The Hollywood mogul, his gay lovers — and his fashion icon wife
B arry Diller sits at one end of an elegant conference room in the headquarters of his media empire, fielding questions about his sex life. 'I've been doing this now for about two weeks,' he says. His voice, a deep baritone, is incredulous. 'From the first hour, the first day, it's, 'Is he gay? Now is he?' '
Diller is 83 and worth $4.6 billion (£3.4 billion), according to Forbes. He was a Hollywood wunderkind who became, at 32, the head of Paramount Pictures. He later ran Twentieth Century Fox and founded, with Rupert Murdoch, the Fox television network. Then he became a mogul in his own right, taking over television networks and engaging in rollicking battles with rivals for control of Hollywood studios. From this conference room, high in his white-glass HQ, you can see the hills and dells of an island on stilts that he built in the Hudson River as a new public park. It changed the shape of Manhattan.
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Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Expert reveals conversation habits that make people instantly hate you - including how you take compliments
Many people are guilty of five common habits that will make others instantly dislike them, according to a video by YouTube channel Charisma on Command. One of these key habits people should avoid, according to the clip, is jumping on every opportunity to call praise or attention to themselves. The video claims that if people do find themselves the subject of praise, a great way to handle this is to spread that praise to others. To illustrate the point, the video highlighted an interview from several years ago with Brie Larson and Chris Hemsworth. While the actress is popular with many thanks to her dry humour and sense of irony - something the video narrator pointed out - he suggested that her communication during this interchange may not have read well with the audience. 'I want to make this clear, there are interviews that I can show you where Brie is extremely likeable,' the video was keen to stress. During the Entertainment Tonight interview, in which the actors were promoting the movie Avengers: Endgame. According to the video: 'Chris Hemsworth is talking up his stunt double, and he's putting himself down to do it. This is a nice common move for somebody who is kind of on top. 'And in this case, Hemsworth is clearly athletic and powerful and famous. So it's kind of him to take that trainer and put him above him, even if it means denigrating himself.' The narrator added: 'The charismatic move, the confident move, is to spread the praise. Don't worry so much if you're getting yours. When you give it freely, it comes back to you freely.' According to the video, in this situation, in contrast to her many interviews in which she has come across as very likeable, during this conversation, noted that she did all her own stunts thinking 'this is what everyone does'. While the narrator noted this may have been an ironic comment that didn't quite land with the audience, the situation deteriorated when Tom Cruise was highlighted as an actor who does their own stunts, and it was suggested that Brie could be the next Tom Cruise. She commented that she would rather be 'the first me, not the next Tom Cruise'. A number of viewers agreed with the point, and went on to share their own thoughts in the comments section of the video. One wrote: 'Constantly redirecting the conversation on yourself makes people not want to talk to you.' Meanwhile, others revealed that they found this type of advice useful as they often struggled with how to behave. One YouTube user said: 'Watching these videos always reminds me how hard social life is. Another said: 'As a person with Aspergers who doesn't know how to converse. I think this channel is really helpful.' Meanwhile, another offered a suggestion as to why behaviours can somehow come across differently than intended. They wrote: 'One thing I've noticed about popular, successful people is that they rarely if ever seem to be triggered in public anyway. My guess is they either had stable, loving childhoods or have done trauma work. If you have unresolved trauma certain social things can be massively distressing and will trigger a trauma response, which most people won't understand and will interpret negatively. Brie seems either triggered from past put downs/abuse/bullying or she's trying to be funny and it's falling flat.' The video listed a number of other habits than can be off putting to other people, and are therefore worth trying to avoid during interactions. A number of viewers commented on how it can be difficult to know how they are coming across in social situations Among them were reading negative intent in an ambiguous situation, or in other words, assuming that when a comment is made, it is designed to insult. However, the next point related to this, with the video pointing out that sometimes when a person responds to a comment in a way that appears they took it as an insult, they can actually be just trying to be sarcastic. The narrator pointed out that 'sarcasm requires a "tell" - and noted there could be cultural differences when it comes to how sarcasm is communicated. He explained: 'I know that British people are going to hate this recommendation, but at least in America, a good rule of thumb is that when you are being tongue in cheek, do not be flat in your delivery. '[This is] especially if a literal interpretation of what you're saying would make you sound like a jerk. 'Go over the top and change your tone, your gestures or your facial expressions. This helps people distinguish between normal conversation and a character that you are playing for the purpose of joke.' Moving on, he suggested that people should 'not try to win every moment of banter' if they don't want to risk coming across as unlikeable. When banter can start to feel like a fight, he said: 'Sometimes it is better to stop fighting. Don't try to win every laugh from the audience. Instead, go with the joke, even if it feels like you are the butt of that joke, and then amplify it, not taking this kind of insulting joke seriously. 'You diffuse its power, and you turn the crowd from laughing at you to laughing with you.' The final of the five behaviours that can make people dislike others handling compliments improperly. 'You should avoid responding to compliments with banter that are put downs in nature,' the video said. 'Instead, you can give a sincere thank you, emphasised perhaps with sustained eye contact or a touch [...] Alternatively, you can spin it back around to the other person and playfully find a way to give them back an even bigger compliment.. It concluded: 'Whatever you do, do not punish people when they give you compliments. Otherwise, they will not be so forthcoming. When in doubt, a sincere thank you and a smile or just to return a compliment will take you much farther.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Rory McIlroy has become golf's new diva-in-chief
The joy of Rory McIlroy is that he is unlike so many of the charmless androids populating professional golf, that he treats his craft with a passion and a sincerity impossible to fake. Where US Ryder Cup players strong-arm the PGA of America into paying them £370,000 each for deigning to turn up, he believes so fervently in the European cause that he ends up in tears. And where several of his former team-mates exclude themselves from future captaincy by accepting the Saudi bounty at LIV, he holds firm as the game's moral conscience, reminding his peers that money need not be their lodestar. In a sport that can seem awash with greed and entitlement, he so often brings a reminder of its soul. All of which makes his behaviour since winning the Masters so difficult to accept. Out of nowhere, McIlroy has morphed into the diva-in-chief, hurling clubs, smashing tee-boxes, and treating America's national championship with such disdain that he claims to be unbothered about even making the cut. That is before we address him brushing off reporters after six consecutive rounds at majors, breaking this pattern only to give a few petulant remarks about 'frustration with you guys' and shrug that he has 'earned the right to do whatever I want'. It is one of the strangest comedowns witnessed at this level. The diminished motivation that comes with scaling one's personal Everest is well-documented in sport: Nico Rosberg won his solitary Formula One world title in 2016 and promptly retired, exhausted by the psychological needle with Lewis Hamilton, while Pete Sampras lifted a then record 14th men's major singles title at the 2002 US Open and walked away, never to play a competitive tennis match again. The change in McIlroy, though, is something more troubling. It is not just his outlook that has shifted, but his personality, too. His behaviour during the US Open at Oakmont, just as at Quail Hollow for last month's US PGA, was cold, tetchy, hubristic, all traits antithetical to the compassionate character we are used to seeing. More frustration from Rory McIlroy on the 17th 😬 — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 13, 2025 Paul McGinley understands McIlroy better than most. He mentored him as Europe's captain in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, tellingly noting in the build-up: 'Rory's not arrogant.' But even he has been unsettled by McIlroy's latest conduct, alarmed by the distant and dismissive attitude on display. 'I didn't enjoy them,' McGinley said, in response to the off-hand answers McIlroy gave at Oakmont when he eventually decided to speak. 'I don't like to see that. Rory's better than that. He looks fed up to me, like he has had enough of everything. He's not himself. Something is eating at him. He hasn't let us know what it is, but there's something that's not right.' The idea that it is just a natural cooling-off period, a reaction to the overwhelming emotional release of completing the career grand slam, does not quite hold water. McIlroy has savoured moments of profound catharsis before and soared immediately to even greater heights. His encore after lifting the Claret Jug at Hoylake in 2014? Winning a World Golf Championship in Akron a fortnight later, and a second US PGA at Valhalla the following week. This time, the upshot is not simply ragged golf – his recent nine-over-par total for 36 holes at the Canadian Open counted among the worst performances of his career – but a peculiarly contemptuous demeanour. You wondered, for example, what all the US Open volunteers felt when, asked what his hopes were for his final round, he shot back: 'Hopefully a round in under 4½ hours and get out of here.' This mentality is hardly unusual in McIlroy's realm. The finest golfers are such a pampered breed that their entire existence consists of riding in courtesy limousines, staying at seven-star resorts, then firing up the private jets back to Florida. But there are reasons why McIlroy is held to a higher standard. For a start, he has long been unmoved by money: his father Gerry once told me he never had any cash on him, a claim later backed up by his admission that he had bought a huge mansion near the Bear's Club, Jack Nicklaus' Florida enclave, but only lived in four of its rooms. But it is also the fact that he has earned a reputation for sparing time for anybody. He reflected how, growing up, the memory of being snubbed for an autograph by Roy Keane had never left him. As such, he has tended to stay uncommonly long after range sessions to sign whatever a young fan thrusts in front of him. Now, he is in the mood to disregard everyone. Never mind snubbing the press pack of late, he has even neglected his manners towards the great Nicklaus, skipping the Golden Bear's Memorial Tournament in Ohio and failing to give any advance notice. 'I didn't have a conversation with him,' Nicklaus said. And did that surprise him? 'A little bit.' You wonder if the time has come for him to offer McIlroy a pep talk. After all, Nicklaus made it his habit to talk with humility even on the rare occasions when his form deserted him. He also had zero tolerance of poor etiquette, recalling how tossing a club as a child had earned him ferocious dressing-down from his father. McIlroy threw not one club at Oakmont but two, while totalling a tee-box for good measure. A sincere hope is that McIlroy rediscovers his irrepressible spirit soon, that he is energised by his imminent relocation to Wentworth with his wife Erica and their four-year-old daughter, Poppy. It is wise not to put anything past him: his abundance of talent is so vast that he could conjure a victory at this week's Travelers Championship in Connecticut, or even an Open triumph for the ages at Royal Portrush next month, in front of the people who remember the boy wonder who would become an icon. But as it stands, the evidence is undeniable: something is very wrong.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Married At First Sight's Katie Johnson defends Ozempic use - but issues chilling warning about the popular weight-loss drug
Married At First Sight alum Katie Johnson has opened up about Ozempic use and the little-known dangers that come with taking it regularly. The reality TV star, 37, took to Instagram on Monday to defend her use of weight-loss drugs while also issuing a chilling 'warning' about their effects. 'I have to issue a major warning. If you are on GLP1 or if you know of anyone who is on GLP1, please send them this message,' she began. GLP1 receptor agonists are used to target a naturally occurring hormone in the body that helps regulate blood sugar levels, appetite and digestion, and is an umbrella term that encompasses popular weight loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Ozempic. 'I've been learning so much about the GLP1 medication and it works. It does the job. You lose your appetite,' she told the camera. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'But what I didn't realise and what I didn't fully understand is that people are so unaware - through no fault of their own - that you are sending yourself into malnutrition,' she said. 'Not only will your body look for energy and eat away your muscles, but also your vitamins and your minerals that you get from nutrition are rapidly depleting. And people wonder why they've got symptoms. 'I am pro GLP1 if it's done right.' In the past, Katie has been transparent of her use of weight loss drugs. In May, she exclusively told Daily Mail Australia she initially tried Mounjaro in an effort to lose weight, but struggled with harsh symptoms, including fatigue and sickness. Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, is often used for type 2 diabetes and also causes weight loss - much like Ozempic, which is also known as semaglutide. 'I didn't feel alive. I was shrinking physically, but I had no energy – no spark,' she said. She then resumed using Mounjaro, but this time she took it with a supplement which she says helped with side effects. 'It changed everything,' Katie said. 'I felt energised, excited to work out, and like I was finally living again.' The former MAFS bride revealed she has already dropped a dress size – and has two more to go until she hits her target. 'I'm not chasing a number. I'm chasing a feeling – health, strength, and pride in how far I've come.'
