Singer Katy Perry earned US$135 million (Dh495.8m) in the past year to become the world's top-grossing musician. Forbes magazine said that 30-year-old Perry, who is on a 150-date world tour to promote her album Prism, narrowly edged out One Direction for the year ending June 1. The British boy band, whose future and image were thrown into doubt in March when member Zayn Malik quit the group, grossed $130m. They were followed by country singer Garth Brooks, on $90m, then singer Taylor Swift on $80m. For its list, Forbes looks at earnings during the year, not total income. Therefore Beyoncé – the highest-paid of all celebrities on last year's list – slipped to 29th because her tour ended in March last year. Similarly, In October Swift released 1989, the fastest-selling US album in 13 years, but did not begin her latest tour until May, near the end of the period analysed by Forbes. Perry was the third highest-earning celebrity overall, behind boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao who fought in a much-hyped boxing match in May in Las Vegas. – AFP
Redford calls on UN to act on climate change
Veteran Hollywood actor Robert Redford visited the United Nations on Monday to call for action on climate change, saying he was appearing not as an actor but as an environmental advocate, father, grandfather and concerned citizen. The 78-year-old Oscar winner said his environmental activism began more than 40 years ago and has grown stronger as he has watched the threat posed by global warming grow. He told a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on climate change that “the time for half measures and climate denial is over”. He added: “It is the overwhelming judgment of science that climate change is real – and the result of human activity. Everywhere we look, moderate weather is going extinct.” The mission of the 193 UN member countries, he said, “is as simple as it is daunting: save the world before it’s too late”. He urged world leaders to adopt a universal climate agreement in Paris in December to keep global warming from rising to dangerous levels. “Nothing less than the fate of our planet will hang in the balance,” he said. – AP
Welcome Back out in UAE on September 3
Actors Anil Kapoor and John Abraham have revealed that their new film, Welcome Back, which was partly shot in UAE, will be released in the UAE on September 3, and in India on September 4. Abraham wrote on Twitter yestesterday: "Welcome Back releases 4th September! Watch this space for more." Welcome Back is the sequel to 2007's Welcome. Kapoor, who also starred in the first film, wrote: "We're all set to tickle your funny bones on the 4th of September. Get set for hilarity with #WelcomeBack." Directed by Anees Bazmee, the film also stars Shruti Haasan and Nana Patekar. – IANS
Trump ditched by NBC over Mexico remarks
NBC said on Monday that it was ending its business relationship with business mogul and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump because of comments he made about Mexican immigrants during the announcement of his campaign. The network said it would no longer air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Miss USA has been on NBC since 2003, and this year's edition was due to be broadcast on July 12. "At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values," NBC said. Trump responded that NBC was "weak" and he is considering legal action. Later on Monday, Mexican media giant Televisa also said it would no longer air the Miss Universe pageant and won't do business with Trump on any other projects. Televisa, one of the world's largest TV groups, said Trump's "disrespectful" remarks offended the entire Mexican population, and that it "strongly rejects all forms of discrimination, racism and xenophobia". It comes less than a week after Univision similarly ditched Trump and the pageants. Trump was also the star of NBC's reality-TV contest The Apprentice and its celebrity spin-off but had agree to quit the former before the current controversy. The network said it was exploring ways to continue Celebrity Apprentice without him. During his presidential campaign launch, Trump said Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists and some, I assume, are good people". He called for a wall to be built along the southern border of the United States. A petition urging the same thing on the Change.org website gathered more than 218,000 signatures. – AP
Trespasser wants Taylor Swift to testify for him
A man charged with trespassing at Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island mansion wants the singer to testify on his behalf. Nicholas Field, 24, was arrested on April 14 and charged with wilful trespassing at Swift’s beachfront home. Field appeared in court on Friday and said he wants Swift to be served with a subpoena to appear in court on his behalf. Police say surveillance video shows Field going up to the gate at Swift’s property to deliver a letter and poem. They say he was manipulating the gate when he was arrested. The next hearing is on July 10. – AP
Veteran comedian Jack Carter dies at 93
Jack Carter, whose brash, caustic comedy made him a star in the early days of television and helped him sustain a career that lasted more than 50 years in TV, nightclubs, movies and on stage, died of respiratory failure on Sunday, four days after his 93rd birthday. In 1948, when US network television was just beginning, Carter starred in a series of variety shows on ABC. In 1950, he appeared in The Jack Carter Show, which opened with a standup routine that poked fun at the day's news, a device late-night comics use to this day. The show, which also featured music and comedy skits, was cancelled after one season. Carter was a popular TV guest star but never again headlined his own series. The comedian, who started out as a dramatic stage actor, returned to the theatre from time to time, performed regularly in nightclubs and appeared in nearly three dozen movies, including Elvis Presley's Viva Las Vegas, in which he played himself –AP
Rodgers and Hammerstein biography due in 2018
A biography of Rodgers and Hammerstein, written with the cooperation of the late Broadway team's publishing arm, will be published in 2018. Henry Holt and Company said that Todd S Purdum's book, Rodgers and Hammerstein, also will draw upon materials recently made available at the Library of Congress. The book's release is timed for the 75th anniversary of Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's first collaboration, Oklahoma! Their other musicals included The Sound of Music and South Pacific." Purdum is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a senior writer at Politico. – AP
