
Pop singer Jessie J says she has been diagnosed with early breast cancer
The Grammy-nominated Jessie J has long been celebrated for her robust soprano and R&B-informed pop hits. Photo: AP
The English pop singer Jessie J says she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo surgery after her performance at the London music festival Capital's Summertime Ball next weekend.
Jessie J, 37, shared the news in an Instagram video on Wednesday. "I was diagnosed with early breast cancer,' she said in the clip. "Cancer sucks in any form, but I'm holding onto the word 'early'."
"It's a very dramatic way to get a boob job. I am going to disappear for a bit after Summertime Ball to have my surgery, and I will come back with massive (expletive) and more music.'
The annual Summertime Ball will be held at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, June 15.
She told her social media audience that she felt compelled to share her diagnosis.
"I just wanted to be open and share it,' she said. "One, because, selfishly, I do not talk about it enough. I'm not processing it because I'm working so hard. I also know how much sharing in the past has helped me with other people giving me their love and support and also their own stories.
"I'm an open book. It breaks my heart that so many people are going through so much similar and worse - that's the bit that kills me.'
The Grammy-nominated Jessie J has long been celebrated for her robust soprano and R&B-informed pop hits, like the 2014 collaboration with Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, Bang Bang , and 2011's Domino .
She has released five albums across her career, most recently, 2018's Christmas album, This Christmas Day.
She has been releasing new music in 2025, including the singles Living My Best Life and No Secrets . A new album is expected later this year.
She has a son, Sky Safir Cornish Colman, born in 2023.
A representative for Jessie J did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment. – AP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
A new generation of fashion lovers are just getting to know Steve Madden
Steve Madden, the eponymous founder of the famous shoe brand – and a man with a somewhat complicated history – said he had never seen anything quite like this in his 35-year career. He did an interview with the Cutting Room Floor fashion podcast that was posted online recently, and the reaction on social media (and beyond) has been overwhelmingly positive. 'Usually people are like 'what do you want from a con man?'' he said in a phone interview. But this time, 'people were calling me and they're like, 'Did you read the comments?'' he said. 'Some people want me to run for president.' He referred to the controversies and struggles he has been a part of over the years before pausing and adding that 'it's nice to be appreciated'. Political office isn't in his future, but later in the phone interview he said that he would consider running 'for the president of the board in my building' after all this positive attention. In the podcast interview, Madden and the host, Recho Omondi, touched on a range of topics, including his past white-collar crimes and the current government. Clips of the interview have been viewed by millions of users on TikTok, and Omondi's Patreon, which is where the podcast is posted, received 'thousands' of new subscribers, she wrote in a recent post. Read more: Style reigns supreme: Catherine, Princess of Wales, proves she's still got it In the days after the interview was released, stock in the Steve Madden brand rallied to its highest point in a month, and many TikTok users noted they were going to buy his shoes. In an emailed statement, the company said Google searches for 'Steve Madden' were up more than 60% and website visits from organic search had increased by 10%. The Steve Madden brand offers popular footwear styles at more affordable prices. Photo: Instagram/Steve Madden It's a case study in the best kind of press engagement, particularly for a brand that has, for years, been outside the trendy spotlight and more often associated with clearance aisles and outlet stores, said Matthew Quint, director of the Center On Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School. In the podcast interview, Madden owned up to the securities fraud he committed with Jordan Belfort, which landed him in prison in the early 2000s (Belfort's story inspired Martin Scorsese's 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street ). 'I was too ambitious, I was too greedy,' he said. 'I was complicit – I'm not blaming anybody.' On tariffs and the global trade war, he noted that policymakers, and in particular president Donald Trump, 'fundamentally do not understand what they're doing'. He also embraced the brand's reputation for copying styles from luxury fashion houses at cheaper price points. 'It's like calling the Beatles a knockoff band because they would take a little bit from Motown and a little bit from Elvis,' he said in the podcast interview. On the day the podcast was released, Madden sued Adidas for its 'efforts to monopolise' stripes after the sneaker brand complained that two of Madden's sneaker designs, with two stripes instead of three, infringed its trademark on the three stripes. Most of the reaction to the podcast interview on TikTok and Reddit praised Madden's candor and his plain way of speaking. Others found it refreshing for a business leader to speak so bluntly about the current administration's policies. For a younger generation, the interview also served as a moment of discovery, with many learning for the first time about Madden – his background, his struggles – or just putting a face to a name they have seen or heard over the years, Quint said. 'Suddenly it's like, Oh, that's Steve the shoe guy?' he said. 'There's sort of a surprise factor in all of it – the uncovering of who he is and thinking of that brand in a new light.' Madden admitted that perhaps a younger generation was meeting him for the first time. 'I'm kind of like an author, an author that you know very well but you don't know what he looks like,' he said. 'Then they get to see me – they've been wearing my shoes forever but I'm a real guy. I'm a real guy who goes to the grocery store and curses too much, you know, and tries to be a good dad.' In fact, his story – already extensively covered in the media, in his autobiography and in The Wolf Of Wall Street – is seemingly so fresh for a younger generation that many TikTok users suggested Netflix should produce a documentary about him. Read more: How today's best-dressed men aren't just wearing style – they're shaping it During the podcast interview he was shown a pair of Alaia shoes that his brand had replicated. His reaction was to ask, referring to his customers, 'Do you think some of my girls even know who Alaia is?' That line struck many who viewed the interview as endearing. 'From day one, I have loved Steve Madden and now I love him even more,' Gabriella Masseran said in a TikTok post, reacting to the interview. 'He's for the girls,' she added, before walking her followers through her personal collection of Madden's shoes. 'It felt really genuine – he wasn't snooty,' said Victoria Thompson, 31, a government worker and content creator in Augusta, Georgia. 'I felt like that could have been my uncle. And he called us his girls. I'm like, you know what? Let me go support him.' After seeing the clips on TikTok over the weekend, she drove to the nearest Dillard's department store and bought a pair of Steve Madden slippers. They look like a type produced by Hermes, but are far less expensive. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.


New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Nabila Razali reveals baby's face, name after five months
KUALA LUMPUR: Singer and actress Nabila Razali has finally revealed the face and name of her first child, now five months old. Nabila, whose full name is Nur Nabila Mohd Razali, 33, took to Instagram to ask for well wishes for her son, Nik Muhammad. "Baby M is now five months old and I think it's time to introduce my son, Nik Muhammad Nik Iruwan," she posted. "Thank you all for always praying for Baby M; I hope everything is wonderful for you." Nabila also invited the public to Baby M's aqiqah ceremony in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, today. "Happy Eid al-Adha to everyone. May our sacrifices and acts of worship be a blessing in this world and the hereafter," she wrote. "Praise be to God, this year I had the opportunity to celebrate Raya in Kelantan. To everyone, see you soon at Baby M's aqiqah ceremony, okay. "Everyone who attends, don't forget to follow the SOP; we'd love for you to come eat and take pictures, okay." Nabila married entrepreneur Nik Iruwan Nik Izani on Nov 18 2023. They welcomed their son, affectionately nicknamed Baby M, on Dec 23 last year.


The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Broadway has found its Gen Z audience - by telling Gen Z stories
Kimberly Belflower knew John Proctor Is The Villain needed its final cathartic scene to work - and, for that, it needed Lorde's Green Light. "I literally told my agent, 'I would rather the play just not get done if it can't use that song,'' the playwright laughed. She wrote Lorde a letter, explaining what the song meant, and got her green light. Starring Sadie Sink, the staggering play about high schoolers studying The Crucible as the #MeToo movement arrives in their small Georgia town, earned seven Tony nominations, including best new play - the most of any this season. It's among a group of Broadway shows that have centred the stories of young people and attracted audiences to match. Sam Gold's Brooklyn-rave take on Romeo + Juliet, nominated for best revival of a play and led by Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler with music from Jack Antonoff, drew the youngest ticket-buying audience recorded on Broadway, producers reported, with 14% of ticket purchasers aged 18-24, compared to the industry average of 3%. The shows share some DNA: pop music (specifically the stylings of Antonoff, who also produced Green Light ), Hollywood stars with established fanbases and stories that reflect the complexity of young adulthood. "It was very clear that young people found our show because it was doing what theatre's supposed to do,' Gold said. "Be a mirror.' Embracing the poetry of teenage language The themes John Proctor investigates aren't danced around (until they literally are). The girls are quick to discuss #MeToo's impact, intersectional feminism and sexual autonomy. Their conversations, true to teenage girlhood, are laced with comedy and pop culture references - Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Twilight, and, of course, Lorde. Sadie Sink, left, and Amalia Yoo during a performance of 'John Proctor Is the Villain' in New York. Photo: AP Fina Strazza, 19, portrays Beth, a leader who is whip-smart and well-intentioned - but whose friendships and belief system are shaken by the play's revelations. "You have so much empathy and are so invested in her, but she still has these mishaps and slip-ups that young people often have,' said Strazza, nominated for best featured actor in a play. Some audience members have given her letters detailing how Beth helped them forgive themselves for how they handled similar experiences. The script is written in prose, with frequent line breaks and infrequent capital letters. Director Danya Taymor, nominated for best direction of a play a year after winning a Tony for another teenage canon classic, The Outsiders, was drawn to that rhythm - and how Belflower's depiction of adolescence captured its intensity, just as S.E. Hinton had. "There's something about the teenage years that is so raw,' Taymor said. "None of us can escape it.' Classic themes, made modern During his Tony-winning production of An Enemy Of The People, Gold found himself having conversations with young actors and theatergoers about climate change, politics and how "theatre was something that people their age and younger really need in a different way, as the world is becoming so addicted to technology,' he said. That conjured Romeo And Juliet. The original text "has it all in terms of what it means to inherit the future that people older than you have created,' Gold said. Kathryn Gallagher, left, and Havana Rose Liu appear in a scene from 'All Nighter' in New York. Photo: AP Building the world of this show, with an ensemble under 30, was not unlike building An Enemy Of The People, set in 19th century Norway, Gold said: "I think the difference is that the world that I made for this show is something that a very hungry audience had not gotten to see.' Fans, Gold correctly predicted, were ravenous. Demand ahead of the first preview prompted a preemptive extension. Word (and bootleg video) of Connor doing a pullup to kiss Zegler made the rounds. Man Of The House, an Antonoff-produced ballad sung by Zegler mid-show, was released as a single. With the show premiering just before the US presidential election, Voters of Tomorrow even registered new voters in the lobby. Audiences proved willing to pay: Average ticket prices hovered around US$150 (RM710). Cheaper rush and lottery tickets drew lines hours before the box office opened. Every week but one sold out. "The show was initially really well sold because we had a cast that appealed to a really specific audience,' said producer Greg Nobile of Seaview Productions. "We continued to see the houses sell out because these audiences came, and they were all over online talking about the ways in which they actually felt seen.' Building a Gen Z theatre experience with Gen Z Thomas Laub, 28, and Alyah Chanelle Scott, 27, started Runyonland Productions for that very reason. "We both felt a lot of frustration with the industry, and the ways that we were boxed out of it as students in Michigan who were able to come to New York sparingly,' said Laub. Rachel Zegler as Juliet, right, and Kit Connor as Romeo, during a performance of 'Romeo + Juliet' in New York. Photo: AP Runyonland was launched in 2018 with the premise that highlighting new, bold voices would bring change. This spring, Scott, known for playing Whitney in HBO's Sex Lives Of College Girls, acted off-Broadway in Natalie Margolin's All Nighter. "I was standing onstage and looking out and seeing the college kids that I was playing,' said Scott. "I was like, 'I respect you so much. I want to do you proud. I want to show you a story that represents you in a way that doesn't belittle or demean you, but uplifts you.'' Producing John Proctor, Scott said, gave Runyonland the opportunity to target that audience on a Broadway scale. Belflower developed the show with students as part of a The Farm College Collaboration Project. It's been licensed over 100 times for high school and college productions. The Broadway production's social and influencer marketing is run by 20-somethings, too. Previews attracted fans with a US$29 (RM123) ticket lottery. While average prices jumped to over US$100 (RM423) last week (still below the Broadway-wide average), US$40 (RM169) rush, lottery and standing room tickets have sold out most nights, pushing capacity over 100%. The success is validating Runyonland's mission, Laub said. "Alyah doesn't believe me that I cry every time at the end,' said Laub. Scott laughs. "I just want to assure you, on the record, that I do indeed cry every time.' Harnessing a cultural catharsis The final scene of John Proctor is a reclamation fuelled by rage and Green Light. Capturing that electricity has been key to the show's marketing. "The pullup (in Romeo + Juliet ) is so impactful because it's so real. It's like so exactly what a teenage boy would do,' said Taymor. 'John Proctor Is the Villain' is among a group of Broadway shows that have centred the stories of young people and attracted audiences to match. Photo: AP "I think when you see the girls in John Proctor screaming ... it hits you in a visceral way.' That screaming made the Playbill cover. "In my opinion, the look and feel of that campaign feels different from a traditional theatrical campaign, and it feels a lot closer to a film campaign,' said Laub. The show's team indeed considered the zeitgeist-infiltrating work of their sister industries, specifically studios like Neon and A24. In May, John Proctor Is The Villain finished its second "spirit week' with a school spirit day. Earlier events included an ice cream social - actors served Van Leeuwen - a silent disco and a banned book giveaway. For those not in their own school's colours, the merch stand offered T-shirts, including one printed with the Walt Whitman-channeling line said by Sink's Shelby: "I contain frickin' multitudes.' Julia Lawrence, 26, designed the shirt after the show's team saw her TikTok video reimagining their traditional merch into something more like a concert tee. "It's just so incredible to bring Gen Z into the theatre that way, especially at a time when theatre has never been more important,' said Lawrence. "In a world that's overpowered by screens, live art can be such a powerful way to find understanding.' - AP