Oscar-winning Actress Diane Keaton Dead at 79

Screen legend Diane Keaton was beloved for her role as Annie Hall in Woody Allen's film of the same name. Patrick T. FALLON / AFP/File
Screen legend Diane Keaton was beloved for her role as Annie Hall in Woody Allen's film of the same name. Patrick T. FALLON / AFP/File
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Oscar-winning Actress Diane Keaton Dead at 79

Screen legend Diane Keaton was beloved for her role as Annie Hall in Woody Allen's film of the same name. Patrick T. FALLON / AFP/File
Screen legend Diane Keaton was beloved for her role as Annie Hall in Woody Allen's film of the same name. Patrick T. FALLON / AFP/File

Actress Diane Keaton, known for her Oscar-winning performance in 1977's "Annie Hall" and her role in "The Godfather" films, has died at age 79.

Details were not immediately available and Keaton's loved ones have asked for privacy, a family spokesperson told People, which said the actress died Saturday in California.

Keaton was a frequent collaborator of director Woody Allen, portraying the titular character in "Annie Hall," the charming girlfriend of Allen's comic Alvy Singer, AFP reported.

The film also garnered Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, cementing Keaton's place as one of the industry's top actresses and an offbeat style icon as well.

The actress made her mark co-starring in eight Allen movies, from "Play It Again, Sam" (1972) to "Manhattan" (1979) and "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993).

In "The Godfather" films, she played Kay Adams, the girlfriend and eventual wife of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.

Apart from the Allen cannon, fans adored her portrayal as Steve Martin's wife in 1991 comedy "Father of the Bride," as the nervous and doting couple plan an extravagant wedding for their daughter.

Late in her career, Keaton starred in two movies about aging women: "Book Club" (2018), with its message that love has no age, and "Poms" (2019), the story of a terminally ill woman who moves to a retirement community to die, but winds up forming a cheerleading squad.

A BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, Keaton scored Oscar nominations three other times for best actress, for "Reds,Marvin's Room" and "Something's Gotta Give."

'Iconoclastic'

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, home of the Oscars, said in a tribute to Keaton: "Some actors play emotions. Diane Keaton lived inside them."

In 2017, she was honored with a Life Achievement Award by the American Film Institute, which called Keaton "unconventional, iconoclastic and left-of-center."

"I feel so lucky to have spent any time with this marvelous woman, and I'm heartbroken that she is gone," said actress Andie MacDowell, who starred in "Unstrung Hero" (1995), one of a handful of films Keaton directed.

Actress Bette Midler, who starred alongside Keaton in the 1996 comedy "The First Wives Club," wrote on Instagram that Keaton "was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was...oh, la, lala!"

Goldie Hawn, who was also in "The First Wives Club," said Keaton "left us with a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination."

Infectious

As the Hollywood sexual harassment scandals detonated in late 2017, cascading from producer Harvey Weinstein to heavyweight actors like Kevin Spacey, old accusations of child sex abuse against Allen by his adoptive daughter Dylan resurfaced.

"Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him," Keaton tweeted in January 2018.

It was a rare encounter with controversy for the beloved actress.

Keaton said she had no "Me Too" complaints despite half a century in the film industry.

"Never. Maybe I just wasn't harassment material," she told AFP in a 2019 interview.

Keaton's infectious, sunny smile lit up the screen across the decades, and she made popular a quirky and liberating fashion sense first seen in "Annie Hall" that featured oversize hats and the lighthearted use of menswear items.

As for aging, Keaton said in the 2019 interview that life actually got easier.

"I think so, because what have you got to lose? It's like it's the truth. That's what it is. You face it, we talk about it," she said.

Born Diane Hall in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946, Keaton was romantically involved with Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty, but never married.

"Most people in the movies get married at some point and then they divorce. But I've never even got married. I am (a) failure," she joked.

Did she regret it? "I don't think about it a lot but I'm aware of the fact that I'm unusual in that regard, and maybe I did miss out on something -- but then, nobody can have everything, right?"

She is survived by her two children, Dexter and Duke.



Australia’s Music Industry Bans AI-Generated Tracks from Official Charts

Madonna poses before the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, on Sept. 29, 2025. (AP)
Madonna poses before the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, on Sept. 29, 2025. (AP)
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Australia’s Music Industry Bans AI-Generated Tracks from Official Charts

Madonna poses before the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, on Sept. 29, 2025. (AP)
Madonna poses before the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, on Sept. 29, 2025. (AP)

Australia’s recorded music industry will bar tracks wholly generated by artificial intelligence from official charts as burgeoning generative technologies threaten artists’ livelihoods, a representative said on Tuesday.

The crackdown comes as a variation of Madonna’s pop hit “Like a Prayer” created by an Australian producer using AI-generated vocals and drums has spent 16 weeks in the Australian top 20, stoking debate about generative AI’s place in music. It peaked at number two on the Australian Record Industry Association’s top 20 Australian singles chart in May and remained in fourth place on Tuesday.

Wholly AI-generated tracks will be banned from the ARIA charts from Monday next week, but some AI-assisted music will remain eligible, an ARIA statement said.

Tracks can be eligible only if “humans wrote the song and performed the lead vocal and the primary instruments,” among other requirements, the statement said.

AI-generated music would also be ineligible for the Australian industry’s prestigious ARIA awards.

ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said: “These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is — to say the least — a rapidly developing space.”

“The ARIA Charts will always remain a transparent measurement of the music Australia consumes, but a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent,” Herd added.

Eligible music must also be produced using legal AI services. Music was appearing on streaming services that had apparently been developed with AI tools trained on artists’ music without authorization.

The Australian rules are in step with new principles released in July by the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The federation represents the recording industry worldwide.

The international guidelines state that to qualify for official music charts, a track must be “substantially human made.”

Sydney Conservatorium of Music composer and lecturer Alexis Weaver told Australian Broadcasting Corp. the debate around AI in music was “exceptionally fraught and very emotional for a lot of musicians and so everyone will have a different opinion.”

Weaver applauded ARIA’s move as a “wonderful step forward” that sent a message ARIA wanted to “prioritize and value human creativity.”

“It can be quite hard to avoid AI tools in the current landscape,” Weaver said. “There is a way to use it while you’re still steering the ship and making the main creative choices.”


Qiddiya Investment Company, Paris Sign MoU to Explore Development of Entertainment Destination in France

Qiddiya Investment Company, Paris Sign MoU to Explore Development of Entertainment Destination in France
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Qiddiya Investment Company, Paris Sign MoU to Explore Development of Entertainment Destination in France

Qiddiya Investment Company, Paris Sign MoU to Explore Development of Entertainment Destination in France

Qiddiya Investment Company signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding with the French government to explore the development of a new entertainment-led, mixed-use destination in France.

The MoU was among several agreements and memoranda signed on the sidelines of the official visit of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to France.

The MoU marks the beginning of a phase of joint work to define the project’s scope, development model and contractual framework, in accordance with the applicable procedures and approvals in France.

The project will build on the capabilities, experience and partnerships that Qiddiya Investment Company is developing from Saudi Arabia. It reflects the Company’s evolution as a Saudi national brand contributing to the creation and development of entertainment experiences while expanding its global presence.

Qiddiya City remains the Company’s flagship project and the principal reference point for its model. The international project will provide a platform to introduce Qiddiya’s Power of Play philosophy, broaden the Company’s experience and partnerships, and strengthen the presence of the Saudi model in global markets.


Dutch Say Won’t Participate in ‘No Longer’ Neutral Eurovision

A logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is seen in front of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, May 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is seen in front of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, May 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Dutch Say Won’t Participate in ‘No Longer’ Neutral Eurovision

A logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is seen in front of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, May 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is seen in front of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, May 1, 2025. (Reuters)

The Netherlands will not participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, its broadcaster said Monday, saying the event can "no longer be considered neutral" given divisions over the Gaza war. 

"It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the Contest, undermining its neutral character. The Eurovision Song Contest has therefore become a platform for division," said Taco Zimmerman, Director-General of AVROTROS in a statement from the broadcaster. 

The contest has recently been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israel's participation. 

Earlier this month, organizers announced they were excluding any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition. 

"However, the recently announced changes... do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored," said the AVROTROS statement. 

Israel came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion. 

Next year's event, the world's biggest live televised music event, will take place on May 15 in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas. 

It will be the first time that the Balkan nation hosts the contest, coming after Bulgarian singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, won this year's contest in the Austrian capital Vienna with the catchy floor-filler "Bangaranga". 

Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has become the ultimate pop platform, catapulting Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame, as well as boosting the likes of Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John. 

The 2026 competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down 35 million on the year before after five countries boycotted it over Israel's participation. 

The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all pulled out of the contest -- with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all. 

The Dutch took part in the very first Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956 and have won on five occasions. 

The most recent winner was Duncan Laurence whose song Arcade won the contest in 2019, going on to top charts globally. 

It became the first Eurovision entry to reach one billion streams on Spotify, according to the Eurovision website. 

The withdrawal is "painful as we would have very much liked to be part of the Contest again next year," said Zimmerman. 

"As a public broadcaster, we remain committed to our values. They guide us in everything we do, even when that means stepping away from an event that is very close to our hearts," he added.