published 11 days 15 hours 14 minutes ago.
Popular Indian stand-up comic Kunal Kamra and his family have tested positive for COVID-19. While Kamra, 32, is under home quarantine, his aged parents have been admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure. “My parents are COVID positive and they’re in a hospital near by. I’m COVID positive quarantined at home ... I’ve spoken to everyone who I was in contact with,” tweeted Kamra. He also urged his fans to take the second wave of COVID-19 sweeping India seriously. “Me and my family will be fine soon. Please take the second wave very seriously and be super careful,” he added. Kamra became notorious for heckling Indian TV host and anchor Arnab Goswami on board a flight. Subsequently, he was banned by the airline to fly. The number of Bollywood stars infected with the coronavirus is rising steadily. A day earlier, actor Akshay Kumar was shifted to a hospital in Mumbai as a precautionary measure after he tested positive. Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar Image Credit: IANS Stars including Bhumi Pednekar, Vicky Kaushal, Aamir Khan, R Madhavan and Fathima Sana Shaikh had recently been diagnosed for COVID-19 and are recuperating. Every talent, who has been felled by COVID-19, have urged their fans to exercise caution. Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, filmmakers are also making the tough call to postpone the release of their films in cinemas. Today, news emerged that Kumar’s much-anticipated cop drama ‘Sooryavanshi’, directed by Rohit Shetty, has been postponed indefinitely. It was scheduled to release on April 30 amidst much fanfare. Akshay Kumar in 'Sooryavanshi' Image Credit: Reliance Entertainment On April 6, India reported 96,982 cases, a day after logging more than 100,000 cases for the first time.
published 23 days 18 hours 42 minutes ago.
Cookbook author and social media personality Chrissy Teigen has deleted her Twitter account saying it was negatively impacting her life. “For over 10 years you guys have been my world,” Teigen wrote on Wednesday. “But it’s time to say goodbye. This no longer serves me as positively as it serves me negatively, and I think that’s the right time to call something.” Teigen, who is married to Grammy-winning singer John Legend, had 13.7 million followers on the platform before she deactivated it. The 35-year-old mum of two had been an active user and her account was popular for its mix of jokes about her husband John Legend and their children, their playful banter on the site, funny observations about assorted topics and fierce retorts for those she disagreed with or who criticised her. That reputation is at odds with who she really is, the model and cookbook author wrote. “My life goal is to make people happy,” she wrote. “The pain I feel when I don’t is too much for me. I’ve always been portrayed as the strong clap back girl but I’m just not.” In September last year, Teigen documented her difficult pregnancy and eventual loss of son Jack on social media, letting people in on the tragic journey. She posted her feelings about the loss and raw images from the hospital, and eventually faced criticism for being so candid. Teigen later wrote in an essay about why she was so open about the miscarriage and how she didn’t care what people thought of her. “I cannot express how little I care that you hate the photos. How little I care that it’s something you wouldn’t have done. I lived it, I chose to do it, and more than anything, these photos aren’t for anyone but the people who have lived this or are curious enough to wonder what something like this is like. These photos are only for the people who need them. The thoughts of others do not matter to me,” she wrote at the time. She wrote on Wednesday that she’s experienced so many attacks from low-follower accounts that she’s “deeply bruised.” In one of her final posts, she told her followers to “never forget that your words matter.” Teigen’s Instagram account, with more than 34 million followers, remains active as does Legend’s Twitter account, with 14 million followers. - With inputs from AP
published 23 days 19 hours 5 minutes ago.
Jay Leno has apologised for a number of jokes he made at the expense of the Korean and Chinese communities, particularly racist stereotypes about what Korean and Chinese people eat. “At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless. I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them,” the comedian and former late-night TV host said in a Zoom call last month with members of Media Action Network for Asian Americans, according to a MANAA release sent Wednesday. “At the time, there was a prevailing attitude that some group is always complaining about something, so don’t worry about it,” he said, according to the release. “Whenever we received a complaint, there would be two sides to the discussion: Either ‘We need to deal with this’ or ‘Screw ‘em if they can’t take a joke.’” The one-time “Tonight Show” host said he didn’t consider this situation to be an example of cancel culture but rather an airing of what he called a “legitimate wrong” on his part. “Too many times I sided with the latter” — meaning the “screw ‘em” side — “even when I knew in my heart it was wrong,” he said in the statement. Representatives for Leno did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Guy Aoki, founding president of MANAA, said in Wednesday’s statement that Leno would never make racist jokes about the eating habits of Black people. “However, inaccurately inferring that most Koreans or Chinese regularly eat ‘man’s best’ friend is worse,” he said, “because it encourages racial hatred towards Asian Americans, as most people don’t distinguish between Asian nationals and Asian Americans.” Leno’s history with anti-Asian jokes was put in the spotlight after Gabrielle Union — a judge on “America’s Got Talent” when Leno appeared as a guest judge — was fired from “AGT” after only one season and then alleged a racist and toxic environment existed on the show. Union’s allegations, which included a claim that Leno saw a picture of judge Simon Cowell with dogs and cracked that it looked like something you would see “on the menu of a Korean restaurant,” prompted NBC Entertainment to open an investigation. Union and the network reached an “amicable resolution” to their dispute last year, but Leno was not mentioned. “NBC Entertainment appreciates the important concerns raised by Gabrielle Union and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds can be treated with respect,” read a joint statement released at the time by Union and the network. Leno, meanwhile, said in the Wednesday release that he hoped the Asian American community would accept his apology and added, “I hope I can live up to their expectations in the future.”
published 14 days 16 hours 30 minutes ago.
Pakistani actress Saba Qamar has called off her engagement to Azeem Khan who is currently facing sexual abuse allegations. Qamar, best known for her roles in ‘Bunty I Love You’, ‘Mein Sitara’ and the Bollywood film ‘Hindi Medium’, made the announcement on social media, while adding that she had never even met her fiancé before agreeing to marry him. “Hii Everyone I have a very important announcement to make, due to a lot of personal reasons I have decided to call it off with Azeem Khan, ‘WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED NOW’ hope you guys will support my decision just like you all have been supporting me always, and I guess it’s never too late to realise the bitter realities!,” she posted on Instagram. “I also wanted to clear ONE IMPORTANT thing that is: “I have never Met Azeem Khan in my life we were only connected over the phone” It’s a very hard time on me right now but as we all know ‘THIS TOO SHALL PASS’ Insha Allah [God Willing] :) Much love to you all! -Saba Qamar,” she further added. While no reasons for the break-up are given, Khan also responded to her post, acknowledging he was the reason behind the split. “Saba you have the most amazing soul and you deserve all the happiness in the universe. May God bless you with all the success and love. Difficult roads often led to beautiful destinations. And yes, I would like to take full responsibility of this breakdown,” Khan posted on Instagram. Khan has been in the news for the wrong reasons last month following a woman accusing him of sexual harassment. The entrepreneur denied the allegations through a video message that he posted on Instagram. “I only want to say one thing, what is the point of uploading statues on social media. Let’s come through a proper channel,” Khan claimed, adding: “I don’t care about Saba’s past, neither does she care about mine.” “I don’t understand that why people make false accusations without knowing the fact and reality. You are ruining someone’s life just for fame. Our intentions are to purely settle down our relationship in a proper way which is ‘Nikkah’. Such people should be ashamed on what they are doing,” he said at the time. Several celebrities from the Pakistani film and music fraternity have come out to support Qamar, including actress Humaima Malick, singer-songwriter Hadiqa Kiani and Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
published 2 days 9 hours 24 minutes ago.
Calling all Sajal Aly fans - the star who caught the attention of viewers for her performance in the film Mom? The popular Pakistani actress was shown in the teaser for the upcoming original Dhoop Ki Deewar which will stream on Zee5. Sajal, who was married last year, was on screen with her real-life husband Ahad Raza Mir, also a young talent from Pakistan. The post on Instagram brought on a flurry of messages by fans as the couple was having a romantic moment. The show has caused a lot of excitement in the airwaves, as many fans are ready to see the couple’s first project as husband and wife. Judging from the teaser, the story of two cross-border lovers, Sara and Vishal, is going to be a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Recently, the couple shared a glimpse of their one year of togetherness, in the city of love, Paris. Image Credit: INSTA/sajalaly Produced by Motion Content Group, Dhoop Ki Deewar, a cross-border tale of love, family, and loss, is an upcoming ZEE5 exclusive and a Zindagi Original web series. It is written by Umera Ahmad and directed by Haseeb Hassan.
