Oscars Push Back Nominations Announcement amid California Wildfires

Finished mounted Oscar Statuettes are seen at the Polich Tallix foundry in Walden, New York, US, January 25, 2018. Picture taken January 25, 2018. (Reuters)
Finished mounted Oscar Statuettes are seen at the Polich Tallix foundry in Walden, New York, US, January 25, 2018. Picture taken January 25, 2018. (Reuters)
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Oscars Push Back Nominations Announcement amid California Wildfires

Finished mounted Oscar Statuettes are seen at the Polich Tallix foundry in Walden, New York, US, January 25, 2018. Picture taken January 25, 2018. (Reuters)
Finished mounted Oscar Statuettes are seen at the Polich Tallix foundry in Walden, New York, US, January 25, 2018. Picture taken January 25, 2018. (Reuters)

The Oscar nominations are being pushed back almost a week from their original date amid the ongoing California wildfires. Nominations will now be announced on Jan. 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”

With fires still active in the Los Angeles area, the film academy also extended the nominations voting period for its members through Friday. Originally, nominations were to be announced that morning.

The organization that puts on the Oscars has also made the decision to cancel its annual nominees luncheon, an untelevised event best known for the “class photos” it produces annually. The Scientific and Technical Awards, previously set for Feb. 18, will be rescheduled later.

The 97th Oscars will still happen on March 2, at the Dolby Theatre, with a live television broadcast on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. ET and a live stream on Hulu.

Oscar nominations were postponed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremony itself was also delayed, which had happened several times before: The ceremony was pushed back a week because of disastrous flooding in Los Angeles in 1938.

In 1968, it was delayed two days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1981, it was put off for 24 hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington D.C.

The 1981 decision was made four hours before the broadcast was scheduled to begin.



Police in India Pull the Plug on British Singer Ed Sheeran’s Impromptu Street Concert

Ed Sheeran poses on the red carpet as he attends the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Ed Sheeran poses on the red carpet as he attends the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Police in India Pull the Plug on British Singer Ed Sheeran’s Impromptu Street Concert

Ed Sheeran poses on the red carpet as he attends the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Ed Sheeran poses on the red carpet as he attends the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 4, 2024. (Reuters)

A street performance by Ed Sheeran in India's tech capital of Bengaluru was stopped abruptly by police on Sunday, outraging fans and prompting the British singer to issue a clarification.

Sheeran, dressed in a white t-shirt and shorts was seen singing and playing his guitar on a pavement in the center of Bengaluru ahead of his concert on Sunday night.

Local channels showed a policeman walking up to Sheeran as he was singing the hit single "Shape of You" and unplugging the microphone, as onlookers jeered. Sheeran left soon after.

Police said event organizers had refused permission for the street performance, which was on one of the city's busiest streets.

"I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place," Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Sheeran, who began his career as a busker in the UK, said later on his Instagram account that he did have permission to perform.

"It wasn't just us randomly turning up. All good though," he wrote.

Sheeran is in India for a series of concerts, and performed in front of thousands of people at an open ground in the city later that night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao.