Star Wars creator George Lucas has been outed as a hardcore Minions fan. The 82-year-old apparently loves the Despicable Me franchise so much, he’s voiced a role in the upcoming Minions & Monsters film, out 1 July.

If you think that’s the only niche animated movie story I’ve got for you this week, strap in coz this intro is about to get weirder…

Paramount and CBS are developing an animated film based on Survivor, with the long-running reality series’ host Jeff Probst signing on as executive producer. “Set on a remote and mystical island, animals from all around the globe compete for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be crowned the sole Survivor,” the official synopsis reads.

Probst said the movie will include “everything we love about Survivor: big personalities, funny characters, surprising alliances, competition chaos, and of course a lot of heart.”

“Being a woman in this industry is extremely difficult because you’re held to a complete different standard. Whether it’s a smear campaign being created for someone’s narrative… it’s hard. But I think the reason that I’ve had success in this industry is I have really thick skin, and I’m going to keep pushing forward.”
Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper has responded to criticism surrounding the workplace culture of her media company, Unwell. Cooper’s comments at Cannes Lion (a global marketing and creative communications festival) follow a recent Vanity Fair story, which cited over 40 reports alleging a toxic work environment at her company.

$AU1,380.
How much Spanish man Gustavo Egusquiza paid for a pair of nail clippers belonging to the late Hollywood actress Diane Keaton. After winning the item in an auction, Egusquiza told BANG Showbiz: “I'm not really interested in the monetary value, I'm interested in the narrative.” As much as I love/miss Diane Keaton, I can’t say I was ever interested in the ‘narrative’ of her nail grooming habits.

Thousands of brave souls stepped into the icy waters of Hobart’s Derwent River on Monday for the annual Dark Mofo festival nude winter solstice swim. The 12°C water was balmy compared to the 4°C morning temps outside. Hilarious and also slightly terrifying.

TV presenter Karl Stefanovic is expected to leave Nine following backlash over his now-deleted podcast interview with British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Stefanovic was criticised for failing to challenge Robinson during the nearly hour-long interview, in which he praised his guest’s “courage” for “trying to stand up for what you believe is right”.

While Nine is not involved in the running of the podcast, the network is widely-reported to be in negotiations to cut ties with the long-standing Today show host.

How did we get here?

Stefanovic has hosted Nine’s Today show since 2005 (apart from a one-year gap in 2019).

In January, he launched a video podcast called The Karl Stefanovic Show.

The podcast, which is independent from Nine, has featured controversial figures including One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, ex-TV host and vaccine sceptic Pete Evans, and former actor/singer turned right-wing political commentator Holly Valance.

This week, Stefanovic published an interview with controversial far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Robinson has attracted attention for his anti-immigration, anti-Islam beliefs. He has been jailed for assault, contempt of court, and fraud.

After recent incidents of violence in the UK, Robinson has attended and encouraged anti-immigration protests.

The podcast episode was published on Tuesday evening but was pulled down by the following morning.

“Nine has no involvement, including in the guest selection and other editorial processes [of the Karl Stefanovic Show],” a spokesperson for the network said on Wednesday.

“However, Nine is taking this matter seriously,” they told AAP.

On Wednesday night, AAP reported the fallout of the podcast triggered “a full day of executive crisis talks,” including negotiations to terminate Stefanovic’s contract.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Thursday: “The last thing we need in Australia is for the temperature to be raised by people who want to spread hatred being given a louder voice.”

Stefanovic did not appear on the Today show on Thursday. He’s also backed out of co-hosting his new radio show with Eddie McGuire on Friday.

Neither Nine nor Stefanovic had confirmed the departure at the time of publishing.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

The Queen of Pop isn't done yet

More than four decades into her career, Madonna is still finding new ways to reinvent the dance floor. 

Confessions II, arriving July 3, continues the story of her iconic Confessions on a Dance Floor era, exploring dance music not as escapism, but as connection, community and self-expression. As Madonna puts it, the dance floor is a place "where movement replaces language" – and this new chapter is proof she's still leading the conversation.

Despite years of messaging and reassurances from tech companies about how they train their AI models, it’s long been thought that some AI tools are using cultural and artistic works without creators’ consent. This week, The Atlantic proved just how big the problem is for the music industry.

The U.S. publication has launched a searchable database revealing over 21 million songs that have circulated among AI developers without the permission of the artists who made them.

A quick search turns up some of the most recognisable names in music, including countless Australian acts including Delta, Kylie, Powderfinger, Missy Higgins, the Kid Laroi, and many, many more.

Here’s what we know about one of the most significant data heists in music history .

Journalist Alex Reisner has spent three years building The Atlantic’s “AI Watchdog”, an investigation into the mass scraping of creative work to train AI systems. He started with books, then news articles, then YouTube videos. The music investigation is his latest chapter.

Reisner found that Suno, a popular AI song generator, has produced tracks that closely resemble Michael Jackson's “Thriller”, and Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You", among others. It is a consequence of AI systems being trained on those songs, without being given permission to use them, and reproducing elements of them in their outputs.

The Atlantic’s database maps four datasets being shared across the AI development community. Three of them don't actually store audio files. Instead, they hold links to tracks on YouTube and Spotify, which developers download using automated tools designed to bypass platform logins and monetisation systems.

In other words, AI companies have found a loophole: Scraping songs from the internet at massive scale, helping themselves to content they don’t have permission to use and sharing them freely among AI developers.

A quick search of the database returns staggering results. Taylor Swift’s music appears 966 times, while almost 700 results came up for Beyoncé.

The list also reads like the greatest hits of Australian music. Over 1,000 results for Kylie. 521 for Sia. 234 for INXS. And the list goes on: Midnight Oil. Cold Chisel. Crowded House. Tame Impala. Hilltop Hoods. Flume.

It means these songs that defined Australian culture are being used without permission, without a licensing arrangement, and without any payment to artists.

Australian music rights body APRA AMCOS has condemned the “indiscriminate” theft of musical works.

It noted that recordings by Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Māori artists, like Gurrumul and Warumpi Band, have also been caught up in the breach.

“Many of these recordings carry cultural knowledge, language and connection to Country. Their use without consent is not acceptable, these are not just recordings, they are cultural expressions governed by protocols as well as copyright,” Leah Flanagan, APRA AMCOS Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs and Strategy said.

APRA AMCOS said the investigation has arrived at a pointed moment. Tech companies are currently lobbying the Australian and New Zealand governments to change copyright law, tying the push to promises of investment in local data centres needed to power AI.

The Albanese government rejected a similar push in October last year, with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland saying Australia had “no plans to weaken copyright protections when it comes to AI.”

APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston says “major tech platforms have not come to the table” to engage in genuine licensing talks. According to the industry body, creators across Australia and New Zealand stand to lose more than $500 million over four years without a mandatory licensing framework, with the average songwriter facing a 23% hit to their revenues.

In the U.S, a court hearing on whether training AI on copyrighted music is legal is expected to proceed in July. It could reshape the entire industry.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.