Music Observer

Dua Lipa Repulses Speculation on World Cup Involvement

The 2022 FIFA World Cup doesn’t involve Dua Lipa.

The award-winning artist shuts down rumors that the World Cup asked her to sing at the opening ceremony in Qatar.

Furthermore, Lipa urged Qatar to carry out its human rights vows after reported abuse against migrant laborers and other human rights violations. 

“There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar,” she captioned an Instagram story. “I will not be performing, and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiations to perform.” 

Lipa stated that she would be “cheering England on from afar.” Additionally, she hoped to visit Qatar “when it has fulfilled all of its human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host” the international soccer contest. 

The competition starts on November 20. 

Meanwhile, the football association has asked BTS’ Jung Kook to sing at the opening ceremony, a statement from the band said. Furthermore, the South Korean artist will star in the World Cup soundtrack. 

The competition’s organizers have experienced backlash over reports of corruption and abuse against migrant laborers from Africa and Asia.

FIFA employed these workers to build new stadiums for the competition in the country. Furthermore, the allegations include nationality-based discrimination, exposure to dangerous workplace conditions, and unpaid wages that led to deaths, USA Today said. 

Qatar Controversy

The association chose Qatar as the venue for the 2022 World Cup in 2010. And it marked the first time a Middle Eastern country hosted the event. However, international pressure over human rights violations urged the nation to implement labor reforms. 

However, allegations continue to persist that abuses weren’t alleviating. This urged activists and officials to push for the tournament’s boycott. 

FIFA encouraged World Cup teams to “focus on” the sport instead of the controversy. 

On the other hand, Lipa’s home team voiced out their take on the matter. 

Read also: Andrew Morton Compliments Princess Diana Portrayal on ‘The Crown’

“We have always spoken about issues we think should be talked about, particularly the ones we feel we can affect,” said England’s manager Gareth Southgate.

He added: “Contrary to one or two observations in the last few weeks, we have spoken in the same way other nations have spoken about this tournament, the human rights challenges.

“We’ve been very clear on our standpoint on that.” 

FIFA World Cup

FIFA, or Federation Internationale de Football Association, is a governing body of football, beach football, and futsal. 

It is an international contest among national associations from Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Currently, the association has 211 memberships. 

To enter the competition, the members must be under one of the six regional confederations in the world. This includes Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania, and South America.

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Johnny Depp Ultimately Walks in Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 Show

The long-awaited appearance of Johnny Depp in Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 has finally arrived on Wednesday on Amazon Prime.

Media previously claimed Depp was involved. And it is indeed true.

Last Thursday, EW said Depp would join celebrities attending the 4th annual fashion-centric presentation. Celebrities such as Simu Liu, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Taraji P. Henson, Taylour Paige, Winston Duke, and more were in attendance. 

The actor appeared about 20 minutes into the show, which premiered this week on Prime Video.

He emerges from behind a tree in a long, loose-fitting jacket with black trousers, then smirks at the camera in a V-neck sweater with various chains. He also appears on Outkast’s beat for his 2001 “So Fresh, So Clean.”

Depp’s center time is 40 seconds. He then makes his way through a group of dancers. But the details were duly remembered by the crowd.

Years and Years singer Ollie Alexander posted a tweet following rumors that Depp would be joining the show. News reported that he will no longer be wearing pieces from Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty line following the actor’s engagement.

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Defamation Suit

Depp won a defamation suit against his ex-wife Heard. The latter had previously written in a Washington Post op-ed that she was a survivor of domestic violence.

While she did not specifically mention Depp, his lawyers debated that the piece resulted in considerable damage to Depp’s career and reputation. 

A jury massively favored Depp. In addition, they had discovered Heard’s intention and malicious acts to defame her ex. As a result, the actor received over a $10 million grant. 

On the other hand, Heard reiterated abuse from Depp. After the verdict, she moved to hire new lawyers to appeal it. 

Meanwhile, Depp’s lawyers are battling to appeal Heard’s counterclaim. But Heard won following a jury’s decision that Depp defamed her via his attorney when he referred to her abuse claims as a “hoax.” 

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Savage Limelight

The appearance during the Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 is one of Depp’s most famous comebacks to the spotlight after his victory over Heard.

Previously, he appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards 2022 in August. Afterward, Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez dubbed MTV “disgusting.” 

The Savage X Fenty show is currently available for streaming on Prime Video. 

Born John Christopher Depp, the actor has received multiple nominations and snags from different award shows. It includes a Golden Glove Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for three Academy Awards and two for BAFTA. 

Furthermore, the award-winning musician has had his share of film appearances. 

He debuted his feature film in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, a horror movie. He then rose to fame on the TV series 21 Jump Street (1987 – 1990). 

During the 1990s, Depp starred in independent films with unconventional filmmakers. It included 1990’s Cry-Baby, 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Benny and Joon, 1995’s Dead Man, 1997’s Donnie Brasco, and 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

In addition, his most commercially successful franchise is the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, in which he played Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Other films that earned him critical success are 2000’s Chocolat, 2004’s Finding Neverland, and 2009’s Public Enemies.

Photo: EW

Filmmakers Wants to ‘Execute a Modern Musical’ on Live-Action ‘Hercules’

The odds are still in favor of who they will someday be.

In a cover story with Variety, filmmakers and showrunners Joe and Anthony Russo opened up about their collaboration with Disney. Additionally, they unveiled a live-action adaptation of the 1997 animated story Hercules.

And apparently it’s based on the currently popular social media platform TikTok.

The new adaptation will be musical – not like the live-action version of Mulan. Don’t expect too much, as it won’t look and sound like the original animated film.

“There are questions about how you translate it as a musical,” Joe Russo stated. 

“Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.” 

But we don’t know what that looks like to the public.

However, some TikTok-inspired music concepts have been successful. Perhaps it will work as a fan-created, crowdsourced musical based on Pixar’s Ratatouille and Bridgerton’s award-winning unofficial musical.

The original film featured songs by Alan Menken and David Zippel – two longtime Disney collaborators. It almost appears from the Greek myth of Hercules (Tate Donovan). Additionally, the film chronicles the tale of the Greek hero as a skinny no-one who gains limelight after training with Phil (Danny DeVito) and his god-like strength.

As Meg (Susan Egan) wins his heart, his true divinity is tested. Hades (James Wood) then attempts to use Hercules as a puppet in his long-running schemes against Zeus (Rip Torn).

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Hercules Goes the Other Way

The Russos own an independent studio AGBO. Through the studio, they are producing Hercules for Disney with Guy Ritchie – filmmaker of Aladdin and Snatch – as director. 

“We have an amazing relationship with them that we’ve built over a decade,” Russo stated regarding Disney. “I think we have a point of view on how they can stretch the limits of their IP moving forward rather than playing IP management.”

Russo referred to the approach as “a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution.” 

Although several live-action Disney adaptations have received criticism due to their making too close to their source material, Hercules is paving a different path. 

But the ‘shake things up’ didn’t work well for Mulan. Additionally, the film was weighed down by bad reviews and a pandemic release.

“I think they’re excited to see what we can all bring to it in a way that isn’t just a reinterpretation of the animated film,” Russo stressed. “Guy [Ritchie] is perfect for it because he has a penchant for experimentation.” 

Ritchie and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings writer David Callaham are now working closely to create a script. 

Details on possible castings and more still need to be revealed. (Perhaps there’s a chance of a Marvel crossover? We never know.)

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Andrew Morton Compliments Princess Diana Portrayal on ‘The Crown’

Princess Diana biographer Andrew Morton said he was “breathless” at Elizabeth Debicki’s performance as a member of the British royal family in the recently released fifth season of The Crown.

Morton collaborated with the Princess on the writing of Diana: Her True Story, which was published in July 1992. The book exposed Diana’s misery in her marriage to the incredulous Prince Charles. Moreover, it details her struggles with bulimia and her times of loneliness and depression.

Although Morton dismissed speculation at the time that Diana helped write Diana: Her True Story, the book became a publishing sensation. The industry has also translated it into her 29 languages, reportedly selling 5 million copies worldwide.

His work effectively marked the end of the royal marriage. Then, in December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced that the two had split.

The latest season of the hit Netflix series features Morton and Diana’s team-up in the book.

“It left me breathless, and it took me back all those years,” Morton said on Friday’s episode of Good Morning America. “I mean, I don’t say this very often, but I was shaken.” 

During the writing of Diana: Her True Story, Morton sent a question to the Princess through her friend Dr. James Colthurst. Diana then recorded her responses to her author’s questions.

In an interview with GMA, Morton explained that he was unaware of Diana’s desperate mental state when he began writing the book.

“What I didn’t realize at the time was her sense of isolation, her sense of despair inside the royal system,” he stated. 

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Morton Published Another Book

Merely months after the royal highness’ death, Morton released a new installment of the book, Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words, in October 1997. 

This time, the author clarified the primary source of the original book was Diana herself. Furthermore, the new book contained edited transcripts of her recorded replies to his queries. 

Morton served as a consultant on the fifth season of The Crown. Moreover, Andrew Steele (Outlander) portrays him on the show. 

“The scriptwriters had asked me all kinds of questions like, what was the color of the wallpaper in my daughter’s bedroom. Because that’s where I had an office for a time,” he shared with GMA

Previously, the author complimented Emma Corrin’s depiction of Diana in the fourth season of The Crown. He said it was the most realistic he had seen so far. 

“I found the buildup to the wedding very affecting. As there was a slowly unfolding realization on both sides that they were heading toward an unwanted and unhappy outcome, namely the royal wedding,” Morton stated. 

“It reminded me of what a close friend of Diana’s said about the whole wretched mess when I was searching Diana: Her True Story. ‘I am sorry for the tragedy of it all. My heart bleeds for the whole misunderstanding. But it bleeds most for Diana.'” 

The Crown’s fifth season is currently available on Netflix.

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Selena Gomez Says She Named Her New Kidney After Fred Armisen

Selena Gomez goes everywhere with Fred Armisen, literally.

The Disney alum underwent a kidney transplant in 2017. In recent times, she shared that she named her new organ “Fred” in her tribute to the Saturday Night Live star.

“I named it after Fred Armisen because I love Portlandia,” Gomez said in an interview with Rolling Stone. (Portlandia is Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s sketch comedy series. “I’ve never met him. But I’m secretly hoping he finds that out just because I want him to be like, ‘That’s weird.'” 

When EW asked Armisen’s comment on the tribute, he did not immediately respond.

After being diagnosed with lupus in 2015, the actress revealed she had a kidney transplant. This procedure occurs as a result of complications from the disease.

Recovery was not easy either. Francia Raisa, a fellow actress, donated the kidney. After surgery, the organ kicked in on its own, damaging one of Ms. Gomez’s arteries.

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Selena on Her Condition

Then the “Lose You to Love Me” singer underwent another six-hour surgery to cure the frightening situation.

“They had to take her into emergency surgery and get the vein from her leg and build a new artery to keep my kidney in place,” Raisa said in an interview with W Magazine over the health concern in 2018. 

“She could have died.” 

Gomez said a donated kidney usually lasts around 30 years. 

“Which is fine,” she shared with Rolling Stone. “I might like, ‘Peace out,’ anyway.” 

But the Disney alum said she understands that the difficulty she’s experienced so far in life made her stronger. 

“I just constantly remind myself that there’s a reason I’m here,” she stated. “It sounds really cheesy when I say it sometimes. But I truly don’t know how else I’d be here, simply based on the medical stuff and balances in my head and conversations I’d had with myself [that were] really dark.” 

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Mental Health Journey

Gomez recently released a documentary in honor of World Mental Health Day. The doc is titled Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me and chronicles her personal journey. 

“Just be who you are, Selena,” Selena says at the film’s start. “No one cares about what you’re doing. It’s about who I am, being okay with where I am. I am grateful to be alive.” 

The 30-year-old singer-songwriter has been open about her mental health challenges. In 2020, she revealed that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

For most of her life, Selena has been in the limelight. That became a primary reason behind her mental health issues growing up. 

“My whole life since I was a kid, I’ve been working,” she says in tears on a clip of My Mind & Me. “I don’t want to be, like, super famous. But I do know that if I’m here, I have to use that for good.” 

As everyone may know, Selena began her career in the children’s television series Barney & Friends. Then, she earned the spotlight by appearing in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place as Alex Russo. 

Furthermore, she has established a career in the music industry. She released some of the most highly-esteemed songs in the industry.

Studio Shelves Kanye West Project Due to Anti-Semitic Statements

MRC calls off completed Kanye West documentary over his latest anti-Semitic statements.

CEOs Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and COO Scott Tenley announced the decision on Monday. In an open letter, the studio accused musicians of “mainstreaming” anti-Semitism in the modern world.

“This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West,” the letter read. 

“We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.” 

The letter describes the reason behind the documentary’s shelving.

“Kanye is a producer and sampler of music,” the statement added. 

“Last week, he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3000 years. The lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain. This song was performed acapella in the time of the Pharaohs, Babylon and Rome, went acoustic with the Spanish Inquisition and Russia’s Pale of Settlement, and Hitler took the song electric.” 

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Anti-Semitic Remarks

The trio said many “lies” supported anti-Semitic rhetoric.

“If you support Israel’s right to exist, you are racist. If you are [a] Jew, you support Israel’s right to exist. Therefore, if you are Jewish, you are racist.” 

The execs said: And, “as leaders of this company (a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian), we feel duty bound to say to all of you this is a pernicious, terrible use of false logic.” 

“If you hear or encounter the perpetuation of these intolerances and falsehoods, please let us know,” Wiczyk and the two ended. “It is totally unacceptable. And to those who are afraid to use their voice, hopefully this encourages you to do so.” 

But the studio did not provide a statement about West’s involvement in the project.

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Netflix Will Not Take Down

Recently, a Netflix documentary titled jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy featured the rapper. Despite MRC’s decision, a Netflix source said jeen-yuhs would remain on the streaming platform. 

The source stressed the difference between the subject and the project’s creator, noting there is no anti-Semitism in the doc. It added that the streaming company has had other docs featuring personalities who became controversial. But they had never pulled the titles for it. 

Early this month, West sent shockwaves over multiple comments about Jewish people on social media. The controversial remarks included a screenshot conversation with Sean “Diddy” Combs that seemed to say Jewish people are manipulating Combs. As a result, he was ultimately restricted from Instagram and Twitter.

Furthermore, during an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, the rapper made another controversial statement. He implied that Donald Trump’s previous senior advisor Jared Kushner – a Jewish – represented peace agreements in Israel “to make money.” 

Balenciaga and West have a good relationship as they collaborated on the Yeezy Gap line for many years. However, the fashion powerhouse has cut ties with the rapper. Moreover, his talent agency, CAA, has also left him in the air.

Rebel Wilson Hails a Baby Girl

Rebel Wilson hailed a “beautiful miracle” into the world. 

In the Instagram post, the Pitch Perfect star revealed that she had birthed her first child – a baby girl she named Royce Lillian – through a surrogate on Monday. 

“Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate,” she said. 

“I can’t even describe the love I have for her. She’s a beautiful miracle! I am forever grateful to everyone who has been involved (you know who you are). This has been years in the making. But particularly wanted to thank my gorgeous surrogate who carried her and birthed her with such grace and care. 

“Thank you for helping me start my own family. It’s an amazing gift. The BEST gift!!” 

Wilson has been going out with Ramona Agruma – a fashion and jewelry designer – since June. Furthermore, she recently ended speculation that they were engaged. 

“I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince. But maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess #loveislove,” Wilson stated in an Instagram post revealing their relationship. 

Year of Health

The actress said in an interview with PEOPLE in May that the “year of health” she started in 2020 was because she wanted to be a mom. 

Additionally, Wilson said she went to her fertility doctor in 2019. And the doctor told her she’d have a better opportunity of getting her eggs if she turned to a healthier lifestyle and lost weight. 

Read also: Selena Gomez Says She Named Her New Kidney After Fred Armisen

“He looked up and down and said, ‘You’d do much better if you were healthier,’” she said. 

“I was taken aback. I thought, ‘Oh God, this guy’s so rude.’ He was right. And I was carrying around a lot of excess weight. It’s almost like I didn’t think of my own needs. I thought of a future child’s needs that really inspired me to get healthier.” 

Rebel-ious Career Success

Born Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson, the 42-year-old actor, graduated from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003. 

Later, he comedian started portraying Toula in Pizza – an SBS comedy series. Later, she appeared in the sketch comedy series The Wedge

In 2012, she portrayed roles in comedy movies What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Bachelorette, and Struck by Lightning,. Those films earned her a title as one of the “Top Ten Comics to Watch for 2013” of Variety. 

Notably, her most iconic role is Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012 – 2017). She bagged awards and nominations for the film, including the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress and an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.

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Photo: Yimg