Latest news with #CurrentAffairs
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lorde receives backlash for referencing Pamela Anderson sex tape on 'Current Affairs'
Lorde anticipated she would ruffle some feathers with her provocative new album, and her musical forecast was spot-on. The New Zealand singer-songwriter, born Ella Yelich-O'Connor, has sparked backlash online for the song "Current Affairs," which is featured on her fourth album "Virgin." The 11-track LP, released June 27, marks the alternative pop singer's return to the music scene after 2021's "Solar Power." The nearly three-and-a-half-minute track is drawing controversy for Lorde's reference to the 1996 sex tape of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and actress Pamela Anderson: "All alone in my room / Watching the tape of their honeymoon / On the boat, it was pure and true / Then the film came out." The Grammy-winning songstress, 28, opened up about her experience of watching the intimate video in a May interview with Rolling Stone, revealing she watched the tape following a psychedelic therapy session. "I found it to be so beautiful," Lorde told the outlet, though she acknowledged the possible inappropriateness of watching. "I saw two people that were so in love with each other, and there was this purity. They were jumping off this big boat. ... They were like children. They were so free. And I just was like, 'Whoa. Being this free comes with danger.'" Anderson and Lee's sex tape, which was stored inside a safe, was stolen by disgruntled electrician Rand Gauthier from the couple's Malibu home. Anderson previously said she and Lee were offered $5 million for the video from Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, and after the pair declined the offer, the tape was released publicly. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Anderson, Lee and Lorde for comment. Lorde stirs controversy on 'Virgin': Singer's racy vinyl artwork divides fans with NSFW image Lorde's bold lyric about Anderson and Lee's sex tape scandal earned criticism from fans, who claimed the pop culture reference was in bad taste. "It wasn't enough to mention watching the illegal revenge porn tape in this interview," X user @dreamsandprose wrote, referencing the singer's Rolling Stone profile. "Lorde had to go and add it as the lyrics to current affairs as well." One Reddit user said the lyric "almost ruins the entire album for me," adding: "It's so deeply narcissistic and ignorant for Lorde to try and relate a deeply traumatic event in Pamela's life to her own experience." But some listeners offered a softer stance on the Anderson-Lee shout-out. Another Reddit user argued that the lyric acknowledges the sex tape's unauthorized release was "a violation of their lives and tainted their love." "Sometimes people do wrong things. Instead of dismissing them as you do, we should consider their intentions and critique them within reason," the user continued. "The line does work even if it's a very wrong thing to say, but that's the price of unfiltered expression." Lorde touts 'MDMA therapy': What is it? Anderson opened up about the emotional impact her stolen sex tape had on her life in her 2023 Netflix documentary "Pamela, a Love Story" and memoir "Love, Pamela." While discussing the release of Hulu's limited series "Pam & Tommy," a biopic dramatization of Anderson and Lee's tape scandal, the "Baywatch" alum remained adamant that she did not want to revisit the dark chapter in her life. "I blocked that out of my life," Anderson said in the film. "It was a survival mechanism, and now that it's all coming up again, I feel sick. Basically, you are just a thing owned by the world, like you belong to the world." In a January interview with USA TODAY, Anderson further reflected on the series and shared that she had no interest in addressing the sex tape in a film or TV series portrayal of her own. "I was pretty shocked that people could do something about you without your knowledge or blessing," she said. "The last few decades were very dark for me. I wrote a lot of poetry and did a lot of writing, but I wasn't happy. I was confused and trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing," Anderson continued. "Somehow it all worked out, but that's not something I like to relive. It happened, and I'm stronger for it now, I guess." Lorde's "Current Affairs" lyric isn't the only controversy from her latest album, "Virgin." The sexually provocative artwork for the album's vinyl edition drew scrutiny from fans on social media. One of the images from the artwork reportedly includes a nude shot of Lorde, with the photo showing the crotch of an individual wearing see-through pants. A representative for Lorde confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the singer is the individual featured in the photo. USA TODAY reached out to Lorde's representatives for comment. 10 bingeable memoirs to check out: Celebrities tell all about aging, marriage and Beyoncé In her Rolling Stone interview, Lorde reflected on the "vulnerable" and "messy" nature of "Virgin" and the impact the album could have on her public image. "There's going to be a lot of people who don't think I'm a good girl anymore, a good woman. It's over," Lorde told the outlet. "It will be over for a lot of people, and then for some people, I will have arrived. I'll be where they always hoped I'd be." Contributing: Erin Jensen and Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lorde receives backlash for Pamela Anderson reference on new album
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pamela Anderson Reportedly 'Hates' When People Talk About Her Sex Tape As Singer Lorde Shows 'Creepy' Interest In It
Pamela Anderson is choosing not to pay attention to Lorde's continuous mention of her sex tape, but would reportedly love for the whole thing to stop. The Grammy-winning singer admitted that she watched Anderson's sex tape with her ex-husband Tommy Lee, and went on to reference the steamy encounter in her new song. However, Anderson seemingly handed the singer the "ultimate insult" as she is unaware of who Lorde is in the first place. Pamela Anderson recently opened up about the "wild ride" she experienced after posing for Playboy Magazine for the first time during what she calls "the blurry years." Singer Lorde seems to be fascinated with Pamela Anderson's sex life, so much so that she dug up the "Baywatch" alum's leaked sex tape with ex-husband Tommy Lee. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the "Royals" hitmaker, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor, disclosed that she watched Anderson and Lee's leaked 1995 sex tape after a psychedelic therapy session, describing it as "beautiful" and filled with "purity." "I found it to be so beautiful," Lorde admitted. "And maybe it's f-cked up that I watched it, but I saw two people that were so in love with each other, and there was this purity." "They were jumping off this big boat.… They were like children. They were so free. And I just was like, 'Whoa. Being this free comes with danger,'" she added. As if that wasn't enough, Lorde referenced the sex tape on her new song "Current Affairs" from her newly released album "Virgin," when she sings: "All alone in my room / Watching the tape of their honeymoon / On the boat, it was pure and true / Then the film came out." The singer has faced fiery backlash online, with some netizens calling her comments insensitive and tone-deaf. Meanwhile, Anderson has chosen to be the bigger person and ignore Lorde's remarks, but she wouldn't want it to continue. The 58-year-old pop star has been open about how she suffered deep humiliation and pain from the unauthorized release of the tape and would prefer that it never be mentioned again. An insider who spoke to the Daily Mail said that Anderson "hates when the sex tape creeps back into pop culture, whether it was the 'Pam and Tommy' show, or whenever people start talking about it or when she has had to talk about it." However, with Lorde's "creepy" fascination and continuous mention of the clip, one would expect the actress to be seething with rage, but that's not the case, as Anderson "doesn't know" Lorde. Revealing how Anderson really feels about the references, the source explained that the video "changed her life forever and a lot of bad came from it that she doesn't like remembering or thinking about." "She's not mad at Lorde, because she doesn't know who she is, but she would rather not have this out there," the source shared. "It is just a headache to deal with when she just wants to live her life." The insider continued, "It is painful that she always has to relive that moment in her life." Anderson and Lee got married in 1995 before separating in 1998 and welcomed two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee. The pair recorded a sex tape and kept it safe, but it was later stolen by Rand Gauthier, an electrician who worked on their house. According to the Daily Mail, Lee refused to pay Gauthier for a job he did, leading him to steal a massive safe from their garage, which included the sex tape. It was later obtained by Seth Warshavsky, who tried to broker a distribution agreement with Anderson and Lee. Sales of the video are said to have generated hundreds of millions of dollars, but Anderson and Lee reportedly didn't receive any of the proceeds. In a judgment against Warshavsky, a judge ruled that each of them was to be awarded $740,000, but he reportedly never paid either star. Anderson has managed to overhaul her career and remains very much active in Hollywood, starring in a number of new films. She received rave reviews after taking on a more serious role in "The Last Showgirl" and would soon appear in the upcoming thriller "Naked Gun," where she stars alongside Liam Neeson. "She has been on a recent high in her career and has steered clear from her past and is looking to age gracefully, do more important work, more fun work, and show off her talent," the source told the news outlet. Part of Anderson's rebranding has been her decision to go makeup-free. The actress is now known for her toned-down glamour while walking red carpets. According to the insider, Anderson wants people to focus on her current accomplishments and forget about "Baywatch and her sex tape past." In an interview with Harper's Bazaar U.K., she opened up about the "wild ride" she experienced after shooting to fame posing for Playboy Magazine during what she called "the blurry years." "I went straight to the Playboy Mansion, I met all these people, and then, you know, life just kept going," Anderson said. "I call them the blurry years. I just went on this crazy, wild ride that I had no control over."
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Why Did Lorde Reference Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in 'Current Affairs'?
Lorde's highly anticipated fourth album, Virgin, is finally here to soundtrack our summer. Along with praise from critics and longtime fans, the Grammy winner's latest record has faced some backlash for one of the references she laced into the project. On the sixth track, 'Current Affairs,' Lorde sings about intimate, private moments being affected by public perception. In the song's second verse, she references Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape that was wrongfully distributed against their wishes in the '90s as she muses, 'All alone in my room / Watching the tape of their honeymoon / On the boat, it was pure and true / Then the film came out.' She previously teased the reference during her Rolling Stone cover story interview in May, when she revealed she had watched the infamous video after her second round of psychedelic therapy. 'I found it to be so beautiful. And maybe it's fucked up that I watched it, but I saw two people that were so in love with each other, and there was this purity,' Lorde explained. 'They were jumping off this big were like children. They were so free. And I just was like, 'Whoa. Being this free comes with danger.'' When the interview initially dropped, she was met with criticism from fans online, as they found she was 'glorifying' the revenge porn scandal. In a subreddit, one wrote, 'This seems like such an odd [thing] to fixate on lmao wtf is happening here.' Another person on social media pointed out that The Last Showgirl has continously expressed how hurt she felt by her private video leaking in the '90s, writing, 'Pamela has spoken out so many times about how violated she felt and still feels about it but I guess that doesn't matter because it's beautiful to lorde..?' In 1995, a 54-minute home video from Tommy and Pam's honeymoon—which contained 8 minutes of them having sex—was stolen from their home in Malibu. A contractor who was reportedly owed $20,000 after being fired from renovating the former couple's home released the video without their consent as an act of revenge. In her 2023 documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, the actor opened up about the incident after nearly three decades. 'If anyone watches it, if anyone buys it, if anyone sells it, it's just pathetic. You can't put a monetary number on the amount of pain and suffering it caused,' she said. Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson have yet to respond to Lorde's references, if at all.
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Lorde's Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee Sex Tape Lyrics
Back in May, Lorde faced fierce backlash when she romanticized Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's leaked sex tape in a controversial interview with Rolling Stone. If you need reminding, Pam and Tommy's world was rocked when they discovered that their private sex tape had been stolen alongside other contents of a safe that they kept inside their home back in the '90s. The footage had been captured on a boat during their honeymoon, and both stars did everything they could to get the tape back at the this, it ended up being distributed globally without their consent. In 1997, an online group obtained the intimate footage and began streaming it online, in addition to selling a physical VHS of the over the years, Pamela, now 57, has always been incredibly vocal about how violating and distressing this entire ordeal was for her. In fact, just two years ago, Pamela said in her documentary, Pamela, A Love Story: "If anyone watches it, if anyone buys it, if anyone sells it, it's just pathetic. You can't put a monetary number on the amount of pain and suffering it caused.' Reflecting on how the tape had impacted her life over the last almost-three decades, Pamela added: 'I was the punchline of jokes on a lot of talk shows. It was super humiliating.'"If [the public] fall in love with you one way that's it…' she began. 'After that, it just solidified the cartoon image of me, and you become a character. I think that was the deterioration of whatever image I had."So, with Pamela's feelings in mind, people were stunned when Lorde made some pretty bizarre comments about watching the film after having a psychedelic therapy session. 'She's not sure why, but she watched the whole thing,' the Rolling Stone profile read, with Lorde being quoted as saying: 'I found it to be so beautiful. And maybe it's fucked up that I watched it, but I saw two people that were so in love with each other, and there was this purity." 'They were jumping off this big boat.… They were like children. They were so free,' Lorde added at the time. 'And I just was like: 'Whoa. Being this free comes with danger.''Needless to say, these comments did not go down well, and Lorde was harshly criticized on X. One viral tweet referred to Lorde by her real name, Ella, and read: 'A stolen tape that's basically revenge porn and you're using it as part of some bullshit 'psychedelic therapy sessions' lmfao you're not an alty angsty teenager anymore, Ella, you're just an adult loser.' But it looks like Lorde was unaffected by this backlash, as she seemingly doubles down on her stance on the sex tape on her new album, Virgin, which was released on Friday. In 'Current Affairs,' Lorde sings about the distress she feels during an illicit relationship, with the verse alluding to Pamela and Tommy actually seeming pretty out of place within the context of the rest of the song. Partway through the track, Lorde sings: 'All alone in my room / Watching the tape of their honeymoon / On the boat, it was pure and true / Then the film came out.' Sharing a screenshot of the lyrics to X, a tweet with 66,000 likes at the time of writing simply reads: 'Not this shit again,' with others quick to agree in the quote-tweets. 'what the fuck is her problem like genuinely,' a popular response reads, while somebody else wrote: 'she is literally glorifying and admitting to watching revenge porn. i can never ever listen to her music the same way.''how the fuck are you going to romanticize what you KNOW to be revenge porn,' one more asked. 'the concept of your sextape leaking & a musician enjoying it while going 'aww it was probably so beautiful and pure in the moment and now it's out there for a bunch of freaks to watch,'' another wrote, before following up with: ''on the boat it was pure and true' like she was there i'm in tears 😭😭😭' Pamela has not acknowledged any of Lorde's references to the tape, but I'll definitely let you know if she does. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on the situation in the comments below!
The Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Journal
With Upfront the latest axing, how worried should we be about the future of evening news shows?
THE DECISION TO cancel RTÉ's Upfront with Katie Hannon has been met with genuine shock with those who've worked on the show for the past number of years. The audience-led current affairs programme has been running since January 2023 when it effectively took the slot previously played host to Claire Byrne Live. An interim eight-part series Monday Night Live plugged the three-month gap between the two permanent shows but Upfront with Katie Hannon has been there since. This week, an RTÉ spokesperson confirmed the show would not be continuing , a decision it said was taken 'due to the prioritising of people and financial resources'. Interestingly, the statement also hinted that there would not be a like-for-like replacement this time, with RTÉ saying it was looking to 'meet the needs of younger, underserved and underrepresented audiences'. RTÉ also provided a statement from Hannon, with the presenter outlining that she was 'disappointed' that the show would not be continuing and referenced that the show had actually grown its audience from the previous series, a fact acknowledged by RTÉ itself. This is what has surprised people, with those who put the show together feeling that the audience growth might have saved it from the chopping block as the broadcaster seeks to cut costs. Hannon will continue in various roles within RTÉ, including the Behind the Story podcast which she co-hosts with fellow journalists David McCullagh and Fran McNulty. The podcast addressed the axing of Upfront this week, with McNulty saying 'it was a surprise to us' and Hannon suggesting there were 'a few words' beyond disappointed she could use but that she would restrain herself. Hannon praised the 'brilliant team' behind the show and noted that it was a 'fairly challenging slot' in which they nonetheless managed to grow the audience. 'Everyone knows the way linear television is going, we had a fairly challenging slot, we didn't come on air until 10.35pm, but people were staying up to watch us and our audiences, our viewership figures, were on the up. Which, as I say, is completely against what's happening elsewhere in linear television. 'Our social media reach was flying as well,' Hannon added. 'So we were delighted with ourselves, but it wasn't to be.' Giving a touch more detail than what RTÉ had said publicly about financial resources, Hannon said the crew had essentially been told that the broadcaster can't provide the same output with less money. 'What we were told basically is that RTÉ news and Current Affairs can't continue to broadcast the same output with less people and less resources and that unfortunately is where we landed.' she said. Hannon added that suggestions in the media that she is being lined up for Liveline are 'beyond my pay grade'. Advertisement 'It was made clear to me that this has absolutely nothing to do with any other decisions that are going to be taken about programmes, and who might present them elsewhere,' she said. Nightly news shows Even aside from the internal machinations of RTÉ, the axing Upfront comes on the back of similar cutbacks to evening news output both in Ireland and abroad. Virgin Media Television last year halved its weekly output of The Tonight Show, leading to the departures of hosts Claire Brock and Ciara Doherty . In the UK, the BBC's flagship Newsnight programme saw its running time cut in late 2023, changing from 40 minutes to a half hour. More than half of Newsnight's 60 jobs were axed as part of the move, which also saw the programme lean more on 'interview, debate and discussion' instead of the in-depth reporting which was the hallmark of the show. Despite the death knell being rung by commentators after that cut, the revamped Newsnight has proven to be a success for the BBC, with audiences rising by about a third compared to 2020 . TonightVMTV / X (Formerly Twitter) In Ireland, The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One now has a permanent new host in the shape of Kieran Cuddihy and has maintained its format and standard despite the reduction in output. Conor Tiernan, a DCU lecturer and former producer of current affairs programmes, also cites Newsnight as an example of how streamlining output can prove to be effective. 'Newsnight is actually a great example, it was dead in the water two years ago. The BBC pulled a lot of staff, stopped having a lot of correspondents and moved to a simpler format, a presenter talking to guests. A similar thing happened with Vincent Browne many years ago. When Vincent Browne was launched in 2007 or 2008, there were correspondents, there were long reports, it was all very resource-heavy. And then very quickly it moved to just Vincent Browne with guests, much cheaper. The viewing figures actually went up, because people wanted to see more of Vincent Browne. Returning to the axing of Upfront, Tiernan said the relentless shift of advertising revenues from linear TV to digital is the 'broader context' but that the specific slot of that programme was clearly a challenge too. Upfront went out on a Monday night. Monday night is an extremely difficult night to attract an audience. It's a very difficult night to attract guests and it's also difficult because of its position in the news cycle. 'Monday is generally quiet, you're either reviewing something that happened a while ago or previewing something that's about to happen. It's always been a very difficult night, that was a very particular problem for Upfront.' Tiernan also references the Liveline gig and whether that was a factor in this case but adds that, regardless of that question, it's also just a fact that Prime Time exists in the same space on two nights a week. With a third current affairs programme like Upfront it's hard to maintain a high quality threshold. These shows are meant to add value through analysis and original journalism, it's just very hard to do that three nights a week. 'That's what happened with The Tonight Show too, it's so difficult to keep it going all week, so they scaled it back to two, hoping that the quality of those two episodes would be higher. By cutting Upfront, it gives more space for Prime Time to be better.' In its statement confirming the cancellation of Upfront, RTÉ named more than 15 TV programmes across news and current affairs that it produces, adding that details of upcoming programming will be announced as part of the wider season launch in August. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
