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Darren Aronofsky To Receive Locarno’s Honorary Pardo d’Onore 

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Darren Aronofsky will be awarded the honorary Pardo d’Onore award during this year’s Locarno Film Festival, which runs from August 5 to 15. 

Aronofsky will pick up the award on August 14 at the festival’s outdoor cinema at the Piazza Grande and present two of his features, The Fountain (2006) and Mother! (2017).

Previous Pardo d’Onore honorees include Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, Terry Gilliam, William Friedkin, Alain Tanner, Jia Zhang-ke, Leos Carax, Werner Herzog, Agnès Varda, Todd Haynes, John Waters, John Landis, Kelly Reichardt, Harmony Korine, Jane Campion, and Alexander Payne.

Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro described Aronofsky as “an auteur who has made the sheer force of creativity, invention, and audacity his trademark.” 

“Darren Aronofsky has never failed to challenge conventions and expectations, nor attempted simply to please either the public or the industry,” Nazzaro said. 

“As a filmmaker, he has succeeded in creating an unmistakable body of work, such that the adjective ‘Aronofskian’ is now used to characterise a deeply personal and unconventional style that nonetheless moves freely between different genres and approaches – in his specific case anchored in those themes and obsessions that he has tirelessly explored: faith, motherhood, the conflicts with authoritarian father figures, and the challenges inherent in the creation of societies. Aronofsky embodies the pleasure of cinema as risk and constant challenge. Celebrating his work in Locarno, welcoming him to the Piazza Grande, is a tribute to creativity’s essential beauty, challenges, and necessity.”

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Bill Gates Warns AI Could “Cause A Billion Deaths”

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As Trump brushes off the need for additional guardrails around artificial intelligence, Bill Gates is sounding the alarm.

In a recent interview, the Microsoft co-founder urged the U.S. government to implement regulations around the development of AI, following a meeting with CEOs of several of biggest AI companies, who agreed it’s necessary to slow down the pace of the growing tech.

“No one thinks self-regulation is enough,” he said on NBC News’ Meet the Press. “You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like. And that has to be a required thing. And it will be a little bit of overhead for the industry, but not a dramatic slowing of what they’re doing.”

Gates added, “AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths. You know, so even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100%, there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools.”

Following recent warnings from those working in AI, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order this month to fast-track stringent oversight and control of AI. Convening “a group of world-leading experts” within the next 60 days, the order lays out a discussion of “safety plans” and “an emergency shutoff, or ‘kill switch,’ for frontier models.”

On a federal level, Trump has brushed off concerns about AI as “a hoax,” insisting the U.S. government “already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power” over AI companies.

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Jeff Probst Says “Nothing Changed” On ‘Survivor’ After CBS Scrapped DEI

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Although Paramount was one of several companies to roll back their DEI initiative when Trump was re-elected, Survivor continues to operate by it.

Host Jeff Probst recently noted that “nothing has changed” with how the reality competition series approaches diversity, equity and inclusion, noting that it was “one of the biggest positive changes ever” for the CBS show that launched in 2000.

“And if you watch our show, you know that we’re so diverse — and it’s not just skin color or ethnicity. It goes much deeper than that. It’s one of the biggest positive changes ever,” he told The New York Times. “Our stories are so much more interesting now because we have people from completely different walks of life.”

Probst continued, “I feel no pressure. No one ever says, can you count the numbers again? But Jesse Tannenbaum, who runs our casting team, knows: There’s no stopping, not because we’re told to do it. This is what we need. We need diversity. It’s for narrative. All those differences matter in the story when you throw people together and force them to rely on each other while conspiring against each other. The more diverse, the more interesting.”

In 2020, Paramount implemented a DEI initiative to make CBS and its other brands more inclusive, which the company rolled back last year amid the Trump administration’s attacks on such programs. Months later, Skydance pledged there would be no DEI policies under the Ellison’s reign as they sought the FCC’s approval of the merger.

Following its milestone 50th season, Probst returns to host Survivor for Season 51, airing Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS and streaming live on Paramount+.

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How To Watch The 2026 MTV VMAs

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The MTV Video Music Awards are back tonight for the 42nd awards show, celebrating the best music videos of the year.

Hosted by 3x VMA winner Snoop Dogg, the ceremony broadcasts live on Sunday night from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with performances from Madonna, Kacey Musgraves, Lisa, Sombr and more.

Madonna leads this year’s nominations with 13 categories, tying Lady Gaga’s 2010 record for most nominations in a year. She’s followed by Taylor Swift (11), Sabrina Carpenter (nine) and Ariana Grande (eight) in earning the most nominations.

Tonight’s awards show will honor Nirvana with the Video Vanguard Award, and Taylor Swift will receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, with her “Patient Zero” music video from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore making its world premiere during the simulcast.

This years MTV VMA performances will include tributes to Dolly Parton and George Michael, marking 40 years since his solo debut album Faith.

With all this and more expected for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, read on for how to watch or stream the awards show.

How Can I Watch The 2026 VMAs?

The 2026 VMAs will air live from on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 7:30-9:30pm ET/4:30-6:30pm PT on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ (Premium) in the US. The show will be available globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.

Who Is Presenting At The 2026 VMAs?

The VMA presenters include some of this years nominees and winners of VMAs past, as well as a survivor, a superhero, a scream queen and a Saturday Night Live alum.

The lineup features Alex Warren, Belmont Cameli, Brandon Sklenar, Charli xcx, Ciara Miller, David Corenswet, Ella Bright, Isabel May, Jeff Probst, Rachel Dratch, Teyana Taylor, Troye Sivan and Tyla.

Who Is Performing At The 2026 VMAs?

Returning to the VMAs stage for her first performance there in 23 years, Madonna will open the awards show with some songs from Confessions II, presented by Spotify.

Following Dolly Parton’s death at age 80 last month, Kacey Musgraves will perform a tribute to the Queen of Country. Meanwhile, Raye, Sombr and Teddy Swims will team up for a tribute performance directed by Adam Blackstone, celebrating 40 years since the late George Michaels’ career-defining album Faith (1987).

Also performing at the 2026 MTV VMAs are Gener8ion & Yung Lean, Lisa, Shaboozey & Gunna and Sienna Spiro.

For more info, visit MTV.com.

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