Latest news with #ChrisGrant
News.com.au
18 hours ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sad truth as legend misses Western Bulldogs celebration
Bulldogs legend Chris Grant was the big name missing from the Western Bulldogs' centenary gala on Monday night. On a special night for the football club, it was sad for many fans to see Grant did not attend the event as rumours of a rift between the former centre half-forward and club officials continue to swirl. As first reported by Channel 9's Tom Morris, Grant was not at the Whitten Oval gala where the club celebrated its 25 greatest players of the past 100 years. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. It is a concerning update following months of rumours the 52-year-old fell out with sections of the club before his departure as football department boss last year. According to Code Sports in March, Grant and Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge were not on speaking terms towards the end of the 2024 season. Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains in February, 2024, said there had been 'tensions in many quarters' but denied there was a rift between Grant and Beveridge, saying those reports had been 'grossly exaggerated'. However, it is clear the dynamic deteriorated, leading to Grant's decision to step down in November — ending his 31 years with the club. Since debuting with the club in 1990 as a 17-year-old, Grant developed into one of the club's greatest players, twice winning the Charles Sutton Medal. He was named captain in 2001. His retirement in 2007 was the end of an era. Grant was loved on and off the field as a loyal club servant, reportedly turning down a monster contract offer from Port Adelaide to stay with the Bulldogs during his playing career. He was appointed to the club's board of directors in 2011 and moved into a role as football department boss in 2016 to oversee the men's and women's teams. Both sides won premierships, in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Grant's decision to step down came after the Bulldogs created a new position in 2023 which created distance between him and senior coach Beveridge. Former Geelong defender Matthew Egan was appointed as general manager of football operations following a review of the club's football department. It meant Beveridge no longer reported to Grant directly. According to The Age, Grant's role shifted to focus more on the club's AFLW program. It is clear Grant's messy split from the club cut deep, judging by his no-shows at recent club events. 'One person who isn't here is Chris Grant, who had an acrimonious split with the club last year when he was the club football boss,' Morris said on 9News. 'He missed the Round 2 gala at the MCG. And he's also missing tonight, saying he's unavailable.' 25 of the greatest all together. â�¤ï¸� — Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) July 21, 2025 Grant missed the club's 100 year celebration — against Collingwood in March — with the club saying he was overseas at the time. He played 300 games for the club and it would have been fitting for Grant to attend both of this year's big events. His farewell statement in 2024 showed how sad his separation from the club has been. 'I've spent over half of my life with the club as a player and administrator and will cherish the many memories we have created together at the Western Bulldogs,' Grant said. 'While the decision to pause and map out the next stage of my professional career has not been an easy one, I leave knowing the club is in a great position to succeed and write the next chapter in the amazing history of the red, white and blue.' Six living Brownlow medallists, including recently distant 2008 medallist Adam Cooney, attended the March celebration where greats of the club were recognised before the game on the MCG playing surface. Club champions, including Brad Johnson, Doug Hawkins, Rohan Smith, Scott West and Bob Murphy were present. It has been a turbulent time at The Kennel in recent years with the departure of several football department figures, but the club has banked on stability in handing Beveridge a two-year contract extension through to the end of the 2027 season. The Bulldogs have not won a final since 2021.
7NEWS
a day ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
New details emerge in Western Bulldogs great Chris Grant's bitter fallout with Luke Beveridge
More detail has emerged on the horribly damaged relationship between Western Bulldogs legend Chris Grant and the club he represented with such passion. Grant did not attend the Western Bulldogs' centenary gala on Monday night where the club named its top five greatest players of the past 100 years (whittled down from a list of 25). It has been revealed that Grant was seriously urged to go to the event, where he was named in the top three of the club's all-time greats, behind only EJ 'Ted' Whitten (the spiritual father) and modern-day great Marcus Bontempelli. Expert Seven commentator Kane Cornes called it a 'sad and bitter fallout' that was 'really visible' at the Dogs' special night for their greatest of all time. Veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson said it all stemmed from Grant's time at the club when he was football director, and a frosty relationship that developed with coach Luke Beveridge after an internal review. 'It's been widely reported that Chris Grant, who was ultimately named one of the top five Western Bulldogs players ever, and who joined the club in 1990 and has pretty much spent most of his life there ever since, wasn't at the function,' Wilson said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters. 'And it had been described as 'acrimonious' the fallout he had with the coach, Luke Beveridge and the CEO of Ameet Bains ...' Wilson said club legends such Gary Dempsey (fourth best) and Doug Hawkins (fifth) were 'all very close to Chris Grant'. 'They spoke to him. An executive at the club in recent days felt compelled to let Chris Grant know that he would be playing a major part in the proceedings (on Monday night) as the Bulldogs went from their 25 best to five best (of all time). 'But this story is, I know it's been reported there was an acrimonious fallout, but what is staggering to me is how the club actually functioned as well as it did, and actually made one final in 2024 given the fact that Luke Beveridge, the coach, had basically declared at the end of 2023 'it's him or me. It's him or me,'. 'I think Chris Grant looked at leaving (then). I think Luke Darcy and the (president) Kylie Watson-Wheeler, implored him to stay as he bedded in the new footy program.' Asked what was the reason behind Beveridge's attitude, Wilson said it was in response to an 'internal review' commissioned by Grant. She said there were some recommendations from the review that Beveridge simply 'didn't like'. 'He recommended that the coach stay, but he said the coach had to change,' Wilson said. 'There was communication issues, there were consistency issues, there were game-plan issues, specifically with team defence. And obviously, we know that there was a recommendation that at least one coach, Rohan Smith, had to leave, and we know that Luke Beveridge didn't like that. 'There were some very, very robust and angry meetings involving Ameet Bains and involving Luke Darcy and involving several others at the club.' Bains later said in early 2024 that there was no issue and suggestions that there was a breakdown was incorrect. 'But what we know now is that the two men did not speak for the entirety of 2024,' Wilson said. 'People at the club tell me that Chris Grant would walk down a corridor and Luke Beveridge would say, 'Hello' (to others) and just not speak (to Grant). 'Meetings were (apparently) held (and) that Chris grant would make a comment and the coach would just push on.' AFL great Luke Hodge said he was shocked that at some point the CEO didn't step in and say, 'You're both mature adults, you're both professionals, get along until the end of the season ...'. 'In all the football clubs that I've been in, that's probably been one of the tightest relationships (the footy director and the coach),' Hodge said. Wilson said there was obviously two sides to every story but according to Grant supporters Bains — who attempted to play peacemaker — should have stood up and taken a position. 'And it didn't work,' Wilson said. 'There was text messaging in recent weeks and months as Ameet Bains tried to convince Chris to attend on Monday night. 'The fact that Chris Grant didn't attend the centenary celebrations earlier in the year either (shows that he) feels this strongly about those relationships Dale Thomas was shocked that the issue couldn't be parked for a special club event. But Wilson said: 'I think the devastation was so deep.' 'It's not so far gone that he isn't going to watch his daughter Isabella play in AFLW this year,' Wilson said. Isabella made history by becoming the Bulldogs' first father-daughter selection in the AFLW, and Wilson said the Grant family would put 'their issues aside' for her career. 'They're obviously very proud of her ... but there is a deep disappointment with Ameet Bains, (and) obviously real disappointment in the way Luke Beveridge responded to some honest feedback,' Wilson said. 'It was one or the other and Luke Beveridge won.'
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
911 Audio Reveals Moment Beyoncé's Unreleased Music and Tour Plans Were Stolen
911 Audio Reveals Moment Beyoncé's Unreleased Music and Tour Plans Were Stolen originally appeared on Parade. Newly released audio from a 911 call is giving fresh insight into how superstar Beyoncé's unreleased music and tour plans were stolen from a rental car belonging to the singer's longtime choreographer Chris Grant and dancer Diandre Blue. The theft occurred on July 8 in Atlanta, two days before the singer began her four-night residency at the city's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Items stolen from the rented vehicle included concert set lists, footage, tour plans, two MacBook laptops, luxury clothing, and Apple one of Beyoncé's longtime choreographers, and dancer Blue told police they parked their car at an Atlanta food hall around 8:09 p.m. and returned around 9:00 p.m. to find the 2024 Jeep Wagoneer's trunk window had been broken and two suitcases were missing. On Monday, the Atlanta Police Department announced it had secured an arrest warrant for a suspect, whose identity has not been revealed. The 911 audio was also released, in which a panicked Grant can be heard telling the dispatcher, 'They stole my computer, but it has a tracker on it. It's really, really important information on there. I work with someone who is of high status.'🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 911 Audio Reveals Moment Beyoncé's Unreleased Music and Tour Plans Were Stolen first appeared on Parade on Jul 15, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
Al Bawaba
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Bawaba
Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen in Atlanta car break-in days before tour show
ALBAWABA - Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen in Atlanta days before concert tour. Police say that unreleased music by Beyoncé was among the things that were stolen from a car in Atlanta just a few days before the singer's four-night Cowboy Carter tour stop in the city. Some hard drives with unreleased songs, show plans, and past and future set lists for her tour were stolen from the singer's director and one of her dancers' rental cars. Beyoncé Instagram profile The theft happened on July 8, just two days before Beyoncé's first show in Atlanta. The star often goes to enormous lengths to keep secrets, so this will hurt them. Atlanta police say they have a person in custody, but they haven't said what their name is. Chris Grant, a choreographer, and Diandre Blue, a dancer, told cops that they had parked their rented black Jeep Wagoneer and gone into a nearby food hall. A police report says that when they got back, the back window of the car had been broken and two suitcases were stolen. Beyoncé Instagram profile Police were told that they were "carrying some personal sensitive information for the musician Beyoncé" in the stolen car. The story states that the "five jump drives" contained watermarked music, unreleased tracks, plans for past and future show footage, and a set list. A laptop, expensive clothes, and Apple AirPods were among the other things that were reported stolen. In the police report, it says that tracking information on the laptop and headphones helped the police figure out where the things might have gone. There were also "two very light prints" found when the police dusted the car for fingerprints. It's not clear if the stolen things have been found. In the second part of her solo career, the singer has worked hard to stop leaks. In the first part of her career, records like Dangerously In Love and 4 were illegally posted online before they came out. She started the "surprise drop" trend with her fifth album, which was called "Self-Titled" and came out on December 13, 2013, without any warning. It had art videos for all 14 of its songs. The album was recorded under the code name Lily and was only available through Apple's iTunes shop so that as few people as possible knew about it ahead of time. A person who worked on one of the video shoots even said that no Beyoncé songs were played on set to stop leaks. To StyleCaster, they said, "It was fun." "The entire time I'm thinking, 'What is this going to be?'" It worked out well. With 830,000 copies sold in 72 hours, Beyoncé's album became the most popular in the history of the iTunes shop. The star has used the same strategies on each record since then. When songwriters work with Beyoncé, they don't always know if their work will be used until the record comes out. Post Malone, who was on the 2024 song Levi's Jeans, told the New York Times that Beyoncé sent someone to his house in Utah with a copy of the song, which they kept secret while they worked on the words over text. He told the New York Times, "It was scary." Fans have noticed that the star doesn't like leaks and worked hard to stop the spread of her 2022 album, Renaissance, when it showed up online two days early. A scribbled note on Beyoncé's website said that she had "never seen anything like it" in response. "So, the album leaked, and you all actually waited until the proper release time so you all can enjoy it together," she said. "Thanks for calling out anyone who was trying to get into the club early. It really means a lot to me." US rapper Jay-Z (R) and US singer-songwriter Beyonce (C) (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) Beyoncé is in Atlanta right now as part of her Cowboy Carter stadium tour. It was her last show in the city on Monday night, July 10. She has been playing there since July 10. Her husband, the rapper Jay Z, unexpectedly showed up on the third night of her stay in the city. Mr. Grant is a choreographer who has worked with Shakira and other famous singers. Mr. Blue and Beyoncé danced together in a 2024 Super Bowl ad. During the ad, Beyoncé released two songs from her Cowboy Carter album, which was released later that year. The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It celebrates and puts the Black roots of country music in their proper context.
Washington Post
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Unreleased Beyoncé music reported stolen from vehicle in Atlanta
Unreleased music by Beyoncé was stolen from a rental vehicle in Atlanta last week, her longtime choreographer Chris Grant and Diandre Blue, a dancer, told the Atlanta Police Department. Five digital storage devices containing watermarked and unreleased music, set lists and tour plans were stolen from the vehicle, the police report said. Several other items, including Grant and Blue's laptops, two suitcases, AirPod headphones and clothing worth $2,000 were also listed as stolen in the report.
