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  • ‘Michael’ Team on Jackson Family’s Involvement in Biopic and Choosing to Tell an “Uplifting Story of His Triumph” Amid “Complicated Opinions” Around Star

    ‘Michael’ Team on Jackson Family’s Involvement in Biopic and Choosing to Tell an “Uplifting Story of His Triumph” Amid “Complicated Opinions” Around Star

    Michael moonwalked into Hollywood on Monday night, as the story of Michael Jackson‘s early career premiered with the support of the film’s cast and the superstar’s family members.

    Siblings La Toya, Marlon, Jermaine and Jackie Jackson were all in attendance not only for the movie itself but also for Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew (and Jermaine Jackson’s son) who transforms into his uncle in the biopic. “I was flabbergasted. I have to tell you that you think it’s Mike,” La Toya Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter of the portrayal. “You forget it’s Jaafar, you think it’s Michael.”

    The Jackson family, and Michael Jackson’s estate, was heavily involved in the making of the film, with producer Graham King revealing that in addition to frequent talks with the siblings, Michael Jackson’s son Prince Jackson “was on set every day” during shooting and was also around during the film’s development.

    Prince and brother Bigi Jackson have taken part in the film’s promotion — walking the carpet together at the Berlin premiere, while Prince Jackson was solo at the L.A. event — but sister Paris Jackson has spoken out against the movie, saying she wasn’t involved at all after she “read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest/didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life.”

    Paris Jackson added on social media in September, “They’re going to make whatever they’re going to make. A big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it. A big section, the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”  

    King acknowledged he hadn’t spoken to Paris Jackson recently and writer John Logan said he didn’t talk to her during his research. “Certain people in the family weren’t interested in talking and that was fine; they didn’t want to be represented in the movie or dramatized in the movie, that’s totally fine,” Logan said. He continued, “And look, Michael is a complicated person, people have complicated opinions, and that’s fine. We chose to tell the uplifting story of his triumph in the movie, and that’s what we did.”

    From left: Kendrick Sampson, Adam Fogelson (chairman, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group), Deon Cole, Colman Domingo, Juliano Valdi, Antoine Fuqua, Mike Myers, Jaafar Jackson, Larenz Tate, Laura Harrier, Nia Long, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Graham King, Miles Teller, Jon Feltheimer (CEO, Lionsgate Entertainment) and Lydia Silverman at the premiere.

    Savion Washington/Getty Images for Lionsgate

    Michael has faced a number of challenges on its way to the big screen. Reportedly, the film’s third act originally included some of the child sex abuse allegations against the superstar, but it was later discovered that Jordan Chandler, who alleged that Jackson sexually abused him in 1993, had reached an agreement to not be depicted in any dramatization of Jackson’s life. The movie then had to push its release date and do reshoots to rejigger the story.

    “I think it’s very important that everybody in the family was involved and took part in this to make sure you get it right. A lot of times people think they know the story and they read about things, but when the family’s involved, the family can say yay or nay,” La Toya Jackson noted, dodging a question on Paris Jackson’s comments but saying that “everybody has their opinion and their choice.”

    And as for Jaafar Jackson’s transformation, co-star Mike Myers admitted he was “starstruck” because the young actor seemed so much like the pop icon.

    That came from “many, many months, a couple years of preparation just allowing myself to understand everything behind the music, everything behind the moves, what was behind all of that, which was his heart,” Jaafar Jackson said. “Of course I wanted to pay attention to the little details and nuances of the performances but most important was his essence in his heart of how he truly treated people, how he was with everyone. And that was the most incredible experience I could ask for.”

    Michael hits theaters on Friday.

    Tiffany Taylor contributed to this report.

  • Trump says he opposes extending Iran ceasefire amid talks uncertainty

    Trump says he opposes extending Iran ceasefire amid talks uncertainty

    US president says Iran has ‘no choice’ but to show up to the negotiations in Pakistan and accept a ‘great’ deal.

    Published On 21 Apr 2026

    United States President Donald Trump says he opposes extending a ceasefire with Iran that will expire by the end of Wednesday to allow more time for negotiations.

    Trump’s comment on Tuesday during an interview with CNBC raised the stakes for the round of talks set to take place this week in Pakistan, suggesting that the war could reignite if the parties fail to reach a deal.

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    Iran has not publicly committed to attending the negotiations as tensions over Tehran’s closure of the Hormuz Strait and the US blockade on Iranian ports intensify.

    Asked by CNBC whether he would back prolonging the truce to buy more time for the talks to take place, Trump said, “Well, I don’t want to do that.”

    The president said Iranian representatives will attend the talks, emphasising that the negotiators don’t have much time to reach an agreement.

    “Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal. They can make themselves into a strong nation again,” Trump said.

    Despite the uncertainty over the talks, Trump predicted that Washington and Tehran would reach a “great deal”.

    “I think they have no choice,” he said of the Iranians. “We’ve taken out their navy. We’ve taken out their air force. We’ve taken out their leaders.”

    Trump, who has threatened to bomb Iran’s bridges and power and water stations, said the US military is “totally loaded up” to resume the war.

    “It’s not my choice, but it would also hurt them. It would hurt them militarily,” he said of his threat to target civilian infrastructure in Iran. “They use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements.”

    Iran has continued to voice defiance against Trump’s rhetoric, saying it will not negotiate under threat.

    While the two-week ceasefire has succeeded in halting the fighting, it has been rocked by Israel’s assault on Lebanon and disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran has insisted that Lebanon was part of the truce and kept the strait closed to pressure an end to the Israeli bombardment of the country.

    Trump, in turn, ordered his own blockade of the waterway with the US military laying a naval siege on ships linked to Iran.

    When a ceasefire was announced in Lebanon, Iran announced a reopening of the strait, but Trump said the US blockade would persist. So less than 24 hours later, Tehran said it was closing the strait again.

    US forces have seized at least one Iranian-flagged vessel as part of the blockade in what Tehran decried as an act of piracy.

    “The United States will bear full responsibility for the consequences of the dangerous escalation, and Iran will use all available means to defend its sovereignty and protect the rights of its citizens,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

    The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices around the world soaring. The cost of petrol for US consumers has risen by more than 25 percent since the start of the war.

    Trump stressed in his interview with CNBC that the US is “totally” in control of the strategic waterway.

  • ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ Crew Member Suffers Severe Injury Following Accident During Production

    ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ Crew Member Suffers Severe Injury Following Accident During Production

    A crew member on Universal‘s live-action sequel “How to Train Your Dragon 2″ has suffered a severe injury following an accident that occurred off-set in the U.K. earlier this month, Variety understands.

    The individual, understood to be working as a special effects technician, severed multiple fingers on one hand during an incident involving a saw in a workshop at Sky Studios Elstree, where the film is currently in production. Despite extensive surgery, the severed digits were not able to be reattached.

    Variety has reached out to Universal for comment.

    “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” being directed by Dean Deblois — who helmed all the franchise’s animated features and 2025’s first live-action remake — began shooting in Sky Studios Elstree in February, marking a change from the first which was filmed at Belfast’s Titanic Studios.

    The film is once again led by Mason Thames, with Nico Parker Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Nick Frost and Gerard Butler also reprising their roles from the first film and Cate Blanchett playing Valka, who she voiced in the animated features. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Phil Dunster are among the new casting additions.

    Produced by Universal-based Marc Platt Productions, it’s currently scheduled for a June 11, 2027 release date.

    While the circumstances around the “How to Train Your Dragon 2” accident are unclear, last year the U.K.’s crew member union Bectu issued a joint statement with the producer’s union Pact about health and safety concerns on film and TV productions. According to the two entities, their research linked many safety risks to workers being asked to work beyond contractually negotiated rest periods, known as “broken turnaround.”

    “Breaking turnaround impacts workers’ ability to do their job safely and effectively,” said Bectu National Secretary Spencer Macdonald. “Reports to Bectu indicate that exhaustion, accidents and near-misses are all too common, as well as poor mental health for many film and TV workers.”

  • Life and Death in Rio Favela Explored in Emma Boccanfuso’s Documentary ‘Saudades Eternas’

    Life and Death in Rio Favela Explored in Emma Boccanfuso’s Documentary ‘Saudades Eternas’

    Premiering in the international competition at Visions du Réel, “Saudades Eternas” is the feature debut of visual artist and director Emma Boccanfuso, drawn from years spent filming inside Rio de Janeiro’s Chapéu Mangueira favela.

    The film centers on Sueli, a formidable matriarch presiding over a busy, multi-generational household. Within the walls of her home, daily life unfolds – arguments, laughter, children growing up – while outside, gang shootings and deaths continue at a steady pace.

    “Saudades Eternas”

    Courtesy of VdR

    The film never leaves the house, which is both refuge and witness to the cycles of life and loss beyond its walls. The most you see of the outside world is the beach of Copacabana from the terrace, just a few hundred meters away.

    Boccanfuso’s starting point was the cultural shock she experienced when she first arrived in the favela.

    “What really hit me was their relationship to death. There were a multitude of deaths and shootings that broke out while I was there,” she tells Variety. Coming from what she describes as a contained experience of death – “the hospital, the cemetery” – she was struck by the contrast. “I felt that the boundaries between the dead and the living were completely dissolved… and that they had an ease in accepting death.”

    That tension became the core of the project. “I needed to live there to try to understand how it could be possible to live in such violence and at the same time to live life at 300%, to be the most smiling people I have ever met.”

    Originally conceived as an installation piece during her studies at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, the film grew organically into a feature.

    “I was really just filming with my smartphone – I filmed static shots, like paintings that I projected onto the wall,” she says. “To try to recreate this house and invite the viewer to feel this experience of violence that takes place outside, from within the house.”

    Over time, Boccanfuso – who moved into a house next door – became part of the family, and they grew accustomed to being filmed. Her stripped-down approach ultimately defines the film’s aesthetic.

    Sound plays a central role in conveying what the camera doesn’t show: Boccanfuso reconstructs the violence through what is heard, incorporating additional recordings – gunfire, fragments of conversations between gang members captured on walkie-talkies – which were recorded separately and integrated into the sound edit.

    It never occurred to her to film the violence itself, she says, or even the family’s reactions to the deaths. In a context where shootings are frequently filmed and routinely circulated, often in real time via local messaging groups, she was unsettled by what she saw as a normalization of such images, particularly among children.

    This absence created a structural challenge in the edit. “You want to talk about all these deaths, but we don’t have the images,” she recalls of conversations with her editor.

    The solution was to build a narrative system around absence. Voice messages announcing deaths are layered over static shots of an empty home, echoing her own experience of events unfolding.

    “We decided to represent the violence in the film exactly as I experienced it with my camera: off-screen, inside the house, confined with the characters, waiting for information on the phone,” piecing events together “by word of mouth, from one window to another,” she explains.

    The film does not attempt to map each death into a clear narrative. What emerges is less a catalogue of tragedy than a portrait of resilience.

    “We approached death more as a multitude accumulating around Sueli – and more broadly within the favela – rather than trying to make the viewers understand who is who.”

    For Boccanfuso, whose previous work was rooted in the contemporary art world, the film’s selection at Visions du Réel is an opportunity to reach a wider audience and shed light on a community living within conditions shaped by systemic injustice.

    She is now considering a follow-up set on Copacabana beach, where she would reconnect with the same characters, now working as surf instructors and street vendors, to portray the legendary beach from their point of view, away from its postcard image.

    Produced by Close Up Films and Macalube Films, with co-production support from Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), “Saudades Eternas” will world premiere in the main competition at Visions du Réel on April 21.

    Visions du Réel runs in Nyon until April 26.

  • Coinbase advisory board says quantum computing threat is on the horizon, crypto needs a plan

    Coinbase advisory board says quantum computing threat is on the horizon, crypto needs a plan

    A new report commissioned by Coinbase sounds a cautious, but urgent, alarm: Quantum computing won’t break crypto tomorrow, but the industry can’t afford to wait.

    The 50-page paper, authored by an independent advisory board that includes prominent cryptographers and academics like Dan Boneh of Stanford University, Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation and Sreeram Kannan of Eigen Labs, concludes that while today’s blockchains remain secure, a future “fault-tolerant quantum computer” capable of breaking widely used encryption is increasingly plausible, and preparation must begin now.

    In recent months, concerns around quantum risk have moved further into the mainstream. Google researchers have published estimates suggesting that a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could one day break Bitcoin’s cryptography.

    Major crypto ecosystems have already started mapping out their responses. The Ethereum Foundation has proposed new types of digital signatures that are designed to be safe against quantum computers, while Solana and others are experimenting with quantum-resistant wallet designs.

    The report stresses that current quantum machines are far from powerful enough to crack the cryptography underpinning Bitcoin, Ethereum and other networks. Breaking standard encryption would require vast computational overhead, a milestone still considered a major engineering challenge.

    Still, the authors caution against complacency.

    “We have high confidence that a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer will eventually be built,” the report states, adding that the timeline is uncertain but “clearly on the horizon.”

    That uncertainty is exactly the problem, with estimates ranging from “a few years to a decade or more” and no reliable way to predict breakthroughs.

    The urgency is reflected in guidance from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which recommends migrating to quantum-resistant cryptography by 2035, a timeline the report suggests may even prove optimistic.

    “Waiting for it to be urgent is not a good idea,” the Coinbase paper says, emphasizing that transitions across blockchains, wallets and exchanges could take years to execute safely.

    Some assets may be more vulnerable than others. For example, Bitcoin wallets that have already revealed their public keys could be targeted, while those still protected behind hash functions may be safer in the short term.

    The good news: Quantum-resistant cryptography (PQC) already exists and is being standardized by NIST.

    The bad news: It’s not an easy swap.

    Post-quantum digital signatures can be tens to hundreds of times larger than current ones, which could dramatically increase blockchain data costs and reduce throughput. One estimate in the report suggests that replacing today’s signatures with quantum-proof alternatives could expand block sizes by up to 38 times.

    There are also usability challenges, from migrating millions of wallets to deciding what to do with “lost” or inactive funds that never upgrade.

    Rather than a single solution, the report outlines multiple transition strategies, including hybrid systems that combine existing cryptography with post-quantum updates or allow a gradual switch when needed.

    For now, the authors recommend flexible approaches that avoid sacrificing current security or performance while enabling a rapid upgrade later.

    “The time to begin preparing for it is now,” the report concludes.

    Read more: Solana’s quantum-threat readiness reveals harsh tradeoff: security vs speed

  • UK invites crypto giant Bybit to London to win over some of UAE’s innovation shine

    UK invites crypto giant Bybit to London to win over some of UAE’s innovation shine

    Economic development officials with links to the U.K. government invited Bybit leadership to London this week in what appears to be a bid to emulate the momentum of Dubai, where the cryptocurrency exchange is based, and the rest of the United Arab Emirates.

    CEO Ben Zhou said the message from the U.K. is “they are very eager to invite big business to establish bases and create jobs,” and discuss forthcoming pro-crypto regulation.

    Bybit was founded by Zhou in 2018, and four years later moved its headquarters to Dubai from his native Singapore. It is ranked the second-largest crypto exchange by CoinGecko, trailing only Binance, which set up in the UAE in 2025.

    The arrival of crypto giants like Bybit and Binance acted as a magnet to attract smaller crypto companies to the region, something the U.K. would like to emulate, Zhou said.

    “One interesting thing is there hasn’t been any momentum built in the U.K.,” Zhou said in an interview at Paris Blockchain Week. “If you look at UAE, where there are big exchanges like Bybit or Binance, once we announced we’re going to be there, smaller players followed, and that created this momentum.”

    Zhou’s invitation includes meetings with the Financial Conduct Authority and representatives of the House of Lords, and coincides with UK Fintech Week and a Treasury plan to revamp payment systems with stablecoins and the spread of tokenization.

    “I have meetings with FCA. I have meetings with the House of Lords just to discuss what do you want to do with crypto,” Zhou said, without naming the U.K. government department that extended the invitation.

    “We were invited specifically by some economic development board who said ‘We can get a direct line to the prime minister.’ There is an agenda to push for innovation, especially in crypto,” Zhou said.

    Neither the Treasury nor Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, responded to requests for comment. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology also did not respond to requests for comment. The FCA had not replied by press time.

    The invitation’s timing is interesting as the UAE has suffered direct attacks from Iran during the U.S.-Israel war that started Feb. 28, prompting tens of thousands of residents and tourists to leave the country. One in eight British residents has left, the Financial Times reported earlier this month.

    The U.K. government has seen “the outflow of money and companies going to the UAE. They want to win it back. Precisely, now is good timing,” Zhou said.

  • Tribeca Festival TV, Podcast Lineup Includes ‘Survivor’ Panel; ‘Adults’ Season 2 Premiere; Live Tapings With Kara Swisher, David Remnick

    Tribeca Festival TV, Podcast Lineup Includes ‘Survivor’ Panel; ‘Adults’ Season 2 Premiere; Live Tapings With Kara Swisher, David Remnick

    The 2026 Tribeca Festival has revealed its TV and podcast lineup.

    Among the TV highlights are the world premieres of season two of FX’s Adults, season two of X-Men ’97 and the third and final season of Survival of the Thickest and a Survivor 50th season panel with fan-favorite players Cirie Fields, Rob Cesternino, Kyle Fraser, Kamilla Karthigesu, Teeny Chirichillo and Jonathan Penner, also a Tribeca programmer.

    The festival will also debut the Ronan Farrow-led HBO docuseries Not A Very Good Murderer and The Palladino Files, both created with Emmy winners Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, as well as Hulu’s Every Year After adaptation, starring Elisha Cuthbert, and the third-episode premiere of Alice and Steve, starring Jemaine Clement and Nicola Walker.

    Additional screenings include the BBC’s Dear England, starring Joseph Fiennes, and the docuseries Alejandro Sanz: When No One Sees Me, about the music icon; 9/11: Reunited, about the bonds formed in the aftermath of the tragedy; The Man Will Burn, about the evolution of Burning Man; and Grandmasters, about the modernization of global chess.

    “At Tribeca, we’ve always believed in showcasing great storytelling no matter where we find it,
    Tribeca Festival Director and senior vp, programming Cara Cusumano said in a statement.
    “This year’s TV and podcast lineup reflects a creative landscape where stories move fluidly across formats and expands the Festival beyond the screen into shared, live moments of discovery. Together, they embody Tribeca’s commitment to interdisciplinary storytelling and to championing the voices
    shaping culture today, wherever and however those stories are told.”

    Festival senior programmer Liza Domnitz adds, “This year’s TV lineup blends dynamic documentary storytelling with contemporary dramas and provocative comedy, capturing the cultural pulse across generations and genres. From the intimacy of personal rediscovery to the
    shifting landscapes of art, sports, and sex, all our TV selections come anchored in brilliant
    post-screening conversations with creative teams, subjects, or cast.”

    The podcast lineup includes live tapings of On with Kara Swisher, featuring Marc Maron; The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick; The New York Times’ Cannonball with Wesley Morris; and Slate’s Death, Sex & Money, with host Anna Sale joined by Peter Dinklage and Erica Schmidt.

    “This year marks our most expansive program yet, deepening our focus on independent
    podcast discoverability and creating even more opportunities to celebrate exceptional new
    work,” Tribeca podcasts and audio head Davy Gardner said in a statement. “Meanwhile, the Tribeca
    podcast stage has evolved into something larger than live recordings or performances. It’s a
    place where the defining voices of the medium come to create something new: one-night-only
    experiences that, together, feel like a live expression of where podcasting is today.”

    More information about this year’s TV and podcast lineup is available here.

    The 2026 Tribeca Festival is set to run from June 3-14 in New York.

  • Riccie Johnson, Longtime Makeup Artist at ’60 Minutes,’ Dies at 101

    Riccie Johnson, the venerated makeup artist who spent more than a half-century with 60 Minutes and put eyeliner on The Beatles for their first U.S. TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, has died. She was 101.

    Johnson died Jan. 3, her family announced. CBS Sunday Morning paid tribute to her soon afterward, but otherwise her death had not been reported. For more than 20 years starting in the 1990s, she worked on the program, preparing host Charles Osgood and others.

    A protégé of the late Dick Smith, known as “Godfather of Makeup,” Johnson also dealt with Milton Berle on Texaco Star Theatre — and just may have been responsible for his popular powder-puff gag — with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows and on the CBS Morning News.

    Johnson began on 60 Minutes with the newsmagazine’s first episode on Sept. 24, 1968, making sure hosts Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner were camera-ready, and was listed in the program’s credits as recently as December 2018.

    Through the decades, she touched up the likes of Dan Rather, Morley Safer, Roger Mudd, Ed Bradley, Bob Simon, Leslie Stahl, Anderson Cooper, Lara Logan, Steve Kroft and Scott Pelley. Andy Rooney, though, typically applied his own makeup; if Johnson did anything, he’d tell her not to go near the eyebrows. 

    It’s hard to come up with a famous person that hasn’t sat in Johnson’s makeup chair at one time or another. She applied her makeup brush on TV news giants (Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow), showbiz icons (Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Arthur Godfrey, Tallulah Bankhead) and presidents (Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon — not in time for his sweaty debate performance opposite John Kennedy, alas — Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton).

    Clinton resisted her help at first. “He was afraid he was going to look too made up,” she told the New York Post in 2014. “He came in rather tense. I told him, ‘Mr. President, I assure you I have a very light touch.’” Clinton signed a photo for her and wrote, “Thank you for making my old face look good.”

    Perhaps her most memorable assignment came on Feb. 9, 1964, when The Beatles arrived in New York to perform on CBS’ The Ed Sullivan Show.

    “I heard all this din outside,” she told Mo Rocca in 2016. “I looked out the window and saw all these young people. And I talked to the doorman. And he said, ‘Oh, some group from England.’ I said, ‘Wow. This looks serious!’ So I called home and said to my husband, ‘I can get the children in to a dress rehearsal.’ The children didn’t want to come. So of course, now they’re very sorry about that!”

    Johnson remembered Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr being a bit nervous and wondering what she was doing to their faces.

    Years later, she ran into McCartney in a hallway at CBS and, much to her surprise, he remembered her and their time together on the Sullivan show. He said, “You used pancake makeup and eyeliner, and when we asked you about the eyeliner, you said, ‘It’ll be fine,’” Johnson said in 2014.

    She was born Florence Riccobono on Feb. 27, 1924, in Clifton, New Jersey. At Georgian Court University, a Roman Catholic college in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, she picked up the nickname Riccie as well as a bachelor of arts degree, then pursued her master’s in Theater Arts at the Pasadena Playhouse.

    Her real makeup education began in 1950 when she was hired at NBC. Back then, she wanted to be an actress. She was offered a position in the makeup department and turned it down before she took a friend’s advice and reconsidered.

    The NBC makeup department was headed by Smith, who would go on to work on such films as Little Big Man, The Godfather, Amadeus and The Exorcist and receive an honorary Oscar.

    “He was very enthusiastic and a generous teacher,” Johnson told this writer during a 2015 interview for Makeup Artist Magazine. “He had us make each other up for practice when we weren’t busy. One day, he asked me to go with him to the control room during a dress rehearsal. In a whisper, he would show me what the lighting was doing — how it was causing shadows and where you needed to highlight.”

    One of her first assignments came on Texaco Star Theatre. (Berle did his own makeup on the sketch-comedy program, but she was in charge of the guests.) In one of the comedian’s most famous bits, he would yell “Makeup!” on stage, and someone would smack him in the face with a giant powder puff, covering him with white dust.

    Though the gag was as old as vaudeville itself, Johnson noticed that Berle began incorporating it on his show after she was stationed offstage with a powder puff and instructions to touch up the guests if needed.

    “I don’t want to take credit for that. I have no idea,” she said. “He didn’t use it before. I know that. It wasn’t like it was anything new, but I wondered if he didn’t think of it because I was standing there with a powder puff.”

    Johnson also did the makeup for another famed NBC comedy-variety program, Your Show of Shows, starring Caesar and Imogene Coca.

    An opportunity to tour Europe lured Johnson away from NBC, but she landed at CBS when she returned, working on the game shows I’ve Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth and What’s My Line?

    In 1952, she segued to the soap opera Guiding Light and met her future husband, James Johnson, a CBS cameraman. She first laid eyes on him after she was hit in the head with a boom that broke her glasses. “I was standing there with my hands in front of my face, and I hear this voice saying, ‘CBS will pay for these,’” she said. “And there was Jay, with the two pieces of glasses.”

    The two married in 1953 and had seven children in 10 years, raising them on the Upper East Side of New York. 

    When CBS launched a weekday morning news show, Johnson was asked to do the makeup, and that worked out just fine with the demands of motherhood. She stayed with the CBS Morning News for a dozen years until offered the 60 Minutes gig.

    Her husband died in 1999. In addition to her seven children, she is survived by 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Donations in her memory may be made to Catholic Charities.

    In her interview with Makeup Artist Magazine, Johnson seemed astonished by her brush with so much greatness.

    “When you’re working — like when I made up The Beatles — I had no idea they would be so big. I just knew there were a lot of screaming kids out on the street, and there was talk about how important the group would be in the music world. But who knew how big they were going to be? And that’s the same with everything that I’ve done,” she said.

    “Of course, if you make up a president, he’s a president. But a lot of things that you do … Your Show of Shows, did we know that was going to be such history? Did we know 60 Minutes was going to last all these years? It’s just wonderful because [I’ve made so many] professional friends. I feel very honored to be able to say that I worked with them … and to have them acknowledge me.”

  • Iran’s World Cup participation depends on team’s safety in the US: Minister

    Iran’s World Cup participation depends on team’s safety in the US: Minister

    Iran’s team is preparing for the FIFA World Cup but may not travel for the tournament, Sport Minister Donyamali says.

    Published On 21 Apr 2026

    Iran’s football team is preparing for the World Cup, but a final decision on its participation in the tournament will be taken by the government, the country’s sport minister says.

    “If the safety of the national team’s players in the United States is ensured, we will travel to the World Cup,” Iran’s Sports and Youth Minister Ahmad Donyamali was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Thursday.

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    “The decision will be made by the government and the Supreme National Security Council,” he added.

    Team Melli are scheduled to play all their World Cup games in the US, one of the three host nations alongside Canada and Mexico, but their participation has been uncertain since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

    The doubts surrounding Iran’s role in the tournament remain as a fragile Pakistan-mediated ceasefire between Tehran and Washington nears its deadline on Thursday.

    Donyamali, speaking to Iranian media, insisted that the team will continue to train for the World Cup regardless of the ongoing geopolitical tensions.

    “The national team may not go to the World Cup, but if we are going to participate, we must be ready,” he said.

    Iran’s Football Federation (FFIRI) asked FIFA to move its games out of the US last month, but the sport’s governing body said all World Cup fixtures will go ahead as scheduled, dismissing the possibility of Mexico hosting the Iranian team, citing logistical impediments.

    On Wednesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he was “confident” that Iran would play in the World Cup despite US President Donald Trump’s earlier comments saying “it would not be appropriate” for them to participate.

    “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to the World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” Trump wrote in a social media post last month.

    The FIFA chief, who has a close relationship with President Trump, said, “Iran has to come” to the tournament despite the fragile ceasefire nearing its deadline on April 22.

    “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation,” Infantino said of the US-Israeli war on Iran. “As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

    Iranian Minister Donyamali has repeatedly linked Iran’s participation with a guarantee for the players’ safety, as well as the ongoing war. He told local media that the FFIRI will set up a training camp for the squad in the event the team is given a go-ahead by the government.

    “We have to be ready, but maybe the decision is not to go, and if we are going to go, we have to be ready to have a strong presence,” he said.

    “Our duty from a professional point of view is to carry out the work and preparation.”

    The Iranian squad’s World Cup training camp will commence from May 10 and will last for over a week, he confirmed.

    Iran played two international friendlies in Turkiye last month under tight security and limited media access.

    Team Melli are slated to open against New Zealand on June 15, then face Belgium on June 21, with both matches ⁠⁠in Los Angeles. On June 26, Iran play against Egypt ⁠⁠in Seattle.

    Should they advance to the knockouts, the rest of Iran’s games would also be held in the US.

  • Karol G Announces Massive ‘Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour’ Global Stadium Tour Dates

    Karol G Announces Massive ‘Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour’ Global Stadium Tour Dates

    Following her critically acclaimed headline performances at the Coachella festival, Colombian superstar Karol G has announced “Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour,” a massive global tour beginning this summer and stretching to July of 2027. Full dates appear below.

    “Karol G delivered an explosive performance that leaned heavily into Latin and female empowerment, covering multiple genres of music and guest appearances while showing off her formidable talents as a singer, performer and conceptualist,” Variety wrote of Karol’s Coachella performance. “The show was an explosion of music, dancing, colors and symbols that words could never do justice.”

    Tickets for the tour, promoted by Live Nation, will be available starting Monday, April 27 through various presales.

    Fans in select markets will get first access to tickets through various presales, including an exclusive artist presale beginning Monday, April 27.  To be eligible for the artist presale in the USA, Canada and Europe, fans must register at karolgmusic.com between now and Friday, April 24 at 10AM EST/7AM PST.  Fans in Latin America can sign up at karolgmusic.com for more information including updates on ticket sales in those cities.

    General on-sale timing will vary by market.

    The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, invitation to the pre-show VIP Lounge, specially designed merch items & more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

    Jul 24, 2026

    Soldier Field

    Chicago, IL

    Jul 29, 2026

    Rogers Stadium

    Toronto, ON

    Aug 2, 2026

    Northwest Stadium

    Washington, DC

    Aug 7, 2026

    Allegiant Stadium

    Las Vegas, NV

    Aug 14, 2026

    SoFi Stadium

    Los Angeles, CA

    Aug 21, 2026

    Levi’s Stadium

    San Francisco, CA

    Aug 26, 2026

    Lumen Field

    Seattle, WA

    Aug 29, 2026

    State Farm Stadium

    Phoenix, AZ

    Sep 2, 2026

    Alamodome

    San Antonio, TX

    Sep 6, 2026

    Sun Bowl Stadium

    El Paso, TX

    Sep 12, 2026

    Gillette Stadium

    Boston, MA

    Sep 17, 2026

    MetLife Stadium

    New York, NY

    Sep 24, 2026

    Mercedes-Benz Stadium

    Atlanta, GA

    Sep 27, 2026

    Reliant Stadium

    Houston, TX

    Oct 2, 2026

    Hard Rock Stadium

    Miami, FL

    Oct 9, 2026

    Raymond James Stadium

    Tampa, FL

    Oct 15, 2026

    AT&T Stadium

    Dallas, TX

    Nov 6, 2026

    Estadio BBVA

    Monterrey, MEX

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    Nov 13, 2026

    GNP Seguros Stadium

    Mexico City, MEX

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    Nov 27, 2026

    Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica

    San José, CRI

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    Dec 4, 2026

    Nemesio Camacho El Campín Stadium

    Bogotá, COL

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    Jan 15, 2027

    Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa

    Quito, ECU

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    Jan 22, 2027

    Estadio San Marcos

    Lima, PER

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    Jan 28, 2027

    Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Pradanos

    Santiago, CHL

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    Feb 5, 2027

    Venue TBD

    Buenos Aires, ARG

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    Feb 12, 2027

    Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu

    São Paulo, BR

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    Feb 19, 2027

    Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez

    Santo Domingo, DOM

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    Feb 26, 2027

    Estadio Hiram Bithorn Sosa

    San Juan, PRI

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    Jun 3, 2027

    Estadi Olimpic

    Barcelona, ESP

    Jun 11, 2027

    Estadio La Cartuja

    Sevilla, ESP

    Jun 18, 2027

    Estadio Da Luz

    Lisbon, PRT

    Jun 24, 2027

    Riyadh Air Metropolitano

    Madrid, ESP

    Jul 1, 2027

    La Défense Arena

    Paris, FRA

    Jul 6, 2027

    Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

    London, GBR

    Jul 10, 2027

    Johan Cruijff ArenA

    Amsterdam, NLD

    Jul 14, 2027

    PGE Narodowy

    Warsaw, POL

    Jul 17, 2027

    Merkur Spiel-Arena

    Düsseldorf, DEU

    Jul 21, 2027

    Groupama Stadium

    Lyon, FRA

    Jul 24, 2027

    San Siro Stadium

    Milan, ITA