For what seems like ages, there have been two separate, yet equally compelling questions surrounding the James Bond franchise. First, what is the future of the franchise, and subsequently who will be portraying 007 after Daniel Craig retires from the role? And second, will Christopher Nolan ever come on to direct a James Bond film? Well, now it looks like we know what the immediate future of the franchise does not hold, and that is a Christopher Nolan-directed Bond 25. The director recently spoke on the matter, squashing the possibility, saying: I won't be the man. No, categorically. I think every time they hire a new director I'm rumoured to be doing it. The rumor and desire to see Christopher Nolan direct a Bond film has been around for years, and this is just the latest instance of the can being kicked down the road. Bond 25's saga to the big screen has been a tumultuous one and it's still not finished. For quite some time, star Daniel Craig vacillated between wanting to return to the role and wanting to commit bodily harm to avoid it. But the actor is set to reprise the role of 007 one last time for Bond 25. The only problem is that Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes will not be returning. So naturally this is where people want the long-rumoured director to step in and save the day. After all, Christopher Nolan has spoken in the past about his love for the franchise and the character. But Christopher Nolan sounded pretty resolute when speaking to BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he will not be coming aboard to direct Bond 25. Fans have longed to see what a Christopher Nolan James Bond film would look like given the franchise's influence on his work. A directorial choice like Nolan would also really get fans excited about the franchise again after the just-ok Spectre. There are pros and cons to a potential Nolan-directed Bond movie, but I think many would like to see what the director can do with the franchise, so it is a bit of a bummer he will not be tackling Bond 25. Despite this, perhaps it is for the best that he is not joining the franchise at this stage. Daniel Craig is on the way out, after which most would assume that the franchise will reset with a new, possibly much different, actor in the role of the MI6 agent. If Nolan were to hop into the director's chair for Bond 25, he would be somewhat limited by the narrative and stylistic elements already established for the Daniel Craig-led Bond films. Much like the director of a television pilot sets the tone for the rest of the series, this current run of Bond films already have an clear-cut style that it would not make sense to deviate from. If and when Christopher Nolan does come aboard the James Bond franchise, I want his full vision for the character. Christopher Nolan did not rule out directing a future Bond film, noting he would love to. Should that happen, it would be best to do so not in the middle or at the end of a run, but at the beginning of it, like with Bond 26, for example. After Daniel Craig leaves and the franchise resets would be a perfect time for Christopher Nolan to come in and build a James Bond movie as he sees it, from the ground up. In the meantime, Bond 25 is still director-less. We don't have many plot details on Daniel Craig's final film as 007 but Bond 25 is scheduled to be released on November 8, 2019.

Even though The LEGO Batman Movie showed some love to Dick Grayson last year, the fact of the matter is that we haven't seen Batman's sidekick in a live action theatrical setting since 1997's Batman & Robin. However, that will hopefully be rectified in the coming years, as one of the many DC movies in development is Nightwing, which would focus on Dick's time as a hero operating outside of Batman's shadow. Chris McKay, the man who directed The LEGO Batman Movie, will also helm Nightwing, and while details are still light on what to expect from the movie, it seems the director is all on board for keeping white eyes/lenses on the mask. Like Batman, traditionally when Dick Grayson is illustrated in the comics, be it as Robin, Nightwing or even serving as the Dark Knight himself, his eyes are depicted as while wearing a mask. In fact, this is a costume element that's seen on many superheroes outside of the Bat-Family in the comics (like Green Lantern and Black Panther, to name a few), but it usually doesn't carry over when those character are adapted for the big screen. But when a Nightwing fan on Twitter suggested that Dick retain the white eyes/lenses look in the upcoming movie, Chris McKay responded with a simple "Agreed." So while nothing is set in stone yet, it sounds like when Dick is costumed up as Nightwing in the movie, we won't have to worry about his eyes being shown. Presumably the Nightwing mask will be outfitted with lenses that either allow Dick Grayson to read information Iron Man-style or see his environment differently, such as through night vision. This was the case with 2008's The Dark Knight, which was the first live action Batman movie to show Bruce Wayne rocking the white eyes while fighting crime. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice also gave the Caped Crusader this look when he was wearing his Dark Knight Returns-inspired armor. If Dick is anything like his comic book counterpart, then even though he isn't working directly with Batman anymore (or at least on a regular basis), he's still taking costume and crimefighting cues from his mentor, so keeping the white eyes makes sense. Plus, in this day and age, superhero movies are keeping more elements from the source material intact, so seeing a Nightwing who looks like he could have jumped directly from the printed page would be most welcome. Chris McKay recently stated that the Nightwing draft is almost complete, and although there won't be any casting news anytime soon, there will likely be big news about the movie later this year. In 2017, McKay revealed that Nightwing will include nods to Dick's past at Haley's Circus, as well as that the movie will rely less on CGI and more on stunts, which is appropriate for Dick Grayson's fighting style taking into account his acrobatic experience. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates about the Nightwing movie as they come in. In the meantime, the DCEU will continue when Aquaman is released on December 21. You can also see a live action Dick Grayson (played by Brenton Thwaites) battling bad guys as Robin when Titans premieres on the DC streaming service later this year.

Ed Sheeran has sparked rumours he has married fiancee Cherry Seaborn after he wore a ring on his wedding finger at a BRITs gig on Monday night (19Feb18). According to editors at The Sun, the newly-engaged couple may have tied the knot in secret after the singer was pictured wearing what appeared to be a gold-coloured wedding band on his left hand. The 27-year-old, who has been engaged to Cherry since the beginning of the new year, sang his way through his hits including Perfect, Galway Girl and Shape of You at his War Child BRITs Week together with O2 gig, and a plain gold ring was clearly visible. However, Ed's jewellery could be his own sign of commitment to Cherry, who now sports a diamond ring from the star. And while he has yet to comment on the rumour, Ed did gush about his cosy, domestic set-up with Cherry. "I find myself getting really excited about kitchen appliances now," he told the audience, reported The Sun. "I promise this song isn't about kitchen appliances." "I'm excited about wearing (glasses)," he laughed. "Can you believe, I've reached a stage in my life where I'm actually excited about my spectacles?" he added, revealing he will be singing Thinking Out Loud at the BRIT Awards on Wednesday. The Shape of You hitmaker, who has been in a relationship with his former high school classmate since 2015, previously revealed his romance with the risk advisory consultant has even had him thinking about fatherhood. "I don't want to be touring when I have kids," he told U.K. programme Good Morning Britain in March, 2017. "I want to be nipping out now and then and actually being able to be a father. So yeah, I think I would definitely have kids, I'd definitely love all the kids in the world, but I don't want to have them right now." Ed Sheeran's publicist did not respond to a request for comment. Ed Sheeran tickets on sale through Amazon Tickets. @AmazonTicketsUK

Last night, 2700 lucky fans witnessed the performance of a lifetime as part of 2018’s War Child BRITs Week together with O2 with an incredible set from GRAMMY and BRIT Award Winner Ed Sheeran, supported by singer-songwriter Mahalia at indigo at The O2 as part of the ever successful War Child BRITs week together with O2 shows. The crowds went wild for hits such as Shape of You and Thinking Out Loud, as fortunate fans were selected from thousands through a prize draw to attend the special sold out show. The Prize could be entered by donating £5.00 to War Child, raising money for children whose lives have been torn apart by war. The series of gigs all take place in London and Manchester between February 12 and 24 in the lead up to the BRIT Awards and celebrate another phenomenal year for British music. Singer and TV presenter Frankie Bridge and her retired footballer husband, Wayne Bridge joined actor Luke Evans, English comedian Joel Dommett, actress Eleanor Tomlinson, model Pietro Bosselli, rugby player Max Evans, radio presenter James Stewart and actress Hayley Squires asthey watched BRIT Award Nominee Ed Sheeran perform at the indigo at The O2. The celebration of the best artists in the most intimate venues, all to raise money for War Child, continues until 24 February with a stellar line up including pop sensations The Vamps, art-electro indie rockers and multiple BRITs nominees alt-J, breakthrough rock band The Amazons, UK alt-rock band Deaf Havana performing a reworked set exclusively for War Child, superstarNorwegian DJ, record producer and songwriter Kygo. Plus, new to BRITs Week for 2018, fans in Manchester will be able to see twice BRITs nominated four-piece Wolf Alice play an exclusive set at Manchester’s Gorilla. BRITs Week with War Child together with O2 is a series of gigs that give fans the opportunity to see the biggest names in music in intimate venues across London – all whilst raising money for children whose lives have been torn apart by war. Produced by AEG, BPI and War Child UK, In 2017 War Child raised a phenomenal £567,000 by staging spectacular shows together with O2 as part of BRITs Week. Thousands of people applied for tickets to see artists including Craig David, Tinie Tempah, Richard Hawley and Paul Weller. The money helps fund War Child’s vital work delivering solutions protecting and educating children in some of the world’s worst conflict areas, such as Afghanistan, Jordan (working with Syrian refugees), Iraq, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen. Ed Sheeran tickets on sale through Amazon Tickets. @AmazonTicketsUK

Cheryl has made her first public appearance amid rumours of a split from boyfriend Liam Payne. The British singer and talent show judge made a glamorous appearance at the opening of the new Cheryl’s Trust Centre, a charity she has founded alongside the Prince's Trust, in her native Newcastle, England, on Tuesday (20Feb18). Cheryl arrived at the centre dressed in a camel coat paired with a baby blue polo-neck and ripped jeans in her first public appearance since speculation began that she and former One Direction singer Liam, 24, are having relationship difficulties. The 34-year-old, who first established her charity back in 2015 in a bid to help disadvantaged youngsters in her hometown, joined the BBC Breakfast show to speak about the new state-of-the-art centre before facing questions about the split rumours. "This has been ongoing for many years," she said of the centre. "I'm over the moon to be here. I want to start in the heart of Newcastle because this is my home town," the popstar, who found fame in girl band Girls Aloud, explained. BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker then took the questioning in a more personal direction, asking the former The X Factor judge, "Is a day like this frustrating for you when a lot of your personal life is in the papers at the moment?" "Is it frustrating?", Cheryl replied. "No, it doesn't bother me at all. My sole purpose is on this and I've waited seven years to be here and none of that matters - this is most important to me." "This is really a hard thing for me as this is where I'm from. I want to help all over the country but I wanted to start in my own town as I struggled myself as a teen and I don't know where I'd be now (without my big break)," the Fight For This Love hitmaker added. The launch comes amid claims Liam has sought legal advice, with friends claiming he and Cheryl are weeks away from splitting up. The couple, who are not married but live together in a Surrey mansion, are reportedly considering going their separate ways after it was claimed the relationship was "under strain", due to Liam spending nights away from home while the singer looks after their 10-month-old son, Bear.

Country star Kacey Musgraves has slammed a Twitter follower online for his "chauvinistic rape-culture mentality" after criticising the singer for calling out an aggressive male concert-goer. The newlywed Follow Your Arrow hitmaker vented about an overbearing male fan on social media on Sunday (18Feb18), when she shared video footage of herself walking through the crowd after a Saturday night gig in Toledo, Ohio. In the short clip, a man can be seen reaching out and grabbing hold of her arm as she passes by with security officials, with a visibly annoyed Kacey shouting, "Ow! Stop that!". "A**HAT ALERT: this guy grabbed onto me hard, shook my arm, and wouldn't let me go," she captioned the post. She then made a quip about having to arm herself to fight off overzealous devotees, adding, "Guess I'm gonna have to start carrying a rolled up newspaper out there with me." While many of her Twitter followers expressed their anger at the unidentified man's aggressive behaviour, one person claimed it wasn't much to get worked up about. "Grow up Kacey, it was for a split second," the guy commented, prompting Kacey to fire back at the ill-advised remark. "I come up & hit your b**ls w/ (with) a sharp ice pick - you fine with it tho (sic) it's for a 'split second'?" the musician raged. The 29-year-old then made it clear she didn't want the critic among her 451,000 Twitter followers. "You chastise + complain about me calling out a man who physically domineered me," Kacey continued. "PLEASE unfollow me and PLEASE seek immediate counseling for your chauvinistic rape-culture mentality." But the male refused to give up, replying, "It happens all the time at concerts." "My god," a shocked Kacey responded. "But really tho (sic). Whoever you are - you're seriously mentally imbalanced. Just because something 'happens all the time' doesn't mean it's ok. You shouldn't have to learn basic life stuff like this from the internet." "Anyway, I'm done," she added, concluding her rant. "Your 15 mins (of fame) are now over." Kacey's Twitter clash occurred as the Time's Up and #MeToo movements to end sexual misconduct continue to dominate headlines, after celebrities like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, filmmaker James Toback, actors Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Piven, Ed Westwick, and Geoffrey Rush, and music boss Charlie Walk were all accused of behaving inappropriately over the years.

Selena Gomez was Justin Bieber's date for his father Jeremy's wedding in Jamaica on Monday (19Feb18). According to reports, Justin flew to the Caribbean via Texas in order to pick up his girlfriend as they headed to the nuptials of Jeremy and his long-term girlfriend Chelsey Rebelo. Selena was then seen in a picture from the big day shared by one of the wedding guests, looking happy and chic in an embroidered outfit as she posed with fellow guests Dr. Rita Kilislian and Taylor Smith and the bride's twin nieces Destinee and Desiree Rebelo. The guest later set their Instagram to private, but not before the snap had been shared by Justin and Selena fans on social media. Groom Jeremy had shared pictures on Instagram ahead of the nuptials, showing him and Chelsey getting on an airplane alongside the caption "Times" with a shining sun emoji. He then posted another snap of his family getting ready to head to Jamaica, writing: "The crew off to airport." The wedding was the latest date for Justin and Selena, who had celebrated Valentine's Day together in Beverly Hills last week, at church and then at the Montage Hotel. "They celebrated a romantic Valentine’s Day," a source told People. "They had been apart for a couple of days and seemed happy to be reunited." It was recently claimed Justin's parents are thrilled that he has reunited with the Wolves star, after the pair had a five-year on-off relationship up until 2015. "His parents love Selena. That want him to date someone and think she is very sweet and a good girl," a source told E! News. "They are happy with how Justin is doing and his focus. They support him going to church often and having his faith being such a big part of his life. They think that being back together with Selena is a positive thing. He wants to do things differently and make it right and show everyone how far he has come."

LaToya Jackson has been given a little more closure surrounding the death of her brother Michael after calling on the talents of a top TV psychic. Tyler Henry recently visited the late King of Pop's sister for an upcoming episode of his hit U.S. series Hollywood Medium and attempted to reach out to the Thriller singer who passed away in 2009. During their session together, Tyler attempted to piece together Jackson's final moments to help his sister understand exactly how he slipped away while under a physician's care. "He conveyed various messages and I think LaToya was still very curious about the nature of what exactly happened to Michael in his final moments," the TV star tells E! News. "There were some questions about the timeline as far as who was around at the time... "To the best of my ability I conveyed the timeline of what I saw to be true as far as painting that picture. And it just helped, I think, provide some validation for them (Jacksons) because there were some questions about were certain people in the room at the time or if they weren't. Things like that I think can really help people put things to rest." Tyler adds, "I think everyone who watches this episode will find a deeper sense of closure around Michael's passing." Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter, convicted, and sentenced to four years in jail for administering the drug propofol that cost Jackson his life. Meanwhile, Henry also reveals he was surprised by Michael's calm, vulnerable spirit, explaining he expected the pop superstar to be fronting a megagig in heaven. "It's still one of the most surprising, bizarre, surreal experiences in my life," he adds. "What I thought was so interesting when Michael connected to LaToya was that I was kind of expecting Michael Jackson to come through, like, moonwalking with like a whole audience full of people and a lot of feeling of like celebrity. But when he came through he was quite the opposite. "He came through very vulnerable, very private. He came across just like a brother trying to connect with his sister and it really wasn't that different than if I were connecting any random person to their brother... It was just really special." The third season of Henry's show premieres on 28 February (18).

Nominees for the 2018 BRIT Awards are scaling the Official Albums Chart ahead of this week's ceremony on Wednesday (Feb 21). Dua Lipa, who is nominated for five awards including Album of the Year, is already seeing a boost for her self-titled debut, up seven places to Number 4 on the latest Official Chart Update. The collection is also on track to hit a new peak this week, originally landing at Number 5 last June. Three-time nominee Ed Sheeran is at Number 2 with ÷, Rag'n'Bone Man - also up for three gongs - is set to return to the Top 10 with Human, currently up three to 9, and Taylor Swift - nominated for the International Female prize, rebounds nine spots to 11 with Reputation. Kendrick Lamar, who is up for International Male and currently touring the UK, sees his latest record DAMN. lift eight places to 13, British Male nominee Liam Gallagher is also up eight places to 16 with As You Were, Stormzy jumps five places to 36 with Gang Signs & Prayer, and Best International Group nominees Foo Fighters leap 15 places with their 2009 Greatest Hits (38). Meanwhile, The Greatest Showman soundtrack continues to lead the way at Number 1, on track to claim a seventh week at the summit. Blues rock band The Temperance Movement are on course to secure this week's highest new entry with their third album A Deeper Cut at Number 3, and Camila Cabellos eponymous debut rebounds nine slots to Number 5 following her performances on The Graham Norton Show and Dancing On Ice over the weekend. Elsewhere, Scottish rockers Belle & Sebastian are set to claim their fifth Top 10 album with their latest collection How To Solve Our Human Problems, currently at 6, and US indie band Car Seat Headrest could score their first UK Top 40 album with their eleventh set Twin Fantasy, currently at 31.

Niall Horan and Hailee Steinfeld ignited dating rumours on Saturday night (17Feb18) when they attended a Backstreet Boys concert together in Las Vegas. The former One Direction star and the Pitch Perfect actress enjoyed the music at the gig, with videos from the occasion showing them dancing and singing together to tunes including I Want It That Way and Everybody (Backstreet's Back). In one of the clips, Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean is seen coming to Niall's row to get the popstar to join in the tune, with Hailee looking slightly embarrassed. While Niall and Hailee, who were at the concert with a group of friends, steered clear of embracing each other, their outing did little to dispel rumours that they may be an item. The speculation first began back in December (17), when Niall wished Hailee a happy birthday. Sharing a snap of the pair laughing about something at an awards show, Niall wrote: "Happy birthday to the loveliest person on the planet and one of my best friends @haileesteinfeld. Have no idea what the hell is going on in this photo. Love ya hails." According to Entertainment Tonight, Niall and Hailee continued their evening at XS Nightclub in Wynn Las Vegas after the Backstreet Boys concert, where they and their group of friends enjoyed cocktails and took in a DJ set by Diplo. Both Hailee and Niall have been romantically linked to other famous faces in recent years. Hailee was rumoured to be dating Charlie Puth and Justin Bieber at different points, both of which she denied, while Niall has been connected to Ellie Goulding and model Barbara Palvin. Niall Horan tickets on sale through Amazon Tickets. @AmazonTicketsUK

Liam Payne has opened up about what he disagrees with partner Cheryl about as the couple battle speculation of a split. Over the weekend (17-18Feb18), it was reported that a split between the One Direction singer and British popstar-turned-TV judge, who began dating in 2016, was imminent. However, Liam made no mention of the rumours as he co-hosted the Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp radio show on Monday morning, although he did admit that they couldn't agree on which soccer team their 10-month-old son Bear will support when he's older. Liam, 24, supports West Bromwich Albion, while Cheryl, 34, and her family hail from Newcastle, England, so Bear will have to decide which side to take. "Cheryl's not really that massively into football, but everyone likes to bring up where they're from when this happens, isn't it?" he said, before attempting to adopt Cheryl's Geordie accent to say, "Well I'm from here so I'm gonna do this." "That was a great Geordie accent," he joked, before putting on a voice and adding, "That's what she sounds like in the morning!" Continuing to explain Bear's soccer dilemma, Liam said, "So it's like battle of the granddads at the minute, and he's gonna have a tough little choice on his hands at some point. You're gonna have to disappoint some grandparents, or just go, 'You know what, forget this, I like ice hockey'. Just pick a different sport." It was reported over the weekend that the couple were holding crisis talks and that Liam had sought legal advice to figure out what a split would mean for their fortunes and son. "Liam has sought some legal advice but he still wants to make it work," a source told The Sun. "It's just sensible to be prepared for all options... With a young son and a number of assets between them there is more to breaking up than just parting ways. He hopes it doesn't come to it but he's just being careful."

Chrissy Teigen is due to give birth to her son in June (18). The 32-year-old model is expecting her second child with singer husband John Legend, but had been vague about her exact due date. But as she filmed an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, airing on Monday (19Feb18), Chrissy let slip that the tot is due to arrive in June. Lip Sync Battle star Chrissy added that while she and John are more than a little excited about further extending their family, they are struggling to come up with the perfect name for their son. "Boy names are really tough!" she mused. "I don’t think he’ll have a middle name because we can’t even come up with a first name." Of coming up with the moniker for her 22-month-old daughter Luna, Chrissy added: "There was a blood moon happening, it was a very beautiful night - it was a big red moon and it was just gorgeous. And I have this real love for space, I think about space camp all the time and my days at space camp as a youngster so I just thought Luna was perfect." When host Ellen suggested she should call the baby Urban, to make it Urban Legend, Chrissy laughed, before adding that people have also suggested she and John use his name for the tot. "Then everyone’s like why don’t you do the JJ thing, call him John Junior, but his (John's) ego, he was like, ‘I don’t want him to feel like he has to live up to that’. And I was like, 'Wow, you’re a jerk, what a jerk!'" Elsewhere in the interview, Chrissy spoke about Ellen's recent 60th birthday party, and admitted the bash was the "best ever". However, she did struggle with the not drinking part of the evening. "Sober parties are… There were some you could tell might have been drinking beforehand," she laughed. "A margarita, there’s nothing like it, so not being able to indulge in that with say Jennifer Lawrence was heartbreaking. It was a tough one for me."

Fergie was slammed on Twitter for her sultry, jazzy take on The Star-Spangled Banner as she performed the National Anthem at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday (18Feb18). The former Black Eyed Peas frontwoman donned a black off the shoulder midi dress for the performance, which saw the famous tune slowed down to allow her to put her own unique spin on it. However, many people weren’t impressed by Fergie's decision to transform the song so entirely, taking to social media to vent their amusement and frustration. "Worst rendition ever?" one brutal tweet read, while another added, "Not sure what Fergie was going for on that national anthem performance but if it was 'my friends drunk mom acting sexy' she nailed it". A third wrote: "Fergie’s national anthem finished 30 minutes ago and I still haven’t recovered. A part of me will never be the same.” Others suggested the mother-of-one may have been attempting to take inspiration from Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday Mr. President" performance. "My first guess is that Fergie drew her motivation for her national anthem "rendition" from Marilyn Monroe signing (sic) 'Happy Birthday, Mister President'," one wrote, while another added, "I’ve seen the national anthem performed hundreds of times but never in the key of 'Happy Birthday Mr. President' congrats." Various celebrities were also quick to share their opinions on Fergie's performance. Following her rendition, the camera returned to legendary basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, who was acting as one of the commentators for the All-Star Game. When NBA commentator Charles Barkley giggled and asked his fellow panellists if they could talk about the performance, Shaquille replied: "Oh, stop, don’t do that. Leave my Fergie alone. Fergie, I love you. It was different, it was sexy." Unconvinced, Barkley replied: "Damn right it was different. I needed a cigarette after that." Jimmy Kimmel and Chance the Rapper had been seen in the audience looking somewhat bemused during Fergie's performance, while singer k.d.lang tweeted afterward: "Would it be so bad if we just dropped the national anthem altogether from sports events. ?" Comedienne Roseanne Barr added on her Twitter: "Who saw Fergie's national anthem performance at the NBA All Star Game? I think mine was better lowkey." Fergie has yet to publicly respond to the backlash caused by her performance.

Kanye West surprised fans in Los Angeles on Saturday (17Feb18) when joined forces with fellow rapper Kid Cudi for his first performance of the year (18). The Day 'n' Nite star was in the middle of his set at the Adidas 747 Warehouse St. event, held to coincide with the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend, when his DJ began spinning Kanye's Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 track, on which Cudi features. In video footage from the show, Cudi can be seen dancing to the tune, before turning to face the back of the stage as Kanye makes his entrance, wearing a cap, sweatshirt, and shorts, sending the crowd wild. The two pals, who briefly fell out in 2016, then launch into the song as soon as the bass drops. Celebrating Kanye's stage return, rap mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs took to Instagram and wrote, "One time for my brother @kanyewest and @kidcudi at the #747WarehouseSt today!!!" His post was accompanied by footage of Kanye calling Cudi his "brother" as he urged fans to "make some noise" at the gig, which was streamed live on Diddy's Revolt network. Kanye has been keeping a low profile ever since he was hospitalised in late 2016 and treated for "temporary psychosis" caused by dehydration and sleep deprivation, weeks after his wife Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint and robbed in Paris, France. Saturday's appearance marked only his second gig since his health crisis, after previously delivering another surprise rendition of Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1, from his The Life of Pablo album, during Cudi's Passion, Pain and Demon Slayin' Tour stop in Kanye's native Chicago, Illinois in November (17). The set took place just three days after Kanye ended his long social media hiatus to share a photo of the minimalist Valentine's Day card he appeared to have made for his wife Kim Kardashian. "Happy Valentine's Day Babe," he wrote on a plain white card. He then shared numerous photos of past and present celebrity couples, including Brad Pitt and his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, Barack and Michelle Obama, Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere, and Ellen DeGeneres with Portia de Rossi. He finished his picture selection with a snap of himself and Kim, alongside the caption, "Kimye". The Instagram page was reactivated for just 24 hours, before shutting down the profile again.

The businesswoman challenging Beyonce's trademark bid for her daughter's name Blue Ivy Carter has been accused of trying to score a $10 million (£7.1 million) payday to end the court battle. The Formation hitmaker has been locked in a legal fight with Veronica Morales, owner of events planning firm Blue Ivy Company, for the past year after taking issue with the superstar's application for the rights to "Blue Ivy Carter", the name of her six-year-old daughter with JAY-Z. In her filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Beyonce explained she wanted to reserve the rights to the moniker in beauty, fashion, and electronics ventures, and to prevent others from cashing in on her eldest child's identity. Morales objected to the move, insisting the name is too similar to her own business brand. Lawyers for the two parties have recently been attempting to handle the dispute out of court, but Beyonce's representatives claim Morales is only trying to exploit the situation for her own financial benefit. According to court paperwork obtained by The Blast, Morales and her lawyers used what was supposed to be a meeting about a potential settlement to present a "business proposal", suggesting Beyonce purchase her events planning company for millions in exchange for dropping the trademark challenge. The plaintiff's counsel "gave a long speech" about how they could approach the dispute as an "opportunity for a business relationship rather than an adversarial proceeding", even putting together a Power Point presentation to outline their plan, reports the outlet. Morales even suggested the two parties combine forces and "begin producing products and goods" under the Blue Ivy name, offering the bundle deal for $10 million. The proposal was shut down by Beyonce's lawyers, and now they want Morales' team to submit all evidence of the sales pitch as part of the ongoing court case to prove their trademark challenge was only ever about cashing in on the celebrity link.

Chris Rock was rejected by Rihanna after he tried to chat her up at a party following his divorce. The 53-year-old comedian split from his wife of 18 years, Malaak Compton, in 2014 after repeatedly cheating on her, and was attempting to get back into dating following the divorce in 2016. Once the split was finalised, however, Rock has now revealed the Umbrella hitmaker rejected his advances at a private party. "After my divorce was final, I was at a party and I saw Rihanna,” he said in his Netflix comedy special, titled Chris Rock: Tamborine. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s start this again. Let me say what’s up’, right? And I’m like, ‘How you doing, Rihanna?' “Rihanna looked at me like I was one of her aunts. She didn’t even register me as a d**k-carrying member of society. Like, I would have had an easier time f**king Aretha Franklin.” Referencing the fact he is 24 years older than the 29-year-old singer, Rock laughed: “Do you ever forget how old you are?” He also discussed his infidelity in the Netflix comedy special, and confessed he had cheated numerous times on his wife. "You don’t wanna get divorced. You got somebody you love? Hold tight, commit. It’s my fault because I’m a f**king a**hole," Rock admitted. "I didn’t listen. I wasn’t kind. I had an attitude. I thought, ‘I pay for everything, I can do what I want'. That s**t don’t f**king work. I just thought I was the s**t..." “When guys cheat, it’s like we want something new," he added, "but then you know what happens? Your woman finds out and now she’s new. She is never the same again. So now you have new, but you had a bad new. Some of these lessons you’ve just got to learn."

Muse were guests on Matt Wilkinson’s Beats 1 show where they they discuss global politics, their Beatles tribute band, doing a film score, their favourite director, living in LA, wanting to live in Tokyo and more. On whether new song 'Thought Contagion’ is inspired by current global politics… Matt: I think I wrote the first bit of it when we were in Montreal, which is French-speaking. When you’re in a country with no English-speaking TV you find yourself watching news channels because that’s the only thing in English. Usually it’s American news and if you spend a few hours watching American news, well, that’s were the first part of the song came from really. It’s kinda like some strange bubble where they’re all living up Trump’s bum basically...It gets inside your mind. I think that’s where the song came from really. You start walking round worrying about things that you wouldn’t normally think about and so the song came from that. How other people’s ideas can kinda take over your own if you’re not careful. On whether 'Thought Contagion' is pessimistic… Matt: Dig Down was the last remnants of optimism and that’s all been spent now. I guess it’s a bit more of a fiery track. I didn’t really structure the lyrics too deeply I just spouted off whatever came out. There’s an array of strange anxieties, I guess when I’m singing things like “You’ve been bitten by someone hungrier than you” - sometimes I wonder if that is me or not. Some of these anxieties have just maybe come from watching too much tv or something! So that song puts into question if what I’m singing in the verses is real or not, so when it comes to the chorus I’m saying, “I don’t know if that’s actually real, it might be somebody else’s weirdness”. On the sound (so far) of their next album… Dom: So far it’s pretty mixed. It’s very different from the last album that’s for sure. The last album was very rock, guitars and rifts - stuff like that - and this isn’t sounding like that at all. It’s definitely more experimental, there’s more weird synths and stuff that we’ve been messing around with. Matt: We’re doing quite a lot of era-blending I would say. I’d say the early Romantic classical period I’d say! There’s a little whisper of that. There’s one track which is quite cool where we’ve blended a bit of Romantic classical piano with like 80’s synth, computer game music. You wouldn’t normally get that combo but it works! That’s called “Algorithm” that one. On whether they would do film scores… Matt: Probably yeah. We’ve done bits and pieces for film - not the whole film - like we did the opening credits for ‘World War Z’ and our songs have been used in films a lot. We did two songs for those ‘Twilight’ films didn’t we. I think we probably will if it’s the right thing. I’m not sure if our music would work with the more indie, arthouse film! I wanna do like ‘War of the Worlds’ or something. Some kind of crazy, action, sci-fi thriller. It would have to be something that fits the music. On their favourite director… Matt: I just watched that 2 hour documentary on HBO about Steven Spielberg. An easy choice but he is tough to top isn’t he really? But what was amazing about that was he was hanging out - back in the day in his 20s - they were best buddies, him and Scorsese, George Lucas and Brian De Palma, they were just like a group of mates together and all four of them end up becoming like the biggest directors of all time. So Scorsese and Spielberg love those two. What’s that guy who did Dunkirk? He’s brilliant. Christopher Nolan. Yeah I think he’s pretty epic. On why they’re based in LA… Matt: Kind of the good thing and the bad thing about LA is you don’t really have any sort of town centre or streets to walk around. Everyone’s in their cars, it’s all spread out but yeah you’ve got lovely beaches there and stuff and lovely weather and all that stuff. I miss the close proximity of London though, I like everything being a bit closer together and that feeling of being in a city with thriving action. It doesn’t have that vibe, it’s more of a laid-back, chilled-out thing. It doesn’t feel like a city really. It’s huge but it doesn’t have the feel of a major city. On whether there is a scene of big British bands in LA (Arctic Monkeys etc)… Matt: Yeah we see them around a lot. I see the Arctic boys sometimes. Dom: Yeah they hang out. They were at the party last month, well Alex was. There’s a great music scene there and obviously there’s tonnes of musicians. There’s still a great rock’n’roll scene there, like any big city. There’s still great venues, there’s wicked studios to work at there that still seem to be existing when so many of them are just closing down all over the world and particularly here in London. It’s obviously a huge city that so many bands and artists either start from or at least come through. It feels pretty thriving in the music world. Matt: The bigger question is why is all the tech world there? Why is the majority of the tech industry like all in Silicon Valley? Right on the edge of this plate where any minute it could all just be destroyed by an earthquake? It’s so strange. I think there’s something about being on the edge that actually attracts like risk-takers or something. I’ve been trying to think about it myself - like what is it about that region of the world that has so much creativity in it - both in the creative industries but also in the tech world. On where in the world they would like to work… Matt: I’ve always liked the idea of working in Tokyo actually yeah. I’ve always enjoyed being there. I actually contemplated it last year when we were planning to do a string session and we had a gig there in December and I thought “maybe we could do something out here” but I think that would be an interesting place to work because of the craziness of the city, the energy of it.

Kylie Minogue suffered a nervous breakdown after she split from ex-fiance Joshua Sasse. Australian singer Kylie opened up about the devastating split in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. The couple met in 2015, on the set of the U.S. TV show Galavant, and she confessed she was left "broken" following the break-up, which was reportedly caused by the 30-year-old actor's infidelity. “I just wanted to stop,” 49-year-old Kylie sighed. “I knew I needed to heal my... My physical system was compromised. I think it’s called a nervous breakdown. I just thought, ‘No, no, no, no.’" The Spinning Around hitmaker took herself off to Thailand for six days with two girlfriends to recuperate, and came to the conclusion that the relationship wasn't right. Spending her days on the beach and talking to her pals, she said the holiday was a chance to reclaim herself and get stronger. "I think I reacted pretty quickly. I can take a nose dive pretty fast, but I won’t stay there long. I’m too practical. I went through all the motions of ‘This is what people do,’” she explained. “And it wasn’t the right union. I’ve never been that woman, that girl who dreams of walking down the aisle. You dust yourself off and you go through that period of ‘Never again. Not going to do it.’" Proving she’s a real romantic at heart, the singer is optimistic about finding love again. “I love romance and I love to feel in love or be in love,” she smiled. “I probably will do it (find love again). What’s going to happen? Will it work? Probably won’t work. Might work. I’ll give it a try. All these questions! I don’t think it really matters what age you are (after a break-up), but at my age you do go, ‘What now?’" “Although I’m not that bothered right at the minute, I’m enjoying being... how can I say this? Being fully within myself.”

Lionel Richie has dismissed his daughter Sofia Richie's relationship with Scott Disick as "just a phase". The Grammy winning singer has previously expressed his dislike of the 19-year-old's choice of boyfriend, and joked in a new interview that Sofia is getting back at him by dating Kourtney Kardashian's ex. "She’s 19,” the 68-year-old told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. “When you’re 19 you know everything. Is it going to be for life? I don’t know. But for right now it’s just a phase and I’m going to stand real still in the corner, get me a good drink and not make too much noise. "Now I know what my parents meant when I came through the door with my Afro and my girlfriend and said ‘Dad, I’m in love’ and (he) looked at me and said ‘Okay, we’re going to leave you alone for a minute and you’ll figure it out'. “My daughter is getting me back for my Afro days!” When asked about 34-year-old reality star Scott, the veteran crooner only had nice things to say, revealing he found him to be a “very nice guy,” when they’d met. However, he admitted to not really knowing much about his daughter's love interest. “When you hang around the reality world, who knows what you are really doing?” Lionel explained. “This is a well-oiled machine, the Kardashian machine. I don’t really know what to think. I told Sofia I will have no opinion. I’ll continue to be my cheerful self and move on.” Sofia and Scott have been dating for nine months, and went public with their relationship in September (17). The Keeping Up with the Kardashian's star shares three children with ex-girlfriend Kourtney - sons Mason, eight, Reign, three, and daughter Penelope, five.

Singer Aaron Carter is pushing for legal change in Hollywood surrounding the management of child stars' money after mismanaging his own funds to the brink of bankruptcy. The I Want Candy hitmaker shot to fame at the age of 10, just a handful of years following his older brother Nick Carter's launch into superstardom in the '90s with the Backstreet Boys. Aaron had trouble managing his earnings from his years as a child star, having been forced to file for bankruptcy in 2013 and settle his tax debt with America's Internal Revenue Service the following year, and now the 30-year-old is trying to institute substantial change in his industry to prevent other young entertainers from suffering similar financial woes. "One of my things that I wanted to do and one of the things I'm still striving to do is to create a new law," he explained to Entertainment Tonight. "Paul Petersen (actor) created the 'Coogan Law' that puts 15 per cent of (a) kid's money into a block trust fund account before they turn 18, but there are some faults in that. "(Under the Coogan Law) you just turn 18 and you've got all of this money, like, what are you going to do? So, I really want to try to recreate a new law called the 'Carter Law' that makes kids have to go through business schoolings and they get their money through increments throughout a 10-year period after they turn 18, so that they actually learn to manage their own finances and they don't blow through it and they're like, 'Oh, I'm so grateful that 10 years later I had a third of my trust account still waiting for me after I learn more about life and experiences.'" Aaron, who just released Love, his first album in 15 years, on Friday (16Feb18), has faced a number of personal troubles in the past five years beyond his financial problems. The star was also arrested for driving under the influence last year (17), and he checked into rehab for an eating disorder shortly after the incident. Now that he has turned over a new leaf, he is concerned with leaving a positive legacy with the Carter Law. "I actually met with Paul Petersen, it was a while ago, but... it's going to be tough to do, but that's one of my goals and one of the things I want to leave as my legacy is that I went through certain experiences and then I created this law protecting kids from themselves essentially and from their lack of experience (sic)," he added.

Rapper Tyga has urged fans not to believe reports of his various legal and financial troubles, insisting "90 per cent" of the allegations are "fake". The Rack City hitmaker, real name Michael Nguyen-Stevenson, has repeatedly hit headlines over the years after being taken to court over a rent dispute with his former landlord and a jewellery debt, as well as reportedly having his leased luxury sports cars repossessed. In some cases, Tyga has had to pay up, but the hip-hop star is adamant the majority of "crazy" claims reported in the news are not even accurate. "I'd say 90 per cent of the stuff (lawsuit reports) is fake...," Tyga declared on Complex magazine's Everyday Struggle interview series. "I never got a car repo'd (repossessed) ever, I never ever been evicted, never (sic)..." Instead, the rapper believes he simply became an easy target because of his high-profile relationship with Kim Kardashian's half-sister Kylie Jenner. "I just feel like I was in the (spot) light a lot...," he said. "People were suing me because I was in the light and I was next to this famous family, so people were like, 'Well, f**k it, let me get at it (try and sue),' and I didn't have the proper team so people were taking advantage..." Tyga and Kylie split last spring (17), and now the 28-year-old insists the legal dramas have died down. "My life's always been the same, I'm just not in the media as much negative (sic)," he shared. "I'm not a target as much." As for the legitimate lawsuits, Tyga blames his lack of industry experience for how he handled the business side of his career. "Everything that has happened to me, media-wise, a lot of the stuff was old things that I was younger and I didn't have the proper team around me (sic)," he explained. "I didn't know that a criminal attorney, a litigation attorney, was different than having an entertainment lawyer, I just had one lawyer, so I assumed (they took care of everything)..."

Spain's paramilitary police, The Guardia Civil, has blocked 23 websites that were distributing pirate series and films. According to the law enforcement agency, the move is part of a major anti-piracy operation named Cascada that aims to combat illegal content distribution platforms which don't comply with Spain's copyright laws. The blocked sites, which include popular webs like Divxtotal, Estrenosdtl or Gamestorrents, are all managed from Argentina, but 80% of the traffic was based in Spain. "The managers of these websites used different methods to avoid the closure of the platforms, like hiding the real localisation of the servers or the domains' information," pointed out sources from the Guardia Civil. "They were able to reactivate blocked websites within few hours." According to the police body, the unit of online crimes has taken special measure to guarantee the total closure of the pirate platforms, the domains are blocked and the downloading links have been erased. The Cascada operation is not closed yet and the Guardia Civil has stated more raids can be expected during the week. The police operation has been deployed short after Spain's Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were ordered to block access to two main pirate sites following demands from major US films studios.

Do we know from where cord cutters are watching TV? What if the common belief that the losses in traditional pay TV subscribers are due to mainstream video streaming services is wrong? Or, that belief is an oversimplification of a complex problem? Not only is there an increase in video-streaming subscriptions for SVoD services like Netflix and “live streaming” services such as DirecTV Now, there is also an increase in subscriptions to illicit streaming services. Without the ongoing attempts via anti-piracy technology, copyright policy work and enforcement, the illicit services might be keeping the legitimate streaming services up at night along with their traditional pay TV cousins. Except for getting caught in the middle of a “take down” of the illicit service providers, some of the pirates give consumers what they want: – Abundant high-quality programming – Convenient access to individual programs/titles/networks – No ads – Low cost access to content New methods of operating a streamed content service can mirror the legitimate streaming business in a way that may give consumers the idea that they are using a legitimate service. These methods include direct internet marketing, acquisition and distribution of copyrighted works without customers’ explicit knowledge of their origins, and the use of standard internet tools and infrastructure to deliver the content. Last year, Dish Network won a case against Shenzhen Lool Tech that placed a spotlight on how closely the pirates’ services resemble legitimate services. The $1 million judgement and the injunction against Shenzhen Lool Tech effectively shut down its business. The complaint, however, illustrated the level of sophistication and use of internet services from legitimate companies.Lool built a direct connection to their clients by selling branded STBs for an IPTV service. The following is a summary from the complaint: The protected channels were retransmitted through a feature called “Live TV.” Lool captured live broadcast signals of protected channels, transcoded signals into a format for streaming over the internet and then uploaded and transferred the transcoded content to their servers. Delivery to the Loolbox was over P2P networks. (STB got the IP addresses of the peers and received the channel. The peers, however, are servers that belonged to Lool. Loolbox users then served as a peer and retransmitted that channel to other users who requested it.) Lool contracted with a hosting company, but when that hosting company received takedown notices and complied, Lool contracted with a different hosting company and continued doing business. Historically there has been a level of comfort for content owners licensed distributors. That comfort? Those who consume pirated content are willing to sacrifice the high quality and easy access for “free.” In addition, in the pre-internet streaming services days most piracy was transparent. In other words, those consuming the content knew they weren’t supposed to. But now, illicit streaming services look a lot like the legitimate ones. That similarity, along with the opaqueness of how these latest “services” function, aids users in rationalising their use even though many suspect that they aren’t legitimate. Hear no misdeed, see no misdeed, do no misdeed. The narrative that cord cutting is solely fueled by a switch from traditional pay TV services to legitimate pay streaming services is probably an oversimplification of this trend. It may only be a drop in the bucket of video viewership, but the evolutionary ease and opaqueness that characterizes today’s piracy threatens more than just the traditional pay TV business.

I think they will never open again for free registration.

With all the hard work you have done, we have already reached a stunning total of 40840 perfect FLAC uploads during this contest! Thank you to everyone who has contributed enormous amounts of time! We must also give a super special thank you, which goes out to the top four uploaders: greenxeyezz, BlueVelvet, adeadcrab and ravana, who have 4140, 3074, 2729 and 2455 perfect FLAC uploads, respectively. With 8 more days to go, we can easily reach the target of 50k perfect FLACs, and unlock the next reward! However, if all members would upload a few perfect FLACs each, we can absolutely destroy the target of 100k or even 200k perfect FLACs, and unlock a global freeleech!