Kevin Spacey tears up on return to Cannes, cites Elton John: ‘I'm still standing'
Spacey, who was found not guilty in both U.S. and U.K. courtrooms on multiple sexual assault charges, took the stage to reflect on his experience. Drawing comparisons between his own fallout and the blacklisting of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, he thanked the organization for inviting him despite the controversy. 'Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every single courtroom he's ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea,' he said.
Referencing actor Kirk Douglas, who championed Trumbo during the McCarthy era, Spacey added, 'It's easy for us actors to play the hero on screen... but in real life, the choices are not always so clear.'
He concluded his remarks by quoting Elton John: 'I'm still standing,' describing the music legend as a 'friend.'
Better World Fund president Manuel Collas de la Roche praised Spacey as an artist who embodies the intersection of 'art and influence.' The event also featured a charity auction, with high-priced items like a guitar signed by Sting and a cigar humidifier.
Spacey's visit coincides with efforts to sell his upcoming film The Awakening, a British indie thriller in which he plays the head of a secretive global cabal. The film is his first since being acquitted in the U.K. in 2023 and is being promoted at this year's market.
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Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
With qawwali and couscous, a New York café is bridging cultural chasms – and winning loyal fans
A few months ago, when Sadia Khatri, a young writer from Karachi, was helping organise a tribute in New York for Sabeen Mahmud, the Pakistani human rights activist killed in 2015, she didn't think twice before suggesting that it be held at Barzakh Café. Located in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighbourhood, Barzakh Café was the perfectly intimate venue at which to honour Mahmud's memory. As the event unfurled on her tenth death anniversary in April, 30-odd people sat on the carpeted floor, reading poems, singing songs they associated with Mahmud and sharing lessons they had gleaned from the feisty activist. Barzakh Café, said Khatri, 'was just so warm'. That's exactly the atmosphere El Atigh Abba, an immigrant from Mauritania in Northwest Africa, had been seeking to create when he founded Barzakh Café in mid-2024. He wanted the establishment to look and feel like the house in which he grew up in Nouakchott. The café's performance area is arranged to resemble his old living room and the backyard has been inspired by the garden behind his childhood home – complete with a mango tree. Most of all, Abba wanted the space to be a 'social experiment' to bring together the diverse residents who represented New York's rich cultural mosaic. That ambition is embodied in the name he chose for his café: Barzakh, in Arabic, refers to the place where souls rest until the day of resurrection. The programming in July reflected his intentions. The café has organised qawwali performances, a 'couscous night' with five international chefs and an evening of Egyptian and Tunisian music. 'It's not the East, and neither is it the West,' said Abba, 'It's an oasis' – one where everyone is welcome, despite rising tensions not just around the world, but in the US itself. That inclusive spirit is what patrons have immediately been drawn to. Revantika Gupta, a PhD student at New York University who is making a short film about the space, asserted that the café's efforts are 'very moving'. While she began coming to Barzakh Café for its qawwalis, she has been in awe of the sense of community it has created in the middle of New York City. 'They have managed to host cultural events, while also organising conversations around Palestine involving communities from across religious and regional affiliations,' she said. That is what inspired her to shoot a film about it for a class project. It showcased the space like a character – from its wooden stools, filled bookshelves, to a hanging keffiyeh. Play Shazia Choudri, a British immigrant with Pakistani roots, first visited the café with friends for an Eid dinner shortly after it opened its doors. Charmed by what the establishment was trying to do, she joined forces with Abba. She co-founded Beyond Barzakh, an initiative to take the café's community events beyond its walls. Since December 2024, Beyond Barzakh has also been hosting a monthly majlis – the Arabic word for gathering. From kathak by young South Asian students in Brooklyn's Dumbo area, to a gathering that hosted the city's Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani to engage with New Yorkers during his campaign at a church in Manhattan's West Village, Barzakh has been been trying to bring residents who are not part of the mainstream to the centre. The café's own engagement list has about 400,000 people, said Choudri. 'There's a deep search for identity in this city,' said Choudri, who moved to New York City in 2002. 'For so many people who come here, they feel at home. A home where no one is the other'. That was evident one recent Sunday night at a Sufi music event at the Brooklyn café. It drew Muslim and Hindu South Asians, Middle Easterners, North Africans and many who had lived in New York all their lives. Even its modest menu reflects tastes from different corners of the world. It ranges from different kinds of teas, Arabian kabsa, to cashew baklavas. For those hanging around the bar, there is also some beer and wine to go along with the food and its events. Kaleem Ullah, a literature student from Austin, said he was drawn to the café because he found it 'familiar'. 'Its doors are those I know from northern Sindh,' he said. 'And floor seating I know from anywhere home'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sadaf Padder (@pitterpadder) New York City is home to over 5.8 million immigrants – almost 30% of its total population. One in three children has immigrant parents, according to a study by the nonprofit think tank Vera Institute. Some neighbourhoods have become hubs for specific immigrant communities. Richmond Hill, for instance, has a strong Indo-Caribbean flavour while Washington Heights has many Dominican residents. What is lacking, say Choudri and Abba, is a space for residents of these various neighbourhoods to come together. That's what Barzakh Café is attempting to provide. A glimpse of this was on display one recent night as six musicians from the Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana of Delhi performed renditions of some of the most renowned Sufi poems such as Mera Piya Ghar Aaya by Bulleh Shah and Lal Meri Pat by Amir Khusrou. The audience was transported. The room was filled. Some perched on stools, while others sat cross-legged on the carpet. From 25-year-old international students to 70-year-old retirees who have called New York home for decades, everyone sang along. At some point during the three-hour performance, as more people kept pouring in, there simply didn't seem to be enough space for everyone. That did not seem to matter. Everyone seemed to adjust – some stood along the bookshelves, others moved behind the white curtain that separated the bar from the performance area. According to a group of three regulars, this was no exception. This was the kind of crowd the café pulls in all the time. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carmen Elmakiyes Amos 🏳️🌈 (@carmen_elmakiyes_amos) As the qawwali ended that Sunday night, more than half of the audience lingered around. Some spoke to the musicians, while others exchanged phone numbers and made plans to meet again. Almost everyone walked up to Abba before they left the café that night. Many thanked him for creating that space, and many more promised to come back to Barzakh with their parents, siblings and friends. 'I have seen people propose to each other at Barzakh. We have catered wedding gatherings, and know of people who met here and are now about to start their own families,' said Abba, as he chatted with every guest like he has known them forever. 'So this community right here? This is the real movement'.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
What's Jet2 holiday trend? White House sparks backlash for using viral TikTok and Instagram sound in deportation video
The world of social media memes is living its best British summer holiday parody moment, and the White House has inadvertently become part of the punchline. What started as a Jet2 holiday jingle featuring Jess Glynne's Hold My Hand has blossomed into a TikTok and Instagram trend for users' soundtracks to holiday mishaps. However, not even in our wildest dreams could we have predicted that the White House would use the sound over footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations. What is the Jet2 holiday trend? In early 2024, Jet2 launched an advert promoting value package holidays with cheerful visuals and the tagline 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,' paired with Jess Glynne's upbeat hit Hold My Hand. By mid‑2025, the advert audio had gone viral on TikTok and Instagram Reels as users layered it over vacation fails, from rain‑soaked umbrellas to poolside slip‑ups. Millions of clips now carry this ironic contrast. Jet2 leaned into the chaos, launching a lip‑sync challenge on TikTok and promising a £1,000 holiday voucher for the funniest submission. Voice actor Zoë Lister, the cheerful voice in the advert, became a familiar face and unexpected viral sensation. Why did the White House use it? In a surprising social media move, the White House's official X account (formerly Twitter) posted a 20‑second video of ICE agents escorting detainees onto deportation flights, captioned 'When ICE books you a one‑way Jet2 holiday to deportation. Nothing beats it!' The soundtrack was the viral Jet2 audio. Many quickly labeled the move tone deaf and grotesque, pointing out the strange juxtaposition of festive holiday marketing with footage of human suffering. The Trump administration defended the post, claiming the video was meant to highlight efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens as a matter of public safety. Singer Jess Glynne slamming the move Jess Glynne didn't mince his words in criticism of the White House. Taking to Instagram, she wrote, 'This post honestly makes me sick. My music is about love, unity and spreading positivity, never about division or hate.' Her response echoed previous protests by artists such as Queen and Semisonic, who also voiced opposition when their music was used in political contexts without approval. Glynne made it clear that she viewed this as a misuse of her work and values, turning a song rooted in emotional support into the soundtrack for something cold and bureaucratic. Jet2 refuses to comment Jet2, the airline at the centre of the meme storm, opted to stay silent. Despite repeated media requests, the company declined to issue a public statement. Internally, the brand appears focused on its booming summer season and expanding routes, including new flights to Greece announced for 2026. Jet2 had previously embraced the meme with enthusiasm, even encouraging fans to get involved, but this latest turn seems to have hit a boundary. For now, the airline is sticking to sunshine and package deals, not political discourse. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending.
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
‘The One-Way Ships': More Than Just A Tale Of Survival
Uma Lohray's debut novel, 'The One‑Way Ships', looks at the baby ayahs — a forgotten chapter in India's colonial past 'It's like a story…you don't always get to control what happens, but you can persevere through what others may see as a tragic ending. Eventually, if you keep going, the story turns happy again." It is this spirit of resilience and optimism that permeates Uma Lohray's debut novel, The One‑Way Ships. A story that looks at the baby ayahs — a forgotten chapter in India's colonial past. Once an integral part of the colonial British households, these ladies, mere servants, were used, neglected and abandoned in foreign lands — with no money, no home and simply nowhere to go — once they had served their purpose. The One-Way Ships is a tale of survival as it narrates the tale of Asha, one such ayah who finds herself stranded in England, homeless, friendless and destitute. Her story begins in Simla, the summer capital of pre-Independence India, sometime in the second decade of the twentieth century. At the height of British colonial rule, this was a time when Indians were second-class citizens in their own land. Orphaned at the age of fourteen, Asha finds herself destitute and coming to terms with harsh realities of life. Self-respecting and as someone who doesn't wallow in self-pity, she soon starts looking for a job in Simla, knocking on any and every door. She soon finds a job of an ayah and a caretaker in a British home, where her job was to be the servant to take care of the children — bathing, feeding and playing with them. Taking her changed circumstances in her stride, she also learns new skills — she learns to speak, read and write the English language. The turning point in her life comes when she gets an opportunity two years later to travel with an English lady as an ayah. She takes it, upon the promise of being given a return ticket. A promise that turns out to be false. Imagine finding yourself duped and tricked and left abandoned in a country that isn't your own. That is what happens to Asha. And this is where the character shines. Unwilling to give up, she finds herself starting from scratch and rebuilding her life. In terms of the plot, The One-Way Ships is a simple story — it is Asha's tale of survival, her growth from a protected young girl into a resilient woman who doesn't lose her empathy, despite her circumstances. It is a novel with a lot of characters and souls. Asha may be fictional but this powerful novel is a tribute to many such Ashas, bringing to light thousands of such women whose stories have been overlooked and forgotten. Harini Srinivasan Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
