”
In his ESPN in-game interview, Edman called the Dodgers’ sound system both “absolutely absurd” and “great.”
I asked Edman about that seeming contradiction.
“That was one of the things that stuck out to me my first time playing here, just how loud the speakers are,” he said. “You can’t hear yourself think.”
He got used to it, and to how he need not be distracted because the sound shuts off “once the play actually starts.” He likes it now.
“It makes it more fun,” he said. “It’s like a big league game.”
The Dodgers’ game presentation is creative and compelling. And, instead of eliminating the beloved organ, the Dodgers include talented organist Dieter Ruehle as part of the show. Really, just tone down the pregame hour, and we’re good.
Rosen shrugged off the notion that the Dodgers should tone down anything. If fans did not enjoy the production, he wondered, why would they keep packing Dodger Stadium?
“It’s really not any louder than any other of the more popular stadiums,” Rosen said.
He might be onto something. Veteran baseball columnist Bob Klapisch reported that, during last month’s Yankees-Mets series at Yankee Stadium, “the decibel levels at the stadium routinely reached the mid-90s.”
That, Mr. Yankee Announcer, would be “full assault mode.”
The Wire cast featured faces who were relatively unknown at the time
It’s one of the most acclaimed original television series in years
Over 17 years later, The Wire continues to be celebrated as one of the finest crime drama TV series ever produced. First gracing our screens in June 2002, The Wire garnered immense popularity, airing 60 episodes on HBO until 2008, and finding a home in the UK on FX and subsequently BBC Two.
Each season spotlighted a different city institution and its interaction with law enforcement, whilst maintaining storylines and characters from previous seasons. Since the hit series wrapped up, some of its actors have retired from acting, others have bagged major awards, and some have sadly passed away.
Let’s take a look at what became of The Wire cast after the series concluded:
Dominic West – Jimmy McNulty
Dominic West in 2024
Dominic West’s portrayal of Detective Jimmy McNulty in The Wire was his breakthrough role. Post-series, he starred in The Affair, earning a Golden Globe nomination, and played Prince Charles in The Crown, reports the Mirror US. He also embodied Jean Valjean in the 2018 BBC miniseries adaptation of Les Misérables. Dominic has featured in films such as Chicago, 300, The Square, Tomb Raider, and Downton Abbey: A New Era.
In 2024, he was named as the new ambassador of Julian House, a Bath-based charity supporting vulnerable individuals.
Idris Elba – Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell
Idris Elba in 2024
Idris Elba, arguably the most prominent star to emerge from The Wire, later took on roles such as DCI John Luther in Luther, Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and featured in films like Beasts of No Nation, American Gangster, and the Thor series. In 2025, he fronted the BBC documentary Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis, addressing the escalating issue of knife crime in the UK and exploring potential solutions.
Beyond his acting career, Idris is also recognised for his work as a DJ under the alias DJ Big Driis and as an R&B singer. He was crowned the Sexiest Man Alive in 2018 by People Magazine, and co-owns the Kiro Race Formula E team.
Michael B. Jordan – Wallace
Michael B Jordan in April, 2025
One of Michael B. Jordan’s earliest roles was as Wallace in The Wire. He later gained further acclaim in Friday Night Lights, Chronicle, and Fruitvale Station. He also starred as Adonis Creed in the Creed franchise – a spin-off of the Rocky films – and as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther and its sequel.
In 2025, he showcased his versatility in the film Sinners, portraying twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore. The film, directed by Ryan Coogler, blends historical drama with supernatural horror and has been lauded for its unique narrative and visual style.
In 2022, Michael became a minority owner at Premier League side AFC Bournemouth – even designing two limited-edition kits for the team.
Maestro Harrell – Melvin ‘Cheese’ Wagstaff
Maestro Harrell in 2023
Maestro Harrell, who played Cheese in The Wire, has since appeared in shows like The Deuce and films such as Trainwreck and Keanu. He’s also made a name for himself in the EDM scene with tracks like For You and Which One Which.
In 2024, he lent his voice to the character Inaki in Mufasa: The Lion King.
Amy Ryan – Beatrice ‘Beadie’ Russell
Amy Ryan in March, 2025
Amy Ryan, who portrayed Beadie Russell in The Wire, earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in Gone Baby Gone and is also recognised for playing Holly Flax in The Office. She has starred in films like Birdman, Bridge of Spies, and Central Intelligence. In 2023, she took on the role of Grace in Ari Aster’s psychological horror film Beau Is Afraid.
John Doman – Major William Rawls
John Doman in March, 2025
John Doman, who played the ambitious and politically astute Major William Rawls in The Wire, has since taken on significant roles such as Rodrigo Borgia in Borgia, Senator Ross Garrison in Person of Interest, and Helen’s father in The Affair. He also featured as Bishop Charles Eddis in House of Cards and as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany in Berlin Station. In the gamingworld, he voiced Caesar in Fallout: New Vegas.
Michael K. Williams – Omar Little
Michael K. Williams in 2021
Michael K. Williams, who won acclaim for his role as Omar Little, the principled stick-up man in The Wire, went on to star as Albert ‘Chalky’ White in Boardwalk Empire, as well as in films including 12 Years a Slave and Inherent Vice. Michael was also recognised for his advocacy work, notably hosting the Vice series Black Market, which explored underground economies.
He tragically passed away in 2021 at the age of 54 due to an accidental drug overdose.
Aidan Gillen – Tommy Carcetti
Aidan Gillen in 2023
Aidan Gillen brought to life the ambitious politician Tommy Carcetti in The Wire. Post-series, he gained further fame as the cunning Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish in Game of Thrones.
Aidan also featured as Aberama Gold in Peaky Blinders and as Frank Kinsella in the Irish crime drama Kin, which debuted in 2021. The show has been renewed for a third season.
Reg E. Cathey – Norman Wilson
Reg E. Cathey in 2016
Reg E. Cathey portrayed Norman Wilson, the experienced political operative in The Wire. He later won an Emmy Award for his role as Freddy Hayes in House of Cards.
Reg also had roles in series such as Grimm, Outcast, and Luke Cage, where he played James Lucas. He sadly died in 2018 at the age of 59.
Tom McCarthy – Scott Templeton
Tom McCarthy in 2021
Tom McCarthy took on the role of ambitious journalist Scott Templeton in the final season of The Wire. Beyond acting, Tom is a successful filmmaker, having directed and co-written Spotlight, which clinched the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2016.
He also directed Stillwater in 2021 and served as an executive producer and director on Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.
Lance Reddick – Cedric Daniels
Lance Reddick in 2019
Lance Reddick, known for his role as the upright Lt. Cedric Daniels in The Wire, also starred as Charon in the John Wick film series and appeared in shows like Fringe, Bosch, and Resident Evil. In addition to his on-screen roles, Lance lent his voice to video game characters such as Commander Zavala in Destiny and Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn.
He passed away in March 2023 at the age of 60. His posthumous performance as Zeus in the Percy Jackson series earned him a Children’s and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performer. He also makes a posthumous appearance in this year’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.
Seth Gilliam – Ellis Carver
Seth Gilliam in 2023
Seth Gilliam portrayed Officer Ellis Carver in The Wire, a character who grew from a green cop into a seasoned leader. He later assumed the role of Father Gabriel Stokes in The Walking Dead and had a recurring part in Teen Wolf.
Seth continues to be active in television and film.
Baseball isn’t boring and the CW isn’t stupid, at least when it comes to the Savannah Bananas, the Georgia-based team that has rewritten the rules around the classic American pastime. The network has picked up rights to broadcast the July 27 Bananas game at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia.
“Banana Ball” incorporates humor, gymnastics, lip syncs and snappy dance choreography in a minor league baseball game with rules that definitely don’t match those of Major League Baseball — though many of the players once had MLB aspirations. This year the team has sold out 18 major league ballparks, plus three football stadiums with capacities of more than 70,000.
The CW in recent years has been leaning into live sports coverage, which has generally been delivering ratings results in a rapidly changing TV-viewing landscape. The network has the NASCAR Xfinity Series, WWE NXT on Tuesday nights, Grand Slam Track, AVP beach volleyball on summer Saturdays, ACC and Pac-12 football games in the fall and, starting next year, PBA professional bowling.
The Savannah Bananas come with a built-in audience earned via posts on TikTok, Facebook Reels and the like. The team has 10 million followers on TikTok alone.
The Savannah Bananas, a minor league baseball club, went on their first ever “World Tour” this year, taking their unique brand of baseball to various cities across America.
“We’ve always been very clear about our goal,” Bananas owner Jesse Cole told The Times in 2022. “We exist to make baseball fun.”
“It’s all about energy. We want to give people energy, delivering it every second, from the moment we open the gates at two o’clock until the last fan leaves at 11,” he added over the weekend, when the team played to a sellout crowd at Anaheim Stadium.
There’s definitely an audience appetite for the Savannah team: There are tickets available for games in August and September, but only through a lottery — and the wait list for the lottery is more than 3 million names long. Last season’s games drew a million fans total.
On Friday, the only way into the Anaheim game was through the resale market. Hours before the first pitch, the lowest price (fees and taxes included) for a pair of Bananas tickets on StubHub was $209.52, while it took a mere $171.72 to snag a pair of tickets to the Yankees-Dodgers series opener at Dodger Stadium the same night.
Who needs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge anyway: Banana Ball has the Savannah team facing rival outfits the Texas Tailgaters, the Firefighters, the Party Animals and the Visitors.
“The Savannah Bananas have taken the sports world by storm through their high-energy blend of baseball and entertainment that connects with viewers of all ages,” Mike Perman, senior vice president of CW Sports, said in a statement Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to partner with them for their broadcast television debut, and we cannot wait to bring our audience every unpredictable play in front of what promises to be an electric atmosphere in Philadelphia.”
“Banana Ball on The CW is a no-brainer,” Bananas owner Cole added in that news release. “After seeing their recent commitment to sports, we knew this could be a great partnership. With the speed and entertainment of Banana Ball, we look forward to creating new fans together in the years to come.”
Times staff writer David Wharton and Times fellow Anthony De Leon contributed to this report.
The lawsuit came three days after a similar case by NPR, which also saw its funds cut.
PBS has filed a lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump and other administration officials to block his order stripping federal funding from the 330-station public television system, three days after NPR did the same for its radio network.
In its lawsuit filed on Friday, PBS relied on similar arguments, saying Trump was overstepping his authority and engaging in “viewpoint discrimination” because of his claim that PBS’s news coverage is biassed against conservatives.
“PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,” lawyer Z W Julius Chen wrote in the suit, filed in US District Court in Washington, DC. “But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”
It was the latest of many legal actions taken against the administration for its moves, including several by media organisations impacted by Trump’s orders.
PBS was joined as a plaintiff by one of its stations, Lakeland PBS, which serves rural areas in northern and central Minnesota. Trump’s order is an “existential threat” to the station, the lawsuit said.
A PBS spokesman said that “after careful deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard public television’s editorial independence, and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations”.
‘Lawful authority’
Through an executive order earlier this month, Trump told the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies to stop funding the two systems. Through the corporation alone, PBS is receiving $325m this year, most of which goes directly to individual stations.
The White House deputy press secretary, Harrison Fields, said the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime.
“Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS,” Fields said. “The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.”
PBS, which makes much of the programming used by the stations, said it gets 22 percent of its revenue directly from the feds. Sixty-one percent of PBS’s budget is funded through individual station dues, and the stations raise the bulk of that money through the government.
Interrupting ‘a rich tapestry of programming’
Trump’s order “would have profound impacts on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of programming to all Americans”, Chen wrote.
PBS said the US Department of Education has cancelled a $78m grant to the system for educational programming, used to make children’s shows like Sesame Street, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Reading Rainbow.
For Minnesota residents, the order threatens the Lakeland Learns education programme and Lakeland News, described in the lawsuit as the only television programme in the region providing local news, weather and sports.
Besides Trump, the lawsuit names other administration officials as defendants, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. PBS says its technology is used as a backup for the nationwide wireless emergency alert system.
Major power outage hits the prominent film festival on its closing day and impacts 160,000 homes in the area.
French police were investigating a possible arson attack as being the main cause for a power outage which hit the Alpes-Maritimes region in southern France, including Cannes which is hosting its world-famous annual film festival.
“We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,” a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie said on Saturday, adding that no arrests had been made at this stage.
The local authority for the Alpes-Maritimes region had said earlier on Saturday that the western part of the area, which includes Cannes, was suffering from a major electricity outage and that grid operator RTE France was working on restoring power.
The outage, which affected 160,000 homes, according to RTE and regional officials, started shortly after 10am local time (08:00 GMT) on Saturday.
Police sources said the outage was caused by an overnight fire, probably an arson attack, at a high-voltage substation in the village of Tanneron.
Traffic lights were knocked out and businesses closed on the main shopping street of the Alpes-Maritimes holiday destination.
A policeman directs traffic following a power outage in southern France, May 24, 2025 [Guillaume Horcajuelo/EPA]
Separate power outages swept across the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France on Monday, disrupting critical infrastructure and airport operations. Officials denied foul play.
While Spain and Portugal suffered blackouts last month, the French Basque Country saw brief power outages with interruptions lasting only a few minutes, according to the French electricity transmission network.
The latest outage came just hours before the 78th Cannes Film Festival is due to close on Saturday evening with an award ceremony at the Palais des Festivals.
Despite the power cut, festival organisers said switching to an alternative electricity power supply enabled them to “maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony”.
After a politically charged two weeks, a jury led by French actor Juliette Binoche is expected to announce the winners among 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or for best film.
This year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza and United States President Donald Trump were the biggest talking points at the festival. More than 900 actors and filmmakers signed an open letter denouncing the genocide in Gaza, according to the organisers.
Abu Dhabi’s IMI will take a minority stake in the company of no more than 15 percent.
A consortium led by US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners has agreed to buy the publisher of the United Kingdom’s 170-year-old Daily Telegraph newspaper for about $674m (500 million pounds).
Redbird said it has reached an agreement in principle to become controlling owner of the Telegraph Media Group, ending a lengthy takeover saga for the conservative-leaning newspaper on Friday.
Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird, said the sale “marks the start of a new era for The Telegraph as we look to grow the brand in the UK and internationally, invest in its technology and expand its subscriber base”.
The Telegraph group, previously owned by the UK’s Barclay family, was put up for sale two years ago to help pay off the family’s debts. It publishes the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and weekly newsmagazine The Spectator, which all are closely allied to the UK’s Conservative Party.
In 2023, there was an offer to buy the publications from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates.
But the consortium pulled out last year following strong opposition from the UK government, which launched legislation to block foreign state ownership of the British press.
Under the deal, Abu Dhabi’s IMI will take a minority stake of not more than 15 percent in the Telegraph as a member of the consortium. The sale must be approved by British regulators.
RedBird has investments in football team AC Milan, the parent company of Liverpool football club and film production company Skydance.
Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones said that “RedBird Capital Partners have exciting growth plans that build on our success — and will unlock our full potential across the breadth of our business.”
The Spectator was sold in September to British hedge fund investor Paul Marshall.
Just when you thought Eurovision had reached peak absurdity – with its glitter-drenched cliches, outlandish lyrics, and performances that make your local karaoke night look refined – it sank even lower in 2025. This year, Israel not only participated amid its ongoing assault on Gaza and international law, it nearly won.
In the lead-up to the contest, activists across Europe called for Israel’s exclusion. Seventy-two former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter demanding that Israel – and its national broadcaster, KAN – be banned. Protests, petitions, and campaigns swept across the continent, urging the contest to uphold its supposed values of “European unity and culture” rather than spotlight a state accused of systematically starving and bombing a captive population of two million.
But Eurovision did not listen.
Instead, it handed the stage to 24-year-old Yuval Raphael – a survivor of Hamas’s October 7 attack on the Nova Music Festival – who won the public televote in most countries and placed second overall, edged out only because, unlike the public, most professional juries preferred Austria’s entry.
Understandably, Israel’s surprising near-victory triggered a wave of backlash. With populations that have been most vocal in their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza – such as Ireland – supposedly giving the highest marks to Raphael, widespread accusations of vote-rigging emerged. National broadcasters in Spain and Belgium filed formal complaints with the European Broadcasting Union, demanding an investigation into potential manipulation of the televoting system. Meanwhile, The Intercept’s audio analysis revealed that Eurovision organisers had muted audience booing and chants of “Free Palestine” during Raphael’s live performance.
In the aftermath of this year’s contest, the calls for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision are louder than ever before. Clearly, for many across Europe who love Eurovision – whether for its camp, spectacle, or nostalgic charm – but who also care about international law and Palestinian lives, Israel’s continued inclusion is a moral failure.
And yet, I believe Israel belongs in Eurovision and should stay in the competition going forward. Here’s why.
For one thing, Israel’s continued participation would reflect the reality of European policy. Despite growing public outrage, many European leaders have been unwavering in their support for Israel throughout its devastating campaign in Gaza. While countries like Spain and the Republic of Ireland have called for a reassessment of the European Union’s relationship with Israel, for most of Europe, it’s been business as usual.
In February 2025, despite mounting pressure from human rights groups, European foreign ministers met with their Israeli counterpart and insisted that “political and economic ties remain strong”. A few months later, seven EU countries issued a joint statement calling for an end to what they described as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. But without action, these words rang hollow.
Europe is also divided on whether it would honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain indicated they would comply. The United Kingdom, as usual, hedged, saying only that it would “comply with legal obligations under domestic and international law”. Meanwhile, Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, flatly refused to enforce the warrant. And among Europe’s largest players – France, Germany, and Italy – the response has ranged from evasive to outright dismissive. France claimed Netanyahu enjoys immunity since Israel isn’t an ICC member; Italy said arresting him would be “unfeasible”; and Germany’s newly elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz even vowed to find “ways and means” for Netanyahu to visit.
Given how European leaders have shown far more enthusiasm for cracking down on Palestine solidarity activists than holding Israel accountable, it feels only fitting that Israel continues to sing and dance on the ruins of Palestinian lives – hand in hand with its European friends.
But this alliance isn’t just political. Those who are promoting it suggest it’s also cultural, and even “civilisational”.
Many Western intellectuals have long cast Israel as an outpost of European values in a supposedly savage region. After October 7, this narrative was renewed with fresh urgency. French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, while insisting he is a “militant defender of human rights”, framed Israel – apartheid and all – as a moral beacon when compared to the usual “others”: Russians, Turks, Chinese, Persians, and Arabs. Their imperial ambitions, he argued, pose a far greater threat to “civilisation” than Israel’s “policy of colonising the West Bank”. He even praised Israel’s “moral fortitude” and supposed concern for civilian life in Gaza – words that have not aged well after 19 months of pure carnage.
American commentator Josh Hammer’s book, Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West, is even more explicit. For him, Israel is the West’s “agent” in a region plagued by violence and Islamic “terrorism”. Those who support Palestinian rights are, in his words, “anti-American, anti-Western jackals”. UK commentator Douglas Murray echoes the same civilisational framing in the book On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, calling Israel a bulwark of good in a world of evil.
Israeli leaders have adopted this language, too. Netanyahu declared shortly after October 7 that “Israel is fighting the enemies of civilisation itself”, urging the West to show “moral clarity”. According to this world view, Israel doesn’t just defend itself – it defends the entire Western civilisation.
All this may sound far removed from a song contest. But Eurovision has always been more than sequins and key changes. It’s a projection of “Europeanness” – and “Europe,” as a concept, has always been political. It’s built on a colonial legacy that imagined Europe as enlightened, orderly, and rational – defined in opposition to the supposedly backward, emotional, and irrational non-European “other”.
This legacy justified colonial conquests and the violent suppression of anti-colonial uprisings. Massacres were cast as the price of restoring order; ethnic cleansing, a civilizing mission. Today, that same narrative lives on in how the West frames Israel – as a beleaguered democracy standing bravely against barbarism.
So when people call for Israel to be banned from Eurovision over this year’s vote-rigging allegations, I can’t help but note the irony: that its genocidal campaign in Gaza didn’t cross a red line for Europe – but cheating in a song contest just might.
If Eurovision were to expel Israel now, it would be the harshest penalty the continent has ever imposed on the nation – and it would be not for mass killing, but for meddling with pop music.
And so, yes – I believe Israel should stay in Eurovision.
After all, Europe and Israel deserve each other.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
The proposed merger, which would create the largest cable provider in the US, could face antitrust hurdles.
Charter Communications has agreed to buy its rival Cox Communications for $21.9bn in a deal that would unite the two of the largest cable and broadband operators in the United States as they battle streaming giants and mobile carriers for customers.
The deal, announced on Friday, comes more than a decade after the companies reportedly abandoned an earlier merger attempt. Since then, pressure has intensified on cable companies, with wireless carriers attracting broadband customers with aggressive plans, while millions ditch traditional pay-TV for streaming.
The companies said they expect to realise $500m in cost savings within three years of the deal’s expected close in mid-2026.
Under the cash-and-stock deal, Charter will take on about $12.6bn of Cox’s net debt and other obligations, giving the transaction an enterprise value of $34.5bn.
Cox Enterprises, the family-owned parent of Cox Communications, will own about 23 percent of the merged entity, with its CEO Alex Taylor serving as chairman.
The combined firm will rebrand as Cox Communications within a year of the deal’s close, with Charter’s Spectrum being the consumer-facing brand. It will keep its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, while maintaining a big presence at Cox’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia.
The merger with Cox – one of the biggest deals globally this year – will aid Charter’s push to bundle broadband and mobile services, helping it fend off competition from carriers.
Analysts have said Charter’s strategy of combining internet, TV and mobile services into a single, customizable package has shown merit, but it needs scale as cable firms rely on leasing network access from major carriers to offer mobile plans.
“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products,” said Charter CEO Chris Winfrey, who will head the combined company.
The Spectrum-owner has a market value of nearly $60bn.
On Wall Street, Charter’s stock rose on the news of the potential merger. As of 12:00pm ET (16:00 GMT) the stock is up 1.66 percent since the market opened.
Antitrust concerns
The merger will be among the first major tests of M&A regulation under the administration of US President Donald Trump, as it would create the largest US cable TV and broadband provider with about 38 million subscribers, surpassing current market leader Comcast.
It will likely be reviewed by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who leads the division, has made it clear she intends to focus on mergers that decrease competition in ways that harm consumers or workers.
EMarketer analyst Ross Benes said the merged entity would be the largest US pay-TV operator, but the “ISP (internet service provider) side of the business is more consequential” for consumers, potentially positioning it as a regional monopoly.
Winfrey echoed Trump’s “America First” employment priorities and said the deal would bring Cox’s customer service jobs back from overseas, but he did not specify how many. Charter’s customer service teams are already based entirely in the US.
“This is the first big corporate move (in the same sector) to happen under the new Trump administration so … will set the tone for other potential moves or not,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.
Charter and Cox had also discussed a merger in 2013 before shelving the plan, according to media reports. But speculation had risen again in recent months after cable billionaire John Malone said in November Charter should be allowed to merge with rivals such as Cox, shortly after Charter agreed to buy his Liberty Broadband.
Liberty Broadband shareholders will receive direct interest in Charter under the terms of the deal with Cox.
Singer says on day three of trial Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs routinely beat her and threatened to ruin her career with videos of sexual encounters.
Casandra Ventura, the singer popularly known as Cassie and former girlfriend of rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has taken to the witness stand on the third day of his trial to portray a relationship defined by physical abuse and routine humiliation.
Testifying before the court on Wednesday, Ventura said Combs, who faces sex trafficking and racketeering charges, beat her and threatened to release compromising videos that could damage her career.
“He would grab me up, push me down, hit me in the side of the head, kick me,” Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer, told jurors in Manhattan federal court.
“It would just make him more violent, make him stronger, make him want to push me harder,” Ventura said of efforts to resist Combs’s violent behaviour during their decadelong relationship.
Prosecutors have alleged that Combs used his wealth and control of an entertainment empire to manipulate and coerce women, sometimes through physical violence, into participation in drug-fuelled sex parties known as “freak-offs” and then used videos of sexual encounters as blackmail.
“He said that it would ruin everything that I had worked for, that it would make me look like a slut, that I would be shamed,” Ventura said. “Nobody should do that to anyone.”
She stated participation in the “freak-offs” started to feel like “a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again” and she developed an opioid addiction to cope.
On one occasion in 2013, Ventura sent Combs pictures of injuries she sustained when he threw her into a bed frame so he could “remember” what he had done.
“You don’t know when to stop. You pushed it too far and continued to push,” he responded. “Sad.”
Combs’s lawyers have conceded that the rapper has an aggressive temperament and has physically assaulted people but state he has been incorrectly charged with racketeering and sex trafficking and a freewheeling sexual lifestyle is being misconstrued by prosecutors.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to five counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If he is convicted on all charges, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke will build a movie studio next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood that will serve as the international broadcast center for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Construction will start by summer on the studio and production facility that will house hundreds of broadcasters from around the world that have acquired rights to cover the Summer Games in Los Angeles, Kroenke’s company said Tuesday.
After the Games, the facility known as Hollywood Park Studios will be used to make movies, television shows and other productions and perhaps host live broadcasts.
The development is part of Hollywood Park, a multibillion-dollar complex built on the site of a former horse racing track also known as Hollywood Park that includes the stadium, apartments, theaters, offices, shops and restaurants.
Kroenke’s organization hopes that attention from the Olympics will boost Hollywood Park Studios’ appeal as a future entertainment production center.
“We want it to be recognized around the world,” said Alan Bornstein, who is overseeing development of the studio for Kroenke.
The studio is part of Hollywood Park’s master development plan focusing on media, entertainment and technology, Bornstein said, anchored by SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater and the NFL Media office building.
“There has been an increasing convergence of media and technology and sports, all under the notion of entertainment that is now distributed in in multiple channels,” Bornstein said, “whether it’s through streaming or whether through broadcast television or movies in theaters,”
The first phase of Hollywood Park Studios will occupy 12 acres and will consist of five soundstages, each 18,000 square feet, two of which may be opened to a single 36,000-square-foot stage.
The complex will have a three-story, 80,000-square-foot office building to support stage, production and postproduction activities. The studios will have a dedicated open base camp where trucks, equipment and actors’ trailers could be placed, along with a parking structure for 1,100 cars. Future development could include as many as 20 stages and 200,000 square feet of related office space.
The additional stages would be built to suit for future tenants as demand emerges, Bornstein said, who declined to estimate how much the studio complex will cost.
Although demand for soundstages outstripped supply a few years ago, production has recently slowed and dampened the current need for them.
A rendering of the Hollywood Park Studios broadcast center and movie production facility.
(Gensler)
Last year, the average annual occupancy rate dropped to 63%, a further indication of Hollywood’s sustained production slowdown, according to a recent report by FilmLA, a nonprofit organization that tracks on-location shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles area.
That was a decline from 2023, which saw an average regional occupancy rate of 69%. That was the year when dual strikes by writers and actors crippled the local production economy for months.
The foray into Hollywood-level production facilities is part of Kroenke’s goal to combine sports, entertainment and media from around the world, Bornstein said.
In addition to the Rams, Kroenke is owner of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, the Colorado Avalanche hockey team, the Colorado Rapids soccer team, the Colorado Mammoth lacrosse team and Arsenal Football Club, the Premier League soccer team based in London.
SoFi Stadium, where the Chargers also play football, will be converted into the largest Olympic swimming venue in history during the Games in 2028. It will host the Olympic opening ceremony with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games.
Kroenke is also a major real estate developer and landlord. The 300-acre Hollywood Park project is one of the largest mixed-use developments under construction in the western United States. SoFi Stadium alone cost $5 billion to build.
Last month, he also unveiled plans for a new Rams headquarters on a 100-acre site at Warner Center in Woodland Hills that would include a residential and retail community intended to be the centerpiece of the San Fernando Valley. It could cost more than the total price of Hollywood Park, which has been valued by outside observers at more than $10 billion.
Creating a second epicenter in Woodland Hills allows the Rams to significantly increase the size of their footprint in the Southern California market.
“When you’re looking to do a practice facility, you don’t need to be right in the middle of everything, and typically that real estate is very expensive,” Kroenke told The Times. “We built an identity in the Valley, with Cal Lutheran, and a lot of our players and families are up there. Our experience was really good.”
Architecture firm Gensler spearheaded the design for the Warner Center headquarters and Hollywood Park Studios. Clayco will be the general contractor for the studio, with Pacific Edge acting as project manager. Financing was arranged by Guggenheim Investments.
Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report.
So-called Hollywood ambassadors Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone joined with a coalition of entertainment industry groups for a letter delivered this week to President Trump urging him to support tax measures and a federal tax incentive that would help bring film and TV production back to the U.S.
The letter is signed by Voight, Stallone, all the major Hollywood unions and trade groups such as the Motion Picture Assn., the Producers Guild of America and the Independent Film & Television Alliance, indicating widespread support from the entertainment industry.
“Returning more production to the United States will require a national approach and broad-based policy solutions … as well as longer term initiatives such as implementing a federal film and television tax incentive,” the letter states.
In the letter, which was obtained by The Times, the groups say they support Trump’s proposal to create a new 15% corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing activities that would use a provision from the old Section 199 of the federal tax code as a model.
Under the previous Section 199, which expired in 2017, film and TV productions that were made in the U.S. qualified as domestic manufacturing and were eligible for that tax deduction, the letter states.
The letter also asks Trump to extend Section 181 of the federal tax code and increase the caps on tax-deductible qualified film and TV production expenditures, as well as reinstating the ability to carry back losses, which the groups say would give production companies more financial stability.
The tax measures — particularly Sections 199 and 181 — are issues the entertainment industry has long advocated for, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly. The letter itself came together over the weekend, they said. It was intended to present different measures that shared the same goal of increasing domestic production, one person said.
For the record:
3:09 p.m. May 12, 2025A previous version of this story stated Susan Sprung’s title as executive director. She is chief executive of the Producers Guild of America.
“Everything we can do to help producers mange their budgets is important,” said Susan Sprung, chief executive of the Producers Guild of America. “In an ideal world, we’d want a federal tax incentive, in addition to these tax provisions, but we want to advocate to make it as easy as possible to produce in the United States and make it as cost-effective as possible.”
The proposals on the federal level come as states are upping their own film and TV tax credits to better compete against each other and other countries. Late last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the state’s budget, which increased the cap for its film tax credit to $800 million a year, up from $700 million.
The expanded tax incentive program allocates $100 million for independent studios and gives additional incentives to companies that produce two or more projects in New York and commit to at least $100 million in qualified spending.
The program was also extended through 2036, which could help attract TV producers, who often want to know that their filming location is committed if they’re embarking on a series.
Production in New York has been slow, and the state needed this boost, said Michael Hackman, chief executive of Hackman Capital Partners, which owns two film and TV studio properties in the state, as well as several facilities in California. The increase from New York could also push California to increase its own film and TV tax credit program.
Last year, Newsom called to increase the annual amount allocated to California‘s film and TV tax credit program from $330 million to $750 million.
Two bills are currently going through the state legislature that would expand California’s incentive, including increasing the tax credit to cover up to 35% of qualified expenditures (or 40% in areas outside the Greater Los Angeles region), as well as expanding the types of productions that would be eligible for an incentive.
“We have the best infrastructure, the best talent, we have everything going for us,” Hackman said. “So if our state legislature can get more competitive with our tax credits, I think more productions will stay. But if they don’t, this will result in more productions continuing to leave the state and going to New York and to other locations.”
A number of witnesses have taken to the stand in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing allegations of racketeering and sex trafficking during his time as head of an entertainment empire.
Testimony in the trial began on Monday after the final phase of jury selection and opening statement from lawyers. Combs, donning a light-grey sweater, gave a thumbs-up to supporters in the courtroom in New York City in the United States.
“For 20 years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson told the court. “That’s why we are here today. That’s what this case is about.”
A number of witnesses testified that they had experienced physical violence, intimidation, and manipulation by Combs, while the rapper’s lawyers said that he has been charged with the wrong categories of crimes and “his kinky sex and his preferences for sex” were being portrayed as nefarious.
Attorney Teny Geragos told jurors that they may end up thinking Combs was a “jerk” or “kind of mean”, but that he is not being charged “with being mean or a jerk”.
“This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos said during her opening statement.
Johnson, the US attorney, said that Combs “viciously attacked” women who refused to participate in the parties that were called “freak offs”.
“They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson told jurors of testimony from victims in the case.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson points to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs before US District Judge Arun Subramanian at Combs’s sex-trafficking trial in New York City, New York, the US, May 12, 2025, in this courtroom sketch [Jane Rosenberg/Reuters]
‘She was shaking’
The courtroom became audibly silent as a video of Combs beating and kicking his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016 was shown.
A stripper named Daniel Phillip testified that Combs had thrown a liquor bottle towards Ventura before grabbing her by the hair and dragging her screaming into another room, where Phillip says he heard Combs yelling and beating Ventura.
“She literally jumped into my lap and she was shaking, like literally her whole entire body was shaking. She was terrified,” Phillip testified of Ventura.
Geragos conceded that Combs is prone to jealousy and had committed an act of “horrible, dehumanising violence” in the video shown to jurors, but that it was evidence of domestic abuse, not alleged acts of sex trafficking or racketeering that are at the centre of the case.
Prosecutors say that Combs, who faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of all five felony counts to which he had pleaded not guilty, pushed women to engage in drug-fuelled parties and then blackmailed them with videos of their encounters.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik questions Israel Florez, a former security guard, at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s sex-trafficking trial in New York City, New York, the US, May 12, 2025 in this courtroom sketch [Jane Rosenberg/Reuters]
Combs’s status as a high-profile entertainer has brought substantial attention to the trial, as well as larger debate about how powerful figures in sectors such as entertainment, business, sports, and politics often evade accountability for acts of abuse.
As the case began, the jury and alternates – 12 men and six women – were seated in the courtroom. Opening arguments started after the judge finished explaining the law as it relates to this trial, along with incidentals such as that a light breakfast will be provided to the jury in addition to lunch.
The jury for this case is essentially anonymous, meaning their identities are known to the court and the prosecution and defence, but will not be made public.
“We will keep your names and identities in confidence,” Subramanian told jurors.
It’s a common practice in federal cases to keep juries anonymous, particularly in sensitive, high-profile matters where juror safety can be a concern. Juror names also were kept from the public in US President Donald Trump’s criminal trial last year in state court in New York.
Subramanian urged jurors to judge the case only based on the evidence presented in court. It’s a standard instruction, but it carried added significance in this high-profile case, which has been the subject of intense media coverage.
“Anything you’ve seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence,” the judge said. “It must be disregarded.”
US president claims that Hollywood is undergoing a ‘very fast death’ despite raking in $30bn in revenues in 2024.
United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on foreign films, claiming that Hollywood is undergoing a “very fast death” due to overseas competition.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump said he had directed the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to immediately begin the process of imposing the tariff on “any and all” films produced in “foreign lands”.
“Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
Asked by reporters about the tariff later on Sunday, Trump claimed that the US was making “very few movies now.”
“Other nations, a lot of them, have stolen our movie industry,” he said. “If they are not willing to make a movie inside the United States, we should have a tariff on movies that come in.”
Trump did not elaborate on how such a tariff would work in practical terms, including whether it would be applied to Hollywood features that involve shooting and production across multiple countries.
Trump’s announcement follows his appointment in January of actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as “special ambassadors” tasked with bringing back business that Hollywood has lost to other countries.
At the time, Trump said the actors would be “my eyes and ears” as he set about instituting a “Golden Age of Hollywood”.
Hollywood has faced tough business conditions in recent years amid the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strike.
Hollywood studios grossed about $30bn worldwide last year, down about 7 percent from 2023, according to Gower Street Analytics.
While last year’s performance was an improvement on revenues in 2020, 2021 and 2022, it was still about 20 below the pre-pandemic average, according to Gower Street Analytics.
