Eddie Murphy Brings ‘80s to Modern Day with New ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Film 

Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Eddie Murphy Brings ‘80s to Modern Day with New ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Film 

Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Thirty years since his third and last outing, Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop" Axel Foley is back on another investigation.

New Netflix film "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" sees the rule-breaking police officer return to Beverly Hills when he discovers his estranged, public defender daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) is in danger after her investigation into a murder uncovers corruption in the Beverly Hills Police Department.

Murphy, who is joined by fellow original cast members Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, premiered the film on Thursday, fittingly across the road from the real Beverly Hills Police Department, where much of the action is set.

However, this red carpet - where Murphy was joined by actor Martin Lawrence, musician Lil Nas X and others - was a far cry from the first screening of the original 1984 film.

"The first premiere was... an industry screening I went to and it didn't go well with the audience... Then I went to see it with a real audience and then I saw the real reaction to it," Murphy said.

"Beverly Hills Cop" went on to gross over $300 million worldwide and became an iconic '80s movie. Two other films followed in 1987 and 1994.

"This is a big part of people's lives... it was a hit and everybody loved it but it was more than that. They kind of warmed to it," said actor Paul Reiser, who reprises his role as Jeffrey Friedman.

"It's like comfort food. It's like we love that movie, we grew up on that movie."

The new movie also refers to the 1980s, director Mark Molloy said.

"I looked at those first two films and I was like, I want to make a film like that," he said.

"I wanted to ground it and make it humble and also I wanted to shoot everything in camera, make some mistakes. Those films are imperfect... and I wanted to embrace that and create a film that felt very nostalgic but was in the contemporary world."

The film, which begins streaming on July 3, also stars Kevin Bacon as a sinister senior cop and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Foley's new sidekick.

"I'm happy the movie worked out right and that it's super-audience friendly," Murphy said.

"It's always great when you do a good movie."



Naomi Campbell Barred from Being Charity Trustee in England and Wales

British model Naomi Campbell cries after being awarded the 'Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) title at the French Ministry for Culture in Paris on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
British model Naomi Campbell cries after being awarded the 'Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) title at the French Ministry for Culture in Paris on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
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Naomi Campbell Barred from Being Charity Trustee in England and Wales

British model Naomi Campbell cries after being awarded the 'Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) title at the French Ministry for Culture in Paris on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
British model Naomi Campbell cries after being awarded the 'Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) title at the French Ministry for Culture in Paris on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after the poverty charity she founded nearly two decades ago was deemed Thursday to have been “poorly governed” with “inadequate financial management.”
Following a three-year investigation into the financial activities of “Fashion for Relief,” the Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, said it had found “multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement,” and that only 8.5% of the charity’s overall expenditure went on charitable grants in a six-year period from 2016.
For example, it said that thousands of pounds worth of charity funds were used to pay for a luxury hotel stay in Cannes, France, for Campbell as well as spa treatments, room service and even cigarettes. The regulator sought explanations from the trustees but said no evidence was provided to back up their explanation that hotel costs were typically covered by a donor to the charity, therefore not costing the charity, said The Associated Press.
Campbell, 54, said she was “extremely concerned” by the findings of the regulator and that an investigation on her part was underway.
“I was not in control of my charity, I put the control in the hands of a legal employer,” she said in response to a question from the AP after being named a knight in France’s Order of Arts and Letters at the country's culture ministry for her contribution to French culture. "We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
The commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, also found that fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich received around 290,000 pounds ($385,000) of unauthorized funds for consultancy services, which was in breach of the charity's constitution. She has been disqualified as a trustee for nine years. The other trustee, Veronica Chou, was barred for four years.
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities,” said Tim Hopkins, deputy director for specialist investigations and standards. “Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them.”
The charity, which was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, was dissolved and removed from the register of charities earlier this year. On its website, which is still active, the charity said that it presented fashion initiatives and projects in New York, London, Cannes, Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam, raising more than $15 million for good causes around the world.
The charity had been set up with the aim of uniting the fashion industry to relieve poverty and advance health and education, by making grants to other organizations and giving resources towards global disasters.
The commission said that around 344,000 pounds ($460,000) has been recovered and that a further 98,000 pounds of charitable funds have been protected. These funds were used to make donations to two other charities and settle outstanding liabilities.  
“I am pleased that the inquiry has seen donations made to other charities which this charity has previously supported,” said the regulator's Hopkins.