Celebrity
Canadian Brendan Fraser Win an Oscar for Best Actor at the 95th Academy Awards
Brendan Fraser became the first Canadian to win an Oscar for Best Actor on Sunday night at the 95th Acadamy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Fraser, 54, won the award for his performance in “The Whale,” in which he played a reclusive professor trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Throughout much of the awards season, the Canadian-American dual citizen was considered one of the front-runners for the award, for which he also won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award.
The actor accepted the industry’s highest honor on Sunday with an emotional acceptance speech.
“I started in this business 30 years ago, and things didn’t come easy for me,” he said on stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, accepting his first Oscar after defeating fellow nominees Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, and Paul Mescal.
“I’m grateful to Darren Aronofsky for throwing me a creative lifeline and bringing me aboard the good ship, ‘The Whale,'” he said of the film’s director.
Brendan Fraser was born to Canadian parents in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Peter, was a former journalist who relocated his family to the United States to work as a Canadian foreign service officer for the Government Office of Tourism.
Fraser’s uncle, trap shooter George Genereux, was the only Canadian to win a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Because of Peter’s work, Fraser and his family moved every few years. Fraser first discovered theatre and fell in love with acting in London, England. Fraser began performing in his early teens in Seattle before moving to Toronto to attend Upper Canada College.
He returned to Seattle to study at the Cornish College of the Arts. Fraser got his first break while still in college, playing in the 1991 coming-of-age drama “Dogfight.”
His career took off after that, with roles in “Airheads,” “George of the Jungle,” “Gods and Monsters,” and the well-known “The Mummy” franchise.
However, “The Whale” was Fraser’s first major role in a decade. The Canadian Walk of Fame inductee has been open about his experiences as a father and his shifting career goals.
“In recent years, when I was a little more hesitant to step forward — having a life with kids and the oldest son with special needs, another kid who’s going to be a senior now, and another one who’s (learning) to drive and picking up a guitar — I think it just gave me a sense of purpose that I don’t know that I would have appreciated as a younger man,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
Some have referred to Fraser’s triumphant return to Hollywood as a triumphant comeback. While the term “comeback” does not bother the actor, he prefers “reintroduction.”
“It’s an opportunity to reintroduce myself to an industry that I do not believe has forgotten about me,” he told The Associated Press. “I’ve just never traveled that far.”
Everything Everywhere All at Once emerged as the evening’s big winner, earning seven total Oscars — including one for Best Picture — after going from a relatively unknown specialty release from A24 to an awards season juggernaut. Its seven Oscars are the most for the Best Picture winner in 14 years, surpassing Slumdog Millionaire’s eight in 2008.
The German war film All Quiet on the Western Front, which finished the evening with four overall wins, trailed Everything Everywhere’s Oscar haul.
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking
Best Director
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Todd Field, Tár
Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness
Best Actor
Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Bill Nighy, Living
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Washington — On Friday, “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill visited the White House with President Joe Biden, leaving with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a newfound respect for the job.
“I love the merch,” he added, removing his glasses briefly at the White House daily press briefing following his meeting with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, joked with reporters that he’d answer a few questions as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he told reporters. He’d been to the White House previously, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never seen the Oval Office, which he described as impressive. According to Hamill, Biden displayed photographs and other memorabilia from the Oval Office.
Hamill claimed Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill responded with an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”
“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also portrayed the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Both Mark and the White House were hazy about the cause for his visit. But Mark, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a sizable social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.
“May 1 Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he tweeted on May 1.
On Friday, he wrote, “May 3 be absurd that the guy who tried to steal a fair election is allowed to run again,” referring to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
May 4 is unofficially known as “Star Wars” Day, partly due to the famous Jedi line “May the Force Be With You.” The pun is “May 4 be with you.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Mark also provided his voice for “Air Alert,” a downloadable program linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice warns citizens to take cover if Russia launches another aerial strike on Ukraine.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
LONDON — Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new charges of inappropriate behavior by men who will appear in a British television documentary airing next week.
In an online interview with journalist Dan Wootton, Spacey stated that he has never done anything unlawful and has struggled to return to work since being convicted of criminal charges in a London court last year.
“I can’t go through this again, allowing myself to be baselessly attacked without defending myself,” he said in the “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” interview, which aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.
AP – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Last July, a London jury cleared Spacey of sexual assault charges stemming from 20-year-old allegations made by four men. The court triumph was his second since defending himself against a $40 million lawsuit filed in New York in 2022 by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp.
The documentary “Spacey Unmasked” will be shown on Channel 4 in Britain on May 6 and 7 and on Max in the United States.
“I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,” said Spacey, who received Academy Award nominations for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty.”
“I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never,” he said.
Rolling Stone – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey, the creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, said that he was a “flirt” with men in their twenties and occasionally made “clumsy” advances.
“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,” he went on to say. But there was no conversation with me. It was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail because I wasn’t in on the deal.”
The actor also stated on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to reply to the claims brought against him in their program.
Spacey said that the network turned down his request “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”
ABC – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey said he had struggled to return to work since being acquitted of all criminal charges, characterizing the experience as a “life sentence.”
His acting career had suffered since 2017 when he was publicly accused of inappropriate behavior at the start of the #MeToo movement. He then lost his starring role as Frank Underwood in the Netflix thriller “House of Cards”.
SOURCE – (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group only 37 days ago with “massive fraud” on Friday, but not for any work done for former President Donald Trump’s media company.
The SEC accused the accounting firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, of “deliberate and systematic failures” in over 1,500 audits.
CNN – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The charges include failing to follow accounting regulations, falsifying documents to conceal flaws, and falsely claiming in audit reports that its work fulfilled audit criteria.
To settle SEC accusations, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while its owner consented to pay a $2 million fine, according to the SEC. Benjamin Borgers did not immediately return a phone for comment.
BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers both agreed to permanent sanctions, which will take effect immediately and prevent them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants.
According to the company’s most recent annual report filing, Trump Media appointed BF Borgers as its auditor on March 28. The business acknowledged that BF Borgers had similarly addressed its audits before its public offering by combining with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
The company had already hired at least two other auditors, one who resigned from the account in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.
Trump Media “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The SEC discovered that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included:
- Copying audit documents from the prior year.
- Changing the pertinent dates.
- Passing it off as current documentation.
In addition to inaccurately recording work that was never completed, the fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never took place and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had authorized the audit work.
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” stated Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”
SOURCE – (AP)
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
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The Canucks Ready For All-Canadian Second-Round After Eliminating Nashville
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
Canada’s RCMP Charge 3 Indian Men Over Sikh Leaders Murder
AI Election Disinformation Surges on Social Media in India
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