Sometimes a person opens their mouth to sing and what comes out is not at all what one would expect. We’ve seen it countless times on various Got Talent stages, but one unexpected young singer not only surprised the judges and audience of Britain’s Got Talent with his voice—he brought many of them to tears.
Malakai Bayoh is a teen from London. For his BGT audition in early 2023 when he was just 13 years old, he sang “Pie Jesu,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic in Latin that helped launch Charlotte Church’s career. “Pie Jesu” is a beautiful hymn that requires a soprano voice and includes some challenging vocal high jumps. When it’s done well, it has a mesmerizing, otherworldly quality to it. Malakai did it well.
With the voice of an angel, he stunned everyone in the BGT studios as well as the folks watching at home. People in the live audience wiped away tears. The famously hard-to-impress Simon Cowell couldn’t stop smiling as Malakai sang, and at one point, it looked as if judge Bruno Tonioli (who is delightfully prone to dramatics, to be fair) might actually faint.
Watch:
People on YouTube haven’t been able to stop raving about Malakai’s performance.
“I would say this performance automatically entered into the top ten golden buzzers of all time,” wrote one commenter.
“As a trained singer, watching agt and bgt usually distresses me, but my husband loves it. I was in the bedroom when i heard Malachi’s voice pouring out if the living room like an angel. I’ve heard Pie Jesu performed many times, but this was not a performance, this was sound straight from the Creator to touch our souls. A message of love,” shared another.
“I’m a trained singer, and a music teacher by profession, and sang this song as a young performer myself. I can say with absolute certainty this is the most beautifully I’ve ever heard this song sung. Not only is he a TRULY gifted singer, he sings with poise. With proper technique, proper breathing, proper everything. His vowels are PERFECTION, the smoothness with which he sings is truly impeccable. The amount of control it takes to sing slowly, that high…. this boy is truly a gift from God. Thank you for gracing our ears with your voice little one,” shared another.
“I have seen it 10 times in a row and I have cried all 10 times…definitely a voice that comes from heaven,” shared another.
As Simon Cowell said, “It was like being in heaven.” It seems that everyone is in agreement.
Since his initial BGT audition, Boyah has continued to wow BGT judges and fans with his classical singing. You can watch his performance of “Caruso” here and enjoy his tuxedoed performance of “O Mio Babbino Caro” here. This kid in definitely going places.
In fact, Malakai has recorded his debut album, appropriately called Golden. Watch out world, here comes Malakai.
In a small village in Pwani, a district on Tanzania’s coast, a massive dance party is coming to a close. For the past two hours, locals have paraded through the village streets, singing and beating ngombe drums; now, in a large clearing, a woman named Sheilla motions for everyone to sit facing a large projector screen. A film premiere is about to begin.
It’s an unusual way to kick off a film about gender bias, inequality, early marriage, and other barriers that prevent girls from accessing education in Tanzania. But in Pwani and beyond, local organizations supported by Malala Fund and funded by Pura are finding creative, culturally relevant ways like this one to capture people’s interest.
The film ends and Sheilla, the Communications and Partnership Lead for Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), stands in front of the crowd once again, asking the audience to reflect: What did you think about the film? How did it relate to your own experience? What can we learn?
Sheilla explains that, once the community sees the film, “It brings out conversations within themselves, reflective conversations.” The resonance and immediate action create a ripple effect of change.
MEDEA Screening Audience in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Across Tanzania, gender-based violence often forces adolescent girls out of the classroom. This and other barriers — including child marriage, poverty, conflict, and discrimination — prevent girls from completing their education around the world.
Sheilla and her team are using film and radio programs to address the challenges girls face in their communities. MEDEA’s ultimate goal is to affirm education as a fundamental right for everyone, and to ensure that every member of a community understands how girls’ education contributes to a stronger whole and how to be an ally for their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, friends, nieces, and girlfriends.
Sheilla’s story is one of many that inspired Heart on Fire, a new fragrance from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection that blends the warm, earthy spices of Tanzania with a playful, joyful twist. Here’s how Pura is using scent as a tool to connect the world and inspire action.
A partnership focused on local impact, on a global mission
Pura, a fragrance company that recognizes education as both freedom and a human right, has partnered with Malala Fund since 2022. In order to defend every girl’s right to access and complete 12 years of education, Malala Fund partners with local organizations in countries where the educational barriers are the greatest. They invest in locally-led solutions because they know that those who are closest to the problems are best equipped to solve and build durable solutions, like MEDEA, which works with communities to challenge discrimination against girls and change beliefs about their education.
But local initiatives can thrive and scale more powerfully with global support, which is why Pura is using their own superpower, the power of scent, to connect people around the world with the women and girls in these local communities.
The Pura x Malala Fund Collection incorporates ingredients naturally found in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil: countries where Malala Fund operates to address systemic education barriers. Eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection will be donated to Malala Fund directly, but beyond financial support, the Collection is also a love letter to each unique community, blending notes like lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, and clove to transport people, ignite their senses, and help them draw inspiration and hope from the global movement for girls’ education. Through scent, people can connect to the courage, joy, and tenacity of girls and local leaders, all while uniting in a shared commitment to education: the belief that supporting girls’ rights in one community benefits all of us, everywhere.
You’ve already met Sheilla. Now see how Naiara and Mama Habiba are building unique solutions to ensure every girl can learn freely and dare to dream.
Naiara Leite is reimagining what’s possible in Brazil
Julia with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
In Brazil, where pear trees and coconut plantations cover the Northeastern Coast, girls like ten-year-old Julia experience a different kind of educational barrier than girls in Tanzania. Too often, racial discrimination contributes to high dropout rates among Black, quilombola and Indigenous girls in the country.
“In the logic of Brazilian society, Black people don’t need to study,” says Naiara Leite, Executive Coordinator of Odara, a women-led organization and Malala Fund partner. Bahia, the state where Odara is based, was once one of the largest slave-receiving territories in the Americas, and because of that history, deeply-ingrained, anti-Black prejudice is still widespread. “Our role and the image constructed around us is one of manual labor,” Naiara says.
But education can change that. In 2020, with assistance from a Malala Fund grant, Odara launched its first initiative for improving school completion rates among Black, quilombola, and Indigenous girls: “Ayomidê Odara”. The young girls mentored under the program, including Julia, are known as the Ayomidês. And like the Pura x Malala Fund Collection’s Brazil: Breath of Courage scent, the Ayomidês are fierce, determined, and bursting with energy.
Ayomidês with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
Ayomidês take part in weekly educational sessions where they explore subjects like education and ethnic-racial relations. The girls are encouraged to find their own voices by producing Instagram lives, social media videos, and by participating in public panels. Already, the Ayomidês are rewriting the narrative on what’s possible for Afro-Brazilian girls to achieve. One of the earliest Ayomidês, a young woman named Debora, is now a communications intern. Another former Ayomidê, Francine, works at UNICEF, helping train the next generation of adolescent leaders. And Julia has already set her sights on becoming a math teacher or a model.
“These are generations of Black women who did not have access to a school,” Naiara says. “These are generations of Black women robbed daily of their dreams. And we’re telling them that they could be the generation in their family to write a new story.”
Mama Habiba is reframing the conversation in Nigeria
Centre for Girls' Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
In Mama Habiba’s home country of Nigeria, the scents of starfruit, ylang ylang and pineapple, all incorporated into the Pura x Malala Collection’s “Nigeria: Hope for Tomorrow,” can be found throughout the vibrant markets. Like these native scents, Mama Habiba says that the Nigerian girls are also bright and passionate, but too often they are forced to leave school long before their potential fully blooms.
“Some of these schools are very far, and there is an issue of quality, too,” Mama Habiba says. “Most parents find out when their children are in school, the girls are not learning. So why allow them to continue?”
When girls drop out of secondary school, marriage is often the alternative. In Nigeria, one in three girls is married before the age of 18. When this happens, girls are unable to fulfill their potential, and their families and communities lose out on the social, health and economic benefits.
Completing secondary school delays marriage, and according to UNESCO, educated girls become women who raise healthier children, lift their families out of poverty and contribute to more peaceful, resilient communities.
Centre for Girls’ Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
To encourage young girls to stay in school, the Centre for Girls’ Education, a nonprofit in Nigeria founded by Mama Habiba and supported by Malala Fund and Pura, has pioneered an initiative that’s similar to the Ayomidê workshops in Brazil: safe spaces. Here, girls meet regularly to learn literacy, numeracy, and other issues like reproductive health. These safe spaces also provide an opportunity for the girls to role-play and learn to advocate for themselves, develop their self-image, and practice conversations with others about their values, education being one of them. In safe spaces, Mama Habiba says, girls start to understand “who she is, and that she is a girl who has value. She has the right to negotiate with her parents on what she really feels or wants.”
“When girls are educated, they can unlock so many opportunities,” Mama Habiba says. “It will help the economy of the country. It will boost so many opportunities for the country. If they are given the opportunity, I think the sky is not the limit. It is the starting point for every girl.”
From parades, film screenings to safe spaces and educational programs, girls and local leaders are working hard to strengthen the quality, safety and accessibility of education and overcome systemic challenges. They are encouraging courageous behavior and reminding us all that education is freedom.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
Coming of age at the same time as the Internet is a wild experience that can be hard to explain to younger generations. At a recent stand-up event, comedian Josh Johnson found himself in a mixed-age crowd discussing early Internet use. He quickly realized just how difficult it would be to explain how people got online in the early 2000s.
For one, the process of getting onto the World Wide Web would likely sound made up to anyone under 30. And honestly, is there anyone who fully understands how it worked? Still, the comedian gives it his best shot, and hilariously struggles through it in a clip shared on his Instagram.
“When I got the Internet, it was on CD,” Johnson reveals. “To this day, I don’t know how that worked. What…what…what is on the CD? What is that, because I thought you had to have…”
That’s when he realizes he’s going to struggle with the explanation. Johnson warns the audience the process is going to be annoying, drawing even more laughter from those watching.
“Some of you are young, and this is going to sound fake, but you used to…” he says before pausing to laugh with the audience. “No. You used to get Internet…okay…you would get an offer in the mail. They would mail you Internet. You would open the mail, and it would be Internet in the mail, but it would be a CD.”
He then explains that a CD is a compact disc, and that Internet companies like AOL would send them through the mail as free trials. They could also be picked up at grocery stores near the checkout lanes.
The comedian says that when you received the CD, “you would put it in the computer and for whatever reason, you got like 30 hours of Internet, which was a lot back then. I know y’all use it up in a day, today, but 30 hours used to be a lot of Internet, and you would surf the web. It was called surfing. We had a name for the World Wide Web, that’s where the WWW comes from. Do you want to hear any other facts that sound like they’re from the Middle Ages?”
The more he explains, the more ridiculous it sounds out loud. With the Internet now easily accessible through Wi-Fi—not weird discs that mysteriously connect you—the old way feels almost unbelievable. But it’s true. There are likely storage boxes and landfills full of free Internet trial discs, long forgotten after cable Internet replaced dial-up.
People can’t get over how the world worked in the early days of the technology boom.
“Wait until the youths find out Netflix used to send DVDs to rent through the actual mail,” a commenter writes.
Another person writes, “Not to mention we would have several different internet providers because of all the ‘free trial’ disks. Each month or whenever you ran out of internet from the previous disk…what a time to be alive.”
Someone else jokes, “They weren’t just mailed. They came flying in like letters to Harry Potter’s front door…”
One person says, “My frugal midwestern mom had us on dialup for ages bc she hoarded all the AOL free trial CDs. I will hear that dialup tone on my death bed good lord.”
“And had bout 8 different email addresses so you could keep getting multiple free trials,” another person writes.
The highlight of the performance was when Barry got ready to strum his guitar for a performance of “How Deep Is Your Love,” the 1977 megahit from the “Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack,” but instead chose to sing the song a cappella.
Their signature sound
Barry starts the song solo in his beautiful falsetto, but then, when his brothers join him, they create a wonderful harmony that only brothers can make. The show’s host, Des O’Connor, a notable singer himself, even joins in for a few bars.
Earlier in the performance, the brothers played their version of “Islands in the Stream,” a song made famous by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in 1983 that was written by the Bee Gees. In 1998, the song was enjoying a resurgence as its melody was used in the song “Ghetto Supastar” by Pras of The Fugees.
Writing for music icons
Robin Gibb later admitted that the song was initially written for Marvin Gaye to sing, but he was tragically murdered in 1984 by his father. The band also had Diana Ross in mind while composing the tune.
During the appearance, the band also sang “Guilty,” a song that the Bee Gees wrote for Barbara Streisand and Barry produced in 1980.
You can watch the entire performance here:
The Gibb brothers started making music together when they were children, and after their first public appearance together at a local movie theater in 1956, they were hooked on performing.
“It was the feeling of standing in front of an audience that was so amazing,” said Barry. “We’d never seen anything like it. We were very young, but it made an enormous impression. We didn’t want to do anything else but make music.”
After the family moved to Australia in 1958, Barry, Maurice, and Robin were “discovered” at the Redcliffe Speedway, where they had asked to perform between races. Even over the tinny PA system, their harmonies made an impression. Speedway manager Bill Goode introduced the trio to DJ Bill Gates, who set them up with a recording session.
From a land down under
If you’ve ever wondered how the Bee Gees got their name, that was it: Bill Goode, Bill Gates, Barry Gibb, and the brothers’ mother Barbara Gibb all had the initials B.G. After a strong reception on the airwaves in Brisbane, Gates forwarded the brothers’ recordings to a Sydney radio station. They got a lot of airtime there as well, and the band had a run of success performing in Australia, but it wasn’t until their return to England in 1967 that they became the international sensation we all know today.
Manager Robert Stigwood had received tapes from the Gibbs brothers and called them up within weeks of their arrival in the U.K.
“I loved their composing,” Stigwood told Rolling Stone in 1977. “I also loved their harmony singing. It was unique, the sound they made; I suppose it was a sound only brothers could make.”
More than just disco
And, as they say, the rest is history. The award-winning 2020 HBO documentary, “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” tells the story of the band with loads of footage from throughout their 40-year career, which includes not only their disco-era fame, but the various phases of their musical journey and the countless songs they wrote for other artists.
As one commenter wrote, “People that call the Bee Gees a ‘disco group’ don’t have a clue. They had 10 albums out before they ventured into ‘disco.’ Their song catalogue is amazing and some of their very best songs were written long before Saturday Night Fever. Those ‘disco’ songs are classics as well. It is nice to see they are finally getting the recognition they deserve.”
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
When the 2024 Summer Olympics ended, few knew we weren’t quite done marveling at elite-level humans at the top of their game. America’s Got Talent returned from its two week hiatus in August 2024 with eleven incredible acts, but it was R&B singer Liv Warfield who stole the show with her rendition of “The Unexpected,” a song that just so happened to be written specifically for her by Prince. No big deal.
Warfield had already wowed audiences with her initial audition, which earned a Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell. But her follow-up performance had Cowell saying, “If this was the Olympics for singing, you would have won the gold medal.”
Liv Warfield after receiving the Golden Buzzer. Photo credit: NBCUniversal.
Judges Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel echoed similar praises. Vergara called Warfield’s set “perfection,” while Mandel, a self-proclaimed Prince fan, told Warfield that “The Purple One knew what he was doing when he gave you this gem. That was a million-dollar performance.”
And it’s not hard to see why Warfield got such high remarks. Beyond her unbelievable vocals was her undeniable star power and ability to transport us all back in time to the days of 70s rock n’ roll.
As one viewer put it, “If Prince and Janis Joplin had a baby = Liv Warfield!”
Just watch:
From Prince to AGT
Warfield’s connection to Prince began in 2009, when she joined his New Power Generation band. Though she noted that “backing up Prince was a dream,” not to mention the fact that she’s already made several chart topping achievements on her own, she still felt like her ultimate potential had yet to be reached, hence her AGT audition. Now, her quarterfinal performance has made Cowell declare another defining moment in her career.
“It felt to me like all those years you’ve been climbing the ladder to where you want to be, it all came out in those three minutes,” he said.
Indeed, what a testament to the power of steadily going after your dreams. Raw talent is great, but even with God-given gifts, there’s still so much work that goes into being ready for big opportunities. Though she didn’t win the competition in the end, Warfield is already a winner through and through.
Learning from the master
Warfield is continuing on her musical path in her hometown of Chicago and was invited to perform the Star-Spangled Banner at a Chicago Cubs baseball game in May of 2025.
Thank you @cubs for inviting me out to sing. ✨Beautiful Day, Beautiful People,Energy at @cubs game! With my @zinzannichicago Family❤️✨. Although sis, was hiding out like the 🦀 that I am. 😂😂🤘🏾 Love y’all! Yesterday was necessary 🫀. PR Queen @aidanhenri 😘✨🫶🏾 @princenolov3 😘
Her Prince roots are alive and well in her stage performances as she performed in a tribute concert series during the summer of 2025. She also has multiple albums under her belt, beginning with “Embrace Me” in 2006 and continuing through her 2023 album “The Edge.”
Warfield has credited Prince with her musical development, telling NPR in 2014:
“He’s influenced me first and foremost, as a performer. Just kind of like taking chances first. It took me a while. Like I thought I was a good performer, but when I got part of the New Power Generation, I was like, ‘Whoa this is a whole new world for me.’ And even in the writing and arranging, and him just teaching me how to really listen to the music. Listen to every instrument, give space, and I wasn’t really thinking about those things. I just wanted to hear everything. I thought, ‘If everybody plays, it’s good.’ … Sometimes it could sound like noise, but he just really kind of developed my ear.”
Liv Warfield performing on AGT. Photo credit: NBCUniversal
Just more proof that musical legends live on not only in the music they leave behind but in the talent they help nurture and develop.
This article originally appeared two years ago.It has been updated.
Online, you’ll find hundreds of newfangled hacks to get food crispy and golden brown without the oil. But one new method taking over TikTok isn’t new at all. In fact, it’s centuries old.
Enter: salt frying. Recently, Roice Bethel (@roicebethel) went viral after sharing a clip of himself dropping chicharrones and popcorn kernels into a frying pan filled to the brim with salt and salt alone. Then voila, each of the foods puffed out, ready to eat…leaving some viewers dumbfounded.
In truth, the technique of using salt (or sand) to cook certain foods has been around for millennia in countries like China, India, and Greece. And you’ll still find it among street food vendors today. In India, for instance, far far (or fryums), made from potato starch, tapioca, and/or wheat flour, are often made this way.
In China, chestnuts roasted in large woks filled with hot sand are a seasonal winter staple, prized for their subtly smoky flavor. And in Bangladesh, peanuts are traditionally toasted in pans of hot black sand, which helps them roast evenly without burning.
Similar techniques have also appeared in parts of the Middle East and Mediterranean, where cooks have long relied on heated salt beds to gently cook or warm foods. Historically, these methods were especially useful in places where cooking oil was scarce or expensive, making salt and sand practical alternatives. Not to mention that watching foods cooks this way is also a treat for the eyes.
In Turkey, sand has also been a tried-and-true way to make coffee, seen below.
How salt frying works
Really, salt or sand frying isn’t so much frying as it is dry roasting. Frying food in oil makes food crispy by rapidly dehydrating the outer layer. The intense heat triggers the Maillard reaction, which is responsible for browning and complex flavors, and causes surface starches to gelatinize and harden while the inside stays moist.
When heated, salt and sand act as equally excellent heat conductors. Both can store and distribute heat evenly, surrounding food on all sides and eliminating hot spots. This creates a consistent cooking environment that mimics the effect of deep frying, only without added fat.
As Kurush F. Dalal, an archaeologist and culinary anthropologist, told Food & Wine, “it’s an incredibly cost-effective and very controllable process,” especially since you can reuse the salt you fry with. Tell that to the southerners among us who save every drop of their bacon grease!
Salt frying tips
Now, if you’re excited to try this cooking style out yourself, there are a few caveats—the most important being that this really only works on dry ingredients. Salt will stick to any damp ingredients and completely ruin the taste of the dish.
Second, it is advised to use coarse salt, according to Food & Wine. And at least one person on Reddit suggests that no matter what salt or sand you use, “let it heat for 15 minutes to let the volatile compounds evaporate (like iodine).”
Lastly, you’ll need a large, deep fryer-friendly utensil, like a wok or cast-iron skillet, that can hold a lot of salt or sand.
So, while it may look like a viral magic trick, salt frying is really just ancient ingenuity making a well-deserved comeback. Some things are timeless for a reason.
It’s hard to believe it’s been over 10 years since the great Robin Williams left our world. The man left a fantastic legacy of laughs, from his time on TV’s Mork and Mindy to his performances in comedy hits such as Mrs. Doubtfire and Disney’s Aladdin.
Williams was also an incredible dramatic actor, giving memorable performances in films such as Dead Poets Society and Good Morning, Vietnam.
But the Comic Relief star always shined brightest when he improvised on stage, whether on talk shows or in stand-up comedy. One appearance on Martha Stewart Living from 2004 resurfaced last year because of how quickly he improvised jokes while cooking with Stewart. It’s also great because Stewart plays the perfect straight woman to Williams, although she has a tough time holding it together.
Their chemistry was spicy
Whenever Stewart mentions an ingredient, whether cumin or brown sugar, Williams turns it into a comedic riff. He also jokes in Spanish and does a few accents that feel off-color over 20 years later, but they’re delivered with the best intentions. Williams also walks a bit of a tightrope during the segment while he tries to keep his humor appropriate for daytime TV while reacting to Stewart, who is “rubbing the meat.”
“I feel incredibly honored to have grown up in an era where we had this wonderful man,” the most popular commenter on the YouTube video wrote. “His ability to change characters on the fly is remarkable,” another added. “His spontaneous humor is unmatched! He was an incredibly smart, kind and funny man. He is sorely missed!” another commenter said.
Who were Martha Stewart’s favorite guests on her show?
Years later, Stewart would admit that Williams was one of her favorite guests on the show. “We had so much fun because he was the fastest wit and the fastest mind and his mind was like a computer,” Stewart told AOL in 2022. “No matter what I said, he had a retort and he was so quick. I was marinating meat and he loved that—can you imagine what he did with ‘marinating meat’ and ‘rubbing the meat’ and ‘ooh la la?’ Watch the segment; it’s really good.”
Martha Stewart relationship advice hits different.
MARTHA, the definitive documentary on the life of the self-made icon, is now playing. pic.twitter.com/wJ55XHZiZU
What’s The Many Lives of Martha Stewart film about?
Although Martha Stewart has rarely been out of the spotlight over the past five decades, she was in the news after releasing the 2023 Netflix documentary about her life, The Many Lives of Martha Stewart.
The film follows Stewart’s journey from teen model to Wall Street stockbroker to the queen of entertaining and good taste. Eventually, she would become America’s first self-made female billionaire. The documentary also discusses the insider trading scandal that sent her to prison in 2004.
The film also reveals Stewart’s guiding philosophy. “I have two mottos. One is: Learn something new every day. And the second one is: When you’re through changing, you’re through,” Stewart says in the film. “Change that garden if you don’t like it. Rip it out and you start all over again.”
If you want to relive the hilarious moments between Stewart and Williams in your kitchen, here’s a recipe for the Chili Espresso Steak Rub.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
Some celebrities really live up to their fictional personas. Harrison Ford is certainly one of them, and this recent story from Brendan Fraser is a prime example of it.
During a panel at MegaCon Orlando, Fraser shared how he first met Ford while working together on the 2010 film Extraordinary Measures, based on a true story. In the film, they play two men who team up to develop a drug to save children from a life-threatening disease.
As Fraser told the crowd, he randomly received a phone call from his costar, asking how quickly he could get to the airport. Not wanting to disappoint, Fraser replied, “I guess I can get in a cab now.” Apparently, as soon as he arrived, Ford was there waiting for him. The two then hopped on Ford’s plane, where Fraser was allowed to sit in the co-pilot’s seat.
Showing himself to be a true Star Wars fan, Fraser recalled, “I’m Chewbacca, b**ches,” dusting himself off proudly. Honestly, who could say no to being Chewbacca to the OG Han Solo? And even if you aren’t a Star Wars aficionado, it’s heartening to see Fraser relive a positive memory from his earlier Hollywood years.
“I’m smiling ear to ear and damn I needed that,” one viewer on TikTok aptly wrote.
Another gushed, “Han Solo flew you around? AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE.”
“This made me cheese so hard what a legend,” added a third.
This is only one of two hilarious Ford stories Fraser shared. Apparently, for one scene, Fraser couldn’t remember a newly updated line and was growing more flustered with each failed take. Ford, clearly done with the situation, grabbed a Sharpie, wrote the line on some duct tape, and promptly stuck it on his forehead so Fraser could simply read it.
“It was hysterical, but it totally defined Harrison,” Fraser recalled during an interview in Beverly Hills, according to the Orange County Register. “His philosophy on acting is ‘Do it, and do it right.’”
The outlet also noted that Ford was only trying to help his co-star relax. It just happened to be in the most Harrison Ford way possible.
“Marlon Brando once said that an actor can’t care about anything or the audience will see it on his face. Maybe Brendan was caring too much,” he quipped.
It’s interesting to think about how this time must have felt for Fraser. After the success of The Mummy, he had become an Indiana Jones type in his own right. And there he was, a decade later, not only meeting the OG, but actually working alongside him. That kind of full-circle moment had to feel surreal and nerve-wracking all at once.
And now, both universally loved actors have enjoyed their own renaissance of sorts: Fraser with his Hollywood comeback in projects like The Whale, Doom Patrol, and Rental Family, and Ford with Shrinking. Who knows—maybe we’ll see them share the screen again. If so, there will likely be even more great stories to come.
According to her daughter, Lucille Ball never considered herself a feminist, but there’s no question she blazed many a trail for women. A working mother in real life, she depicted issues facing housewives with her brilliant television comedy and became the first female studio head in Hollywood. She broke glass ceilings but wasn’t particularly outspoken about women’s rights. In fact, in a 1980 interview with People she said, “They can use my name for equal rights, but I don’t get out there and raise hell because I’ve been so liberated, I have nothing to squawk about.”
Ball empowered women by example—and by speaking her mind. Carol Burnett shared a story on PBS about how Ball was unhappy with a script for her new show, but women at that time didn’t raise concerns about such things. Men could express criticism and demand changes, but women simply didn’t. Ball did—and firmly—despite being non-confrontational by nature. Later she told Burnett, “Kid, that’s when they put the ‘s’ at the end of my name.”
Lucille Ball shuts down TV host
A video has been circulating on social media showing Ball’s no-nonsense way of speaking up when she felt the need to, and people are gushing over it.
Lucille Ball was a massive star, but perhaps best known for the show ‘I Love Lucy By CBS Television – Public Domain
In 1978, Ball participated in a Q & A session with UCLA theater arts students on the television program “America Alive!” The viral clip shows Ball repeatedly telling one of the hosts, David Sheehan, to take his hands off of female audience members when they were asking a question.
“Will you take your hands off, David?” she says as he introduces one young woman. “Take your hands off of her,” she says again as he places his hand on the shoulder of another. “David, would you take your hands away?” she says as he places his hands on another woman in a sparkly gold dress.
People laughed every time, but Ball didn’t so much as crack a smile during her clear, simple, repeated “hands off” admonitions.
For 1978 especially, her advocacy for the women in the audience was extraordinary. Sheehan wasn’t touching these women in a lewd or sexual manner, but he was touching them in a way that he wouldn’t have touched a man who was asking a question. Most people wouldn’t have thought much of it at the time, but Lucille Ball immediately noted it and didn’t let it stand.
Here are some of the best comments
“I love that she didn’t even laugh when the room was. She was not joking.”
“‘Take your hands off her, David,’ should be a sound AND a t-shirt.”
“He kept trying. She kept telling him. Love her.”
“Lucille Ball always reminds me of my grandma. She hated to be seen as delicate, and she hated men that would touch her even more. She would say, stone-faced, ‘Get your paws off.’”
“The audience laughed and she said ‘ain’t nothing funny.’ Love her”
.”This happened to me so much growing up and I noticed from very young the boys weren’t treated this way.”
“Even then she knew how the industry was. I LOVE IT AND LOOOOVE LUCY SO MUCH.”
A commenter on Reddit noted that Ball started her career as a chorus girl and dancer. “She knows every creepy man trick in the book”
The wider culture of handsy TV hosts
Television and game shows from the 70s and 80s are an incredible time capsule of the culture and norms of the era. Sheehan wasn’t the only one who tended to get a little handsy.
It was common for male hosts to kiss female contestants. Richard Dawson, host of The Family Feud, was famous for it. Even our beloved Bob Barker of The Price Is Right often had women suggestively reach into his jacket to fish out their $100 bill.
Richard Dawson kissing all the women in the family. YouTube
There’s a casual lecherous-ness that famous men seemed to get away with easily at the time. For anyone to publicly challenge them on their behavior was absolutely shocking.
Even if Sheehan was casually touching those women out of habit and not ill intent, it’s laudable that Ball made a point of making him aware of it. Unfortunately, women are still having to deal with men touching them without being invited to, but seeing Lucille Ball’s serious face while calling it out is a good reminder that women have been fighting this battle for a long time. Good for her for using her microphone and the respect afforded her to speak up for the young women in her audience.
Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” is a pop song that has stood the test of time. The hit was written by the band’s lead singer, Boy George, and topped the Billboard charts in 1982.
It continues to resonate with younger generations. During a 2018 blind audition on Season 7 of The Voice Australia, singer Sheldon Riley performed an evocative version of the song for judge Boy George himself.
Riley’s personal touches on the hit made a deep impact on Boy George.
Singing to Boy George
In the viral clip, Riley takes a few deep breaths before beginning to sing, accompanied only by a piano. “Give me time to realize my crime,” he croons, as judge Joe Jonas immediately recognizes the tune, along with Boy George.
“I know that song,” Boy George says.
With their ears perked, Riley continues to sing, and Boy George quickly presses the button to turn his chair. Riley immediately becomes emotional as the three remaining judges—Jonas, Delta Goodrem, and Kelly Rowland—also press their buttons.
“I love it!” Boy George continues, as Riley keeps singing a hauntingly sad version of his major pop hit. Riley bursts into tears at the end of his performance, and Boy George sings his praises.
“Great song!” he quips. “Obviously that song is so personal to me—it’s my own personal love story in a way. And it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else singing it. You just added so much kind of sadness to it.”
Boy George quickly compliments Riley on his outfit—a purple top with large faux-fur sleeves and white ripped jeans—with Riley sharing that his look isn’t “normally accepted” by others.
Boy George says to him, “Honey, can I just say…never, ever look for acceptance. Take me as I am—that should be your motto.”
Later in the clip when Riley is choosing his coach, he tells Boy George, “I just want to say thank you so much. You let people like me wear what I want to wear, and put these lashes on that take thousands of years. You just inspire me so much…I’m going to go Team George!”
The history of “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Boy George said he wrote the song about his former partner, Kirk Brandon.
“I did play the victim. That was the role I took on: ‘Oh, why are you doing this to me?’ Back in the day, I spent so much time trying to change the people I was in love with–and not trying to change myself,” he said.
And he didn’t think it would be a hit.
“I thought the song was too personal to be a hit and I didn’t want it to be a single. I went to Virgin and stomped my feet and sat on the stairs saying: ‘You’re going to ruin our career before we’ve even started!’, he said. “Our audience needed something to dance to, and ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me’ was too slow, too personal, too long. Everything about it was wrong. So its success was a big education for me: I learned that being personal was the key to touching people.”
The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts in March 1983 and spent 25 weeks on the chart.
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