Exclusive: Former British PM urges police to reopen inquiry – and claims media executive Will Lewis attempted to incriminate him The former prime minister Gordon Brown has made a new complaint to British police over allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire obstructed justice after stating he has spoken to officers involved in the original phone-hacking inquiry Writing in the Guardian Brown says one of the detectives alleged they believed there was “significant evidence” that News Group Newspapers (NGN) deleted millions of emails to pervert the course of justice Brown states that the former officers told him that if they had been aware of the background to the email deletions Brown says one former officer told him: “If we had known this in 2011 we would have investigated fully and taken a different course of action including considering arrests.” Brown writes: “Today I am making a criminal complaint to the Met and CPS alleging that I am a victim of the obstruction of the course of justice by News Group who have now stated to me that they were misled.” NGN strenuously denies any allegations of evidence destruction It said the Crown Prosecution Service concluded in 2015 that there was no evidence that company email deletions were carried out to pervert the course of justice In January, NGN apologised to Prince Harry for phone hacking by journalists at its Sunday tabloid and the “serious intrusion by the Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun” The apology was part of an out-of-court settlement to end litigation brought against NGN by the prince and Tom Watson Brown says the settlement has “not closed an era of investigation and litigation into media corruption Brown’s complaint to the Metropolitan police follows details of claims made by former detectives contained in a document filed with the high court in London Their statements were made in support of the long-running phone-hacking litigation pursued against NGN by Harry and Watson were not made public at the time and the claims have not been tested at trial because of the settlement No admissions were made about the allegation of illegal destruction of evidence The company said it would have successfully fought the allegation if the case had gone to trial In his piece for the Guardian, Brown accuses Will Lewis, now the chief executive of the Washington Post but then a senior NGN executive, of attempting to incriminate him and Watson He claims a false allegation against them was used to justify the deletion of emails to officers involved in Operation Weeting the Met investigation launched in January 2011 to examine phone-hacking allegations His accusation relates to documents disclosed in high court civil actions last year which included a minute taken by the Met police of a meeting detectives held with Lewis on 8 July 2011 Lewis said the company had been told of a plot involving Brown and Watson to obtain the emails of Rebekah Brooks the then chief executive of News International Lewis was the company’s general manager at the time If I had known this I would have made arrests for obstruction of justice.” NGN apologised to Watson over the idea of a plot as part of the settlement of his case stating the company now understood “this information was false” the company has said they believed at the time that the threat was genuine and would have proved this at trial NGN planned to cite a 2011 email from Brooks expressing concern about the internal security of the company’s IT systems NGN’s skeleton defence also noted that a range of security measures were subsequently taken The company also refers to a letter sent in January 2011 by Watson to the then Met assistant commissioner In it Watson claimed to have been approached by former company employees with “knowledge of the information technology arrangements of News International” Lewis has previously strongly denied wrongdoing He did not comment when approached by the Guardian the deletion of emails had “long been in the planning and that Harry and Watson’s claims in this area had drawn on “wholly unreasonable inferences from an incomplete account of the facts many of which are taken entirely out of context” An NGN spokesperson said that when Operation Weeting was initiated the company handed incriminating material to police while officers were immediately made aware of “the steps NGN had taken in relation to its historic email archive as well as the actions it had taken to preserve relevant evidence” Rebekah Brooks former chief executive of News International Photograph: ShutterstockThey said NGN worked alongside specialist IT police officers for months to reconstruct its electronic archives “The allegations of email deletion had formed part of the prosecution case in the criminal trial in 2013/14,” they said “The investigation into News International concluded in 2015 with a lengthy statement by the CPS deciding that no further action was to be taken in the light of there being no evidence to support an allegation of wrongdoing.” Brown writes that the police should request a series of court documents submitted during years of litigation including from former NGN employees and ex-police officers He also calls for prosecutors to step in – and for parliamentary committees to reopen their inquiries into the deletion of emails A spokesperson for NGN said: “NGN once again strenuously denies that there was any plan to delete emails in order to conceal evidence from a police investigation.” They said Brown was an “unreliable complainant driven by vendetta and revenge for perceived wrongs by NGN” They said NGN figures working with police on company emails “acted throughout with the utmost integrity and at all times followed the protocol agreed with the [Metropolitan police] in order to provide access to and restore data” “Mr Brown’s concerns again provide an inaccurate summary of allegations dealt with in the civil proceedings which have already been extensively investigated and litigated,” an NGN spokesperson said “It is not uncommon for retired police officers to hold views about their failure to achieve a conviction or matters that have not gone their way in court … There are officers from the 2011 to 2015 investigations who A Met spokesperson said: “While we acknowledge that information emerging from civil proceedings is of interest to the public and the press who may be seeing it for the first time in the vast majority of cases it is material that has already been considered as part of the numerous investigations and reviews that have previously been carried out “We are aware that parties in this recent case indicated an intention to pass material to us but we are yet to receive any such correspondence we will consider it carefully and proportionally recognising the need to explore genuine lines of inquiry but acknowledging the significant resources already committed to past investigations.” who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies and partner Georgia Groome have welcomed their second baby The actor shared a photo of their "secret child" April 27 Harry Potter star Rupert Grint and partner Georgia Groome have welcomed their second child The actor, 36, confirmed the news April 27, sharing a photo of the newborn. "Secret Child Slightly Revealed’ Introducing Goldie G. Grint," Rupert wrote on his Instagram which shows Goldie wearing a white onesie with her named embroidered on it under a knit gray cardigan "Shout out to @alex.digesu for always delivering," referring to his wife's OBGYN Rupert, who played Harry's best friend Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, posted the pic after he and Georgia were photographed in London holding the infant Neither he nor the actress had publicly announced they were expecting a second child Rupert and Georgia are also parents to daughter Wednesday G While Rupert has largely kept details about his family life private he has occasionally shared insight into his life as a dad he shared he was loving fatherhood and also explained the origin of Wednesday's name "I'm always hesitant to say it was [inspired by] The Addams Family," he said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon The Snatch star also explained why Wednesday was given a middle initial Rupert also revealed how he was slowly introducing Wednesday to Harry Potter "Now you have this beautiful baby and one day you're gonna show her these movies one day and say, ‘That's daddy!'" Jimmy Fallon told him "I've already started showing her the trailers She has a wand and a PEZ dispenser with my head on it." The British star also revealed that his daughter accidentally learned a curse word while keeping him company in his dressing room when he read over his scripts for The Servant series in which his character Julian Pearce swears a lot the F-word came pretty quick," he said "Now she just says it whenever she's excited We were in the toy store today and she was just walking around just dropping it." Then in 2023, after the family returned to England after the Apple TV+ show, which filmed in Pennsylvania, ended its run, Rupert spoke about how the move was affecting Wednesday "She's struggling a little bit with kind of adjusting to U.K so she's missing some kind of cultural things," he said on The Tonight Show "She'd choose that over going to the park Find out more about the lives of the stars of Harry Potter The Paris-born and Oxfordshire-raised kid had no more than a few school plays on her résumé when she was cast as Hermione Granger Watson split her time between college at Brown University (she graduated in 2014 with a degree in English literature) and starring in indie movies such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring The actress went on to play Belle in the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast as well as the eldest March sister And while Watson was admittedly scared to do so she felt like it was the right move for her."I’m just so glad that I did [step away from acting] because I have this feeling of having my own voice and creative space and sovereignty in some way that I don’t think I did before–more autonomy,” she told British Vogue in 2023 "I’m so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute and to really allow myself to not know [what’s next] I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”What was next for Watson included going back to school—with her telling the magazine she enrolled in a creative writing program at Oxford—launching her gin brand Renais with her brother Alex Watson and directing a few commercials.Over the years she's also modeled for brands like Burberry and Lancôme and been an activist focused on gender equality the erstwhile child actor who played the awkward Neville Longbottom has made the biggest splash in the then-and-now department as news of Lewis' grown-up hotness has since traversed the globe "but I've never been as involved with or as proud of a project as I have with Bluestone 42—I've had so much fun being a part of it so much more than I've ever had before as an actor definitely."Other credits have included Avoidance Baby Done and Ripper Street.Lewis is a private fellow but fans know he married Angela Jones in 2018 and that they made at stop at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter World—the very place where they first met—in October 2019 The nefarious Draco Malfoy was really a platinum-haired doll with a heart of gold in real life but has since been in less CGI-heavy films including period dramas Belle and A United Kingdom.Felton blew fanboys-and-girls' minds showing up as Julian "Dr Alchemy" Albert on the CW's The Flash in 2016 He also appeared in the sci-fi drama Origin and films Ophelia Burial and Some Other Woman.Also a singer-songwriter Felton has released several EPs over the years "I've always had a secret love for Emma though not perhaps in the way that people might want to hear," he wrote "That isn't to say there's never been a spark between us only at different times."While nothing romantic formed from that spark they still have love for each other as friends "I don't think I was ever in love with Emma," Felton explained "but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else." The actress was barely 10 when she started playing Ginny Weasley going from "Ron's little sister" to Harry Potter's soul mate over the course of the films Wright graduated from the London College of Communication and formed her own production company In addition to acting in such movies as After the Dark and Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? the artist has written and directed her own short films starring David Thewlis (the Remus Lupin); 2014's Know Thyself who played Tom Riddle; and Medusa's Ankles featuring Jason Isaacs she seems to have stepped back from acting (her most recent movie was 2018's A Christmas Carol) and pursued other career paths Go Gently (which offered readers tips on how to become involved in the climate movement) in 2021 In 2019, Wright joined Watson, Felton, Lewis and Evanna Lynch for a reunion that, happily, someone thought to take a picture of. "Time turning," Wright captioned the pic punctuating the sentiment with a lightning bolt.She was previously engaged to Sweeney Todd star Jamie Campbell Bower who played a young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 1 She then dated Simon Hammerstein for several years before finding love with Andrew Lococo in 2020 The pair got married in March 2022 and welcomed son Elio in September 2023 Not to take away Fred and George Weasley's individuality or anything…  but Ron's twin older brothers and Hogwarts' resident pranksters were indeed played by actual twins (though Oliver is 13 minutes older) including Our Own Worst Enemy and Last Night in Soho including Patchwork and Cadia: The World Within The brothers also hosted a podcast called Normal Not Normal as well as the cooking competition series Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.Oliver wed Katie Humpage in 2015 James exchanged vows with Annika Ostle the following year The British actor started out in the Hogwarts student ensemble as fellow Gryffindor Dean Thomas and after doing a slew of theater in England and popping up in the likes of Broadchurch and Sherlock starred on four seasons of How to Get Away With Murder There he played the well-intentioned but inevitably morally compromised and doomed law student Wes though he returned for a cameo as—SPOILER ALERT—Wes' own son in the mindboggling final season in 2020 He is also a graduate of The Queen's College Chris Columbus was looking for a 15-to-17-year-old to play the specter of 16-year-old Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but the 23-year-old Coulson won the part anyway He went on to land other film and TV roles Sebastian in the Golden Globe-winning series Mozart in the Jungle Benjamin on High Fidelity and Peter in Blood Brothers: Civil War "And then somebody had actually created a website then click on this button and then it would just be like a count of how many people disagreed with the casting and you would just see a number...I know It's so awful."After Harry Potter the classically trained Scottish actress did theater and TV in the U.K. She also provided the voice of Caitlyn in the animated series Arcane The Peripheral and The Foreigner.In a December 2022 Instagram post Leung revealed she had welcomed her first child whatever happened to the lad who played ill-fated heartthrob Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire… right: Pattinson landed the lead in the other major YA franchise roiling hearts and minds and played brooding vampire Edward Cullen in five films dating co-star Kristen Stewart along the way Since then he has distinguished himself in the acting department with gritty turns in independent films like Maps to the Stars But he returned to big budget blockbusters when he donned the iconic cape and scowl as the titular DC superhero in 2022's The Batman Pattinson has been dating model and actress Suki Waterhouse since 2018 and they became engaged in December 2023 The two welcomed their first child in March 2024 The statuesque Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons Academy in France chosen to represent her school in the Triwizard Tournament eventually marries Ron's groovy big brother Bill.Since then Poésy has worked steadily in film and TV the English and French crime series The Tunnel and in Genius: Picasso on National Geographic Channel.The French actress also landed roles in Tenant (opposite her former Triwizard Tournament opponent Pattinson) The Essex Serpent and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.After become a mom for the first time in 2017 Poésy opened up about how the journey changed her "I was thinking today how much it's made me closer to women, somehow; closer to women in the centuries before, the whole clinical aspect of being pregnant and then becoming a mum and giving birth, it makes you think a lot," she told The Guardian at the time "It's made my admiration for women even stronger." The actress stole her scenes as the scatterbrained but heroic Luna Lovegood starting in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—but she admitted that she struggled to get acting work after being part of the iconic franchise "It was just weird because we were getting all this fan mail and all this attention," Lynch told Bustle in 2019 "But I found in the real world that wasn't reflected I think for a while I really missed the validation of being in a giant film series where anything you did was just admired and gushed over.Still she's appeared in shorts like Bus Girl and animated projects like My Freaky Family She came in third place on Dancing With the Stars in 2018 and she released her first book She told Bustle that she remained especially close to Katie Leung and Scarlett Byrne (Pansy Parkington) and saw a lot of her former co-stars at conventions  "I think a lot of us have bonded more since the films," Lynch said "Just because we're older and we're adults now And I didn't talk to them much on the films because when you're 14 and whatever When you're adults it doesn't seem that much." Draco's henchman Goyle also cleaned up his act since his Slytherin days appearing in the British crime drama Marcella with Anna Friel the crime miniseries Murder at White House Farm and the spy drama Alex Rider He's also had roles in the Disney+ series Andor and the movie No Way Home.However acting isn't the only path Herdman has pursued as he also began his MMA career in 2016.In 2023 even Dudley Dursley was a perfectly nice bloke in real life Melling started a workout regimen and got into such good shape he was almost recast before Deathly Hallows Part 1 he stayed on as Harry's portly spoiled cousin by wearing prosthetics Melling has worked consistently on stage and screen the Coen brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and the HBO series His Dark Materials.He also reteamed with Joel Coen to play Malcolm in the director's take on The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the murderously ambitious main duo Melling appeared as Harry Beltik in the hit Netflix series The Queen's Gambit and co-starred opposite Charlize Theron in the streaming giant's action flick The Old Guard Senior Showbiz ReporterPublished: Invalid Date HARRY Potter star Rupert Grint has been pictured with his newborn baby after becoming a dad again The Ron Weasley actor, 36, stepped out in Hampstead, London, with longtime girlfriend Georgia Groome and doted on their baby Rupert smiled as he held the new arrival While new mum Georgia planted a loving kiss on the little one's head when she took her turn with them in her arms looked to have Rupert's flame red hair colour The actor later shared a photo of their newborn on Instagram Another member of the Weasley household!" One more joked: "Red hair and a hand-me-down robe Georgia and Rupert welcomed their first child, daughter Wednesday, almost five years ago. Child star Rupert joined Instagram to announce his firstborn and quickly racked up more than a million followers. It is one of only two appearances Wednesday has made on his grid. The second came over three years ago to commemorate a reunion with his Harry Potter co-stars who recently appeared in Apple TV's Servant but did make a rare comment on fatherhood in 2021 He told Entertainment Tonight: "It's great "It's amazing how it completely kind of takes over everything During his partner's second pregnancy Rupert had to deal with high profile planning and legal battles In November, he was hit with a £1.8m tax bill dating back to 2011-12 when he received £4.5million from a company which managed his business affairs Just days before the financial blow, Rupert had better newswinning a planning row with neighbours. Plans for an eco village of 15 homes at his historic 18th Century former vicarage had sparked outrage More than a dozen locals objected to the proposed scheme saying it was inappropriate development on green belt land and in a conservation area The council greenlit the project on the condition Grint will pay almost £100,000 towards local schools library and youth services including an annual £10,000 for maintenance of the gifted land Grint was just 11 when he was cast as Ron Weasley in the Potter films and now has a reported £42million fortune and a massive property portfolio He bought 22-acre country estate in 2009 but is believed to have never actually lived there and tried to sell it for £6million in 2018 Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/ In a sweet Instagram post announcing the happy news, the actor declared his daughter to be "a 10/10 baby (so far)" Charlotte Phillipp is a Weekend Writer-Reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024, and was previously an entertainment reporter at The Messenger. 2021Michael LoccisanoI just want Rupert Grint to be happy Grint—alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson—gave us his childhood Since I got to enjoy Harry Potter and have an uninterrupted childhood out of the spotlight on the fact that having breasts does not make you less of a feminist the most personal fact I’ve ever read about Grint is that his childhood ambition was to become an ice cream man Currently you can see Grint in the hit series Servant Night Shyamalan in its second season on AppleTV+ for which he’s received stellar reviews guzzling wine in a luxurious brownstone with a kind of sweaty swagger And he’s deeply in love with his longtime partner, actor Georgia Groome. (Like him, Groome was a child star and the lead in a beloved book-to-film project—she starred in the British teen girl comedy classic Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging.) They have a new baby girl Ron Weasley has formally defeated Rachel Green This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from So we invited him to answer our Inappropriate Questions slightly off-kilter stuff best saved for a second (or better yet Come along as we learn about Grint’s bizarre quarantine hobbies and the celebrity he thinks is the “shining jewel in the ginger crown.” I don’t even know what a MILF dad would be I know MILF dad is a dad...and MILFDad is a clothing brand I am still kind of coming to terms with what being a dad is I feel like I’ve changed as a person for sure I’ve started sleeping so much better—I used to be a horrific insomniac I think it’s made the whole experience even more intense and insular Obviously there are days when she is FULL on But there’s something really nice about the routine You’re starring in a TV show that’s about an incredibly creepy and upsetting situation with a baby It probably is the worst show to be a part of when you’ve just become a dad [Laughs.] We were filming it while Georgia was pregnant The whole story of the show is this tragic loss of a child But it’s given me a new insight into the psychology of losing a child and what that means and how powerful that love is Do you feel pressure on behalf of your kind to be a ginger sex symbol [Laughs.] I’ve never really thought about it I feel like when Harry Potter first started He’s the shining jewel in the ginger…crown I’ve always enjoyed anything that makes you stand out You two keep your relationship pretty private Can you share a hint about what’s made your relationship work well long-term It’s a very natural thing—we’re just best friends We’re kind of the same person; we think the same way That’s always made it work—that’s why it’s lasted It’s a time when you want as much support as you can get from your family and your friends; it’s a very isolating thing It’s been great to work everything out for ourselves Have you taken up any weird quarantine hobbies I’ve started miniature pottery—it’s like a tiny potter’s wheel but you just use your fingertips and spin clay Pottery has always been something I’ve liked the look of—spinning on a wheel The main fun fact I remember reading about you growing up was that you bought an ice cream truck It hasn’t seen the light of day in a long time The last time I used it was the last day of shooting Potter—I took it to set and served ice creams for the crew That was a time in my life where I was…I guess my childhood had been somewhat—I don’t know how to say it—kind of taken over I guess I was trying to find my inner child more would you ever let Wednesday take on a role like the one you took in Harry Potter my family didn’t really know what that meant the kind of sacrifices you do make and the consequences it has on your life No one really knew the scale at which the films would reach Your anonymity is something you really do take for granted and I wouldn’t want her to give that up lightly but people seem to think of you as a little bit weird and really love and connect to that Do you think of yourself as quirky or weird I'm one of those people who gets obsessed with things—I’ve gone through a load of weird hobbies What is the most inappropriate thing a fan has ever said to you There’s a whole genre of Harry Potter innuendo and puns I remember at the premieres there was a sign that was like….“Take me” Something about “your Chamber of Secrets.” “You can slither-in to MY chamber of secrets.” Or “I’d get sleazy for Ron Weasley.” I’ve always loved interacting with the Harry Potter fans Once you and your family are vaccinated and it’s safe to stop social distancing in the U.K. Now she’s at an age where she can see things and react to them Anywhere that’s not the inside of this house Jenny Singer is a staff-writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.  Author has been embroiled in a spat with the stars due to her views on transgender rights I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice JK Rowling has appeared to take a swipe at Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint on social media The 59-year-old author has drawn plenty of backlash over the years for her views on trans rights, which have ostracised her from the former child actors who starred in the blockbuster Wizarding World adaptations, and with whom she once had a close relationship. Rowling, who once stated she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns, previously said she would not forgive the actors for criticising her opinions, telling them to “save their apologies” – and she has renewed hostilities with the trio once again on social media when Rowling was asked: “What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?” she responded: “Three guesses While the author added laughing-face emojis to indicate humour the post has been widely interpreted as being aimed at Radcliffe Rowling first made her stance on transgender women public in December 2019 when she tweeted in support of researcher Maya Forstater, whose job contract at think-tank Centre for Global Development was not renewed due to a series of tweets she had made questioning government plans to allow people to self-identify as another gender These initial remarks prompted backlash from fans of the author who labelled Rowling a “terf” – an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist went on to post a much-maligned essay about gender identity ideology on her website she outlined five reasons to be “worried about the new trans activism” which received condemnation from Radcliffe and Watson who said: “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you respect you and love you for who you are.” Radcliffe was the first of Harry Potter’s lead trio to speak out against Rowling’s views on transgender identities “Transgender women are women,” he said in a 2020 statement released by The Trevor Project a suicide prevention charity for young LGBT+ people He acknowledged that Rowling is “unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken” but said he felt “compelled to say something at this moment” very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that.” In 2024, the actor revealed he had not spoken to the author in years “because I do look at the person that I met and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.” His 2020 statement was backed by Grint and Watson Hermione star Watson also cryptically addressed the furore at the Baftas in 2022. That year’s host, Rebel Wilson stating: “Here to present the next award is Emma Watson she said: “I’m here for all the witches!,”which many interpreted as a dig at Rowling In April 2024, following the publication of the Cass report, Rowling said she would not forgive the actors, saying they could “save their apologies”. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Emma Watson and Rupert Grint on social media","description":"Author has been embroiled in a spat with the stars due to her views on transgender rights Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application she was in the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps She was a member of Journey Church Ministries where she enjoyed spending a lot of her time write poems and was a certified coach for bowling Jacob (Darian) Jones; and her step great grandson A Memorial visitation will be held on May 24 until the Celebration of Life at 11:00 a.m The family was assisted by Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Remember when we knew Rupert Grint as the chubby-cheeked Ronald Weasley Grint has just announced that he welcomed baby number two with his longtime partner who is also an actress and best known for her role in the 2008 film Angus who have been notoriously private about their personal lives have managed to keep their relationship under wraps They had already been dating for several years before fans found out they decided to share the wonderful news of baby No In a similar fashion to their first, Grint also posted a photo of their newborn wearing a white onesie with "Goldie" embroidered across the front. He captioned the photo: “Secret Child Slightly Revealed’ Introducing Goldie G. Grint. A 10/10 baby (so far).”  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rupert Grint (@rupertgrint) Positive comments and congratulatory messages quickly filled the comment section of his post with many fans referencing his Harry Potter character and quoting memorable lines from the films social media users have also been commenting on how great the name “Goldie” is.  Grint will next be seen in the horror movie Nightborn, which is currently in post-production. Download the app to LISTEN LIVE wherever you are and connect with us like never before! Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Trump asked Murdoch to ‘start making changes’ at the Wall Street Journal and get rid of a pollster at Fox News In the angry post, the president flexed his influence over the conservative news groups by touting his relationship with Murdoch “Rupert Murdoch has told me for years that he is going to get rid of his FoxNews he should start making changes at the China Loving Wall Street Journal The Independent has asked Fox News and the Wall Street Journal for comment the president has relied on conservative news organizations to support him and amplify his agenda positively as he battles legacy media The Trump administration has clashed with legacy media during his first 100 days back in office This includes banning the Associated Press from certain events over its use of the term ‘Gulf of Mexico,’ shaking up press briefing room seating and inviting new Although he maintains a working relationship with Murdoch, the two have sparred in the past. Notably, after Trump left the White House in 2021, Murdoch was largely unsupportive of the president’s election fraud claims. While Murdoch is the founder of News Corp, he stepped down as CEO in 2013 and executive chairman in 2023 Trump has launched his fair share of hits at Murdoch, such as when Fox News was embroiled in a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for spreading lies about the integrity of the 2020 election. Now, the president is taking another swing at the 94-year-old media mogul in the hopes of influencing change at the news groups. govt and politics/politics/elections/presidential elections"},{"score":0.58334,"label":"/law govt and politics/government"},{"score":0.543619,"label":"/law Rupert Grint and Georgia Groome welcomed their second daughter together in April 2025 Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty; Karwai Tang/WireImage Dave J Hogan/Getty ; JAB Promotions/WireImage The 'Harry Potter' alum shares two daughters with 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging' actress Georgia Groome Exclusive: Court document reveals accusations by former detectives with one concluding NGN’s Will Lewis could have been arrested has been accused by former detectives of having “actively frustrated” their UK investigation into phone hacking with one concluding a senior executive could have been arrested for perverting the course of justice according to a newly disclosed court document is now chief executive and publisher of the Washington Post The court document refers to statements by two former detectives involved in the investigation started by London’s Metropolitan police in 2011 into phone hacking by NGN The statements relate to the background to the deletion of millions of internal NGN emails a former deputy assistant commissioner in the force said it appeared that NGN sought to “actively frustrate the police inquiry and undermine our ability to carry out a thorough investigation” she further claimed that if she had been aware of certain internal discussions at NGN she would have “launched an investigation into the matter terminating all contact with [NGN’s general manager] Will Lewis who would have been a suspect in respect of the deletions” “also confirms he would have terminated contact with Will Lewis as a suspect and considered arresting him for perverting the course of justice” saying that its executives acted with integrity The Crown Prosecution Service concluded in 2015 that there was no evidence that company email deletions were carried out to pervert the course of justice The claims from the former detectives are contained in a document filed with the high court in London in support of what was a long-running and hotly disputed phone-hacking litigation pursued against NGN by Prince Harry and the former deputy leader of the Labour party, Tom Watson. The “skeleton arguments” were not made public at the time and the claims not tested at trial because the case was settled out of court in January, with a reported payout in excess of £10m in damages and legal fees in favour of the prince and Lord Watson. NGN also offered a full and unequivocal apology to Harry for phone hacking by journalists at its Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, and the “serious intrusion by the Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun”. No admissions were made about a further allegation of the illegal destruction of evidence, which NGN strongly denied and which a spokesperson said that they would have fought at trial. The Guardian is able to report for the first time from the skeleton arguments after the parties agreed to provide them following an application to high court judge, Mr Justice Fancourt. The detectives’ statements relate to the background to the deletion of millions of internal NGN emails, including in late January and early February 2011. Lewis, who was involved in the deletion policy, was also tasked with liaising with police officers at the launch of their investigation into alleged phone hacking at the News of the World. The paper was subsequently closed because of the scandal. In its skeleton defence, NGN strenuously rejected allegations of a cover-up. A spokesperson stated that there was a lack of contemporaneous evidence in support of the claimants’ case and that NGN had a strong a lineup of witnesses who could confirm their own position. According to the NGN skeleton argument, the deletion of emails had been “long been in the planning, for sound commercial, IT and practical reasons”, and Harry and Watson’s claims in this area had drawn on “wholly unreasonable inferences from an incomplete account of the facts, many of which are taken entirely out of context”. A previously unseen note from a third police officer in the summer of 2011 in which he recognised that a contractor working for NGN had failed to carry out back-up operations ordered by the company is cited in its defence skeleton. An NGN spokesperson said Akers and Ratcliffe’s statements were a “selective and partial consideration of the contemporaneous documents”. The spokesperson said: “NGN once again strenuously denies that there was any plan to delete emails in order to conceal evidence from a police investigation. “Operation Weeting … was initiated in January 2011 after NGN handed incriminating material it had discovered to the Met police (MPS). From the first meeting held between NGN and the MPS, the MPS were made aware of the steps NGN had taken in relation to its historic email archive as well as the actions it had taken to preserve relevant evidence. “NGN then worked alongside specialist IT officers at the MPS for months to reconstruct its electronic archives and those specialist officers rightly concluded that there was no deliberate attempt to destroy evidence.” The spokesperson added: “Both during and following the criminal proceedings, the MPS and the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] considered the actions of News International, including whether certain conduct amounted to perverting the course of justice. “The allegations of email deletion had formed part of the prosecution case in the criminal trial in 2013-14. The investigation into News International concluded in 2015, almost 10 years ago, with a lengthy statement by the CPS deciding that no further action was to be taken in the light of there being no evidence to support an allegation of wrongdoing.” Campaigners continue to demand that the Met and prosecutors look again at the allegations of destruction of evidence, with Watson pledging on the steps of the high court to provide Scotland Yard with a dossier of evidence that supported a further investigation. It is accepted by both parties that NGN discovered three incriminating emails providing evidence of phone hacking at the News of the World on 6 January 2011. NGN handed these to the Met on 26 January. NGN claimed that its executives then acted responsibly in liaising with the police while carrying out long-planned email deletions that were necessary due to the frailty of their old systems. Harry and Watson argued that instead a “concealment and destruction plan was devised” following a meeting between executives, including Lewis, [NGN chief executive] Rebekah Brooks and [NGN lawyer] Tom Crone. This is denied. The company spokesperson said that “the evidence demonstrates unequivocally the repeated concern of those involved to back up data and preserve potentially relevant evidence in the face of an old and failing system”. The claim from Harry and Watson goes on to allege that data from the email archive had also been deleted because of a “so-called security threat” that was said to involve Watson, then a Labour MP, seeking to purchase stolen NGN emails on the orders of Gordon Brown. “It was obviously baseless and a bad excuse for deleting evidence”, Harry and Watson claimed. NGN has apologised to Watson as part of the settlement of this case, on the grounds that the company now “understand that this information was false”. The company has said that it believed that the threat was genuine at the time and that it would have proved this at trial. In its defence skeleton, NGN cites an email from Brooks, not previously made public. Writing after she had read a Daily Telegraph article in January 2011 that suggested that Watson had some knowledge of the structures of the company’s IT systems, Brooks wrote: “I am worried about this. I know its bollo but clearly something wrong in internal security. How do I investigate it … ” NGN’s skeleton defence also noted that a range of security measures were subsequently taken. The company also refers to a letter sent in January 2011 by Watson to then Met assistant commissioner John Yates, disclosed ahead of trial. In it Watson claimed to have been approached by former company employees with “knowledge of the information technology arrangements of News International”, NGN claimed. A Met spokesperson said: “While we acknowledge that information emerging from civil proceedings is of interest to the public and the press who may be seeing it for the first time, in the vast majority of cases it is material that has already been considered as part of the numerous investigations and reviews that have previously been carried out. “We are aware that parties in this recent case indicated an intention to pass material to us but we are yet to receive any such correspondence. In the event that we do, we will consider it carefully and proportionally, recognising the need to explore genuine lines of enquiry but acknowledging the significant resources already committed to past investigations.” Print Rupert Grint The “Harry Potter” star and partner Georgia Groome have welcomed a second baby “‘Secret Child Slightly Revealed’ Introducing Goldie G. Grint ... A 10/10 baby (so far),” Papa Grint wrote Sunday in an Instagram caption accompanying a shot of the new baby. Though the photo cuts off the top half of the cardigan-clad baby’s face, presumably for privacy reasons, her name can be seen boldly emblazoned — in gold, of course — on her plain white onesie. Entertainment & Arts Former “Harry Potter” film actor Rupert Grint faces a 1.8-million-pound ($2.3-million) bill after he lost a legal battle with the tax authorities The former child star also included a shout-out to their obstetrician for “always delivering.” “Delivering Goldie and Wednesday has been a privilege for me,” Dr. Alex Digesu wrote Monday in comments “You are such a wonderful couple and a beautiful family Being your obstetrician and looking after Georgia during both pregnancy has been an enjoyable and unforgettable journey Goldie joins her big sister Wednesday Grint, who was born in May 2020. Though paparazzi captured images of Groome when she was pregnant in 2020, the British actor appears to have avoided that exposure this time around, making Goldie’s arrival a bigger surprise than it might have been. Christie D’Zurilla is an assistant editor for entertainment news on the Fast Break team. A graduate of USC, she joined the Los Angeles Times in 2003 as a copy editor, started writing about celebrities in 2009 and has more than 34 years of journalism experience in Southern California. California Hollywood Inc. Television Music Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map as a fifth-generation member of his family in the oldest home in Forsyth County as part of the Experimental Company D-66 Armor where he worked with the air transportable ability of light tanks he returned home and began his professional career at Retail Credit in Atlanta He later transitioned into the automotive industry where his dedication and skill earned him a place in Chevrolet Motor Division’s Legion of Leaders Hall of Honor in 1972—an achievement he accomplished in just five months instead of the usual twelve Rupert then moved on to Cody Chevrolet in Dahlonega where he became the #2 salesman in the Southeast he took over the Cotton States Insurance Agency in Forsyth County a role he held until his retirement in 2015 Rupert was elected to the Cumming City Council where he dedicated 44 years to serving his community before retiring in 2015 His leadership and unwavering commitment to Cumming played a key role in the city's growth and development Rupert became a Royal Arch Mason of Silver Shoal Chapter Number 14 of Cumming in September 1968 and remained active in Masonic service for over 50 years He was also a faithful and dedicated Noble of the Mystic Shrine for over 50 years demonstrating his deep commitment to fraternity Rupert was preceded in death by his parents Shirley Sexton Hansard (Robert “Pete”) Lauren and Kayla Whittaker; his grandchildren and Brantley Sexton; and his great-grandchildren Rupert is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews A special acknowledgment is given to his devoted caregiver Visitation services will be held at Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory The funeral service will take place on Wednesday the family requests donations be made to the Forsyth County Veterans Alliance which may be sent or dropped off at Ingram Funeral Home and remarkable achievements will always be remembered Condolences may be expressed online at ingramfuneralhome.com.  Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text Virginia Sue Willis Rupert was born on September 27 to the late Burdette and Robbie Willis and entered Heaven on Saturday She was known by many as "Mama Sue" to all the kids who came through the doors And then later became "Mamaw Sue" to their children Those left to cherish her memories include her husband of 29 years A celebration of Mama Sue's life will be held at 11am on Saturday with Pastor William Moore and Pastor Charlie Sams officiating  The family will receive friends following service in the Fellowship Hall of the Church Janie was the daughter of the late Claude M She was the widow of Richard “Dick” B Rupert and was also preceded in death by their son Penney Regional Office on Peachtree Street in Atlanta for twenty years She was known for her extraordinary work ethic and fairness in working with others as she managed Data Processing Human Resources and Software Documentation Departments as she worked tirelessly for years as a caregiver for numerous friends and family members A great joy was going on trips with her children and grandchildren too hot or too far away for a grand-child’s ball game They were her source of so much happiness and pride and she cherished them all Janie was a member of Winder First Methodist Church mother and grandmother and will be remembered most for her passion for others and love for family and friends 2025 at 2:00 PM at the chapel of Lord and Stephens The family will receive friends from 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM at the funeral home Interment will be at Athens Memory Gardens.  Survivors include three sons and their wives Chad (Nicole) Rupert of Watkinsville and Greg (Stacey) Rupert of Canton; eight grandchildren and Ferris Rupert; many nieces and nephews.  Rupert and partner Georgia Groome were spotted out and about in Hampstead with their newborn Showbiz Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint has welcomed his second child with long-term partner Georgia Groome The couple’s new arrival comes five years after the birth of their daughter who shot to fame playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films was spotted out with the newborn during a stroll in Hampstead today Pictures published by The Sun show the couple cradling the baby who already appears to have inherited her father’s famous red hair also an actress known for her role in Angus have been together since 2011 and largely kept their relationship out of the public eye The actor only joined Instagram in 2020 to announce the birth of Wednesday instantly attracting a million followers – a number that has now risen to 5.3 million he wrote: “Hey Instagram… only 10 years late It's amazing how it completely kind of takes over everything Rupert’s last Instagram post was on September 27 last year when he paid tribute to his Harry Potter co-star Dame Maggie Smith following her death at the age of 89 He wrote: "Heartbroken to hear about Maggie I feel incredibly lucky to have shared a set with her and particularly lucky to have shared a dance In recent years, Rupert has distanced himself from Harry Potter creator JK Rowling over her views on transgender issues joining his co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in voicing concerns Rupert was ordered to pay more than £1.8 million in tax after losing a legal battle with HM Revenue and Customs The actor was originally hit with the bill in 2019 following an HMRC investigation into his 2011-12 tax return Rupert Grint announces birth of ‘secret’ second child David Tennant wishes JK Rowling ‘no ill will’ but says we should ‘let people be’ Pedro Pascal slams JK Rowling as 'heinous loser' after anti-trans ruling celebration Meet the entrepreneur turning plastic waste into something wonderful Rupert had received a £4.5 million payment from a company managing his business affairs as "consideration for rights which he argued should be treated as a capital asset and subject to capital gains tax HMRC successfully argued that the sum should have been treated as income Prince Louis steals the show at VE Day parade as he keeps dad William looking sharp and mimics brother George Prince Louis steals show with sweet antics at VE parade VE Day 2025 fashion: best looks from the day VE Day 2025 fashion: Princess of Wales to Lady Victoria Starmer UK tourists face major travel shake-up as Dubai airport set to close Ukraine 'launches stunning Kursk offensive' in major blow for Putin ahead of Victory Day celebrations Ukraine 'launches stunning Kursk offensive' in blow for Putin David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash in London 'shut down' by council over noise complaints David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash 'shut down' over noise complaints MP Rupert Lowe’s staff taking legal action over party’s internal report on bullying claims Reform UK’s internal row has been reignited as the party was served with papers as part of a legal action being taken by staff for the MP Rupert Lowe Lowe’s staff are taking legal action after Reform published an internal report on bullying allegations in which they were named The libel action is separate from an announcement earlier this month by Lowe that he would be suing Nigel Farage and two other senior party figures after they accused him of bullying staff and making verbal threats said he was suing Farage along with Lee Anderson for comments he said had “caused serious harm to my reputation” The Great Yarmouth MP was suspended by the party after Anderson and Yusuf issued a joint statement saying Reform had “received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying” in Lowe’s offices and alleging he had at least twice made threats of violence against Yusuf The papers served on Reform on Wednesday were on behalf of four people working for Lowe “The action follows the publication of an internal report commissioned by Reform UK which publicly named them when there was no legal basis for doing so,” a law firm acting for them said in a statement “Our clients wish to make it clear that they strenuously deny the allegations made against them in the report and feel compelled to make this statement to correct the public record,” the statement said The four were seeking redress to reflect the impact of the publication on them and were “fully prepared” to commence legal proceedings in court Lowe has vehemently rejected all the allegations arguing that he was targeted after he used a media interview to call for changes to Reform so it was centred less around Farage’s “messianic” leadership The Metropolitan police said in March they were investigating the alleged threats which were said to have been made between December 2024 and February 2025 Nearer the end of the month, Reform released a report produced by a barrister it had hired to look into the claims of bullying which said two women had given “credible” evidence of bullying or harassment by Lowe and his team Only 38% of Americans approve of the way President Donald Trump has handled the economy in his first 100 days in office, according to a poll released on April 23 by Fox News just 33% of people approve of the way he has handled tariffs and inflation 71% of respondents rated economic conditions negatively while 55% said things are getting worse for their families The president took to Truth Social to express his disappointment with the findings and with Fox News for publicizing them "Rupert Murdoch has told me for years that he is going to get rid of his FoxNews but he has never done so," Trump wrote The post was the second time Trump has criticized Fox News during his second term his posts about the outlet are generally more positive highlighting favorable coverage or publicizing his allies' appearances on the network Trending: BlackRock is calling 2025 the year of alternative assets. One firm from NYC has quietly built a group of 60,000+ investors who have all joined in on an alt asset class previously exclusive to billionaires like Bezos and Gates. he had harsh words for the network's senior White House correspondent "I watched Jacqui Heinrich from Fox over the weekend and I thought she was absolutely terrible I later found out that she's a fan of the White House Correspondents Association!" Trump has famously taken issue with the White House Correspondents Association and is the only sitting president to never attend its annual correspondents' dinner while in office See Also: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — invest pre-IPO from $0.60 per share now Murdoch has had a tumultuous relationship with the president Murdoch's New York Post ran a headline mocking Trump's second run in 2022 writing "Florida Man Makes Announcement." In his book "Revenge The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power," former Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt writes Murdoch's apathy towards him reportedly annoyed Trump so much that he called Murdoch a "piece of s***."  that didn't stop Murdoch from visiting Trump in the Oval Office earlier this year When asked by reporters why he had invited Murdoch I disagree with him a lot of times with The Wall Street Journal but it's all right And I'm sure they didn't have any idea what they were talking about." Benzinga does not provide investment advice Posted In: Personal Financenews accessPersonal Finance AccessBenzinga simplifies the market for smarter investingTrade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about and trade ideas delivered to your inbox every weekday before and after the market closes which are roiling the markets and threatening global trade Auto Edition.” The piece expressed deep concern about the current market volatility resulting from the administration’s economic policy adding that “one certainty is that his tariffs will inflict sweeping and hard to predict costs on businesses and consumers,” using the auto industry as a case study criticizing the administration’s strategy as a “very bumpy journey and one that increases the risk of downside to the economy.” and other guests stood firm on beating the Trump drum defending the president for his tariff plan and arguing that concern over the financial market nosedive is being oversold Laura Ingraham focused her primetime show Monday on what she considers to be unwarranted panic, saying, “Sometimes the frenzy is so over the top it’s cartoonish.” Accompanying Ingraham’s monologue was a clip of Disney’s Chicken Little panicking that the “sky is falling.” Afterwards she played a supercut of CNN and MSNBC segments where hosts including Dana Bash and Ari Melber expressed intense worry about the economic strain this could put on the country comparing their commentary to the exaggerated cartoon even while acknowledging that the gyrations of the market— which she noted was “down as much as 16,000 points at one point today”—were “jarring to watch and feel.” who warned that the tariff would cause a “Black Monday,” saying “Those crying on CNBC are the same ones who were happy to shut down the entire economy for a virus with a 99% survival rate.” the Post’s editorial board claimed the president has “the world in a panic”—a clear attempt to signal to the White House that negotiating with the EU and others will save the U.S How Miriam Adelson Went From Big MAGA Winner to Casino Loser in Trump’s First 100 Days Trump’s Lies Are Finally Catching Up to Him The UK Has Found Another Reason to Be Mad at Meghan Markle “It’s About Him”: How Trump Is Perverting the Presidential Photo Stream The Ballad of Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson The Truth Underlying Pete Hegseth’s Job Security Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein How Sebastian Stan Became Hollywood’s Most Daring Shape-Shifter Every Quentin Tarantino Movie Meet Elon Musk’s 14 Children and Their Mothers (Whom We Know of) From the Archive: Sinatra and the Mob Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.; Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.; Cindy Ord/Getty Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.; Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Mike Marsland/WireImage Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.; Dave Benett/Getty Warner Bros; Ian West/PA Images via Getty  Peter Mountain/Warner Bros.; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic Warner Bros.; Rob Kim/Getty for The Webby Awards Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Jun Sato/WireImage Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Gerardo Mora/Getty Murray Close/Warner Bros.; Tristar Media/Getty Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection; Jeff Spicer/Getty Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.; Karwai Tang/WireImage Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic This article is taken from the Spring/Summer 2025 issue of AnOther Magazine: That is perhaps why his oeuvre spans multiple modes of expression: writing These are rarely presented in isolation — instead they are Gesamtkunstwerks The backdrops are medieval or folkloric — a cabin Around the screens are hundreds of costumes from the Deutsche Oper Berlin — the absence of the bodies that might wear or have worn them is palpable; something is missing Tracing the often incomprehensible – human fallibility and failure the concept of truth – Atkins’s work combines an uncanny realism with jarring alien bodies and places His forthcoming survey show at Tate Britain defies any linear or logical arrangement though his Post-it notes (bearing surreal scenes originally painstakingly drawn for his daughter’s lunchboxes) are the heart of this exhibition the soul of an artwork and wraps bought from late-night pharmacies Ed Atkins: So this is the first time I’ve seen you for quite a while – although it’s just ‘in the face’ rather than in the flesh Sending that to you was very important because it is a weird full of stuff you would know and recognise It’s rare to have a friend that spans all that history and the peculiar decisions that have got you to a specific spot of making or desire Rupert Friend: And there’s an evolution – being present with each other for 35 years now I’ve been there in the wings since you were doodling on napkins So to see you having this huge show at Tate Britain is a thrill EA: I think we’re both allergic to the past EA: It’s interesting in relation to this book which is written in a confessional mode but has a historic accumulation of a sense of self an accumulating lack of a coherent sense of self … This survey show – calling it a retrospective makes it sound very historic — at Tate Britain goes back to 2010 and there aren’t many things that have been consistent through that time There’s my partner and there’s my friendship with you one of the most truthful things I’ve ever read by anyone And I also know that there are stylistic choices and reasons things were omitted or included When you write – that piece or any of your written works – do you adopt a character I think part of it is that I don’t know who I am and I have a propensity to worry over the truth and falsity of myself or if lying and telling the truth are even remotely available to me to corroborate or not ventriloquised tone in myself and of myself occasional flatness that also speaks simply to the pleasure of writing the text the desire to explore it and explore myself To be able to turn a corner very quickly in a paragraph between an obvious banality to some stinging moment of seeming sincerity But you saying it was one of the truest things you’d ever read means so much to me The peculiar thing about the book is that it is full of truth and of course it’s a confection to a certain extent – but that truth contained in Flower is the truth of not having access to truth Because that’s just what it means to write You’re representing something that is always unrepresentable without massive compromise I must say that it’s a great thrill that it will be published as non-fiction – which it is It will be shelved with memoirs and autobiographies but there’s this asterisk at the end – “What does that mean in this context What if the act of conjuring a memoir is assumedly fictive?”  I suppose it is a slight assault on the notion of the purity of a person’s memoir I first picked up a brush and I realised I was destined to be a painter … ” This kind of mythologising bullshit to get rid of all that sort of retconning shit But I really do like eating these wraps from late-night pharmacies “There seems to be a consensus that my work is sad or depressing but I’ve never set out to make something miserable I’m not going to talk about how much I love my children I’m going to try to avoid the tropes of so-called authentic writing …  I’ve always struggled with reading memoirs even and especially when they’re beautifully written And in the world of film and representing real life – which it obviously isn’t – what we are searching for in a performance as an audience is some degree of truth But for this hour and a half let me believe And the suspension of disbelief is of course So this search for truth or integrity – however we define them – is the thing I got mildly obsessed with the notion of realism in recent-ish history and how realism has become sort of synonymous with misery The idea that the more miserable something is Somehow Game of Thrones feels realistic because people are beheaded or because it’s gross however important a character they are – that those things are the signifiers of realism is insane If there was any conceptualisation of Flower – or the things that I’m looking for in cinema or music – it’s this peculiar … not disappointment but an unspectacular attention to the fact that a lot of our lives are rather boringly OK walking down the street – it doesn’t have drama to it “What’s my motive here while I’m eating this wrap?” It’s just eating a wrap And maybe it appears miserable from the outside Or maybe it’s just like noise in your being I might just shout “clog boggler” over and over if I wanted to – it might just come to me Or you might just start making up a song …  RF: I would record the song and I would send it to you And obviously there is a pleasure in writing those things down and elevating them to significance By doing that you shine a light on them and you change them what they’re doing changes because it is now being observed And that person walking along eating a wrap but I hated it — it felt palpably engineered Everything was polished to this pointless sheen There’s this worry within the creative industries about AI but maybe there’s a challenge in the models of AI that we’re talking about – maybe if you don’t want your work scraped and used you should write really weird stuff that isn’t for everyone Make weird things that are not really like anything else Because what AI does is aggregate and it schloops it all together – it has to base everything on things that already exist And there is a resignation to even worrying too much about it – at least currently but there’s a part of me that has faith that it will never be able to rival actual human invention – because it’s never going to make up a song like the songs you make up and send over … why would it “Please make me a song in the style of the ones that my friend Rupert sends me,” you wouldn’t get anything deny AI the echo chamber of predictable content EA: If you’re predictable enough for it to know what you are saying so that you are satisfied with the results it feeds you RF: So this show is going to be visited by people from all over the world More people than ever are going to get a sense of at least the past 15 years of your work the guy who does fill-in-the-blank,” would that make you think I occasionally stumble across things that are conspicuous copies of something of mine Whatever the copyist thinks they can take doesn’t diminish what I think the work is which is perhaps a completely untouchable thing it’s un-scrape-able or un-crawl-able,” or whatever the current vernacular of AI is it would be from a determined rendering of what seems to be me But that requires the things that I make to be soulful and real and truthful – with all the caveats to truth mentioned – which is certainly not the case all the time but if there is something that you can feel in a work it is irrefutable and could be plagiarised and stolen but never spoiled I was looking up people copying the bass solo from [Paul Simon’s] You Can Call Me Al yesterday – the things you do when you’re trying to feed a baby and you can’t really focus [Friend’s first child was born last year] And I watched three or four guys who were brilliant technical bass players but you felt nothing it’s a truism that replication gives you the form of the thing maybe The lines in a drawing or the music of a thing but it also lacks what AI lacks — the soul People have spoken about a weight in grammes that leaves your body when you die But to me it has something to do with connection That tingle down your spine when you feel someone speak to you through their art When I think about the three things that are the most interesting about humans and that separate us certainly from machines So I’m not finding what you’re saying woo-woo It made me want to know something – when you look at a real retrospective of an artist and [curators and critics] talk about their different periods do you think those artists consciously elected to change direction or were they following a natural evolution of their practice “When I think about the three things that are the most interesting about humans the imagination and dreams” – Rupert Friend but I often think of it more as self-sabotage The discomfort around people agreeing that the thing you’re doing is good – the cruise I need to feel radically different and find a new outlet that I can take as seriously and feel as committed to and I don’t know enough about why these artists made certain moves but maybe it is about re-finding some relationship through a kind of destructive impulse with the faith that the only thing that matters to begin again is me And I have to trust that that’s what it is RF: There’s a quote I love by Martha Graham that goes along the lines of “When you do something it is necessarily original because it’s coming through the filter of you And there’s only one you.” If I dance a dance and then you do the exact same dance have they made something else by virtue of having copied you It’s like a forgery — a perfect forgery is not the same as the painting this experience of people plagiarising my work is very rare and hasn’t happened for a while and maybe that says something about receding relevance But I’m not disposed to being jealous of people and I think that is to do with a sense of I’m me.” There’s no grass greener on the other side RF: But that’s a very bold thing to consider Because that is how to avoid all the petty lower vibrational things like jealousy and we all have something amazing in there somewhere Do you remember that feeling turning on at a certain point in your life or was it always there so I suppose it was always there to a certain extent — not quite having time for being jealous Or not knowing what that would even be in the context of making this kind of work Because there were a lot of things to want instead when you get into the development of the ego and why it developed as a self-protection method – the ego loves to be placed in a hierarchy EA: There is the idea of owning our own failures or repulsiveness in my work the thing that is not about consistency or coherence There seems to be a consensus that my work is sad or depressing but I’ve never set out to make something miserable that you sense it’s real – even if that’s through the absence of a coherent narrative Therefore I’ve tried to work out what that is and I think part of it is dwelling on the fallible all these things that start to give form to me Which is why one of the things I wanted to ask you about is live performance but they are nevertheless live performances And the very few times that I perform something — usually a weird singing thing — the reason I want to do it is the feeling then and there I’m not thinking about it as a recorded thing for posterity but rather this feeling of trying to be present And trying to invent situations that really push you to be as present as possible There are other ways of engineering situations where you must be very present – in a dubious way Just seeing what comes up and allowing myself to be surprised by that and let it come and find me if it wants to But I can’t really be doing with the actors who are constantly trying to look good in front of the camera or get the best light the actors I admire are physicalising the imagining of a truth And then trusting the technicians and artists around them to capture that But not considering it their responsibility to deliver that as you have to on stage If they can’t hear you at the back of the theatre you’ve failed to deliver the play to the audience EA: Which essentially means that your toolkit are infinite when you’re not performing for someone to hear When the boom operator has to make sure they can hear you rather than the internalised mechanisms of theatre performance they both have artistic elements and creative elements And one of the fascinating things about a camera is the way it can sneak up on somebody and just be with them while they listen Because there is no ‘presentation’ in the stuff I like to watch and a warring army is coming over the hill.” There isn’t one you’re not going to see it in your mind’s eye Whereas the thing about cinema that’s so powerful is I might just hear that army and see a guy as he waits for it to come And I don’t know whether he’ll be happy the army’s coming EA: You were fantastically supportive and essential to getting to this point with this film that I’m editing now with the poet Steven Zultanski and the three hours it takes to make sure the natural light is bouncing nicely through the windows essentially is to create situations of fastidious realness which is stripped bare of a lot of this tech or paraphernalia that the theatre affords purity – but of course it doesn’t amplified thing that has to be in the machinery of the body of the actor versus just pointing the camera at someone as they listen to someone else and they are responding I found the set and the making so exciting You once said to me that actors are on many different shoots directors have only been on their own sets That was a great catalyst to help me depend on other members of the crew properly to pay extra attention to the tiniest truths that are expressible That’s not a truism about Marvel cinema or whatever but it’s about what’s possible in front of the camera and in front of the microphone – it is so extraordinary “A master is able to feel the right decision to make out of the many thousands That’s what any art form boils down to – choice” – Ed Atkins RF: And shining that magnifying lens on smaller moments That’s where cinema does something I’m not sure any other art form can do because you can get into the nooks and crannies You can just have a ripple on a puddle and we know a T-rex is coming but you hit on something astute – the engine of theatre is the body of the actor And a great theatre actor is an athlete – they need to deliver phrasing most of us don’t have the breath for And the presence thing is really the keystone of this conversation but also definitely what I’m interested in or in a performing piece like yours – there’s presence “Are you present with what is in front of you?” This could be the audience And what separates amateurs from professionals is that the amateur tries to present something that they have prepared The professional comes prepared to be surprised EA: It seems so simple but it’s the most admirable and complicated thing any art – understanding the difference between a rote amateur or novice painter and someone who’s working in some absurd late style is to do with the confidence the simplicity of the decisions that are being made It’s not about this demonstrable smartness or upfront research A master is able to feel the right decision to make out of the many thousands That’s what any art form boils down to – choice RF: And it comes back to what you said at the beginning about the soul of the piece you get a physical feeling – a drop in the gut or you’re reminded of a terrible time in your childhood a facsimile – it leaves you feeling quite cold and uninterested We’ve had the Ice Age and the Bronze Age and the Information Age and I don’t know what they’re going to call this one but it’s clearly going to centre on this notion of machines and humans merging to remind us of what is in fact so genuinely singular about artists That we have the capacity to touch this deep place hence the phrase that we are “moved by something” “We’ve got to ban AI,” or control what it has access to It’s to reinvent or re-tap into a sense of making things that feels singular and untouchable by any external And even though you’re familiar with my work Because you tend to see one thing at a time – a few things or a smaller I hope this time there’ll be a reason to spend a good few hours immersed in this thing and to see the way the works interrelate or accumulate because they’re not arranged chronologically the works are arranged to clash against each other but I think as an experience the survey show’s cumulative effect can’t be guessed at This new film [its name is unannounced] made in collaboration with Steven is a big part of that because it’s finally using my father’s cancer diary – his death diary I’ve shared bits of the diary itself with you in the past But that feels like a capstone on going into the past allegorising according to the future really is the re-enacting of a role-playing game I play with my daughter – the ambulance game because this is where our two fields start to converge for the first time – this is what we’ve been doing for a living for 20 years Seeing this new evolution of you as a director feels pivotal to me and excites me I’m so looking forward to seeing it as a part of this survey show This story features in the Spring/Summer 2025 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale now Ed Atkins is on show at Tate Britain in London until 25 August 2025. Flower by Ed Atkins is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions (We regularly talked about how obituaries should have a cause of death His cancer likely progressed in his pulmonary artery and finally breached it metastases to the lung and brain in January ’23 and did all the things and tried all the treatments He loved his kids above all and was an extremely involved and adoring father He was so proud of all three of his children for their academics He loved nothing more than spending time with them his “MaMAAA,” as he would call her He loved poking fun and pushing any buttons he could He loved playing all kinds of video games with his buddies — it was his favorite hobby He connected with so many people through love of video games He loved giving his family and his friends “fun history facts,” of which it felt like his brain was an encyclopedia He was incredibly educated and found so much joy in historical facts and especially Greek mythology “Well folks probably the last health update you’ll receive from me but who knows After a couple of weeks of struggling to get around my home hoping it was just part of a flu I had and I went to the hospital After a week of being there they found a couple of things they could help with but for the most part I’m just done They said I won’t be returning to the mobility or lifestyle I’m comfortable with So I’ve officially stopped cancer treatment and I’m home on hospice Who knows maybe they’re wrong and I improve somehow or maybe I get lucky and have one of those long hospice journeys Either way the treatments are done and I’m just spending as much of my time as I can with my family hate less and make as much time for your family as you can.” He is survived by his wife of 4 1/2 years and partner of almost 14 years Janice; many nieces and nephews; and countless friends Friends and family will be received on Saturday memorial contributions may be made to the funeral home to assist with funeral expenses Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.donaldwalkerfuneralhome.com Copyright © 2025 Ogden Publications of Pennsylvania The actor shared the happy news via Instagram Popularity of a Name: Goldie (Female and Male) Heidi Smith (Marc) of Mechanicsburg and Nicole Rothrouff (Micah) of Georgetown Annette Schiappa of Altoona; a special nephew He is also survived by several nieces and nephews Gary was a 1977 graduate of Altoona Area High School He worked for PPG in Tipton and was a house painter He attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church and enjoyed fishing He also enjoyed his Saturday visits to the farm very much Gary was a very special son and will be forever missed A Mass will be held at the convenience of the family Arrangements are by Mauk & Yates Funeral Home Inc. memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society MD 21741; or to Central Pennsylvania Humane Society Copyright © 2025 Central Pennsylvania Newspapers LLC | https://www.altoonamirror.com | 301 Cayuga Ave. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks as well as new program elements specially paced for weekends Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers and it often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts Inside the Murdoch family's real-life 'Succession' drama: Rupert Murdoch and his oldest kids are battling over who controls his media empire when the 93-year-old dies The Atlantic writer McKay Coppins explains the stakes and how it could change Fox News Animals are swept up in the 'Flow' of this Oscar-nominated flood film: When the flood waters rise where they have to work together to survive As Elon Musk continues sweeping cuts to the US government: 'People are really scared': DOGE has eliminated thousands of federal jobs and canceled more than 1,000 contracts "We're seeing harms that are not going to be easily undone." You can listen to the original interviews here: Become an NPR sponsor Two books set in Hollywood show different sides of the film business from industry-shaping success to the personal frustration of rejection Mayer & Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation is a history of the duo behind MGM Film a regular critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR follows the unlikely trajectory that led both men to the movies Turan joins NPR's Scott Simon for a conversation that touches on early MGM films like Ben-Hur and Tarzan the Ape Man and Mayer's complicated relationship with Judy Garland Simon speaks with British actor Rupert Everett who's out with a new collection of short stories inspired by Hollywood rejection The American No draws from film concepts and screenplays the actor pitched but never got the chance to make he and Simon discuss Everett's autobiographical writing To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday welcomed baby Goldie five years after the birth of their first daughter Benett/Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/WireImage; Rupert Grint/Instagram