Latest news with #Gere
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Richard Gere Doubles Down on Fierce Criticism of Donald Trump as He Opens Up About Life in Spain—7 Months After Quitting U.S.
Hollywood A-lister Richard Gere has once again hit out at President Donald Trump's political agenda—claiming that he has created a 'violent, crude, and ignorant' world—while opening up about his own decision to quit life in the U.S. in favor of relocating to Spain. Gere, 75, moved to the European country with his wife, Alejandra Silva, 42, and three of their four shared children in November, after offloading their stunning Connecticut mansion in an off-market deal. The actor—who is best known for his roles in 'Pretty Woman' and ' An Officer and a Gentleman'—first announced their plans in an April 2024 interview with Vanity Fair Spain, explaining that he wanted his wife to have the chance to return to her home country, so she could spend more time with her family and loved ones. However, in the months since their move was made official, Gere has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump and the policies that he is implementing in the U.S., criticism that he has now doubled down on in a new interview with local Spanish outlet, El Pais. 'If each of us were kind to each other, the world would be different and better. Not all of us respond to wisdom, but we all respond to kindness,' Gere told the publication. 'Even in the case of Trump, I'm sure there is something kind about him. People say he's charming in private. 'Yet the world he's created around himself is violent, crude, and ignorant. Many of the things he's doing we've never seen before.' When asked whether he believes that Trump's second term in office could 'irreversibly change the values of U.S. society,' the actor admitted that he 'worries' about it—claiming that the president is 'cut off from' society's natural sense of empathy. Gere's latest comments echo those he made at the annual Goya Awards ceremony in February, when he slammed Trump as a 'bully and a thug' while accepting the International Goya Award in recognition of his ongoing humanitarian work. 'We're all part of a universe of overlapping pain and sadness and joy. … I see this world that we're in now forgetting that,' he said at the time. 'This very foolish tribalism is starting to take us over, where we think that we're all separate from each other. 'And we have unfortunately elected officials that don't inspire us in the way that we want to be inspired. I'm coming from a place now … we're in a very dark place in America where we have a bully and a thug who is the president of the United States. 'But it's not just in the U.S., it's everywhere.' Still, Gere admits that there are plenty of things he misses about his life in the U.S.—specifically, the people he left behind, including his adult son, Homer, telling El Pais that he wants to ensure he maintains a close connection to his heritage in his home country, even if he's living overseas. 'I miss my family and friends. I was just in New York visiting my friends and my oldest son,' he shared. 'We went to Pennsylvania, to the small town where my father and mother came from, and we visited their grave. I need to somehow feel connected to my history, to my best friends, to stay in contact with all of it.' But the actor noted that watching his wife 'blossoming' in Spain has been reward enough for making the move—explaining that he wanted to return the favor she did for him in upping sticks and joining him in the U.S. when they began their romance. 'Alejandra gave me six or seven years in the U.S.; she dropped everything to be with me and create a life together,' he said. 'But I could see it was important for her to come back, that she really missed her family and friends. She's blossoming here.' Although Gere noted that he has never lived permanently abroad, he said that he has created a sense of belonging in his new Madrid dwelling by ensuring that he has access to the creature comforts he needs most—specifically his 'office, piano, guitars, and books.' 'In a way, I've taken my world and put it here,' he said. While the family has quickly laid down roots in what El Pais described as a 'chalet in the exclusive Madrid neighborhood of La Moraleja,' Gere's wife noted that they are not set on spending the rest of their days in the city. She told the publication that they plan to 'stay … for a few years,' describing Madrid as a 'city that has … a very special energy.' However, she has previously revealed that the family had always planned to 'come back' to the U.S., telling the Daily Mail that they were already spending their time going 'back and forth' between the two countries in order to visit their loved ones regularly. 'For a few years [we'll live in Spain], and then come back. But we're always coming back. We'll come back here in the summer because we have the kids at camp. We just have to balance our lives there and here,' she said. Luckily, the family has retained a home base in the U.S., despite selling their permanent residence in New Canaan, CT. That home is now set to be torn down in order to make room for a nine-plot subdivision. In his April 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Gere revealed that he planned to keep a property 'in the countryside in New York,' although he hesitated to share specific details about its location. 'I Appealed My Property Taxes and Got $4,500 Knocked Off My Bill' Home Price Growth Slows to Weakest Pace in 2 Years as Buyer Demand Remains Soft Fresh Out of College? These Are the 10 Best Cities Where Graduates Can Actually Afford To Rent
New York Post
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Richard Gere, 75, shares rare picture with his two young sons and wife Alejandra
His gears are in dad mode. Richard Gere, 75, took to social media to share a rare look into his life with wife Alejandra Silva, 42, and their two young sons Alexander, 6, and James, 5. In the sweet Instagram snap, all four members of the family wore grey hoodies that said 'Open Arms' on them. 6 Richard Gere, his wife Alejandra and their two sons. Intagram/@mrrichardgere Gere, 75, captioned his post, 'This whole family is a proud supporter of @openarms_fund and their mission to save lives. ♥️. @alejandragere.' According to the nonprofit's website, Open Arms' mission is to protect those 'who try to reach Europe by sea, fleeing from armed conflict, persecution or poverty.' The couple first met in 2014 before tying the knot in 2018. Gere is also dad to son Homer, 24, from his marriage to Carey Lowell, while Silva has an 11-year-old son, Albert, from a prior marriage. 6 Richard Gere, his wife Alejandra and their son. alejandragere/Instagram In 2024, Gere and Silva took their love across the pond moving from Connecticut to Spain in November. 'The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum,' Gere revealed in an interview alongside Silva with Elle España. 'We are happier than ever.' The 'American Gigolo' star contributes their happiness to their new home life in Spain. Gere gushed, 'She, because she is at home and I because, if she is happy, I am happy.' 6 Richard Gere and his family. alejandragere/Instagram 'We are like soulmates,' Silva added during the sit-down. 'We have the same values, we see the world in the same way and from the first moment we felt like we have known each other for a long time. And this only happens once, if it happens at all.' The publicist shared, 'We were united by the karma of our past lives.' After selling their sprawling $10.75 million mansion in the northeast, Gere, Silva, and their kids have adjusted nicely to their new routine. 'Richard is a very devoted and present father,' Silva detailed. 'He loves to read them stories. It seems like an idyllic photo, but it's true. He's a great dad.' 6 Richard Gere and Alejandra Silva attend the City Harvest Gala. Guerin Charles/ABACA/Shutterstock 'He doesn't cook. I do it, but when I cook, he plays the guitar.' The move came due to Silva wanting to return to her home country along with the need for humanitarian work in the country. 'The only reason why both Richard and I are here in Madrid is to be part of the board of the NGO Hogar Sí,' she explained. 'We want to help this country to end homelessness. Our goal is that, within 5 years, no one sleeps on the street.' Prior to their move, Gere expressed his excitement for the next chapter. 'My wife is Spanish and she gave me about seven years here, and so we're going to spend some years in Madrid,' he said while on 'The Tonight Show' in November 2024. 'Our kids are bilingual, so they're going to flourish there.' 6 Alejandra Gere and Richard Gere attend the 'Wisdom of Happiness' green carpet during the 20th Zurich Film Festival. Getty Images for ZFF 6 Richard Gere and his wife Alejandra. Abaca Press/INSTARimages 'My wife, she grew up in a very big Spanish family, like a big Italian family,' continued Gere. 'Her grandmother was kind of the glue that held that all together, and the grandmother passed away about a year and a half ago, two years ago. 'So my wife, I can see her morphing into the new grandmother of this extended family. She's already planning for, you know, 35 people for Sunday lunches.' In March, Gere celebrated his first Spanish Father's Day, with Silva sharing a slew of photos to Instagram in honor of the momentous day. Silva sweetly wrote across one of the shots, 'Happy 1st Spanish Father's Day to the dad of the world.'
NDTV
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Is 'Pretty Woman 2' Finally Happening? Richard Gere Shares The Catch
Hollywood legend Richard Gere has reignited hopes for a "Pretty Woman" sequel, revealing that his participation hinges on a single condition: a compelling script. Speaking exclusively to People at the City Harvest Gala in New York City on April 22, 2025, Gere emphasized the importance of quality writing, stating, "It all comes down to whether or not there's a good script." Reflecting on the original 1990 film, Gere recalled his initial hesitation to accept the role of Edward Lewis, describing the character as "just a suit" until director Garry Marshall and co-star Julia Roberts helped bring depth to the role. According to People Magazine, the film, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, remains a beloved classic, known for its memorable storyline and the chemistry between Gere and Roberts. In the original film, Julia Roberts played Vivian Ward, a sex worker who's hired by Gere's Edward Lewis. They end up spending a week together at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where Vivian wins over some of the snobby world of wealth with her winsome spirit. The pair eventually fall for each other and seal their devotion as Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love" plays in the background. "We ended up, you know, really trying to find a character there that made sense within the structure and, you know, the essence of what that piece was," Gere explained. "To make it heartfelt, to make it charming, make it fun, make it sexy, you know? And we all loved each other. Great trust, we had a wonderful time, and we had no idea that it was going to be what it was." According to People Magazine, the movie is beloved not only for the incredible chemistry between Roberts and Gere but also for Vivian's memorable wardrobe. The cast of the film also included Jason Alexander, Hector Elizondo, Laura San Giacomo, and Ralph Bellamy.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Scammers Stole the Website for Emerson College's Student Radio Station and Started Running It as a Zombie AI Farm
Earlier this month, student leaders at Emerson College's student radio station, WECB, received an urgent email. "Yo!!!" read the subject line. "There's an AI website using your identity!" The email was from a student at the University of Oregon, who went on to explain that her professor had, in class, pulled up what they believed to be an article published by WECB. According to the emailer, the professor had cited the story as an example of "student-written solutions journalism." But the article, which was published in March and covered Iceland's experiment with four-day work weeks, immediately seemed fishy. As the Oregon student noted, its featured image looked like it was AI-generated. So did its text, which was stilted and strange, and overall just not very good. The article also wasn't even about music, the topic that WECB and its associated publication, Milk Crate, are dedicated to. When the Oregon student dug further, she saw that there were, in fact, two WECB websites — one that looked real, and another that looked suspiciously AI-mangled. Her instincts were correct. The story her professor had cited was the product of the undead carcass of an old WECB domain, which scammers had scooped up and transformed into an AI-powered content farm — complete with fake, AI-generated authors, AI imagery, and boatloads of misinformation — designed to trade on WECB's name and Google standing for profit. It's an old model for SEO scammery: snatch up a trustworthy domain when it expires, and use it to farm low-quality SEO-targeted content meant to cash in on lucrative display ads. But while nabbing established domains and running them as shambolic husks is nothing new, generative AI tools that can spin up whole websites and churn out articles in the blink of an eye has drastically lowered the bar of entry. Using AI to farm paper-thin sludge is fast and cheap, yet with just a thin aura of legitimacy, sloperators can make some very real money — in this case, at the expense of frustrated student journalists at a historic college in Boston. We first caught wind of the zombie site, which was housed under the domain name " when it surfaced in a Futurism staffer's Google News algorithm with an article touting an unhinged-looking headline alleging that the actor Richard Gere had somehow fallen into homelessness. We need to back up for a second, because there are serious layers to how wrong and weird this Gere article is. The Golden Globe-winning Gere is not and has never been homeless, but played an unhoused person in the 2015 movie "Time Out of Mind." Around the time the movie was released, as USA Today reported at the time, a photo of Gere on set went viral — not because Gere had shared it, but because a random poster had published the photo with a fake caption pretending to be the actor. In that fake caption, the poster — again, pretending to be Gere — falsely claimed that he'd gone "undercover in New York City as a homeless man," and that the experience was so moving that he later walked around that day giving $100 bills out to every unhoused person he saw. The "Pretty Woman" actor quickly clarified that he absolutely did not take to the streets in a homeless stunt, and hadn't been handing out Franklins, either. The allegedly WECB-published article we caught cropping up in Google News, however, bungles virtually every aspect of the story. The mangling starts with the headline — "Richard Gere's Fall From Grace : [sic] How the Actor Became a Homeless Man" — which suggests that Gere was legitimately homeless. The body of the article then contradicts the headline, erroneously claiming the Hollywood star spent time masquerading as a homeless man while preparing for his movie role. Which, again, was a random internet lie to begin with. And somehow, things only got worse from there. The article claimed that the film in question was a 2017 movie called "The Invisibles," a strange error that appears to be derived from the film's Spanish-language title of "Invisibles," rather than it's actual English-language title of "Time Out of Mind." It also fabricated a quote from the actor, and repeatedly misspelled the name of Gere's character. (Some of these errors suggest that poor-quality machine language translation tools might be at play here.) In other words, the whole thing is a bizarre, mutilated rehashing of viral misinformation that the "Arbitrage" actor had to personally correct a full decade ago. We also couldn't find any record of the article's listed author, an alleged "Sarah Jensen," anywhere outside of the site, even though her bio describes her as an experienced and "dynamic 30-year-old American web content writer." "Based in the creative hub of Austin, Texas," the lengthy byline continues. "Sarah's passion for all things entertainment and tech is matched only by her skill in conveying that enthusiasm through her writing." Reverse image searches for Jensen's associated headshot, meanwhile, failed to return any matches, suggesting the use of AI. (We did find a few Sarah Jensens with varying histories in publishing, but none that came close to matching this Jensen's description.) As we dug through the website, we were struck by the degree to which its owners sought to give it a surface-level veneer of credibility. Boasting an old WECB logo, it claims on its homepage to be the "100% student-run and creatively independent internet radio station of Emerson College," and even lists Emerson College's correct address and phone number. It even still links to the actual WECB radio stream. Cracks in that first-glance facade aren't hard to find, though. Its homepage also features a mundane, college-brochure-esque portrait of its alleged student staff, who appears to be AI-generated as well. And then, of course, there's the site's content, which is a heaping pile of AI sludge. publishes content about a chaotic range of viral-bait topics, from backyard nuclear reactors to turkey eggs to dog "negotiation." Probably the worst ooze on the site is an entire section devoted to churning out faux "interviews" with real musicians, from up-and-coming bands to big names like St. Vincent, the stage name used by the six-time-Grammy-award-winning alt-rocker Anne Clark. And speaking of Clark: her made-up WECB interview not only includes fake quotes attributed to the IRL rock star, but misgenders her repeatedly — a glaring mistake that student journalists staffing the actual WECB station and its associated Milk Crate publication probably wouldn't make. (An interview with Clark, after all, would be a huge get for a small college operation.) Our review of the site found plenty more instances of plagiarism and fabricated quotes — that article about Iceland's four-day workweeks, in fact, was heavily plagiarized from The Guardian — boatloads of flat-out misinformation, and more fake Emerson student journalists. One of them, "Christopher Johnson," claims in their bio to be a "dedicated writer and key contributor to the WECB website, Emerson College's student-run radio station." The blurb adds that Johnson is "passionate about music, radio communication, and journalism," and "helps shape the voice and identity of WECB, truly embodying its motto of being an inclusive, diverse, and enthusiastic music community." The headshot attributed to Johnson also appears to be AI-generated. There are multiple Christopher Johnsons who have had successful careers in radio journalism and broadcasting. But none that appear to have any connection to Emerson, and no existing students with a footprint in Emerson College's journalism community. The site wasn't just an algorithmic blip on Google News, either. We found it was also holding rank as the top Google search result for the query "WECB" — meaning it was ranking ahead of the actual WECB website, (It was also ranking ahead of another real radio station in Alabama, which also uses the call sign WECB.) When we reached out to the real WECB with what we'd found, the students who run it responded quickly — and with clear exasperation. According to Sofia Giarrusso and Nathan Hillyard, seniors at Emerson and the co-editors-in-chief of WECB's associated music publication, Milk Crate, the impersonation ordeal began back in the fall of 2023. A Squarespace payment briefly lapsed, causing the station to momentarily lose its domain; before staff could rectify the error, someone else had already scooped it up. (Further complicating the issue, they say, was the fact that .fm is also the country code top-level domain for the Federated States of Micronesia. Emerson College isn't in Micronesia; it's in Boston.) Unable to get their old domain back, they were "forced to rebrand to said Giarrusso. Not too long after, they noticed that someone had spun up the zombie site on their old domain. "I was just a station DJ at the time. I quickly discovered the AI site, and initially laughed. I really couldn't believe that anyone could fall for such obvious scum," Giarrusso reflected. "But as I gained leadership through Milk Crate, the site became a creative burden." Dealing with the fake site proved surprisingly tricky, though. Student journalism naturally changes guards a lot; it was unclear to staff whether the station's brand or logo was trademarked, and if they were, that's something that would've happened long before Giarrusso and Hillyard's time. And besides, it was the co-opting of the WECB likeness that was the problem, not the misuse of real WECB and Milk Crate articles. In short, legally speaking, it was complicated. And as busy students with limited resources, they weren't in a position to hire lawyers or commit the time and energy to conduct intense legal research on their own. They relied instead on word of mouth, and as a Hail Mary, sometimes took to spamming Google with reports of phishing violations. (The zombie site doesn't seem to be phishing, which the students acknowledge, but they figured it couldn't hurt to try.) It was a deeply weird situation. On the one hand, the site was profoundly irritating; as Giarrusso put it, the zombie sludge hadn't "completely tarnished" their reputation on campus, but it remained a "constant sore." And always, the threat of reputational damage loomed large. "As a student-run publication, our staff (and myself) are doing all this work together to gain credibility and experience working for a publication and covering the local music scene," said Hillyard. "Having a ghost site out there surely detracts from our credibility and 'seriousness' as a whole." "When we reach out to venues and artists we always make sure to link the correct site," he continued, "but should they do their own research they might very reasonably land in zombie land, which is a bad look for us." We reached out to Google with questions about the phony AI site. The company responded quickly, and within a day, the undead imposter had disappeared from search results. "Our spam policies prohibit using expired domains in an effort to manipulate Search rankings, and our systems detect and consider domain ownership changes," a spokesperson for Google told Futurism in a statement. "We take action against expired domain abuse, up to and including removing violative pages from Search." The fake site still exists, but changed its URL to following its manual Google demotion. As it stands, the sloperator behind the impersonator remains unclear. Interestingly, on the site's contact page, an embedded Google Maps view of Emerson's address and the surrounding area is in French. Vive la Boston! We also sent a message to the listed email on the fake site's contact page, but didn't hear back. As Vee Fidati recently wrote for Trill, university radio stations emerged in the 80s and 90s as a noncommercial "counterculture phenomenon," quickly becoming an important venue for student expression and music discovery. Students could experiment and take risks by playing emerging and independent acts. And on a practical level, college radio outlets and associated publications, like Milk Crate, are sandboxes where young DJs, producers, and writers can work hard to hone their craft — and hopefully, as a result, get a post-college foot in the door in the music and entertainment industries. But recent years have seen a steep decline in the overall number of university stations, as cash-strapped colleges sell off their long-held radio assets to eager buyers (religious groups have been particularly zealous purchasers.) And in addition to being beholden to decisions made above them at their universities, student staffers keeping the lights on at college radio stations face many of the same challenges and unknowns that the media landscape is grappling with more broadly. "Working as a student journalist is a thing of pure passion," said Hillyard. "None of our staff gets paid, and our minimal budget is tied up within privatized institution bureaucracy and is only released to us when we have zines to print or if we fill out the form right and can afford snacks for the launch party." But "on the flip side of that, everyone who writes, designs, photographs, or edits for us is doing it because they also are just as excited about music and the local scene in Boston as us," he continued. "I'm quite proud of all the work we publish as a group, and do take offense when this robot site steals our platform and community just to run some ads to an invisible audience." Hillyard also noted that he finds the fake WECB's "About Us" section on its homepage — where that picture of those smoothed-over, mannequin-like AI students sits — to be "particularly smug." "Me and my friends are even prettier and cooler than those randomized corporate cutouts!" he declared. But as frustrating as it's been, the phony site is the perfect foil for WECB, and the ideal of college radio writ large. The zombie WECB is an SEO front for braindead, profit-driven clickbait; at their core, the co-editors emphasized, the real WECB and Milk Crate are a space for community-building between peers, and the rewards of messy, dedicated, and thoroughly human creativity. "A hollow zombie recreation can never accomplish what we've fostered: a safe place for music nerds to nerd out as much as their heart's content," said Giarrusso. "That's why I'm so hard-and-fast in my attitude towards AI and this whole zombie site ordeal — it undermines our community for lazy profit. Exactly the opposite of our greater goal." Despite "this imitator out stealing some of our credibility, we're still going to keep on chugging," Hillyard added. "Regardless of these looming AI threats, we're having fun! AI can barely write about music and it certainly can't love it like we do." More on AI and media: An AI Slop "Science" Site Has Been Beating Real Publications in Google Results by Publishing Fake Images of SpaceX Rockets
Fox News
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Richard Gere and wife eye US comeback months after moving to Spain
Richard Gere and his wife Alejandra Silva are already planning on moving back to the United States after relocating to Madrid, Spain, at the end of 2024. At the 2025 Gala: Carnaval in New York City, Alejandra spoke to the Daily Mail about her family's plans now that they live in her home country. "For a few years [we'll live in Spain], and then come back. But we're always coming back," Silva said, referring to her sons Alexander, 5, and James, 4. "We'll come back here in the summer because we have the kids at camp. We just have to balance our lives there and here," she continued. After years of living in New York City with Gere, the couple decided to move to Spain, where Alejandra is from, and raise their children there. "For a few years [we'll live in Spain], and then come back. But we're always coming back." "I'm with my family... I missed them a lot. But I miss the U.S. So we come back and forth," she told the outlet. Gere first talked about their imminent move to Spain last spring. "For me, going to Madrid is going to be a great adventure because I have never lived full time outside the United States," the 75-year-old told Vanity Fair Spain. "And I think it will also be very interesting for my children. For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture. She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so I think it's fair that I give her at least six others living in hers. In any case, I love Spain and I think your lifestyle is fabulous. Also, your ability to live, transmitting joy and happiness. It is a beautiful place, the food is extraordinary and people exude sensitivity and generosity, as well as a strong will to laugh and enjoy. So I'm looking forward to going there." The "Runaway Bride" star told Fox News Digital in November that he had lived in New York City since his early 20s. WATCH: Richard Gere is looking forward to 'living in another culture' with move to Spain "New York gets in your blood. It's very hard to remove that. It infects your DNA. But I love Spain too. I love Madrid. And it's time for my wife to be around her family and friends and culture," he said. "And good for our kids. I think it's great to be living — not just visiting — but living in another culture." Gere told Jimmy Fallon in November that he thought his kids would "flourish" in the country. "My kids are bilingual, so they're going to flourish there," he said on "The Tonight Show." He said they would be spending Thanksgiving in Spain, and later that month Silva shared a photo on Instagram of their sons Alexander and James decorating their Christmas tree, with the caption, "this year finally, Christmas in Spain!" "My wife, she grew up in a very big Spanish family," Gere told Fallon. "And her grandmother was kind of the glue that held all of that together. And the grandmother passed away. It was about a year and a half ago, two years ago. So, my wife, I can see her morphing into the new grandmother of this extended family. So, she's already planning for 35 people for Sunday lunches." In January, Gere told Elle España that the couple are "happier than ever" living abroad. "We are happier than ever. She, because she is home and I because, if she is happy, I am happy." Silva called her and her husband "soulmates." The pair met 11 years ago when they were both going through divorces. "We are like soulmates," Silva told Elle España. "We have the same values, we see the world in the same way and from the first moment we felt that we had known each other for a long time." Gere couldn't help but rave about his wife, with whom he shares two sons and a third son from her previous marriage. He also has a 24-year-old son from his second marriage to Carey Lowell. "My wife has a glow about her [an] openness and her genuine sense of graciousness, of gratitude, of generosity," Gere said.
