Arts & Entertainment

Prosecutors said a New Year’s Day fire that killed 40 people was likely started by champagne sparklers igniting soundproofing foam, and Crans-Montana’s mayor said the Le Constellation bar had not had a fire safety inspection since 2019.

A Financial Times report says immigration lawyers are increasingly using social-media metrics to support O-1B visa petitions for influencers and OnlyFans creators, who now comprise a large share of some firms' clients; traditional visual and experimental artists report more difficulty meeting the visa's evidentiary rules.

Former shot-put athlete Khayla Dawson is accused of killing her Uber driver in an October incident and pleaded not guilty; a judge ruled there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Comedian Michael Rapaport announced plans to run for New York City mayor and has publicly criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani on his podcast and social media.

Paris Jackson marked six years sober and wrote that quitting heroin and alcohol did not end her struggles, saying she faced difficult years and continues to live with complex mental health conditions.

Guillermo del Toro told attendees at a Palm Springs festival brunch that calling art unimportant is "always the prelude to fascism." He has also spoken out against generative-AI and praised the human teamwork behind his film.

Marvel has officially released the X‑Men teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, showing Patrick Stewart's Professor X, Ian McKellen's Magneto, and James Marsden's Cyclops in scenes set at the X‑Mansion.

Netflix and WWE have expanded their partnership into a non-exclusive deal that makes Netflix the U.S. home for WWE's library, including premium live events from before September 2025; Season 2 of the documentary series WWE: Unreal is set to premiere on January 20.

Dexter Keaton posted photos showing tattoos she and her brother had inked in honor of their late mother on what would have been Diane Keaton’s 80th birthday; Sarah Paulson also shared a tattoo with Diane’s initials and posted a tribute.

A private funeral for journalist Tatiana Schlossberg was held in Manhattan; she died Dec. 30 at age 35 and members of the Kennedy family attended.

Buckley won the Critics Choice best actress award for Hamnet, and the film opens in UK and Irish cinemas on 9 January 2026.

Sophie Turner told The Direct she was pleased with how Sansa Stark's story ended and said many of her former co-stars were not; she added she would need to see a script before considering a return.

A man filed a civil lawsuit accusing Donnie McClurkin of years of sexual abuse; McClurkin's lawyer says the allegations are categorically false.

Officials said Le Constellation in Crans‑Montana had no fire alarm and had not been inspected for five years; owners are under criminal investigation and the municipality will commission external inspections.

Ben Cohen revealed on Celebrity SAS that his 17-year-old daughter is being fitted with a pacemaker and described the last 18 months as "horrendous".

At the Jan. 4 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, One Battle After Another won best picture while Sinners and Frankenstein each earned four trophies; Timothée Chalamet and Jessie Buckley won best actor and best actress.

The Critics Choice Awards ceremony took place January 4 in Santa Monica, hosted by Chelsea Handler, and the article presents lists of entries across TV categories. The piece notes that Yahoo used AI to generate takeaways and that reporting errors are possible.

Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check, hosted by Jeff Mauro and Tiffany Derry, premiered on Jan. 4 as the show's first season following Anne Burrell’s death in June. The season features celebrity contestants and will stream on HBO Max the day after its Food Network broadcast.

A three-generation American family attended Shen Yun's Jan. 3 matinee in San Francisco and praised the show's presentation of traditional Chinese culture and storytelling.

Josh Charles and showrunner Liz Tuccillo discussed the Best Medicine premiere, which follows Dr. Martin Best returning to Port Wenn and revealing a blood phobia after freezing in an operating room. The episode ends with Martin deciding to stay in town and sets up Louisa and Mark's breakup and other relationships.

Carlton Cruse said clips from season two of Jack Ryan trended after U.S. strikes on Venezuela, and he described the 2019 storyline as plausible fiction grounded in real geopolitical dynamics.

The 31st Critics Choice Awards were held on Jan. 4, 2026 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, hosted by Chelsea Handler; Ryan Coogler’s Sinners led film nominations with 17 while Adolescence led TV with six.

Miley Cyrus attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards with her mother, Tish Cyrus-Purcell, on January 3, 2026, and the pair wore near-matching black suits. Cyrus received the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award for her end-credits song "Dream As One" from Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Sony Music will release the Stranger Things Season 5 soundtrack on Jan. 30 on four physical formats — a yellow marble LP, standard LP, cassette and CD — and the collection features 13 tracks, including Michael Jackson's "Rockin' Robin" and Iron Maiden's "The Trooper."

At a Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve event, President Donald Trump auctioned a painting of Jesus Christ that sold for $2.75 million. The article reports the proceeds are earmarked for St. Jude's Hospital and the local sheriff's office.

Eva Schloss, who survived Auschwitz and co-founded the Anne Frank Trust UK, died in London aged 96, the charity announced. UK King Charles paid tribute to her decades of work in Holocaust education.

David Bowie died in New York ten years ago and his final album 'Blackstar' topped the Billboard album chart; a new book argues his later work deserves renewed attention.

Billy Joel made a surprise New Year performance in Wellington, Florida, his first public appearance since canceling shows after a normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis in May.

Anthony Joshua posted an Instagram photo after a car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his team members; the driver has been charged and faced a court hearing.

Former WWE performer Hornswoggle said on the podcast "Velvet Ropes" that John Cena's WWE retirement is resonating deeply across the wrestling community and called Cena "the greatest human ever," while Cena's final match on WWE Saturday Night's Main Event ended with GUNTHER defeating him.