Tyler McGillivary’s Spring 2026 show tells a story of a woman with a previously bad reputation, through the lens of a mermaid, known as temptresses throughout history. Following the designer’s New York Fashion Week debut last year, “Mermaiden” is an ode to the 2006 movie “Aquamarine” — a …
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Actor Clifton Powell is speaking out about his negative views on Spike Lee, claiming the acclaimed director has a habit of mistreating those close to him when it comes to business.
In a recent interview on “The Art Of Dialogue,” Powell revealed that while he respects Lee’s impact on cinema, he believes the filmmaker often fails to take care of his own people.
Powell suggested that Lee would specifically mistreat Black people, some of which Powell knew.
Additionally, Powell says he didn’t like Lee criticizing Tyler Perry, which also motivated him to speak out against the filmmaker in the past.
Did you know these two had beef…allegedly?
@theartofdialogue
With Agency Spotlight, we’re featuring the independent PR and marketing agencies that Fashionista loves to work with. Meet the hardworking professionals behind them and discover what it really takes to make it in fashion publicity. Sydney Schiff, 30, founded her agency Sydney On The …
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Cardi B’s new album, Am I the Drama?, comes out on September 19th. She covers the latest issue of Billboard to talk about music, her first headlining tour (next year) and the state of American politics. In early 2024, Cardi said repeatedly that she wouldn’t get involved in the presidential election cycle and she wasn’t particularly inspired. Then Kamala Harris became the nominee, and Cardi immediately changed her mind and went out campaigning for Kamala. I appreciated that – even when I thought Cardi was being short-sighted about Joe Biden, I liked that she quickly saw the stakes and gave her full-throated support to VP Harris. Anyway, some highlights from Billboard:
Her first headlining tour is scheduled for next year: “A lot of people say I got comfortable because I make money, but the most money I make is when I go and do shows,” says Cardi, who tweeted in 2022 that she’d netted $1 million for a 35-minute show at a private event during Miami’s Art Basel. “I could rush and put out music like it’s nothing and then pick up millions of dollars per show, but it’s not about that. I want the music to be great. I want it to be amazing.”
The obsession with women MCs feuding: “No lie, these b–ches be catty. You can’t prevent a b–ch from being shady. Sometimes b–ches want to see what you’re about. They want to test you and they want to test your gangsta. A lot of the b–ches will come in this game and feel like they can challenge you. Some b–ches like to die young. In this game, you need to really know who you’re challenging.
Whether she would do the Super Bowl Halftime show: “Of course. I got asked to do the Super Bowl and I denied it. I feel like soon, if I get to do it, I’m going to have more hits. I’m going to be more experienced and I’m going to eat that up.”
How motherhood has changed her: “It turned me into a real woman. I was like, “What makes a woman? Her body? Her cooking?” It’s her maturity and her thinking. If I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t sacrifice so much. This summer, I haven’t even put my feet in a pool. I do everything for my kids. I’m the only provider and you know what? Ain’t no complaining about it. I love them so much and they ground me. Sometimes I be so exhausted and it’s not even about work, it’s just life. If you think when you get rich you’re going to stop working, you’re never going to stop working. My mom used to be a freakin’ cashier and she used to work every single day. To this day, I still talk about how hard my mom worked. I had a very rough childhood, but my mom always made sure we ain’t go to no shelter. I want my kids to be like, “My mom made sure I had everything that I wanted.”
Whether she tries to mentor the younger women in the industry: “Have your ever read [Sister Souljah’s novel] The Coldest Winter Ever? (Laughs.) At the end of the book, the main character, Winter, was in jail. She cut a b–ch — or some s–t like that — then they let her out to go to her mom’s funeral. She saw her sister going in her same footsteps and wanted to give her advice. Before she gave her advice she was like, “You know what? F–k it. Let her go through what I went through. Let her learn on her own.” Sometimes you got to let b–ches learn on their own. I have to because there were so many b–ches that I’ve sat down and given advice from the heart. Like, if I see people bullying you because of whatever the f–k, I’m going to go in your DMs and give you advice. But sometimes I got to really hold myself [back] and say, “No, b–ch. Don’t do it,” because these b–ches turned their backs on me, f–ked my man, talked about me and somebody told me about it.
She hopes her kids are politically active: “You always have to be aware of what’s happening to the world and what’s happened before, because things really do repeat themselves. Maybe not something drastic like a world war, slavery or the Holocaust, but there’s always shady s–t going on. I just want them to always be aware of what’s going on and what could happen. But there’s something about politics that gets me in a rabbit hole. I remember wanting to say something so bad this week, but I was like, “I can’t.”
Why she bites her tongue about politics: “I have to bite my tongue. I really, really had to bite my tongue, but you know the reason why I’ve been so silent about politics? It’s because when I used to complain the past four years, I know for a fact that people watch my stuff. I know it. I know the White House watches my stuff. I have a big platform. I know they listen to what I say. I might not say it the prettiest way, but I know they listen to what I’m saying. There’s a president that knows I’ve never supported him and it’s like if I say something, he’s not going to care. I tried to give people warnings and it is what it is. What I can do? What I can say?”
America is in a bad place: “People made fun of my accent. People made fun of my speech [at a Kamala Harris rally days before the 2024 presidential election]. I was, “Aight. Y’all gonna see what’s funny.” S–t ain’t funny right now, isn’t it? It’s really tough out here. S–t is really rough out here for everybody. I tried to warn ya. All I’m going to say is America is in a very bad place. No matter who’s in charge, it’s going to stay like that because we’re paying for bad karma. Why [are we] paying for bad karma? Because we have been involved in something morally illegal, morally that God hates, morally that is disgusting. I’m not going to speak about it. Y’all should know why. All I’m going to say is we’re going to be paying for a very long time because there’s no bigger leader than God. We’ve been doing immoral stuff. We’ve been supporting and endorsing immoral, evil things. Not one person is going to pay for it; the whole country is going to pay for it.
I’m not sure if she means the Biden White House was watching her or whether she’s referencing the MAGA cult, honestly – there was some chatter among Democrats when Cardi was, like, hanging out with Bernie Sanders. But the MAGAts hate her and they’re constantly mocking her and criticizing her, so… I just don’t know. I actually agree that we’re witnessing karma unfold on the whole country. As for what she says about mentorship… I know for a fact that she has mentored and advised several younger artists, but there are also rumors that at least one of the younger girls slept with Offset. So I can see how she feels more cautious about who gets advice and who doesn’t.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of Billboard.
Featuring: Cardi B
Where: Los Angeles, California, United States
When: 27 Aug 2025
Credit: Dutch/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
Featuring: Cardi B
Where: Los Angeles, California, United States
When: 27 Aug 2025
Credit: Dutch/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
Updated on: Sept 06, 2025 04:15 pm IST
About to smile and wave hello at someone, but bad breath makes you self-conscious and clamp your mouth shut (and maybe even run)? It turns out that despite regular brushing, your unpleasant mouth odour may still persist. But this lingering bad breath is far from an awkward, social embarrassment and may point to underlying dental or health issues, which you need to get checked immediately.
ALSO READ: Should you floss before or after brushing? Dentist shares what your ideal oral care routine should be
Dr Nitesh Motwani, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, dental implantologist, and co-founder at Smile Concepts, told HT Lifestyle that patients see such a similar case of lasting bad breath. He said, “My daily experience as a dental professional is also associated with such cases: a patient arrives at the dental office being confused: Doctor, I brush my teeth twice a day; however, my breath still has its unpleasant smell.”
He called this condition ‘halitosis’ and revealed that, despite decent oral hygiene, it may show up. Dr Motwani shared, “Bad breath or halitosis is something nearly everyone has at one time or another. Most of the time, it is taken care of by brushing, flossing, and rinsing.” The dentist reminded us to take it seriously as it may be ‘indicative of underlying problems.’
The dentist listed two sets of causes: the first includes non-oral health issues, ranging from GI problems to diabetes, while the second set is related to the oral cavity. It shows how extensively connected dental health is, as one shouldn’t assume the immediate cause to be a dental-related origin. The underlying issues may even begin elsewhere, throat to hormones.
Here are the 9 causes Dr Motwai shared:
You can keep your mouth fresh and eliminate bad breath by adopting a few simple yet very effective daily habits that target both your oral hygiene and overall health. Dr Motwani revealed 7 tips:
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
TIFF: In Jonatan Etzler’s darkly funny “Bad Apples,” the actress plays a harried teacher who does something really crazy to a naughty student. As the pair explain to IndieWire, that’s not the wildest part: It’s how disarmingly funny Ronan gets to be.
One thing about Latines — we love to rep our flags. The Puerto Rican flag, in particular, shows up everywhere in Bad Bunny’s World, from his visuals and performances to the lyrics and imagery of “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.” For this look, go all in on that pride. You can literally wear the PR flag, rock pieces that represent your own heritage, or get creative with the flag’s colors, textures, and shapes. Red, white, and blue are your palette. Whether it’s a vintage tee, a new dress, or custom accessories, it’s all about showing love to where you’re from, loud and proud.
Billy Ray Moves on With Firerose
Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who’s 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.
“Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything,” Firerose told People. “I’ve known his music since forever.”
What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore,” Billy Ray said. “A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”
From NBA All-Stars to A-List actors, Benito’s most famous friends have made their way to his beloved island
Bad Bunny’s “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí” residency has become the star-studded event of the season. Ever since the Latin superstar decided to hold a residency in Puerto Rico at the famed El Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot to celebrate his career-defining album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, thousands have flocked to the island that’s always inspired Bad Bunny.
Amongst die-hard fans, tourists, and fellow Boricuas, Bad Bunny’s celebrity friends have also come out to P.R. to party in La Casita, a little house that’s part of the staging at each performance and serves like an official VIP clubhouse. The shows kicked off on July 11, and from the jump, all-star attendees like LeBron James and Mbappe shown up to cheer on Benito. Here are all the celebrity guests that have come out to Bad Bunny’s 10-week residency, so far.
Earlier this year, Jon Hamm raved about Benito on the Today Show. “You can’t listen to his music and not smile,” he said. At Bad Bunny’s residency, the A-list actor was all smiles as transformed into his party-ready alter-ego, Jon Jamón. Hamm waved at fans in the crowd and danced without a care in the world. Coincidentally, he also sported a bucket hat like King James. —M.G.
A video of Sebastian Yatra screaming along to Bad Bunny’s lyrics went viral, showing what a fan he is and how much he seemed to enjoy the performance he attended in August. Yatra went with TV personality Lala Anthony. —J.L.
The Dominican urbano artist came ready to party with cerulean blue hair and a matching two-piece set perfect for dancing in La Casita. Tokischa danced with Belinda, who she recently collaborated with for the sensual summer song “Wet Dreams.” She also sang along to “Cafe Con Ron” with Young Miko. —M.G.
Becky G was one of the people who embraced Bad Bunny early on, bringing him on for the hit collab “Mayores.” She supported the residency by heading to Puerto Rico, where she was seen dancing and singing along a La Casita. —J.L.
The pioneering Puerto Rican icon, who has been a friend to Benito for years, came out to Bad Bunny’s 15th show sporting a black t-shirt with the following years: 1868, 1950, and 2019. Each year was represented uprisings and protests in which Puerto Ricans fought for independence and freedom from U.S. control. Residente and Bad Bunny marched in the 2019 protests demanding for the resignation of Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rican’s corrupt governor at the time. —M.G.
Ricky Martin, who teamed up with Bad Bunny and Residente for the 2019 protest song “Afilando Los Cuchillos,” was ready to party when he came out to the residency. He was one of the early guests at El Choli and was recorded living his best vida loca in La Casita, dancing and singing to every lyrics. —J.L.
LeBron James caught the ultimate vibe on night one of the residency. Never, not even when he’s won NBA Championships, has the star player ever looked more in his element than joyously dancing along to the music, drink in hand and wearing a bucket hat and jeans. Bad Bunny even brought the NBA All-Star to he B-stage to witness his home court. “This is Puerto Rico… this is the real deal,” Benito told an ever-smiling James as they both took in the crowd. —M.G.
Seeing surreal film director Darren Aronofsky surrounded by a ton of girls throwing ass to Bad Bunny’s greatest perreo his probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card for 2025, but the stars aligned for the viral moment this August. Aronofsky, who directed Bad Bunny in Caught Stealing, showed up at La Casita and seemed to have more fun than anyone that night. —J.L.
During one of Bad Bunny’s residency shows on July 19, French soccer star Kylian Mbappé and his former PSG teammate Achraf Hakimi were spotted dancing onstage to “Titi Me Preguntó” alongside reggaetonero Eladio Carrión. The soccer stars could be seen jumping along as Benito walked by and sang along to the fan-favorite. —T.M.
Felix “Tito” Trinidad is Puerto Rican boxing royalty. When coming to party with Bad Bunny in la casita, the multiple-world championship holder also shadow boxed and threw a few of his signature swings. —L.V.
Adriana Díaz is one of the top-ranked table tennis players in the world and she proudly represents Puerto Rico at her matches. The 24-year-old athlete sported a Puerto Rico jersey when she joined Bad Bunny in La Casita. —L.V.
Damien Priest has won multiple championships as one of the WWE’s most iconic Puerto Rican wrestlers. He joined Bad Bunny, who he has previously sparred in the ring with, in la La Casita with a New York Yankees jersey. —L.V.
Bad Bunny and Austin Butler became fast friends while shooting the new Darren Aronofsky film Caught Stealing, so no one was shocked when the Oscar-nominated actor turned out for one of his bud’s Puerto Rico shows. They were surprised when Butler admitted his dancing, which the Internet mocked as extreme white boy moves, were the result of being a little too high: “Somebody gave me an edible right before the show, and I thought that was a good idea at the time,” he said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. —J.L.
Penelope Cruz and her husband Javier Bardem showed what big Bad Bunny fans they are by hanging out at one of his performances in August. Cruz even had one of the most important jobs of the night: Every show, Bad Bunny picks someone to yell, “Acho, PR es otra cosa!” which is the call sampled on his song “VOY A LLEVARTE PA PR.” He chose Cruz, who screamed the line into a mic for fans with style. —J.L.
We know the actor is a huge music fan; we saw him rocking out at a Judas Priest concert earlier this year. He and his wife Penelope Cruz also came out to support Bad Bunny, dancing at one of his shows and spending time in La Casita, where Penelope had the important job of shouting, “Acho, PR es otra cosa!” —J.L.
Though multiple-time Grammy winner Jorge Drexler is known for a quieter, more guitar-driven sound, he still seemed to have a great time at Bad Bunny’s show. The artist, who has talked about his respect for reggaeton in the past, turned up at La Casita in August. —J.L.
Bad Bunny has always paid his respects to the OG reggaeton veterans, both in interviews and in his music. Nejo long served as one of the pioneers of the genre, so he was welcomed with open arms at La Casita. —J.L.
The Spanish rapper is signed to Bad Bunny’s label Rimas, so it makes sense that he wanted to check out the residency. The rising star has spoken about being influenced by Bad Bunny in the past, citing his work ethic. —J.L.
Paloma Mami was brought all the way back to the Y2K era when she went to Bad Bunny’s residency. The Chilean singer recounted her experience in an interview with El Calce. “It was super cool,” she said. “I felt like I was in the 2000s flow. It was a really great time.” Paloma Mami enjoyed herself so much, she went back a second time. —M.G.
The Venezuelan artist and Rawayana frontman has spent a ton of time in Puerto Rico lately, having collaborated with artists like PJ Sin Suela in the past. Between travels, he made time to check out Benito’s residency and was seen hanging out at La Casita. —J.L.
Elena Rose, who wrote and sings the chorus of Bad Bunny’s “Party” song, reunited with Bad Bunny. The Venezuelan singer, who also grew up in Puerto Rico, spent time with the superstar in La Casita. —L.V.
Mau Montaner, who is one-half of Mau y Ricky, celebrated his 32nd birthday in a big way. The Venezuelan singer flew to Puerto Rico to hang with Bad Bunny and sing along to his biggest hits. —L.V.
Bad Bunny has name-checked the Mexican superstar Belinda in songs like “Dime Si Te Acuerdas” and “Vou 787,” so it was sweet to see the two of them bond at one of his residency shows in August. The two of them danced together, and he had Belinda do the famed “Acho, PR es otra cosa!” line. The moment made them seem so close that the internet immediately blew up with dating rumors. —J.L.
The OG reggaeton star inspired Bad Bunny as part of the duo Zion Y Lennox, who made it big in the genres in the early Nineties and early 2000s. Zion came out to pay back the support and cheered Bad Bunny on at La Casita. —J.L.
It wasn’t on our 2025 bingo card for Iggy Azalea to show up in La Casita but the rapper was spotted at a show in the second weekend. Social media videos showed Azalea joining the exclusive stage with Jhay Cortez and recording the experience on a digital camera. Perfect for the throwback vibes. —M.G.
During his legendary run with the NBA, J. J. Barea became the seventh Puerto Rican player to join the league. Now the assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets, he partied with Bad Bunny in a New York Yankees cap. —L.V.
Luis Guzmán is Puerto Rican Hollywood royalty who has starred in films like Punch-Drunk Love, Traffic, and Out of Sight. He took a break from promoting his recent series Wednesday to hang out with Bad Bunny and visit the home island. —L.V.
Dafne Keen had the time of her life at Bad Bunny’s residency. The Spanish-British actress, who is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, grinded to Bad Bunny’s songs with Amanda Diaz and Isabela Merced. —L.V.
Madison Bailey has also joined Bad Bunny in la casita. The actress known for starring in Netflix’s Outer Banks partied with the Puerto Rican superstar at one of his residency shows. —L.V.
The two innovative artists have long respected each other’s work for a while, having both dabbled in Puerto Rico’s underground music scene. Alvaro Diaz came to support Bad Bunny and rep Puerto Rico. —J.L.
The rapper and songwriter is known for brash bars and tough lyrics, but he was all smiles when he attended Bad Bunny’s concert as a special guest. He was seen jamming along to Benito’s three-hour set. —J.L.
A deep-pocketed neon-noir starring Colin Farrell as an inveterate gambling addict and see-thru fraud who has three days to fork up the $45,000 USD he owes to his Macau hotel and casino (lest he be deported back to England, or worse), Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player” sounds like a mighty decent bet on paper. And yet something is off from the moment it starts with Farrell’s Lord Doyle groaning “fuck” into the bathroom mirror, as if he’s just noticed it too.
The situation doesn’t need long to grow more ominous from there, as Volker Bertelmann’s thunderous string and horn score — squelching in your face like a wet fart throughout the course of a movie that’s meant to feel like a fever dream — accompanies the arch comedy of watching our protagonist try to slip out of his penthouse suite without getting caught. There’s a Coen brothers’-like smirk to Lord Doyle’s cartoon obviousness, but that doesn’t stop Berger from shooting the sequence like it’s straight out of “Conclave,” all straight lines and holy purpose.
Anyone with eyes can see that Lord Doyle is an impostor (his green velvet suit screams “I’m bluffing!” loud enough for people to understand it in every language, which is extra silly for someone who exclusively plays a pure luck game like baccarat), but that isn’t enough for locals to notice a gweilo like him. In a place built on empty promises, a peninsula whose Eiffel Tower is a copy of a copy of the real one in Paris, he’s just another lie that doesn’t even have the heart to believe in itself.
The only problem there is that “Ballad of a Small Player” suffers from the same half-defeated identity crisis; much like our dear Doyle (or whatever his real name is), Berger’s film is so desperate for a win that it loses any real sense of what the stakes are. Despite promising a welcome throwback to the sort of down-and-out milieu that authors like Graham Greene once put on the map, this Lawrence Osborne adaptation winds up feeling like nothing so much as a quintessential Netflix movie: Easy to watch and impossible to care about.
I’ll say this in its favor: Watching Doyle eat a meal is possibly one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve ever seen on the big screen, and I would have to imagine that its horror will translate to small ones as well. The man is rapacious — a hungry ghost with a big mouth and an empty stomach. He shoves food into his maw like a human No-Face, and his entire body trembles while he does it, as if Doyle is trying to survive his acute gambling withdrawal by distracting his other senses. Every bite feels like his last, and yet he’s also convinced that a single lucky streak is all he needs to clear his debts. Alas, there are some debts that can’t be repaid. There are some stains that don’t wash out. There are some problems that money can’t solve.
One of them seems to be private investigator Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton, splitting the difference between “Michael Clayton” and “Snowpiercer” with a pro forma performance memorable only for the glasses she gets to wear), who’s been hired to secure photographic evidence that Doyle is hiding out in Macau. More susceptible to money — or at least more understanding of why Doyle tries to buy his way out of everything — is an enigmatic Rainbow Casino employee named Dao Ming (Fala Chen), who watches the Englishman blow a fortune at her baccarat table only to be endeared by his lost soul sloppiness. Chen is the wraith-like heart of this story, but her character strains belief even in a shaky hand of a movie that operates with all the internal logic of a gambling addiction.
Then again, so does everything else in “Ballad of a Small Player,” which reshuffles its cards so often that you start to wonder if it’s playing with a full deck. Switching gears between heightened comedy, self-destructive bender, ex-pat farce, and an empty meditation on the relationship between capitalism and shame, Berger’s film doesn’t juggle genres so much as it careens out of control between them, its crumbling hero too narcissistic for anything to matter beyond the tunnel vision of his next line of credit.
Of course, Doyle is only looking for loans while he bides his time for a miracle, but it’s going to take something a bit more proactive than that in order to cleanse him of the sins that he’s been trying so hard to outrun, or at least out bet. “You can be anyone in Macau,” Doyle tells Cynthia as part of a sales pitch to leave him alone and “live a little,” but Doyle — who’s already faked his own death once — will have to become someone if he hopes to survive.
This movie tries its best to nudge him in the right direction, but the path it offers him to rock bottom — and to the redemption that lies beyond it — proves exasperating. It’s some consolation that Doyle travels along the scenic route, as James Friend’s ultra-wide cinematography allows the purgatorial casinos of Macau to look as sterile as the fluorescent streets outside are aglow with sizzle and seduction. Still, the film’s rich sense of place never catalyzes into a legitimate atmosphere, which makes it that much harder to reconcile the “fun” of Berger’s tone and the flustered charisma of Farrell’s performance with the soul rot on display.
“Ballad of a Small Player” mines so much of its queasy momentum from Lord Doyle’s relentless desperation and refusal to give up, but the movie doesn’t give us much of a reason not to throw in the towel. Doyle’s luck might turn before the end of this story — ours will not.
“Ballad of a Small Player” premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival. Netflix will release it in select theaters on Friday, October 17, and on Netflix on Wednesday, October 29.
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