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Chuck Norris, Roundhouse-kicking Action Star, Dead at 86

(FILES) Actor Chuck Norris speaks with the media during a press conference prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jerry Markland / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Actor Chuck Norris speaks with the media during a press conference prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jerry Markland / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Chuck Norris, Roundhouse-kicking Action Star, Dead at 86

(FILES) Actor Chuck Norris speaks with the media during a press conference prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jerry Markland / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Actor Chuck Norris speaks with the media during a press conference prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jerry Markland / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood tough guy most famous for his role in the "Walker, Texas Ranger" television series, has died, his family said Friday. He was 86.

Norris passed away Thursday morning, the family said on Instagram, after media reports that he had been hospitalized for an undisclosed condition while on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

"To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength," the statement read, according to AFP. "To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family."

The family said it would like to keep the details of Norris's passing private, adding "please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace."

Tributes quickly began pouring in.

"All of Texas mourns the passing of Chuck Norris. He was not only a martial arts champion, action icon, and the one and only Walker, Texas Ranger," said Texas governor Greg Abbott.

"My heart and prayers are with his family. He will never be forgotten," said fellow action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Born in Ryan, Oklahoma on March 10, 1940, Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris took up martial arts while serving in the US Air Force in South Korea.

He left the Air Force in 1962 and set up a martial arts studio in Los Angeles, finding his calling in teaching and delivering roundhouse kicks.

His acting debut came with a cameo in a 1968 Dean Martin film, "The Wrecking Crew." Four years later, his epic fight with the kung-fu superstar Bruce Lee in "The Way of The Dragon" helped turn Norris into an icon on big and small screen alike.

A slew of leading roles in karate films followed, from a US commando in "Good Guys Wear Black," an all-American riposte to a slew of Hong Kong action flicks harnessing Lee's fame, to the action horror feature "Silent Rage."

As his acting career grew, he became a legendary martial arts figure, winning six world professional middleweight karate championships from 1968 to 1974 and earning black belts in multiple disciplines.

In 1983, Norris slipped into the role of a taciturn Texas ranger waging war against an arms dealer in "Lone Wolf McQuade", which provided the template for the cult TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger."

The show ran for eight seasons and spawned countless action-man jokes and memes, one being that Chuck Norris and Superman had a fight, with the loser (Superman) forced to wear their underpants on the outside.

The success of the bearded, ass-kicking Ranger marked a stunning reversal of fortune for Norris, who grew up a shy, unathletic child, who "used to daydream about being strong... to beat up the bullies."

He had two sons from his first marriage to his high school sweetheart Dianne Holechek, which lasted 30 years, and a son and a daughter with his second wife Gena O'Kelley.

Norris also had a daughter from an affair during his first marriage.

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Entertainment

'The Bachelorette' Canned after Star's Violent Video Emerges

Taylor Frankie Paul had been due to star in the 22nd season of 'The Bachelorette'. Mike Coppola / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Taylor Frankie Paul had been due to star in the 22nd season of 'The Bachelorette'. Mike Coppola / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'The Bachelorette' Canned after Star's Violent Video Emerges

Taylor Frankie Paul had been due to star in the 22nd season of 'The Bachelorette'. Mike Coppola / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Taylor Frankie Paul had been due to star in the 22nd season of 'The Bachelorette'. Mike Coppola / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

"The Bachelorette," one of America's highest profile reality TV shows, was cancelled Thursday just days before the new season was due to air, after video emerged of the show's star hurling furniture at her ex-partner, in an incident that apparently injured her daughter.

Disney-owned ABC had widely promoted the 22nd season of the show, in which 22 men compete for a relationship with a single woman, including trailing it during Sunday night's Oscars gala.

But on Thursday, the network yanked the glossy series -- whose $2 million episodes began filming last year -- over shocking footage of a domestic altercation involving "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Taylor Frankie Paul.

"In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.

"Our focus is on supporting the family."

The video, obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ, shows Paul lashing out at Dakota Mortensen, her partner at the time.

In the footage, apparently filmed by Mortensen on a mobile phone, Paul rains abuse on him, kicks him and gets him in a headlock.

She then begins to throw metal stools across the room at him, one of which appears to be deflected towards her young daughter.

Mortensen can be heard asking her to stop and urging her to see to her crying child, as she continues to scream abuse at him.

The incident took place in Utah in February 2023, according to police, who arrested Paul on multiple charges, including domestic violence in the presence of a minor.

While the footage is new, Paul's arrest and subsequent conviction were featured on earlier seasons of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Questions will now likely be asked as to how much due diligence producers of "The Bachelorette" did before casting the lead to the Sunday night prime-time show, which had pricey sponsorship deals with brands including Cinnabon.

Paul, a social media influencer, went viral in 2022 after revealing that she and her then-husband had been "soft-swinging" with other Mormon couples.

The Hulu show "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" followed the catty fallout from the revelation among a group of Utah-based TikTok influencers, and has so far run for multiple seasons.

Paul, 31, has not commented on the matter via her social media channels but local media outlets carried a statement from one of her representatives in which the reality star says she is "very grateful for ABC's support."

"After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm."

"She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story."

Entertainment

Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
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Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

China's snaggle-toothed Labubu dolls will soon come alive on the big screen after flying off the toy shelves, with maker Pop Mart announcing a collaboration with Sony Pictures.

The movie, which is still in early development, will feature the fanged plushie monsters in a "live-action and CGI hybrid", Beijing-based Pop Mart said on Thursday.

Created in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, Labubus sparked a craze nine years later, with the "ugly-cute" charms adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa and sparking massive queues at Pop Mart stores around the world.

Vivian Jia, a Canadian tourist visiting Pop Mart's flagship Shanghai flagship store, said she was looking forward to watching the Labubu movie with her children.

"I think they're so cute, especially the ones with the eyes that move... my friends' kids all like (Labubus) too," she told AFP.

Jia said she spent more than 400 yuan ($58) on a Labubu figure, which she said she planned to display in her living room in Vancouver.

The new film project, unveiled by Lung and director Paul King ("Wonka" and "Paddington") in Paris on Thursday, will seek to capitalize on the dolls' viral fame by bringing "Labubu's whimsical world to the big screen", Pop Mart said.

The collectable dolls, which typically sell for around $40, are released in limited quantities and sold in "blind boxes", meaning buyers do not know the exact model they will receive.

Some of the less common Labubu figures can fetch thousands of dollars.

Pop Mart sold more than 100 million Labubu dolls worldwide last year, with Chinese officials hailing the toothy characters' popularity as evidence of China's growing cultural and soft power.

They have become furry ambassadors for a "cool" China, even in places such as Europe and North America, where public opinion towards Beijing has not always been positive.

Camilla Pinheiro, a Brazilian Pop Mart fan who bought several dolls at the Shanghai store, said she would prefer a movie franchise about some of Pop Mart's less well-known toy lines, such as the punk-inspired Peach Riot figures.

"The whole (Labubu) fever, it was kind of intense... by the time they finish the movie, it will be so saturated," Pinheiro said.

King will share scriptwriting duties with Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson.

"The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".

The company now has more than 600 stores in over 30 countries and regions.

A release date for the film has not yet been announced.

Entertainment

Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
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Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)

Pophouse Entertainment has acquired Tina Turner’s name, image and likeness rights as well as the majority share of her music catalog rights from music company BMG, it announced Thursday.

The Swedish company, co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, is known for their digital avatars and immersive experiences.

Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos would not disclose the deal's financial details or describe the company's plans for the Turner acquisition but told The Associated Press “that one of the reasons that we were so interested in Tina is because she has such an incredible visual presence and such an incredible stage energy. And so, we’re very much looking at projects that can portray that and try to recreate that to some degree.”

“What we want to do is really help to consolidate her legacy,” she added. “I think that Tina Turner is up there, or is going to be up there, with the Elvises and the Marilyn Monroes of the world.”

Koravos would not confirm if a digital avatar is on the way. She did say Pophouse will announce plans in the next six months.

Turner, known as the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” for her chart-topping hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Best” and “Proud Mary,” died in 2023 at 83. Across her multidecade career, Turner won 12 Grammy Awards — including a Lifetime Achievement Award — was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and 2021, was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2005 and sold over 150 million records worldwide.

Conversations for the Pophouse deal began after her death. Koravos told the AP that BMG still holds a percentage of her catalog. She said Turner's estate was not involved “as a counterparty but certainly involved and in the sense of informed and participating in the conversations.”

“Tina Turner’s voice and spirit shaped modern music and popular culture,” Alistair Norbury, president of BMG UK, Continental Europe and APAC, wrote in a statement. “Our responsibility, alongside Pophouse and the Estate, is to ensure her work continues to resonate with audiences around the world, while remaining true to the strength, independence and originality that defined her career.”

One of many musical investments Pophouse has been making investments outside of Sweden as of late. In 2024, hard rock quartet Kiss sold their catalog, brand name and intellectual property to Pophouse in a deal estimated to be over $300 million. Previously, the band partnered with Pophouse to develop digitized avatars of themselves, which they revealed onstage at the final night of their 2023 farewell tour.

The cutting-edge technology was created by George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, in partnership with Pophouse. The same companies teamed up for the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, where fans could attend a full concert by the Swedish band in their heyday, as performed by their own digital avatars.

Also in 2024, Cyndi Lauper entered a partnership with Pophouse, which included the sale of the majority share of her music.

“Most suits, when you tell them an idea, their eyes glaze over, they just want your greatest hits,” Lauper told the AP at Pophouse's Stockholm headquarters at the time. “But these guys are a multimedia company, they’re not looking to just buy my catalog, they want to make something new.”

“I think what interests artists, and the estates of artists in some cases, is that there aren’t very many people who are talking to them about what they want to achieve, creatively, around their body of work,” Koravos says. “So I think that is interesting to people, it's interesting to artists, who have got creative projects in their heads that they would like some support realizing. And those are the people we’re interested in talking to.”

“We’re not trying to be a major (label),” she adds. “It’s not a volume game for us. We want to acquire 10 or 12 really unique properties that have even more unique projects attached to them.”