Israel Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Foreign Office has issued new travel warnings for 16 countries today following. In light of the recent drone attack on Israel by Iran, those planning to visit destinations including Morocco and the United Arab Emirates are strongly advised to check travel advice before making their journey.

Iran has launched drones toward Israel today, in highly anticipated retaliatory strikes that the White House said is “likely to unfold over a number of hours.”

Fontaines D.C. have shared a teaser of new music in the form of a short clip of an unreleased song on social media. The Irish band have not released any new music since 2022’s third album ‘Skinty Fia’ (except for a cover of Nick Drake’s ‘Cello Song’ for a compilation album), but it seems that may soon be about to change.

Cherym have announced that they have pulled out of playing The Great Escape this year, due to the festival’s connection with Barclays bank.The Derry punk band shared a statement on social media outlining their reasoning, highlighting the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel.“We have made the decision to pull out of The Great Escape Festival next month,” the statement reads.“Barclays/Barclaycard are responsible for investing over £1bn+ into companies that are arming the IDF and providing weaponry that enables the ongoing atrocities against Palestinians to continue.”a message from us regarding our performances due to take place at @thegreatescape festival next month. pic.twitter.com/Y20uW75f7H— CHERYM (@cherymofficial) April 12, 2024“Due to The Great Escape’s connection with Barclays/Barclaycard, we feel in good conscience, that we cannot go ahead with our scheduled performances at The Great Escape.

The Foreign Office has issued a new urgent travel warning for 18 countries, including popular Mediterranean holiday destinations. The government's latest advisory cautions travellers about an increased risk of terrorist attacks in countries around the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East due to heightened tensions following recent events in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced that the 40th annual festival will take place in Santa Barbara, California, from February 4 through February 15.

K.J. Yossman International writers guilds representing 67,000 professional screen writers across the globe are collaborating on developing an “ethical framework” for the use of AI in screenwriting.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming has recently wrapped in Morocco on under-the-radar Biblical thriller Mary, starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as King Herod and emerging Israeli actress Noa Cohen as Mary.

The Fremantle exec who fell victim to a $1M fake M&A scam has exited the business.

The Seret International Film Festival, an Israeli film event hosted in cities across the globe, has criticized its longtime UK partners Picturehouse and Curzon Cinemas for backing out of this year’s event over what organizers described as “safety concerns.”

Michaela Zee On the “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart decided it was time for a “wellness check” on Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war reached the six-month mark Sunday. “As the war has grinded on, justice is beginning to seem more like cruelty,” “The Daily Show” host said on Monday night.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli format Power Couple has been picked up by Banijay in the Nordics and been awarded a slew of recommissions.

EXCLUSIVE: Israel’s Keshet International (KI) has struck its latest co-development deal, a partnership with British presenter Bettany Hughes‘ indie SandStone Global.

Ryan Dorsey is mourning the loss of a major tie he still had to the late Naya Rivera.

borrowed too much from a 1983 magazine article that inspired the original “Top Gun” film.In a decision on Friday, US District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles said the sequel was not “substantially similar” to Ehud Yonay’s “Top Guns,” about the US Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot training school in San Diego.Yonay’s widow Shosh Yonay and son Yuval Yonay, the heirs to his copyright, said they deserved some of the sequel’s profits, after Paramount built a billion-dollar franchise off an article that “breathed life into the technical humdrum of a navy base.”Lawyers for the Yonays did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Talpa Studios, the company founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has closed further territory sales for quiz-show format “The Floor.” Variety can also reveal that the show has been named by research organization K7 Media as the “Format to Watch” in its “Tracking the Giants” format sales report, which was released Saturday at MipFormats. The recognition is based on the show’s territory sales. K7 said: “’The Floor’ is the best-selling format in 2023 and early 2024 among all the unscripted formats that were newly created in 2023.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Growing up in Israel meant that “We Were the Lucky Ones” actor Amit Rahav was taught about the Holocaust at any early age. His childhood in Tel Aviv included a school trip to concentration camps in Poland. “It’s mandatory in the curriculum,” Rahav tells Variety.

Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar acceptance speech.While accepting the award for Best International Film for The Zone Of Interest, Glazer refuted his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people”.While many have shown their support for Glazer’s speech, he has received criticism from The Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation USA.In addition, many Jewish members of the creative industry have signed an open letter claiming he was “fuel[ling] a growing anti-Jewish hatred around the world”.Speaking with Variety, Loach said that he had “great respect” for the director, calling him “very brave”. He said: “And I’m sure he understood the possible consequences, which makes him braver still, so I’ve got great respect for him and his work.”He also spoke about the Jewish community, saying that Glazer received: “Lots of support from many, many Jewish people who said it breaks the stereotype that all Jewish people support what Israel is doing, because clearly that’s not the case … [The speech] was hugely valuable in that it shows that diversity.

Ellise Shafer Joaquin Phoenix, Elliott Gould, Chloe Fineman and more than 150 other Jewish creatives have signed an open letter in support of Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech. The list of 151 signees obtained by Variety also includes Phoenix’s sister Rain, three-time Oscar nominee Debra Winger, “May December” director Todd Haynes, “Sorry to Bother You” helmer Boots Riley, acclaimed filmmaker Joel Coen, “Room” director Lenny Abrahamson, “Arrested Development” star David Cross, documentarian Amy Berg, “Barbie” actor Hari Nef, legendary playwright Tom Stoppard, former Focus Pictures CEO James Schamus, comedian Kate Berlant, “You Hurt My Feelings” director Nicole Holofcener, “Secrets & Lies” auteur Mike Leigh, “Passages” filmmaker Ira Sachs, “Gossip Girl” actor and writer Tavi Gevinson, “The Princess Bride” actor Wallace Shawn, “Bottoms” director Emma Seligman, “Mistress America” star Lola Kirke, “Zola” helmer Janicza Bravo, “Broad City” stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich.

hitting New York’s art scene. Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter opened her textile exhibition at a cannabis store on the Lower East Side Thursday — where she peddled knit portraits for several thousand dollars.Ella Emhoff — whose father is second gentleman Doug Emhoff — debuted her knit pieces, which she said marks her transition out of the fashion world and into her new phase of life as an artist.“This new art form kind of was birthed out of my knitwear, where I started kind of playing around with this duplicate stitch technique,” Emhoff, 24, told The Post during her reception at Gotham NYC, billed as a “woman-owned legal cannabis concept store on the Bowery.”“But I found that no one really wanted to wear all of this stuff, because it’s kind of crazy and loud, but they liked looking at it.

President Joe Biden told Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire was needed in Gaza “to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians,” the White House said today.

Ellise Shafer TikTok is returning as the official entertainment partner for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. This marks the social media platform’s third year teaming up with Eurovision, the world’s largest music event.

One day after President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” over an Israel Defense Force attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen team members distributing food in Gaza, WCK founder José Andrés gave an emotional interview to Reuters in which he said, “What I know is that we were targeted deliberately, nonstop until everybody was dead in this convoy.”

Tributes have been paid to one of the British aid workers killed in the Israeli air strike in Gaza. James Kirby was among seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers killed in strikes by the Israel Defense Forces on Monday.

Dr Mona El-Farra has lost everything. Her family home, her precious childhood memories and many of her friends and colleagues.

The stars of the series The Chosen are promoting the show in Brazil!

One day after José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its team providing food in Gaza were killed in an Israel Defense Forces strike, President Biden called Andrés personally to tell the celebrity chef he was “heartbroken” by the news.

Scooter Braun is launching a new campaign to support both Palestinians in Gaza who have been affected by the war, as well as families of Israeli hostages.

Lawmakers in Israel on Monday passed new legislation that allows the government to temporarily close foreign media outlets deemed to be a risk to national security. In the wake of the Israeli parliament approving the law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to shutter Al Jazeera, saying it “will no longer be broadcast from Israel.”

Michaela Zee Celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés has announced that several members of his World Central Kitchen nonprofit organization were killed in Gaza on Monday. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family,” Andrés wrote on X/Twitter. “There are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia.