In America, They Have 'Suicide By Cop'. Over Here, We Go One Better...

...and choose 'suicide by tiger'

The devastated family of a child actor who was mauled to death by a tiger have paid tribute to their 'bright, warm and engaging' son who suffered from 'significant mental illness'.

But not, to the immense frustration of all the armchair experts and disability activists who commented on the story,  autism or leaning difficulties. Just your garden variety nut whose life didn;t turn out as he'd planned, so why not end it all in spectacular fashion?.

William Chapman, 24, died on Saturday after climbing into a big cat's enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, where he was attacked by a 200kg Siberian tiger named Altai.

'The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.'

Why should they? People kill themselves all the time, usually not by spoiling everyone's nice day out, but by ruining their commute home, but even so, the only person that could tell you why isn't around to... 

It emerged on Tuesday night that Mr Chapman was a 'passionate' child actor who appeared in an ITV comedy drama.

Then we must be thankful he chose only to delete himself from the world, unlike others. 

But his acting work apparently largely stopped during his adolescence and he appeared to not have had any screen work for many years before his tragic death on Saturday in the tiger's cage at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster.

In a statement, the park said: 'Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger. 'We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident.

Why should it be? It's too late for that to do any good, and he's no more dangerous now that he was before a disturbed person chose him as the instument of his suicide. 

The licensing authority for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, City of Doncaster Council, has now launched a health and safety investigation into the man's death.

And will no doubt find the zoo up to code, because nothing could have prevented this. 

Of Course He's Vegan ...

The only surprise is it's taken him this long to announce it.

The actor has been on a tour to promote his new documentary, How to Live on Earth. “The irony is not lost on anyone,” he says. “We’re living in the results of climate breakdown so stepping outside is – literally – a call to action.”

What action? 

His film launches on YouTube this month and the actor hopes it is a “blueprint” for how we interact with our besieged planet in the future. It features Cumberbatch delivering monologues from the cavernous halls of the Natural History Museum in London, in between short films showing how activists, scientists and even chefs are learning a “new way to live on Earth” – one that could stop humanity damaging it.

Chefs? 

Cumberbatch has spent the last two decades trying to reframe his relationship with the planet: he’s tried to live more gently on Earth and became vegan. However, this was a problem during the shooting of The Courier, in which he plays captured British spy Greville Wynne, who languishes in a Russian jail. “They said, ‘You can’t have any fibre in the last two weeks. You need to eat lean meat.’ And I was like, ‘I’m vegan!’”

Once again, I’m reminded of Sir Laurence Olivier’s advice to Dustin Hoffman on the set of ‘The Marathon Man’

No fibre for two weeks must have been tough on the bowels? “Yes, it was, but it was much less than what the character I was portraying went through, because it was a true story.” Although he went straight back on the vegetables, the extreme diet caused his blood sugar to plummet and he became unwell. “People were saying, ‘You should think about eating a little bit of meat now, because your body doesn’t really work under these conditions – you’ve lost so much weight.’”

One must suffer for one’s art, mustn’t one? 

Now, Cumberbatch tries to source the meat he does eat ethically, opting for venison, which in the UK needs to be culled as the country has an overpopulation of deer.

So, he’s ditched veganism, but would he get a private jet? “No,” he says, but adds the caveat: “We just waste our energy if we’re naysaying and calling people hypocrites. The fashion industry is a bigger polluter than aviation, and the food industry massively. That’s all of us, that’s everyone.” Not just movie stars.

Well, after you! 

The 50-year-old has long been an environmental campaigner. He visited the Extinction Rebellion protests in 2019 and has been dismayed by the recent government crackdowns on climate protests, with long sentences given to people who have blocked roads and smashed windows for the cause. “We should have the right in a democracy to peaceful action, even if it is direct action,” he says.

Do you need a dictionary? Smashing windows and attacking police isn’t ‘peaceful’ and we don’t have ‘a right’ to it! 

Cumberbatch and company discuss some blue-sky thinking in the documentary, which to the jaded viewer could seem unrealistic.

Translation: to any normal human, not a dweller in the rarified atmosphere of the luvvies, will seem like unrealistic bollocks! 

“Nature that’s alive is actually far more valuable to us than dead nature,” Cumberbatch says. “So an elephant’s tusk is not worth as much as the elephant alive, in terms of what it brings to the savannah, to make the savannah work as an ecosystem.

Imagine what it’s worth to a trophy hunter, who will pay through the nose for the chance to shoot it, which will have to be done anyway when numbers get too high, because too many elephants destroy an ecosystem very efficiently.

There Goes Another Old Tradition, Killed By 'Progress'...

That being 'the show must go on!'

Jonathan Bailey has announced he has withdrawn from West End show Sunday In The Park With George after his 'dearest friend' Ariana Grande pulled out last month. Ariana is performing her final ever show tonight (September 1) in London before she takes a step back from the public eye. Just hours before she takes to the stage, Jonathan shared a statement revealing his surprise exit in support of Ariana's decision to also withdraw.

He wrote on Instagram: 'Ari is one of my dearest friends, and my support for her is unwavering. 

To the point that because she is leaving he has to? And this is not a case of an actor relieved to have a reason to be out of a failing production…

'Marianne [the production's director] is extraordinary and one of my longest collaborators and friends. After much consideration, I have decided to step back from Sunday in the Park with George. 

'This brilliant, introspective musical has been a real passion project for me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have shared in its journey with this team. 

It can’t have been, if it can’t be ditched for so ridiculous a reason! 

'Among many things, the story explores the deep connection between George and Dot, a beautiful, devoted pairing, and I so look forward to seeing what the two actors who will now take on these roles will create with it.

'I wish the very best to the entire company, I will be cheering them on as they continue with this production. Jonny x'

Is it me, or  does no one have any hard work ethic anymore?

The pair will both be recast as theatre bosses actively look for new talent.

Hopefully they will find some who are grateful for the chance and with the ability to stick it out to the finish. 

You're Just Not That Riveting, Clearly

Rosamund Pike confronted an audience member during a performance of Inter Alia at Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End on Saturday. The actor, 47, who won an Olivier award for her role as a crown court judge in the show, blasted an audience member for texting during the climax of the play.

How very dare they not pay attention! 

During the curtain call, Pike pointed out how unacceptable it is for audiences to use their phones, especially during pivotal moments.

If you were any good in the play, maybe they wouldn't? 

A member of the audience said after the performance that Pike seemed “genuinely upset”, the Times reported.

Ah, bless... 

Pike is not the first thespian to criticise audience behaviour in British theatres. Just weeks ago, Cynthia Erivo brought her performance of Dracula to a standstill after noticing an audience member filming on a mobile phone.

Rather like being at school, they punish the entire audience because one member is acting up.

If It Bothers You So Much, Perhaps The Sculpture Should Be Removed

The artist Anish Kapoor is considering taking legal action after border patrol agents posed for a photo in front of his Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago, saying the scene represented “fascist America”.

He is a famously fragile little snowflake, buut this nonsense is off the scale!

“Abducting street vendors, breaking doors, pulling people from cars, using teargas on residential streets,” he said about the agents, who were reportedly celebrating after “military style” immigration enforcement raids.

“I mean, this is fascist America and just beyond belief.” There have been reports that more than 1,000 people have been arrested by the federal agents since the crackdown began in September. When asked if he was considering legal options, Kapoor said: “Of course, I’m going to do everything I can.”

And having tried crying and stamping his feet without effect, it's time for the lawyers! Though even in the famously litigious US, they may struggle with this one... 

Kapoor took legal action against the National Rifle Association (NRA) after they used an image of Cloud Gate, which was installed in 2006 and is known locally as “the Bean”, in an advert. He settled out of court with the NRA in 2018. “It’s a bit more complicated with this,” Kapoor said of the more recent incident, “because they’re a full, if you like, national army unit.”

And because they simply took a photo and didn't use it for commercial purposes, you complete spanner!  

Perhapd the answer is to remove the sculpture so people you don't approve of can't take pictures of it? How'd that suit? 

Titans Of Twitter Clash!

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has become embroiled in a social media row with children's author Michael Rosen after accusing some users of a free London public transport travel pass for pensioners of 'bankrupting our country'.

The 54-year-old Location, Location, Location presenter hit out at 79-year-old We're Going On A Bear Hunt author Mr Rosen on X, after he took to the social media platform to say that his Transport for London (TfL) Freedom Pass was not working and that he could not get a replacement.

Gosh.... 

I don't know about you, Reader, but I couldn't be less interested in this if I tried....

Man Who Only Has A Hammer Sees Nothing But Nails

Something is happening, and we see it on both sides of the Atlantic. On the surface, it is about flags, identity and political allegiance. But to me, as an American living in Britain, recent events reveal something deeper: both our societies are normalising hate ​and othering in ways that corrode not only our politics but our souls.

Nothing better than a foreigner come to tell us where we are all going wrong, eh? Good old 'Guardian'! But maybe I shouldn't be hasty, maybe he has something valuable to s...

Oh.

The something is aggressions and micro-aggressions: a coarsening of everyday encounters. I have snapshots. Recently, at a celebrated creative hub in London, I twice endured blatant bias. My guests and I – the only all-Black table in the room – were left in the dark, literally. As night fell, every other table was given a lamp except ours. When I raised it with management, I was interrupted, dismissed and told it was an oversight. A Black staff member was sent to smooth things over​. An official later told me that while they had “a different view of what happened”, they accepted that this was “how [I] experienced it” and admitted it “fell short of [their] usual standards”. My Blackness was overlooked, diminished and dismissed – while whiteness was appreciated, affirmed and celebrated, in a space that loudly markets itself as a home of “belonging”.

The thought that there could be other reasons for this failure to supply a lamp doesn't appear to have ever crossed his tiny mind; maybe the staff were working to a rota of tables and that one was last? Maybe all the other tables were polite and appreciative, and his was loud and racous and demanding, so naturally the staff left him to last? 

These are not minor indignities. They are signs of a culture where suspicion and prejudice are no longer whispered but weaponised.

Of course they are, dearie.... 

Martin Luther King Jr warned: “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” Hatred, he knew, corrodes the hater as much as the hated. Love, by contrast, is the only force capable of transforming both. This is not abstract philosophy. It is lived truth.

That you can use MLK as an example, when he'd be utterly horrified at what modern day 'black culture' represents is enough evidence for anyone to immediately dismiss your chip-on-the-shoulder whinge. 

Societies cannot thrive if they are built on grievance. Empathy must become a public practice woven into our schools, workplaces and laws.

The black movement itself is built on grievance.  

Here in Britain, empathy would mean confronting racism where it hides in plain sight: in private clubs that celebrate whiteness while ignoring Blackness, and in everyday encounters where bias is excused as banter.

I've thought about this and decided: nah.  

Well, They Are Women, But Are They Really ‘UK Women’

 

I suppose these days we should be grateful at least they aren’t men in a dress…!

Prominent women including cultural figures, politicians and campaigners have signed a letter criticising rightwing attempts to link sexual violence in Britain to asylum seekers. Signatories include the musicians Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Anoushka Shankar as well as Labour, Green and independent MPs including Kim Johnson, Ellie Chowns, Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana. “We reject the far right’s racist lies about ‘protecting’ women and girls. They are not defenders of women – they exploit violence against women to fuel hate and division,” the letter says.

Something that these women can only say from the comfortable middle class positions they find themselves in, or in the case of half of them, the position their culture demarnds they adopt. 

The letter, which has been coordinated by Stand up to Racism, adds: “Violence against women and girls is a serious and urgent issue. But it will never be solved by the likes of Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick targeting refugees, Muslims and migrants. “There is no evidence that people seeking refuge are more likely to commit acts of sexual violence. Many are themselves survivors of violence, war, and persecution. Blaming them distracts from tackling the deep-rooted causes of abuse and from holding those truly responsible to account.”

If there's 'no evidence' what explains the high number of cases in our courts? 

Or You Could Design Rubber Tips For Them, Idris?

Idris Elba has called for kitchen knives to have their ends rounded off in a bid to tackle the UK's violent gang crisis.

Oh, not this old chestnut again... why is this overpaid mummer flapping his gums anyway? 

Speaking ahead of the release of his documentary... 

Ah! 

...Idris Elba: A Year Of Knife Crime later this year, the 52-year-old actor made a number of suggestions to help bring an end to knife crime. The Luther star said that whilst banning the sale of zombie knives was a positive step in tackling the issue, he also believed ninja swords should be outlawed and suggested kitchen blades have their sharp point removed.

Prisoners in jail are pretty inventive about sharpening toothbrush handles to make shivs, but I'm sure this wouldn't happen elsewhere, eh, Idris? Not that any manufacturer of kitchen implements is going to take a blind bit of notice.  

He told the BBC: 'Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them, that sounds like a crazy thing to say. But you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to look at it.'

I looked up the term 'innovative', Idris, and...

Maybe you should manufacture little rubber tips that people could buy to apply to the hundreds of thousands of knives in kitchens in the country, Idris, make a bit of cash on the side?

The award-winning screen star also believes young people in London gangs are 'not big and scary', adding it is 'sad' that society has 'turned our back on them'.

I think it's the gangs who have turned their back on society, isn't it? 

He also felt big tech and social media needed to take more responsibility over the issue, saying: 'When it comes to big tech, there needs to be accountability within their own policies, and their policies need to be educated and driven by what society deems is right or wrong.

'It's great that you're a big company, you make a lot of money, got lots of social media followers, that's fantastic.

'But by the way, we don't like knives, we're not going to tolerate you advertising knives to young people, please.

The tech companies aren't doing the 'advertising', that would be the thugs making TikTok rap videos, Idris.... 

'We don't like porn, we don't like this, we don't like bully dogs, it can be done in a society, and in my opinion, where democracy leads, it takes a village.'

And this one is clearly missing its idiot. He seems to think everything - tools, social media - is to blame for violent gang stabbings except the violent members of gangs doing the stabbing. 

He Who Pays The Piper, Stef...

A five-week run of A Midsummer Night's Dream at a major Manchester theatre was cancelled after the director bitterly feuded with theatre bosses over references to Palestine and trans rights. The Royal Exchange Theatre, which sits in the heart of the city, was due to run a modern version of the Shakespeare classic set in contemporary Manchester with a drum and bass soundtrack. It was directed by Stef O'Driscoll, known for her work in London's Royal Court Theatre. Theatre bosses cancelled the first few performances, which were due to start on September 6, citing a cast injury and a 'technical issue.'

But Reader, that wasn't the real reason... 

But the real reason for the cancellation was that theatre bosses objected to a song in the production which referred to trans rights and the phrase 'Free Palestine', Manchester Evening News revealed.

Whereupon it was impressed upon the director who was paying. 

A meeting between the cast, director and upper management took place last Wednesday, where disagreements were supposed to be worked through. But a source told the paper that the row could not be resolved.

And now the money tap has been turned off. 

And poor Stef has gone whinging to the Luvvie's Rag claiming that the situation left the show’s company feeling ‘devalued, invisible, problematic and unsafe’. A bit like trans activists and Palestine terrorism marchers make women and Jews feel, eh, Stef?

It's Another Exciting Round Of 'Guess The Redacted 'Guardian' Headline'..!

People are eating their pets? Children are starving in the streets? Mothers are selling themselves on street corners to buy bread?

*sighs*

Many in Lydon’s generation went to university or art school without paying anything; others had their fees heavily subsidised by the state.

No, Alex. By the taxpayer.  

Budgets for local drama and public art projects were far more generous. Beneath all this was the safety net of full employment, dole and affordable housing. These conditions made postwar Britain an ideal breeding ground for confident and adventurous new forms of art...

Until we ran out of money... 

It is not necessarily a question of increasing government funding for creative initiatives, welcome though that would be.

Perish the thought! 

Instead, we need to think at the deepest level about what it takes for a society to be able to regenerate itself and allow the new to be born. Just as the declining birthrate among younger Britons seems far more likely to be due to a hostile social environment than any sudden change in attitudes to parenting, so too we need to look at the fundamental inability of our society to provide basic forms of security – in education, housing, welfare and employment – if we are to understand why it is now so difficult for young innovators in all the arts to achieve breakthrough.

That's not independence. That's being kept. As a pet.  

Pick Someone Capable Of Gratitude This Time...

...and not an ungrateful little nobody catapaulted to riches beyond his wildest dream who turned on you like the feeble-minded little snowflake he grew up to be. 

Real actors who could act him off the screen with their hands tied behind their backs know what you do for them.

Sunday Funnies...

Yet more people who really should have tried just acting...

Yes, That's Now Highly Inappropriate, Bill...

Haven't you realised you can't disagree with a member of a protected class?

'As of now we are talking and we are trying to make peace with each other,' Murray said. 'We are both professionals, we like each others' work, we like each other I think and if we can't really get along and trust each other there's no point in going further working together or making the movie as well. It's been quite an education for me.'

And don't forget, they have long memories... 

This is not the first incident Murray has encountered on a film set. On the set of the 2000 action-comedy 'Charlie's Angels,' actress Lucy Liu reportedly confronted Murray for 'hurling insults' at her following a rewrite of a scene without his knowledge, Variety reported.

Liu addressed the incident for the first time last year. She called Murray's behavior 'inexcusable and unacceptable.'

Just like elephants, they never forget! 

"My Dear Girl, Why Don't You Just Try Acting*..?"

*With apologies to the late, great Laurence...

Live by Night, which was Affleck’s directorial follow-up to Best Picture winner Argo, was a box office flop.

When you hire actors who can't convincingly portray someone with chemistry, what else do you expect? I mean, 'pretending to be someone you're not' is pretty much the whole job description, isn't it? 

And watching Oscar Isaac in Disney+'s 'Moon Knight' effortlessly convincing viewers at the flip of a card that he's not one but two different characters (soon to be three?) in a single episode, you have to wonder at the stunning lack of self-awareness of somone who could say something like this...   

Your Agent Feels The Same Way, Zoe...

“I watched a bunch of cat videos, feline videos, watching them fight.

“What I was so interested [in] is that fact that you can’t read their face at all, which is why I think people are creeped out by them. You can’t tell what they’re gonna do.”

Somewhere a Hollywood agent is ruefully contemplating the similarities... 

Good Luck With The SODDI* Defence In This Case, Love...

A lawyer for the armorer who oversaw weapons used on the Rust movie set suggested on Wednesday that someone deliberately put a live round into the gun used by Alec Baldwin when he accidentally shot dead a cinematographer.

Well, yes. It didn't load itself, did it?  

Jason Bowles said his client, Hannah Gutierrez, had pulled ammunition from a box that she believed contained only dummy rounds that were incapable of firing.

He said he thought it was possible that someone purposely placed real bullets, which look similar to dummies, into the box.

Errr...isn't she supposed to be an expert? Is 'look similar' what he's hanging his hat on, when his client should know the difference? 

“We’re not saying anybody had any intent there was going to be a tragedy of homicide,” he added, “but they wanted to do something to cause a safety incident on set. That’s what we believe happened.”

Why would anyone want to do that, why would anyone need to do that, when by all accounts there were already lots of safety incidents on set?

*Some Other Dude Did It

Because Social Workers Have A Better Reputation For Competence?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt could be the model of a modern movie star...

Hmmm, this is in the 'Guardian', so....OK!  

...it’s the politics that get Gordon-Levitt really animated. Project Power was mostly shot in 2018, before the killing of George Floyd and the mass Black Lives Matter protests in the US. He has clearly anticipated the issue: “It means something different to be playing a police officer now than it did in 2018. But, on the other hand, it’s nothing new at all. These same exact tragedies have been happening my entire life.”

Have they really? 

He talks at length about the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991 and the US’s long history of racial injustice. He voices his support for Black Lives Matter and the principle of defunding the police, but also his appreciation for the hard work that most police officers do.

Funny how all these luvvies can speak chapter and verse about the beating of Rodney King, but I bet if you asked them if they remembered the beating of Reginald Denny, they'd look blank... 

“There are these situations when individuals in the police force do awful, terrible, unspeakable things that they need to be held responsible for, but maybe cops are assigned to handle too wide a variety of things. Maybe in a lot of cases it would make more sense for a social worker to show up instead of a guy with a gun.”

It's a toss up who does more damage, actually! 

Yes, It's A Real Rarity, Isn't It?

Costume dramas are one of British film and television’s biggest exports, yet they remain an overwhelmingly white genre (you can count the notable exceptions, like the BBC’s recent adaptation of A Suitable Boy and Armando Iannucci’s ‘colourblind’ David Copperfield, on the fingers of one hand).

“Period drama tends not to have so much diversity, so to have this one character sneak into a predominantly white cast was really thrilling,” Tan says. “Vera’s this complex, enigmatic character who stands up for the things that she believes in — she’s a wonderful example of a three-dimensional female character. In a period drama, it’s rare to find someone like that from an East Asian background.”

So, where's this particular costume drama set? 

Singapore.

"Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won."

And the victory is all the sweeter when your enemy flounces off the battlefield:

The entire race equality committee of Equity has resigned in protest after the actors’ union apologised on its behalf for criticising Laurence Fox’s views on race and paid an out-of-court settlement to the actor after he threatened to sue them for libel.

Indeed it does...