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French Prosecutors Urge 10-Year Term for Alleged Kardashian Theft Ringleader 

US celebrity Kim Kardashian leaves the courthouse after testifying before the Assize Court for the trial over the 2016 robbery that saw her relieved of millions of dollars' worth of jewellery at gunpoint in Paris, on May 13, 2025. (AFP)
US celebrity Kim Kardashian leaves the courthouse after testifying before the Assize Court for the trial over the 2016 robbery that saw her relieved of millions of dollars' worth of jewellery at gunpoint in Paris, on May 13, 2025. (AFP)
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French Prosecutors Urge 10-Year Term for Alleged Kardashian Theft Ringleader 

US celebrity Kim Kardashian leaves the courthouse after testifying before the Assize Court for the trial over the 2016 robbery that saw her relieved of millions of dollars' worth of jewellery at gunpoint in Paris, on May 13, 2025. (AFP)
US celebrity Kim Kardashian leaves the courthouse after testifying before the Assize Court for the trial over the 2016 robbery that saw her relieved of millions of dollars' worth of jewellery at gunpoint in Paris, on May 13, 2025. (AFP)

Prosecutors on Wednesday urged a French court to hand a 10-year prison sentence to the main suspect in the 2016 robbery of US celebrity Kim Kardashian in a Paris hotel after a trial that saw the influencer testify.

The reality TV star has said in a massively followed court appearance last week that she feared she would be killed by the masked men who robbed her at gunpoint of some $10 million of jewellery in her hotel room in the early hours of October 3, 2016.

But she also expressed her forgiveness despite the "trauma", with most of the suspects men now in their 60s and 70s and dubbed the "Grandpa robbers" in the French media.

"I know, just as you do, that among the 10 accused, eight proclaim their innocence," prosecutor Anne-Dominique Merville told the court on Wednesday.

"Yet my firm conviction is that they are all guilty."

"They were masked, wearing gloves, they were going to sequester her and tie her up. They have no empathy for Kim Kardashian, for the receptionist," she said.

She requested that the alleged mastermind behind the robbery -- Aomar Ait Khedache -- be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He has admitted to tying up Kardashian, but denies being the ringleader of the robbery.

Khedache, 69, "gave orders", recruited others, and travelled to Belgium to sell the jewellery, according to the prosecutor who was due to give sentencing requests for the other suspects later on Wednesday.

The attackers threatened Kardashian with a gun, tied her up and taped her mouth. They made off with valuables, most of which have never been recovered, including a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).

None of the accused are currently in detention and whatever the verdict of the court -- expected to be announced on Friday -- they are above all seeking to avoid any return to jail.

The charges of armed robbery and sequestration meant some of the accused could face up to 30 years in prison. The prosecution was not expected to ask for terms anything close to this, but could demand that some of the accused be immediately placed in custody due to the seriousness of the robbery.

The court will also have to take into account the fact that several key defendants are already ailing.

Yunice Abbas, 71, who wrote a controversial book about the robbery and had already undergone heart surgery while in pretrial detention, suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Aomar Ait Khedache, meanwhile, is completely deaf and virtually mute, suffering from a condition that requires him to go to the bathroom every hour, slowly leaning on a cane.

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Entertainment

Spanish Soccer Team Desperately Seeking Madonna and Her 36-Year-Old Shirt

Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spanish Soccer Team Desperately Seeking Madonna and Her 36-Year-Old Shirt

Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Spanish soccer team Celta Vigo is desperately seeking Madonna as it goes in search of a 36-year-old soccer shirt the pop star wore during a 1990 concert at its Balaidos stadium.

Madonna appeared on stage wearing the club's true blue colors during her Blonde Ambition tour in July 1990.

She delighted locals who claimed the material girl as one of their own and brought unexpected attention to defender Jose Manuel Espinosa, whose No. 5 shirt she wore.

However, the whereabouts of the cherished garment are unknown and, after searching fruitlessly for decades, Celta is asking the 67-year-old Madonna to help find it for the club's archive.

“Although ours was not the only football shirt you ever wore on stage, this iconic image has grown to shine differently as years have passed,” Celta president Marián Mouriño Terrazo wrote in an open letter to the American icon.

“Over time we came to better understand what you stood for back then: questioning established norms and standing up to those who try to tell you what you can or cannot do. At our club we recognize ourselves in this line of thought. That is why we hold on to the hope of finding the garment you once wore.

“Do you have it? If you know where it may be, or if you would like to join us in the search to retrieve it, please contact us via private message.”

The appeal caused a commotion on social media after it was published on Wednesday and the club doubled down before Friday's 2-1 home league defeat by Real Madrid, playing Madonna’s songs before kickoff and putting her picture on the field and on social media.

Mouriño Terrazo told local media he was hopeful the repercussions would reach the pop star.

“I imagine that the letter reached Madonna and that she will reply,” he said.

Madonna burst on the scene in 1983 with the hit Holiday and followed that with a run of top-10 hits that included “Like a Virgin”,” Papa Don’t Preach” and “Ray of Light.”

She remains one of the most successful recording artists in history.

Entertainment

Britney Spears Arrested and Released, California Sheriff's Records Show

(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
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Britney Spears Arrested and Released, California Sheriff's Records Show

(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)

Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night in Southern California and booked early the following morning, though the charge was not clear, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s office website.

Messages seeking comment were left with the sheriff's office; the California Highway Patrol, which was identified as the arresting agency; and Spears' representative.

Spears was arrested around 9:30 p.m. in Ventura County and released on Thursday, sheriff's office records show. She has a May 4 court date schedule, The Associated Press reported.

Spears, born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, was a teen pop phenomenon who became a defining superstar of the ’90s and 2000s. She rose to fame from Disney Channel’s “The Mickey Mouse Club” to MTV and beyond, with such era-defining hits like “... Baby One More Time,” “Oops! ... I Did It Again” and “Toxic.”

Most of her albums have been certified platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with two diamond titles: 1999’s “ ... Baby One More Time” and 2000’s “Oops! ... I Did It Again.” Her last full-length album, “Glory,” was released in 2016.

Spears became a focus of tabloids in the early 2000s, and a source of public scrutiny, as she battled mental illness and paparazzi documented the details of her private life.

Later, as cultural opinion evolved to recognize the misogynistic media coverage of the time, Spears’ fight to control her life became the focus of the #FreeBritney movement.

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021. Two years later, she released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

Entertainment

Disney Pixar's 'Hoppers' Seeks to Turn Viral Meme Into Box Office Gold

US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
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Disney Pixar's 'Hoppers' Seeks to Turn Viral Meme Into Box Office Gold

US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY

Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios is hoping a viral meme featuring a googly-eyed lizard character from its new film, "Hoppers," translates into box office success when the movie opens this weekend in theaters.

The studio unwittingly spawned the social media hit when a 28-second clip of the goofy-looking sea-green reptile repeatedly tapping a glowing screen to trigger an automated voice that says "lizard" appeared in the end credits of another Pixar film, "Elio," released last June.

The clip went viral. It inspired music mixes to songs from Far East Movement and The Ting Tings on TikTok, a "Lizard Click" website with a button that repeats the word "lizard" in a robotic voice, and thousands of social media posts that, within two months, attracted some 316 million views, according to Disney.

"I don't know that you can ever predict these things. As soon as you try to make ⁠something go viral, ⁠that's like certain death," said Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter. "We just thought it was funny. We thought this character is quirky and weird."

According to Reuters, Pixar quietly laid claim to the character in a social media post in August, simply saying, "his name is Tom."

"People fell in love with Tom the Lizard," said Martha Morrison, head of marketing for Walt Disney Studios. "Then, we were sort of figuring out when's the right time to identify that Tom the Lizard is part of our movie."

The film is about a young animal lover, Mabel, who uses new technology ⁠to "hop" her consciousness into a robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals.

While audiences have flocked to cinemas to see animated sequels, such as Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which is approaching $2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, original films with unfamiliar characters and stories, like "Elio," have struggled at the box office, bringing in a modest $20.8 million on opening weekend.

"Hoppers" is on track to open to $35 to $40 million in the US and Canada, according to one estimate.

Original animation has always been a harder sell, but that's been particularly true since the COVID-19 outbreak, when Disney released animated films like “Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red” straight to its Disney+ streaming service.

Families got accustomed to seeing new animated films from the comfort of their own living rooms.

"You know, it's tough right now because people on the one hand say they want original stuff, but they, with their pocketbooks, kind of vote more for the ⁠sequels," said Docter. "I think what ⁠it is, you have to balance like stuff that people go, 'I recognize that, I see that in my own life, but it also feels like nothing I've ever seen before,' which is a really difficult needle to thread."

Tom Lizard has become an ambassador for "Hoppers," showing up in person at screenings, DJ-ing an event for social media influencers and photo-bombing ESPN broadcasts in San Francisco during Super Bowl week.

The appearances are part of a broader marketing push that includes advance screenings and sneak peeks, in addition to commercials that aired during the Super Bowl and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The goal is to be in as many places as possible, convey the film's unique brand of humor and create a sense of urgency for movie-goers to head to the theaters, said Morrison.

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said "Hoppers" has received the best reviews for a Pixar movie in a decade.

"Original animated films such as 'Dog Man,' 'The Wild Robot' and most recently 'GOAT' have all done very well because they're actually good movies," said Dergarabedian. "That's a currency that can deliver dividends for the long term."