Latest news with #sketch
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Trump claims he never ‘wrote a picture.' His claim has now been exposed
When Donald Trump pushed back against a report alleging he drew a 'bawdy' sketch to celebrate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 's 50th birthday, the president insisted he doesn't draw pictures. 'I never wrote a picture in my life,' he said in an awkwardly-phrased rebuttal to the Wall Street Journal last week, vehemently denying having anything to do with the birthday card. In a later Truth Social tirade he doubled down on the statement and bluntly declared: 'I don't draw pictures.' Despite the president's claims, multiple sketches by Trump have been made public over the years. Analysts were quick to pounce on Trump's denial, including Media Matters chief Angelo Carusone, who told MSNBC, 'I can think of three [Trump sketches] off the top of my head that were auctioned.' At least five sketches from the late 1990s and early 2000s have been sold at auction. Trump's take on the Empire State Building, scribbled in his signature black marker pen, from his days as a Manhattan real estate mogul when he was pursuing the prized property, went up for auction back in 1995. The 12-by-nine-inch piece was etched from his Mar-a-Lago estate for a charity auction, according to Julien's Auctions. The signed sketch sold in 2017 for $16,000, according to The New York Times. There was another marker and pencil drawing from the early 2000s, in which Trump depicted dollar bills falling from a spiral-leafed tree, punctuated by a large gold signature. A placard on the back read that 'The Donald' was known for his 'outspokenness and media exposure,' along with his 'distinct comb over.' The 'Money Tree Drawing' sold at the North Carolina-based auction house Lealand Little in December 2020 for $8,500, the website reads. In October 2003, Trump drew the 'Cityscape Skyline,' this time entirely in gold marker pen, originally done for a celebrity art auction to benefit the Capuchin Food Pantry. Dated 2004, the Art of the Deal author depicted a scene reminiscent of the Riverside South development project in Manhattan. The drawing was sold in January for $15,000, according to Sotheby's auction house. Trump drew a more minimalist rendition of his New York City skyline piece in 2005, which sold at Nate D. Sanders auctions in 2017 for $29,000. The auction house stated that there was an additional variant of the drawing. In 2006, Trump scrawled the George Washington Bridge in black marker. That drawing, which was sold by Julien's auctions for $4,480 in April 2019, was described as an 'original ink illustration on paper' and 'signed in black ink by Donald Trump lower center.' In his 2010 book Trump Never Give Up, the president boasted, 'Each year I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green.' 'Art may not be my strong point,' he admitted.
Washington Post
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Patti Harrison has a plan for survival. It's absurd.
For a while there, Patti Harrison got used to strangers screaming in her face. People would approach her on the sidewalk, recognizing her from the Netflix sketch comedy series 'I Think You Should Leave' and yelling things like, 'I'm not popular at all?' — the way her character does in a 2019 episode after her co-workers refuse to laugh at her jokes about their new office printer. As the slighted co-worker, Harrison projects the distress of someone experiencing actual injustice. Her committed performance heightens the absurdity of the situation, cementing the sketch — and her whiny line delivery in it — as one of the show's most memorable.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Trump claims he never ‘wrote a picture.' His sketchy Epstein lie has now been exposed
President Donald Trump has strongly pushed back against the bombshell Wall Street Journal report that alleged he drew a 'bawdy' sketch in a birthday message to celebrate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. 'I never wrote a picture in my life,' he said in a rebuttal to the newspaper, vehemently denying having anything to do with the card. In a Truth Social tirade late Thursday, the president declared, 'I don't draw pictures.' Trump is accused of writing a cryptic note that made mention of a 'wonderful secret' in his note to the disgraced financier. The Journal reported that the text was surrounded by a drawing of a naked woman, punctuated by a squiggly 'Donald' that mimicked pubic hair. Analysts were quick to pounce on Trump's denial, including Media Matters chief Angelo Carusone, who told MSNBC, 'I can think of three [Trump sketches] off the top of my head that were auctioned.' This sketch Trump did in 2005 of the Manhattan skyline was sold at auction in 2017 (Heritage Auctions) At least five sketches from the late 1990s and early 2000s have been sold at auction. Trump's take on the Empire State Building, scribbled in his signature black marker pen, from his days as a Manhattan real estate mogul when he was pursuing the prized property, went up for auction back in 1995. The 12-by-nine-inch piece was etched from his Mar-a-Lago estate for a charity auction, according to Julien's Auctions. The signed sketch sold in 2017 for $16,000, according to The New York Times. There was another marker and pencil drawing from the early 2000s, in which Trump depicted dollar bills falling from a spiral-leafed tree, punctuated by a large gold signature. A placard on the back read that 'The Donald' was known for his 'outspokenness and media exposure,' along with his 'distinct comb over.' The 'Money Tree Drawing' sold at the North Carolina-based auction house Lealand Little in December 2020 for $8,500, the website reads. The president has repeatedly attempted to downplay the Epstein case, to the dismay of some MAGA allies (Reuters) In October 2003, Trump drew the 'Cityscape Skyline,' this time entirely in gold marker pen, originally done for a celebrity art auction to benefit the Capuchin Food Pantry. Dated 2004, the Art of the Deal author depicted a scene reminiscent of the Riverside South development project in Manhattan. The drawing was sold in January for $15,000, according to Sotheby's auction house. Trump drew a more minimalist rendition of his New York City skyline piece in 2005, which sold at Nate D. Sanders auctions in 2017 for $29,000. The auction house stated that there was an additional variant of the drawing. In 2006, Trump scrawled the George Washington Bridge in black marker. That drawing, which was sold by Julien's auctions for $4,480 in April 2019, was described as an 'original ink illustration on paper' and 'signed in black ink by Donald Trump lower center.' In his 2010 book Trump Never Give Up, the president boasted, 'Each year I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green.' 'Art may not be my strong point,' he admitted.
Washington Post
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Trump said he ‘never wrote a picture in my life.' Here are four.
President Donald Trump denied ever creating any drawings when asked about a sketch of a naked woman bearing his name that allegedly was part of a bawdy birthday gift to Jeffrey Epstein more than two decades ago. 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women,' Trump said in an interview Tuesday with the Wall Street Journal about the sketch, the newspaper reported.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lost Goon Show sketch to be performed 70 years on
A lost Goon Show sketch written by revered comedy duo Ray Galton and Alan Simpson will be performed later for the first time in 70 years after being unearthed in a university archive. The skit was found among a trove of work by the pair, who created hit shows including Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour and are often credited with inventing the British sitcom. Running on the BBC from 1951 to 1960, the Goon Show featured Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. Richard Usher, chair of the Goon Show Preservation Society, said the discovery of the sketch - found amongst a portion of the Galton and Simpson collection owned by the University of York - was "insanely exciting". Gary Brannan, keeper of archives and research collections at the University's Borthwick Institute for Archives, said: "Galton and Simpson invented modern British comedy as we know it, with their wit and humour leaving a profound and lasting imprint on the shows we watch today. "Real-world or situation comedy simply didn't exist before them." He described The Case of the Missing Two Fingers sketch, which will be performed later at the York Festival of Ideas, as a Shakespearean parody, believed to have been first written by Galton and Simpson just before Hancock's Half Hour started and the pair became household names. "They're just on the edge of their big career moment when here they are writing these Goon Shows, which to me I think are brilliant and are really very funny," Mr Brannan said. Milligan collaborated with other writers during the Goon Show's lifespan, but it was previously unknown that Galton and Simpson had written for the programme. "It did feel exciting. [As an archivist] I often find it can be a life of disappointment," Mr Brannan said. "I have a record of getting excited and then someone going 'no, we know all about this'. "There was a knowledge that Peter [Sellers] had performed these sketches, but no-one knew who had written them and the assumption was naturally that they were Spike Milligan's." Mr Usher, from the Goon Show Preservation Society, will be performing the sketch after a talk by Mr Brannan. "I was insanely excited by the idea that these hadn't been seen or performed since 1954," he said. "On lots of levels it's ticking lots of boxes for me as a Goon fan, a Peter Sellers fan and somebody who just loves British comedy." In the spirit of the original programme, Mr Usher has created his own sound effects, and will be utilising his impression skills to bring the sketch to life. "It features a good spread of Goon Show characters - I'm really looking forward to seeing how it visually translates to an audience, because that's going to be a nice challenge to get my teeth into," he added. The University of York currently owns part of the full collection of Galton and Simpson's life's work, which includes rare early drafts, unseen scripts and memorabilia. The institution is now looking to raise £30,000 to buy the rest of the loaned items, to avoid it being split up and sold on. Mr Brannan's talk 'Innit Marvellous? The world of Hancock and Steptoe' will take place at the Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, University of York, from 16:00 BST. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. University of York Steptoe creator Ray Galton dies aged 88 Obituary: Alan Simpson
