Month: December 2024

The supposed incident was alleged to have taken place when the two were filming Lawless, a 2021 film starring the two men.

Tension between the pair grew as the film went on, culminating in them apparently scrapping off-set.

Hardy himself claimed that he was ‘knocked out’, but it seems he was speaking in jest, as LaBeouf called these rumours ‘a bunch of bullshit’.

When asked by Hot Ones host Sean Evans, LaBeouf said: “We used to wrestle all the time and [Tom Hardy’s] a big fucking person, especially then.

“He was getting ready [to act in The Dark Knight Rises as] Bane.”

LaBeouf recounted how Hardy barged in after a gym session and the two began scrapping, saying: “We used to fuck with each other all the time but it just so happened that, this one week, my girlfriend was in town and he runs into the room.

“The girl I was with at the time was terrified.

The pair starred in Lawless together (Filmination Entertainment)

“She covered up and she ran into the kitchen and he picked me up and I didn’t have nothing on so now I’m naked on his shoulder. We’re in the hallway, we’re wrestling around.”

LaBeouf revealed that for ‘the rest of the shoot’, Hardy went around telling the crew and cast that the controversial Transformers star had knocked him out.

LaBeouf at the time of the interview was resurgent in Hollywood, widely praised for writing Honey Boy, what he claimed was an autobiographical look at his own life in which he played his abusive father.

He later revealed that the film’s portrayal of his father was ‘f*cking nonsense’, saying: “I turned the knob up on certain shit that wasn’t real. My dad never hit me, never”.

He went on to say, on Jon Bernthal’s podcast: “My dad was so loving to me my whole life.

Shia LaBeouf starred as a version of his father in his own story (Amazon MGM Studios)

“Fractured, sure. Crooked, sure. Wonky, for sure. But never was not loving, never was not there. He was always there… and I’d done a world press tour about how fucked he was as a man.”

The actor now finds himself in hot water legally for a separate issue, after ex-partner FKA Twigs has sued LaBeouf claiming ‘sexual battery, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence’.

Though LaBeouf faced a Hollywood exile after the allegations came to light, he recently ended this by starring in box office and critical flop Megalopolis.

Joining him in the cast was another ‘cancelled’ figure in Jon Voight, an outspoken Trump supporter who accused Joe Biden of ‘electoral fraud’.

Voight and LaBeouf (Gisela Schober via Getty Images)

Director Francis Ford Coppola said of hiring the pair for the movie: “What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers.

“The cast features people who were cancelled at one point or another. There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive.

“But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.”

LaBeouf has denied allegations of abuse from FKA Twigs.

According to the NHS, autism ‘does not mean you have an illness or disease’. Instead, it ‘means your brain works in a different way from other people.’

The health service explains that autism ‘is a spectrum’, meaning that ‘everybody with autism is different’.

That being said, psychologist Dr Kim Sage has taken to her TikTok page (@drkimsage) to share the various ‘stims’ people with autism might have.

What is stimming?

The NHS states that stimming ‘is a kind of repetitive behaviour’ and ‘common stimming behaviours include: rocking, jumping, spinning, head-banging.’

“Mostly everyone stims and doing these does not make you autistic – but among autistics stimming can be very calming and regulating and quite common,” Dr Sage explained in her caption.

Examples of stimming

Being autistic means ‘your brain works in a different way from other people’ (TikTok/@drkimsage)

In her video, Dr Sage shared her eight common traits of stimming:

1) Hair twirling, playing with hair

2) Playing with jewellery

3) Twirling with blanket

4) Playing with pen caps

5) Nail biting/skin picking

6) Mouth sounds

7) Nail tapping

8) Repeating dances, songs, lyrics, trending sounds/videos

Why stimming is ‘usually harmless’

The UK health service says that although stimming ‘may look odd to others’, it’s ‘usually harmless.’

“You should not try to stop it if it’s not causing any harm to you or your child,” they added.

When to speak to a GP

The NHS says that you should consider speaking to the autism care team to a GP if your child is ‘stimming all the time or having lots of meltdowns, being bullied at school because of their behaviour, or being aggressive, harming themselves or harming other people.’

How many people in the UK have autism?

The National Autistic Society writes: “Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.

“More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.”

Alan Gardner, known for starring in Channel 4 documentary series The Autistic Gardener, previously opened up about what it’s like to live with autism.

“Autistic brains are wired different to neurotypicals. For some of us, a whisper is the same volume as a scream. I see every little nook, cranny, every little spider running through the grass. I miss very little,” he told Home Care.

“People with Autism are the most talented, skilful people, who all have an interest in doing something. Some people could be obsessed with one thing or change each week, their special interest could be good or bad and could be an obsession that takes hold.”

With a reported £79,600,000 budget, Beast Games is the YouTuber’s first ever game show on Amazon with ‘the largest cash prize in TV history’ up for grabs.

1,000 contestants battle it out for £3,980,000, as MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – also promises to give ‘away a private island, Lamborghinis, and millions more in cash throughout the competition’.

The 26-year-old spent £11,950,000 million to build ‘Beast City’, in Toronto, Canada, with only the top 493 contestants being able to compete there.

Throughout the series, contestants are faced with all sorts of challenges, such as ‘bribes’. And if they accept, they risk eliminating the whole group they are in.

In the second episode, for instance, four captains are chosen from each team and each captain was offered the chance to win $1 million, eliminating their whole group in the process. None of the captains budged.

Beast Games is the YouTuber’s first ever gameshow on Amazon with ‘the largest cash prize in TV history’ up for grabs (YouTube/MrBeast 2)

In episode three, it gets crazier as teams of three were placed into big red cubicles and had five hours to decide who they would be eliminating.

Long story short, the rules are absolutely brutal, and BeastGames currently trends at number two in the UK.

“My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can succeed on other platforms,” MrBeast, the host and executive producer, told Amazon.

“Amazon gave me the creative control I need to try and make it happen. I hope to make the YouTube community proud.”

Over on Rotten Tomatoes though, the critics have given it an underwhelming 17 percent.

1,000 contestants battle it out for a $5,000,000 reward (YouTube/MrBeast 2)

Stuart Heritage of the Guardian wrote: “True, there is something weirdly compelling about Beast Games, but it is compelling in the same way that picking a scab is. It exists solely to show us the worst of the human condition, as obnoxiously as possible.”

“I just watched Beast Games episode 1 & I literally feel sick to my stomach,” a second said.

Meanwhile, ordinary viewers have given it a very generous 74 percent, at the time of writing.

“It does make human beings seem selfish and violently obsessed with money But it’s good TV… and I’m sad to admit that I myself enjoyed it,” one penned.

Another added: “I watched the first two episodes of Beast Games and I gotta say; we live in a blessed timeline. This is literally the largest game show/psychological experiment ever mustered in human history and no one else could have put it together but Mr Beast. VERY hype to see how it ends.”

Before the show came out on 19 December people working on the set accused the production of ‘inhumane’ conditions and insufficient wages.

Last month, MrBeast said the allegations were ‘blown out of proportion’.

This will be recommended in part by the prime minister, as well as by senior government ministers and members of the public.

While for many Brits this is the ultimate achievement, for others it is very much the opposite.

Various celebrities have turned down royal family honours for a multitude of reasons, ranging from political to personal.

Here is a full list of all the celebrities who have turned down the honours:

John Lennon and George Harrison

Lennon and Harrison (Bettmann via Getty Images)

I can confirm that, while both Lennon and Harrison returned or refused honours, neither of them uttered the words ‘scouse not English’.

All four of the Beatles were given MBEs in 1965, which Lennon sent back four years later. He did so due to the country’s foreign policy, with the message “Your Majesty, I am returning this in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon of Bag”.

Harrison meanwhile was offered an OBE in 2000, three years after Paul McCartney gained a forename and became a knight.

This was apparently why Harrison turned down his OBE, with his friend Roy Connolly saying: “Whoever it was who decided to offer him the OBE and not the knighthood was extraordinarily insensitive.

“George would have felt insulted – and with very good reason”.

David Bowie

David Bowie died in 2016 (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The late great popstar turned down honours on multiple occasions.

In 2000 Bowie was offered a CBE, and in 2003 was offered to become Sir David Bowie.

He said when asked about rejecting both: “I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don’t know what it’s for. It’s not what I spent my life working for.”

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders

The pair turned down honours (Tim Roney via Getty Images)

In 2001 the iconic comedic duo turned down an OBE for ‘services to comedy’ and didn’t speak about why.

Later, in an interview with Source Magazine, Jennifer Saunders said: “If I felt I deserved a damehood I’d accept it.

“At the time we felt that we were being paid very well to have a lot of fun. It didn’t seem right somehow. We didn’t deserve a pat on the back.

“It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes.”

Benjamin Zephaniah

Zephaniah died in 2023 (C Brandon via Getty Images)

While many turn down the idea of a Knighthood or honours of some kind due to feeling they don’t deserve it, some either turn it down or give it back due to what it represents.

The legendary poet who died last year said he rejected an OBE in 2003.

In an article he wrote for The Guardian, he said: “Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word “empire”; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”

He went on to add: “I am not one of those who are obsessed with their roots, and I’m certainly not suffering from a crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people.

“Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire”.

Michael Sheen

Sheen later returned his honours (WPA Pool via Getty Images)

Zephaniah is not the only person to turn down or return honours due to the history of the British empire.

Michael Sheen accepted an OBE in 2009, but returned it in 2017.

Sheen was set to give a lecture for the Raymond Williams Society Lecture which focused heavily on the ‘tortured history’ between England and Wales.

Within this he spoke about the title ‘Prince of Wales’, one given to the English monarch to their son, calling for it to be ‘no longer held as it has before’.

He returned it, saying in an interview with Owen Jones: “By the time I’d finished writing that lecture, I remember sitting there going: ‘Well, I have a choice. I either don’t give this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back’”.

Several others have either rejected or returned their royal honours, including:

– Roald Dahl

– Nigella Lawson

– Stephen Hawking

– Paul Weller

– Danny Boyle

– Joseph Conrad

– Bernie Ecclestone

– C.S. Lewis

– Helen Mirren (declined in 1996, accepted a damehood in 2003)

– Jim Broadbent

– Jon Snow

Abby and Brittany Hensel are dicephalic parapargus twins – they have two spearate heads and they’re joined at the torso.

The pair have been very open about their lives as conjoined twins, whether it be becoming teachers or their relationships.

And a simulation video has since scientifically broken down how their anatomies work.

Revealing an animated version of the twins, the video comments they have a ‘remarkable blend of shared and individual organs and tissues’ but the twins ‘each have their own distinct upper-body systems’.

Abby and Brittany have two heads, two brains, two spinal chords, and two hearts, which are part of a shared circulatory system.

The video explains: “Each heart pumps blood through the same system, meaning the actions of one can directly affect the other. Despite sharing blood circulation, their individual brains and spinal chords function independently from each other, coordinating movements for their respective sides of the body. “

Abby and Brittany each control the arm on their respective side – Abby the right and Brittany the left. And it’s the same for the twins’ legs too.

But even with this ‘division,’ the pair’s ‘movements are highly coordinated’.

For holding objects – i.e. an activity which requires both arms – the pair rely on ‘constant cooperation and communication’.

“They are able to perform these tasks smoothly thanks to the remarkable synchronization between their two brains and nervous systems,” the video continues. “Their skeletal systems including two separate spines joined at the pelvis, maintaining their independent neurological functions.

“Each twin also has two lungs, making for a total of four. While their medial lungs are fused to some degree, the outer lungs operate independently.”

Certain elements of the pair’s anatomies work together and others separately (YouTube/ Hashem Al-Ghaili)

When it comes to the pair’s stomachs, they each have their own, allowing them to digest food separately and their ‘sense of hunger or satiety is unique to each twin’ too as the brains controlling the stomachs are independent too.

Abby and Brittany each have their own oesophagus leading to their respective stomachs too, their ‘digestive systems functioning independently in the upper body’.

However, while they both control their own sides of the body, they experience stomach pain differently, with the ‘discomfort felt on the opposite side of the shared body’.

“The twins share one liver, though it is slightly elongated and enlarged to meet the needs of both bodies,” the video explains. “They have a single small intestine which splits into two spastic peristalsis patterns to accommodate their dual physiology.”

They also share one large intestine, one bladder and one set of reproductive organs – their lower pelvis having to be ‘slightly broader than average’ in order to accommodate them both.

And when it comes to kidneys, the twins have three – Abby with one on her side and Brittany two.

Their gall bladders are also individual – a total of two.

When it comes to the pair’s skeletal system, they share one ribcage, but it’s ‘widened and contains traces of fused and separate ribs to support both upper bodies’.

“The surgical removal of the rudimentary third arm at birth left behind an additional shoulder blade.”

The video resolves: “[Abby and Brittany’s] story remains a testament to the adaptability of the human body and the resilience of the human spirit.”

And as one Reddit user resolved: “This video was surprisingly very good and informative without being overdone or disrespectful to the two women.”

The National Cancer Institute states that cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide, with almost 20 million new cases being diagnosed in 2022 alone.

Some of the most common cancers worldwide include breast, lung and colonial, while other forms such as merkel cell carcinoma – a type of skin cancer – and gallbladder cancer are considered rare.

Another form of uncommon cancer is that of the mouth. Mouth Cancer Foundation states that oral cancer affects 650,000 people per year, with an increasing number of women being diagnosed with the disease.

One woman who was told she was suffering from mouth cancer in February 2003 was Clare Jones.

When she was just 19, the Loughborough University student allegedly noticed a white ulcer situated between her tongue and gum.

After nine months of appointments with both doctors and dentists, Clare was diagnosed with mouth cancer—a moment her mother Pat, 71, has recalled as ‘world-stopping’.

“It was terrible, our world stopped,” Pat told The Sun. “She was so brave and never complained once. But no clear cause was given for the cancer.”

Following the teenager’s diagnosis, she initially underwent two surgeries. The first was to remove part of her tongue, and the second was to remove half of it.

The secondary surgery lasted for ten hours and included reconstruction with skin, blood and nerves from her arm, as per the publication.

In June 2005, Clare graduated from school with a degree in Information Management and Business Studies, earning her a job within the NHS Trust.

However, within 12 months, the woman had been diagnosed with secondary bone cancer.

Despite undergoing another operation and finishing rounds of radio and chemotherapy treatments, an MRI scan in 2007 found that there had been no change in the size of her cancer, which had spread to her brain.

Four years after her first diagnosis of mouth cancer, Claire died surrounded by her family at the age of 23.

Pat has since described her daughter as ‘amazing’, before stating her family ‘hadn’t heard’ of mouth cancers before Clare’s diagnosis.

“We’re pleased to see more dentists are looking for signs of mouth cancer at routine check-ups than we noticed when Clare was diagnosed,” she continued.

“All health professionals should be more vigilant, especially in young adults.

“Also, if in doubt, get checked out.”

Clare’s mom Pat has called for health professionals to be more ‘more vigilant’ (Mouth Cancer Foundation)

What are the symptoms of mouth cancer?

Macmillan Cancer Support states that the ulcer Clare developed is one of the most common symptoms of oral cancer.

Areas that may be affected include the inside of the cheeks, the roof of the mouth, lips, gums, and the tongue.

If the sore doesn’t heal in three weeks, you are advised to seek out medical advice from your GP.

Other symptoms of oral cancer include a lump thickening in the mouth or on the lip, bleeding from the mouth, bad breath, and a lump in the neck.

Red or white patches that do not go away can also be an early sign of cancer, as well as difficulty chewing, swallowing or speaking.

Alistair Fry, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Cromwell Hospital in London claims that mouth cancer diagnosis can sometimes come too late due to patients ‘incorrectly attributing problems in the mouth to dental infections’.

“It’s important to get checked if you have a lump, ulcer or patch in the mouth that lasts longer than two weeks,” he stated to The Sun. “Early diagnosis is crucial.”

When it comes to famous soothsayers, French astrologer Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, and Bulgarian healer Baba Vanga – born Vangeliya Pandeva Surcheva – are often the first names that spring to mind.

Despite the pair being born 470 years apart, they have both predicted some of the biggest events to ever happen in modern history.

Of course, many naysayers don’t take stock of Nostradamus and Vanga’s mysterious knack for foretelling the future – instead, they’ll put their predictions down to coincidences.

However, thousands of people are expected to ring in the new year by checking up on what the curious duo said would take place—and 2025 is no different.

If you dive deep into what both Nostradamus and Vanga have reportedly said, it turns out that both future tellers made similar prophecies involving conflict in Europe.

What did Nostradamus say would happen in 2025?

Despite dying more than 450 years ago, Nostradamus seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Prior to his death in 1566, he penned a collection of 94 poetic statements and published them in his 1555 book, Les Prophéties.

Not only did he accurately predict that his friend and former monarch, King Henry II, would die at 40 at the hands of a ‘young lion’, but he also supposedly predicted Hitler’s 1930 rise to power and the assassination of JFK.

It turns out he also had a couple of predictions up his sleeve for 2025.

For this year, the physician claimed that an ‘ancient plague’ could descend upon Europe and that Britain would be ruined by conflict, writing: “When those from the lands of Europe, see England set up her throne behind, her flanks, there will be cruel wars. The ancient plague will be worse than enemies.”

A further line reads: “A great pestilence from the past returns, no enemy more deadly under the skies,” as per Metro.

Fans of the famed prophet also believe his lines ‘The Cock will see the Eagle, its wing poorly finished/by the Lion will it be put into extremity’ could have something to do with the English Premier League.

Sky History writes that Crystal Palace, whose nickname is the Eagles, could be taken advantage of by Tottenham Hotspur, whose crest features a cockerel.

Nostradamus also went on to predict that 2025 would see a ‘decrease in the influence of established Western countries’, with an ‘emergence of new world powers’ as soldiers become ‘exhausted’ by attritional warfare.

What did Baba Vanga say would happen in 2025?

Baba Vanga has made a similar prediction to Nostradamus (Facebook)

Born in 1911, Vanga lost her eyesight in childhood and later became famed for her plethora of prophetic visions.

Some of her most renowned predictions include the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales, and a number of extreme weather events that rocked the world in 2022.

Much like the French mystic, the Vanga has allegedly claimed that war would engulf Europe in 2025. She even went as far as to say: “Russia will not only survive, it will dominate the world.”

The mystic also said that a huge proportion of the continent would be ‘devastated’ by conflict.

Baba Vanga has also predicted that Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton will clinch an 8th World Championship during the 2025 motorsport season and that aliens will make contact with the planet during a major sporting event.

Outside the realm of athletic achievement, Vanga claims that major scientific advancement is on the horizon and that a powerful country would use a biological weapon in 2024.