Current Final

Tag: social media

  • While bombs rain down on Gaza, viral videos show Israelis dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance tour’ film

    While bombs rain down on Gaza, viral videos show Israelis dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance tour’ film

    Social media has been outraged after several videos went viral on the internet where Israelis can be seen dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance Film’, playing in theatres this week. At the same time, Gaza is being bombarded with severe airstrikes.

    In the videos, Israelis can be seen dancing to ‘Break My Soul’, claiming it was the IDF’s new fight song against the Hamas. Twitter users expressed outrage at Beyonce’s silence on the on-going genocide, after several X (formerly Twitter) users have pleaded with her to pull the film from Israel.

    “THIS is why Beyonce not allowing her film to screen in Israel mattered . This is why- even if the location of screenings was out of her control (debatable) she should have at LEAST made a Pro-Palestine statement. Now a song about Black liberation is tied to a GENOCIDE.”

    Many expressed outrage on how Beyonce had the power to refuse this, but chose to let this happen.

  • ‘Dangerous and irresponsible’: Ushna Shah calls out Maria B for misusing Palestine activism

    ‘Dangerous and irresponsible’: Ushna Shah calls out Maria B for misusing Palestine activism

    Actress Ushna Shah took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to call out controversial fashion designer Maria B for misusing her tweets and photos from the Palestine march in Karachi to malign the transgender movement.

    “Maria B’s collaboration with questionable low grade bloggers and use of my tweets and photos from the Palestine March — where I was incidentally standing with a transgender rights activist — for her agenda is dangerous and irresponsible. She’s misusing edited content to stir controversy, exploiting trending topics like Palestine in a way that’s beneath even her.”

    “I am not aligned with her extreme right-wing or any extreme left-wing views,” continued the ‘Habs’ actress. “I have a diverse social circle, like most actresses working in showbiz, and I don’t subscribe to any political agenda. I value all life, from minorities to even animals. I urge Maria to realize the harm and potential risks to my safety her actions cause. In layman’s terms: please keep my name out of your mouth & don’t drag me in a war that has nothing to do with me.”

    “I am not pushing any agenda except the liberation of Palestine, do not use me to push yours.” Ushna wrote. “I’m sorry I rejected coming to your march, but this was a sick retaliation which has endangered me. Me not wanting to associate with Maria and her march doesn’t make me an LGBTQ activist. It has nothing to do with that. She has made me uncomfortable since her stunt with the covid patient working in her home, I see her as an irresponsible person who weaponises religion to push her brand & her recent stunt proves just that. Using the photo from a *Palestine* march in which an activist Shahzadi came next to me for a while & posing it as an LGBTQ March is again highly irresponsible of her, not to mention spreading lies online to endanger someone is illegal.”

    In the next tweet Ushna wrote: “To the fundamentalists threatening me: I’ve written this in Urdu. Simple words “meri dosti SAB ACTRESSES ki tarah SAB sey hei, meinay Palestine ke ilawa koi agenda push nahi kiya, Jo sawal mujhse karney hein woh sab actresses sey karein. LogoN ko mazhab Matt istemal karney dein sales banaaney ke liye. Mere Falasteen make stance ke baad haath sey endorsements jaa rahi hein, matlab high paying multinational waqfay, Jo ke aap sab ko patah hei mujhe bohot miliey thee alhamdulilah, Aur yeh logue Falasteen ko Aur mujhe istemaal kar rahey hein ratings ke liye”. I am at Umrah, let me get back to it without fearing propaganda. Jo masla mera hei hee nahi uss mein mujhe mutt ghaseetein. Aur meri avaaz falasteen ke haq mein Jo uthee hei ussey chup Matt karwayein.”

    Ushna Shah ended the thread by writing: “Maria, I am not new to cheap made up controversies by bloggers but a woman in your position should know better than to use me and to use this genocide. You are old enough to be my mother. Since you decided to address me online and open me up to threats, even though you have my number, I’ve decided to do the same. What you have done is dangerous, irresponsible & illegal, and if I had time to visit FIR offices, I would.”

    Maria B has yet to comment on Ushna Shah’s statement.

  • In anticipation of Gunjal, we recommend you watch these three dramas starring Ahmed Ali Akbar

    In anticipation of Gunjal, we recommend you watch these three dramas starring Ahmed Ali Akbar

    The thriller mystery film ‘Gunjal’ is set to release in a few weeks and Ahmed Ali Akbar is about to take on a challenging role that will completely change the way the entertainment industry has seen him. The actor is will essay the role of journalist Shahbaz Bhatti who investigates the events surrounding the death of prominent child labor activist Iqbal Masih.

    If you, like the rest of us, are anxiously waiting for the arrival of the movie, we recommend you watch some amazing projects he did in the past. We’re listing down some dramas that definitely show the range and seductiveness of Ahmed.

    1 Yehe Raha Dil (2017)

    Yes, we know the first drama that comes to your mind is ‘Parizaad’ but please don’t pay dismiss this series. Ahmed proves his chemistry with Yumna is superior to any other we’ve seen, and deserves more coverage. Even years past its release, fans are not over the amazing chemistry between the two and are still hoping that there’s a chance we might get another drama with the two of them and yes, we’re absolutely standing with this.

    2 Idiot (2023)

    Mansha Pasha and Ahmed were terrifyingly good in the thriller ‘Lal Kabootar’. They once more left audiences in awe with their roles in ‘Idiot’. Ahmed’s character questions the traditions and values of society, for which he is regarded as an ‘idiot’, saying things other people are too afraid to say.

    3 Parizaad (2021)

    Now coming to the drama that turned everyone into an Ahmed Ali Akbar fan. He stars as Parizaad, a man who sets out on a journey to understand the meaning of life, while coming across different people on his path. Since its release two years ago, the message of the drama and how brilliantly Ahmed carried the drama are still on point.

  • Number one song in Israel calls for murder of Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa

    Number one song in Israel calls for murder of Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa

    A hip hop song ‘Charbu Darbu’, trending on Israel’s Youtube and Spotify charts, is advocating to kill Palestinians in Gaza, and saying supermodel Bella Hadid, singer Dua Lipa and adult film star Mia Khalifa, all vocal supporters of Palestine, should be killed.

    Written and performed by Ness Van Stilla, the title means ‘swords and strikes’ in Syrian Arabic, referencing to raining hell down on the Hamas.

    The song refers to Hamas as the Binlical Amalek, promising to obliterate them. The chorus calls for the IDF’s combat units to destroy all of Gaza.

    The song ends with a list of names whom the singers promise to obliterate as they are enemies of Israel including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa and Mia Khaifa.

    “Every c*nt’s last day will come/ Bella Hadid, Dupa Lipa, Mia Khalifa!”

    Journalist Ahmed Eldin shared a clip of an article by The Times Of Israel on his Twitter account.

  • The Weeknd donates $2.5 million to Gaza for aid

    The Weeknd donates $2.5 million to Gaza for aid

    Singer The Weeknd has made international headlines after his XO Humanitarian Fund is sending $2.5 million to Gaza to provide four million meals for civilians. Israel is again bombing the vulnerable population where already more than 15,000 civilians have died. Currently, the death toll after the ending of truce is 160 Palestinians.

    The artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaya, stepped into the role of the Goodwill Ambassador in 2021 in October 2021, and set up the XO Humanitarian Fund with the United Nations World Food Program.

    “WFP is working round the clock to provide aid in Gaza but a major scale up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger we are seeing,” said UN WFP’s director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern European Region,  Corinne Fleischer. “Our teams need safe and sustained humanitarian access, and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can. We thank Abel for this valuable contribution towards the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts.”

    On November 23, Tunasian Egyptian actress Hend Sabri announced on her Instagram account that she was resigning from her role as Goodwill Ambassador from the UN World Food Program because of the organisation’s inability to condemn the ongoing genocide of Gaza.

    “Over the past weeks, I have witnessed and shared the experiences of my dedicated WFP colleagues. Their frustration at being unable to do what they do best towards children, mothers, fathers and grandparents in Gaza. They could only do so much in the face of a grinding war machine that would not stop and would not spare civilians the agony and anguish as war encircles them.”

    “I had faith,” the actress wrote to her 3.3 million followers, “that WFP – which was named Nobel Peace Prize Laureate only three years ago after championing UN resolution 2417, against using hunger and starvation as a weapon of war – would use its voice forcefully as it had done in multiple emergencies and human crises. However, hunger and starvation have been used as weapons of war for over the past 46 days against more than 2 million civilians in Gaza.”

  • ‘Spineless’: Twitter disgusted after Ranveer Singh pays tribute to Johnny Depp at film festival

    ‘Spineless’: Twitter disgusted after Ranveer Singh pays tribute to Johnny Depp at film festival

    Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh has been criticised on social media after a video of him praising controversial actor Johnny Depp went viral. The ‘Rocky And Rani’ actor was honoured with ‘The Red Sea: Honoree Award’, and in his acceptance speech the actor chose to praise Johnny by calling him his “screen idol.”

    “I want to go off-script for a moment here. One of my screen idols is in the house, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Johnny Depp. My good sir, I’ve followed your work since Edward Scissorhands and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. What an honour to be receiving this in your presence. Thank you for everything that you’ve unknowingly taught me about the craft, sir. Master of transformation, versatility, something that inspired by you.”

    Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard were embroiled in a public defamation case in 2022. The jury sided mostly with Depp, finding Heard guilty of defamation, penalising her for $10 million agile Depp was told to pay her $1 million.

    X (formerly Twitter) users were outraged at Ranveer, mostly regarded as one of the non-toxic male leads in Bollywood, paying homage to a Depp.

    “embarrassing..these celebs esp from bw don’t stand up for anything and when given a public platform they would commit atrocities like praising a straight up abuser. just accept ur award and leave like i am sure he doesn’t give a fuck. ranveer would ass-lick just abt anybody.”

    “Powerful men side with each other and get hailed for low effort and unimpressive “acts of love”. Idealizing a rapist and abuser reflects a lot on you. It is easier to speak two lines praising your super rich and successful wife but hard to stand up for other women/survivors,” another user wrote.

  • Aiman Khan, Saboor Aly, shower love on Zara Noor Abbas as she announces pregnancy

    Aiman Khan, Saboor Aly, shower love on Zara Noor Abbas as she announces pregnancy

    Zara Noor Abbas could win the cutest pregnancy announcement award if there ever was one, with a hilarious picture she posted holding a desert with a simple caption: “Round 2- – InshaAllah ‍ ‍ “.

    The actress married Asad Siddiqui in 2017, becoming pregnant in 2021. But sadly, the actress announced she had suffered a miscarriage and lost her son. We’re praying for her health and hope a miracle lies ahead.

    It was also wonderful to witness celebrities showering love and prayers upon Zara and her husband. A-listers Saboor Aly, Mawra Hocane and other actors sent warm congratulations in the comments.

    Among the celebratory notes was actress Merub Ali, who expressed her joy at becoming a khala.

  • Has Taylor Swift married Joe Alwyn? Singer finally speaks up

    Has Taylor Swift married Joe Alwyn? Singer finally speaks up

    Now go stand in a corner and think about what you did!

    There were unverified rumours floating around the internet about a secret marriage between singer Taylor Swift and her former partner actor Joe Alwyn. The two were in a relationship for over six years, with Joe being the subject of several albums. The pair parted ways amicably in March during the early stages of Taylor’s widely successful Eras Tour.

    Popular anonymous pop culture account Duex Moi, known for leaking celebrity gossip on their Instagram account, made a wild claim that Taylor and Joe had a secret marriage ceremony in 2020 which was never made legal. The account claimed they were ready to “die on this hill.”

    But now Taylor’s publicist, Tree Paine, has stepped up to slam the page for spreading “fabricated lies”.

    “Enough is enough with these fabricated lies about Taylor from Deuxmoi. There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind. This is an insane thing to post. It’s time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these.”

    Swifties were in fits over what they described as the downfall of the controversial gossip blog and soon #deuxmoiisoverparty began trending worldwide.

    The shut down of marriage rumours comes at the time when Taylor Swift released ‘You’re Losing Me’ on streaming platforms, which is widely speculated to be about why her relationship with Joe Alwyn ended. Many fans felt their hunch was confirmed with one of the lyrics being ‘Well I wouldn’t marry me either. A pathological people-pleaser.”

    Previously, Taylor had danced around the topic of marriage when writing love songs about Joe. For instance, in ‘Paper Rings’ she wrote “I like shiny things, but I’ll marry you with paper rings.” Similarly in the track ‘Peace’ from the album ‘Folklore’, Taylor discussed how she would “give you my wild, give you a child”, in a track lamenting how she could never give her lover peace because of the scrutiny her relationships receive from the media.

  • You will never guess which actor is going to play Donald Trump in biopic

    You will never guess which actor is going to play Donald Trump in biopic

    Bad day for fans of hot actors, me thinks.

    An upcoming biopic titled ‘The Apprentice’ is set to explore the life of controversial real estate businessman and former president Donald Trump, tracing the rise of his business empire in the 70’s and 80’s. The film will also star ‘Succession’ alum Jeremy Strong and Oscar nominee Maria Bakalov as the late Ivana, Trump’s first wife.

    There were big questions about who will play Trump, and we couldn’t have been more surprised that the final name is…… Sebastian Stan.

    Y’all see the resemblance? Yeah, me neither.

    The film was announced in 2018, with Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi set to direct and co-write the project along with Gabriel Sherman. Abbasi’s previous credits including directing the last two episodes of HBO original series ‘The Last Of Us’. He has also received the Un Certain Regard from the Cannes Film Festival for ‘Border’ (2018).

  • Oscar winner Olivia Colman among 1,000 artists signing petition slamming institutions for censoring Palestine

    Oscar winner Olivia Colman among 1,000 artists signing petition slamming institutions for censoring Palestine

    British acting giant Olivia Colman and ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Derry Girls’ star Nicola Coughlan are among the 1000 artists who have signed a petition slamming Western institutions for aiding and abetting the “repressing, silencing and stigmatising of Palestinian voices and perspectives.” The letter includes signatures from ‘Sex Education’ star Aimee Lou Wood and multiple Emmy-award winner Harriet Walter.

    “This includes targeting and threatening the livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians, as well as cancelling performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and book launches.”

    The letter shed light on the ongoing genocide of Gaza, where the death toll has crossed 15,000 civilian lives, with members of the Israeli government now openly calling for ethnic cleansing, and using starvation as a war weapon.

    “The wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure, the bombing of hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, the killing of 14,500 people in a matter of weeks, amount to a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people. The United Nations and hundreds of legal scholars have called on the international community to prevent genocide.”

    The letter then proceeded to criticise the ongoing censorship and repression of voices, including Susan Sarandon, who was dropped by her agency, and actor Melissa Barrera, who was fired from the ‘Scream’ series for her vocal pro-Palestine posts.

    “As artists and cultural workers,” the petition points out, “we stand in solidarity with those facing threats and intimidation in the workplace. The arts sector must urgently align its actions with its stated values of justice and inclusivity, and to refuse the dehumanisation of Palestinian people.”

    The petition states that for artists to stay silent in the face of mass injustice and humanitarian crisis “would be an abrogation of moral duty”. It also pointed out that more artists are refusing to work with those institutions that are complicit in this heinous act.

    The petition also shared four demands from the signatories which were:

    – Publicly demand a permanent ceasefire.
    – Promote and amplify the voices of Palestinian artists, writers, and thinkers.
    – Stand up for artists and workers who voice their support for Palestinian rights.
    – Refuse collaborations with institutions or bodies that are complicit in severe human rights violations.