Graham Linehan cleared of harassing trans activist but convicted of damaging phone

The Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has been cleared of harassing a transgender activist on social media but found guilty of criminal damage of their mobile phone outside a conference in London last year.The 57-year-old flew from Arizona to appear at Westminster magistrates court in person on Tuesday, where the judgment was delivered.Linehan denied harassing Sophia Brooks on social media between 11 and 27 October 2024, and a charge of criminal damage of their mobile phone on 19 October last year outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster.Judge Clarke fined Linehan £500 and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200. Linehan’s lawyer, Sarah Vine KC, asked that he be given 28 days to pay the full amount

Diaries, artworks and more to be auctioned from Marianne Faithfull’s personal belongings

Diaries and a gift from actor Carrie Fisher are among the personal items from Marianne Faithfull that are going up for auction in London.The musician died in January aged 78, leaving behind a cache of fascinating portraits, photographs and ephemera from a glamorous, sometimes troubled life. “Each piece tells a story and reflects her spirit and inimitable taste,” her son Nicholas Dunbar said. “It is time now for these belongings to find new homes and I hope that they will bring as much joy to their new owners as they did Marianne.”The diaries include one from 1959 when Faithfull was in her early teens, and a 1989 journal entitled Goals

Donald Glover reveals he had a stroke on Childish Gambino tour in 2024

Donald Glover, who performs under the name Childish Gambino, has revealed he had a stroke last year which forced him to cancel world tour dates.At the time the 42-year-old said he was dealing with an “ailment” after performing in New Orleans and had gone to a hospital in Houston, where he discovered he needed surgery. He subsequently postponed, then entirely cancelled the remainder of his US tour, as well as all of his UK, European and Australian dates, writing: “Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected.”While performing at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles on Saturday night, Glover told the audience that he’d had a stroke.“I was doing this world tour,” he said

‘He was just trying to earn a few kopecks’: how newly translated stories reveal Chekhov’s silly side

Few writers are as universally admired as Chekhov. As Booker winner George Saunders puts it, “Chekhov – shall I be blunt? – is the greatest short story writer who ever lived.” Novelists from Ann Patchett to Zadie Smith cite him as an inspiration. His plays The Seagull, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard still pack out theatres internationally. In the past year alone, Andrew Scott wowed audiences in his one-man Vanya for London’s National Theatre and Cate Blanchett took on the role of Arkadina in The Seagull at the Barbican

From Wicked: For Good to Stranger Things: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

Ariana Grande sparkles in the concluding part of the Wicked Witch tale, and the first batch of final episodes of the retro sci-fi juggernaut are unleashedWicked: For GoodOut nowWas the decision to split this Broadway musical big-screen adaptation into two parts motivated by art or money? Part two is here, so you can judge for yourself. The Wizard of Oz-inspired story picks up with defiant “Wicked Witch” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) living in exile, while Glinda (Ariana Grande) relishes her own popularity.The Thing With FeathersOut nowMax Porter’s novel Grief Is the Thing With Feathers gets the big-screen treatment, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as the dad who must raise his two young children alone after his wife dies unexpectedly. With David Thewlis as the voice of the crow who appears to him.The Ice TowerOut nowMarion Cotillard stars as a star: an actor called Cristina, who is playing the beautiful Snow Queen in a 1960s adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic that also inspired Frozen

From The Death of Bunny Munro to Wicked: For Good: the week in rave reviews

Matt Smith is the ultimate bad dad in a Nick Cave novel adaptation, and the Oz prequel musical reaches the end of the road. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviewsNow & SkySummed up in a sentence A bleakly tender adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel about a hugely troubling father-and-son road trip, featuring a brilliant turn from Matt Smith.What our reviewer said “As a study in masculinity, in men handing on misery to men, deepening like a south coastal shelf as Bunny and son drive towards doom, it is as timely – for all, alas, that the book was written over a decade ago – as it is illuminating.” Lucy ManganRead the full reviewFurther reading ‘Matt Smith is so hot it’s problematic’: inside the TV version of Nick Cave’s disturbing, sex-filled novelBBC iPlayerSummed up in a sentence The documentary exposé that rocked Denmark – a mob lawyer turns whistleblower and reveals a devastating trail of corruption.What our reviewer said “It would be an understatement to say that The Black Swan made an impact on Danish viewers