Prince Harry has achieved a significant legal victory over Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper group, News Group Newspapers . The publisher admitted for the first time to unlawful actions at its tabloid, The Sun, and agreed to a substantial damages payment. Harry had accused NGN of illegally obtaining private information about him from 1996 to 2011 and intruding into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana. The settlement is reported to be over £10 million, mainly covering legal fees. NGN issued an apology for the serious intrusion into Harry's private life. The apology pertained to actions of private investigators, not journalists. This settlement may mark the end of similar lawsuits against NGN, which has faced significant financial repercussions from prior lawsuits involving phone hacking and other illegal information gathering activities. While NGN admitted wrongdoing at The Sun, it maintained that there was no senior-level cover-up. No comment was provided by Buckingham Palace or Prince William’s office.
The phone-hacking scandal emerged in 2006, leading to arrests and the closure of News of the World in 2011. This settlement is significant as NGN admitted unlawful activity at The Sun for the first time and avoids a potentially damaging trial. Harry's deal is seen as a victory, and he plans to pressure politicians and police to revisit the scandal. This lawsuit is one of three major lawsuits Harry has pursued against British media, including successful litigation against Mirror Group Newspapers and pending action against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
The UK government is proposing a new "right to personality" to protect artists and celebrities from AI companies creating products that mimic their distinctive features. Ministers will consult on updating copyright rules to regulate how AI technologies use artists' content for training models. This consultation will introduce new protections for creators, aiming to block AI products that closely resemble famous voices, images, or other features. A key part of the consultation is establishing a rights reservation mechanism, balancing content licensing opportunities with protection for creators who do not want their material used. The consultation will avoid terms like "opt in" or "opt out" and will address transparency issues around the use of scraped content by AI companies. The issue is controversial, as creative industry executives fear the proposed mechanism will result in their content being easily appropriated by tech companies, threatening the UK's creative sectors. The government aims for an open-ended consultation to stimulate broad debate on the subject.
Celebrity Big Brother 2025 has returned, airing nightly on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and STV Player, with its live final scheduled for April 25 at 9pm. Hosted again by AJ Odudu and Will Best, the show features spin-offs including Late & Live and a nightly live stream. This year’s celebrity housemates include EastEnders star Patsy Palmer, Mickey Rourke, Jack P Shepherd, Olympic athlete Daley Thompson, and JoJo Siwa, among others. As of now, Chesney, Chris, Danny, Donna, Jack, and JoJo are the six finalists competing for the top prize. The house has moved to a new location, and viewers can connect with the show through behind-the-scenes content and late-night coverage. Previous winner David Potts won the 2024 season. The show continues to gain popularity, with over 100 million streams on ITVX, and features include exclusive interviews with evictees and commentary from hosts and guest celebrities. A promo trailer with returning guinea pig mascots is available, highlighting the show's quirky return.
Celebrity Traitors UK is set to premiere on BBC1 later in 2025, likely in late summer or early autumn, following the success of The Traitors UK season 3. Hosted once again by Claudia Winkleman, this celebrity edition will see well-known faces competing in the popular murder-mystery format. Confirmed participants include Tom Daley, Bob Mortimer, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, and Clare Balding, among others. The show, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, will follow the usual format: celebrities will start as Faithfuls, with a few secretly selected as Traitors aiming to deceive the rest. Through missions, players build a prize fund of up to £120,000, with celebrities aiming to win up to £100,000 for charity. Regular banishments and “murders” spice up the gameplay, culminating in either the Faithfuls or a remaining Traitor claiming the prize. Rumored additional participants include Judy Murray, Lisa Riley, Richard Osman, and Daisy May Cooper. Production began in spring 2025, and fans can anticipate plenty of deception, strategy, and entertainment in this new twist on the hit series. A trailer has not yet been released.
I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! returned for its twenty-fourth series on 17 November 2024 on ITV. The series was again filmed in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, with Ant & Dec returning to present the series. It was also confirmed that the show's spin-off would return, four years after being axed. It was given the new title I'm a Celebrity: Unpacked and was presented by Joel Dommett, alongside Sam Thompson and Kemi Rodgers. On 8 December 2024, Danny Jones was declared the winner of the series, and ultimately the new "King of the Jungle", with Coleen Rooney and Rev. Richard Coles finishing in second and third place respectively. Jones is notably the second member of McFly to win the series, following his bandmate Dougie Poynter, who won the series in 2011.
