Elton John Says He Has Lost His Eyesight

Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
TT

Elton John Says He Has Lost His Eyesight

Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)
Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)

British singer Elton John, 77, told a theater audience on Sunday that he had lost his sight.

One of the biggest selling artists of all time, the "Tiny Dancer" and "Rocket Man" star attended the launch of a show in London's West End but said he had been unable to watch the performance.

"As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my sight. I haven't been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it," John said, according to the Daily Mail.

John said in recent months that an eye infection had left him unable to see out of his right eye and that his left was "not the greatest", meaning he could no longer read or watch anything, and putting his ability to record any new music in future at risk.

John was on the red carpet on Sunday for the launch of "The Devil Wears Prada", a musical based on the best-selling novel for which he has written the score.

"It's hard for me to see it but I love to hear it and it sounded good tonight," he said.

John, who shot to fame in the early 1970s and whose piano-led rock songs and ballads such as "Candle in the Wind" have kept him in the spotlight since, played a farewell tour between 2018 and 2023, and has since focused on his family.



Magic Can’t Save ‘Harry Potter’ Star Rupert Grint from a $2.3 Million Tax Bill

Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
TT

Magic Can’t Save ‘Harry Potter’ Star Rupert Grint from a $2.3 Million Tax Bill

Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)

Former “Harry Potter” film actor Rupert Grint faces a 1.8 million-pound ($2.3 million) bill after he lost a legal battle with the tax authorities.

Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the magical film franchise, was ordered to pay the money in 2019 after H.M. Revenue and Customs, the UK tax agency, investigated his tax return from seven years earlier.

The agency said Grint had wrongly classed 4.5 million pounds in residuals from the movies — money from DVD sales, TV syndication, streaming rights and other sources — as a capital asset rather than income, which is subject to a much higher tax rate.

Lawyers for Grint appealed, but after years of wrangling a tribunal judge ruled against the actor this week. Judge Harriet Morgan said the money “derived substantially the whole of its value from the activities of Mr. Grint” and “is taxable as income.”

Grint, 36, starred in all eight Harry Potter films between 2001 and 2011 as the boy wizard’s best friend, and is calculated to have earned around 24 million pounds from the role.

He previously lost a separate court battle over a 1 million pound tax refund in 2019.