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Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
American pop star's desi wedding in India had Diddy performing with classical dancer, Rihanna as maid of honor; it ended in divorce over a text
Katy Perry married comedian and actor Russell Brand in 2010, barely a year after they met. The relationship didn't last. Russell reportedly ended things with a text message, something Perry later slammed as 'cowardly.' But when they tied the knot, the wedding made global headlines, mostly thanks to Russell's choice of location. He had long spoken about his spiritual pull towards India. Perry, though raised a devout Christian, later said she believes in God but doesn't follow any religion. Their wedding was held at the Aman-i-Khas resort near the Ranthambhore tiger reserve, with a Christian minister officiating. Also read: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom confirm breakup in joint statement, say daughter Daisy remains top priority In 2010, after their low-key wedding, a rep for Perry confirmed to People, 'The very private and spiritual ceremony, attended by the couple's closest family and friends, was performed by a Christian minister and longtime friend of the Hudson family. The backdrop was the inspirational and majestic countryside of Northern India.' Russell had been on a deeply personal spiritual path long before he started dating Katy. At the time, the singer herself had started embracing Indian culture, something she never really hid and still carries with her, even though she avoids attaching herself to any particular religion. While it was Russell who pushed for an Indian wedding, Katy, who was raised in a strict, 'sheltered' Pentecostal Christian home where even secular music was banned, was also eager to explore other spiritual paths. Also read: Katy Perry gives a tour of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin capsule which will take her and 5 other women to space: 'Taking Up Space is a double entendre now' Before they tied the knot, Russell had proposed to Katy in front of the Taj Mahal. During the nuptials, the groom and his male friends arrived at the venue, where the bride waited, welcomed with the sounds of sitar, santoor, tabla, drums, and Rajasthani folk music. The multi-day celebration even saw celebrity guests like Rihanna, who served as Katy's maid of honour, while Diddy reportedly performed at the reception alongside Indian classical dancers. British comedian David Walliams and TV host Jonathan Ross were also among the guests. As they exchanged vows, Russell wore a traditional kurta-pyjama while Katy draped a red saree and took the pheras around the sacred fire. Two giant elephants, Mala and Laxmi, arrived at the venue to the beats of dhol and nagara. Local delicacies were served to guests, specially handpicked from Bajaria, a market town near Sawai Madhopur, giving the high-profile wedding party a real taste of Rajasthani flavour. The mandap, or wedding canopy, was made of vibrant orange, red, and yellow ribbons, adorned with marigold garlands. While the wedding made global headlines, it didn't last. The two divorced in 2014. The separation turned ugly. Katy claimed Russell was controlling and didn't believe in equality, while Russell pointed to their clashing political views, among other issues. Years later, Katy began dating Orlando Bloom. The couple was engaged for nearly four years and recently confirmed their amicable split. They share a daughter named Daisy Dove Bloom. At the time of separation, Katy's rep told Page Six that the singer was 'relieved to not have married again,' as the fear of another messy divorce still haunts her.
The Star
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
A RM1.7bil ‘holy hole'
THE walls surrounding Ghana's national cathedral are ageing plywood. Its spires are yellow construction cranes, which have not moved in years. It frequently reverberates with singing – the singing of a choir of frogs that moves in whenever the cathedral's half-finished foundations fill with rainwater. Ghana's former president, Nana Akufo-Addo, spent around US$58mil (RM248mil) in public money on the US$400mil (RM1.7bil) cathedral project – a huge sum in this debt-saddled West African country. The new finance minister said in March that Ghana's economy was in 'severe distress'. The cathedral was designed by celebrity architect David Adjaye. But beyond the blueprints, there is very little to show for the money. 'They have only dug a hole – a big hole,' said Praise Chinedu, a student and a Pentecostal Christian. A well-thumbed Bible tucked under his arm, he was emerging from a morning service at Pure Fire Miracles Ministries onto a street humming with churchgoers, ice cream vendors and clamouring children. His brother John, who had been buying anointing oil, sidled up. 'God is not going to be happy,' he said. Across Accra, Ghana's coastal capital, citizens joke that the hole is the biggest and most expensive in the world. Ghana's former president Akufo-Addo. — Francis Kokoroko/The New York Times A valuable stretch of land surrounded by museums, bank headquarters and some of Ghana's ritziest hotels was cleared of government buildings for the church. That land is now thick with vegetation and bird life, unvisited except by scrap metal thieves and, occasionally in the rainy season, swimmers staging stunts for social media. The unbuilt cathedral became a symbol of economic mismanagement and a political battleground after Akufo-Addo said its construction was to fulfil a personal pledge he had made to God. Now that Akufo-Addo has left office, the project appears permanently doomed. The cathedral is now a major target of the new government's anti-corruption initiative, called Operation Recover All Loot. Last month, the government announced that it would no longer fund the project and dissolved the agency responsible for managing it. Africa is home to the world's largest Christian population. Ghana, where faith is especially important to young people, has seen a recent boom in church building. But the national cathedral project never attracted the support Akufo-Addo anticipated. Instead, construction stalled at its foundations as Ghana suffered its worst economic crisis in a generation. To many Ghanaians lately, a cathedral has seemed like the last thing the country needs, especially one with an estimated cost of US$400mil. The project began with much fanfare. In 2019, at a fundraising dinner in Washington, a smiling Akufo-Addo cut into a large grey, square confection – the planned cathedral rendered in cake. With a 5,000-seat auditorium and a concave roof referencing the curve of Asante royal stools, it was intended to be much more than just a cathedral. It was to be a national monument, similar to the Washington National Cathedral or London's Westminster Abbey, a place where solemn ceremonies of state – like presidents' funerals and royal weddings – would take place. Akufo-Addo, who was born into a Presbyterian family but became an Anglican as a young man, told the group gathered in Washington that the interdenominational cathedral would be a unifier for Ghanaian Christians, who represent more than 70% of the population. It would also be an offering of thanks to God for sparing the country from the epidemics, civil wars and famines that had plagued its neighbours, he said. But then he revealed a third reason for its construction. 'I made a pledge to God that if I become the president – after two unsuccessful attempts – in the 2016 presidential elections, I will build a cathedral to the glory of God,' he said, according to official readouts of the event. The statement turned out to be a gift to Akufo-Addo's opponents, who argued that the president should not be allowed to use public money as part of a personal bargain he made with God – let alone US$58mil of it. Paul Opoku-Mensah, the executive director of the agency overseeing the project, said demonising the cathedral quickly became 'a political strategy'. In March 2024, one member of parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, led a march to the construction site, cutting a red ribbon at its gate to poke fun at the president for commissioning what was still a giant hole. 'We are demanding that the contracts must be immediately terminated to avoid further financial loss to the state,' he said. If using the cathedral to target the president was a political strategy, it worked. John Mahama, a former president who promised to create jobs and fix the economy, pulled off a dramatic comeback in December's election. He made Okudzeto Ablakwa his foreign minister. Corruption accusations often take centre stage in Ghanaian elections, and the large sums involved in the national cathedral project convinced many Ghanaians that officials had been skimming off the top. A public ombudsman said procurement rules had been breached and recommended a forensic audit. But in an interview by the big hole in early April, Opoku-Mensah said he had nothing to hide and had handed over all the accounts to the investigators. He explained that the cathedral was not really intended as a church, but as a major monument that had needed state money to get started but would eventually become a profit-making magnet for visitors. 'It's a fundamental misunderstanding of the vision,' he said. Akufo-Addo also seemed befuddled about the controversy. 'I find it difficult to see what is so problematic about it,' he said in an interview in April in his book-lined home office surrounded by a lush garden. He mused aloud about whether people believed it 'would be too big a tribute to my leadership'. Now that the country's leaders have changed, few Ghanaians admit to supporting the cathedral. Those who do say Akufo-Addo and others should foot the bill – but not taxpayers. 'It should be funded through donations,' said Esi Darko, an architect, as she left church one recent afternoon in an Accra neighbourhood known as Christian Village. 'It shouldn't be imposed upon everyone because not all are Christians.' There are also around five million Muslims in Ghana, a country of more than 35 million people, and, lately, a growing number of atheists. 'Don't believe in God?' reads a billboard in central Accra. 'You are not alone.' — ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Ghana Wanted a Cathedral. It Got an ‘Expensive Hole' Instead.
The walls surrounding Ghana's national cathedral are aging plywood. Its spires are yellow construction cranes, which have not moved in years. It frequently reverberates with singing — the singing of a choir of frogs that moves in whenever the cathedral's half-finished foundations fill with rainwater. Ghana's former president, Nana Akufo-Addo, spent around $58 million of public money on the $400 million cathedral project — a huge sum in this debt-saddled West African country. The new finance minister said in March that Ghana's economy was in 'severe distress.' The cathedral was designed by the celebrity architect David Adjaye. But beyond the blueprints, there is very little to show for the money. 'They have only dug a hole — a big hole,' Praise Chinedu, a student and a Pentecostal Christian, said last month. A well-thumbed Bible tucked under his arm, he was emerging from a morning service at Pure Fire Miracles Ministries onto a street humming with churchgoers, ice cream vendors and clamoring children. His brother John, who had been buying anointing oil, sidled up. 'God is not going to be happy,' he said. AFRICA 500 miles GUINEA NIGERIA ghana Accra CAMEROON Atlantic Ocean IVORY COAST 1 mile Accra ring rd. E. independence ave. National cathedral site Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra Accra City Hotel ghana Gulf of Guinea Map data from OpenStreetMap By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
