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Veteran Kannada actor ‘Mysore’ Srikantayya Umesh died on Sunday in Bengaluru at the age of 80. The comedy giant, who boasted of a six-decade-long career, had been suffering from cancer for a while now and died after prolonged illness and hospitalisation. Fans took to social media to pay tribute.
Umesh died on Sunday after he was recently admitted to the hospital, family sources confirmed to PTI. He had been suffering from cancer for a while and breathed his last at the hospital.
As soon as the news broke, fans mourned his death on social media. “M.S. Umesh, the giant of the comedy world in Kannada cinema, has left us all behind. M.S. Umesh, who stepped into the world of colours as the first hero of children’s films, acted in 350 films during his successful artistic life spanning 6 decades,” wrote one.
A fan reminisced, “His character in Venkata in Sankata movie was gem. Om Shanti Umesh sir.” Another thanked him for entertaining the audience all these years, writing, “Never deceiving art, breathing life into the roles given to him, making us laugh and smile, Umesh anna, who shone in those days, has bid goodbye to life… His acting will always remain alive.”
JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy wrote, “Umesh would make audiences float in a sea of laughter through his fresh humour.”
‘Mysore’ Srikantayya Umesh, popularly known as MS Umesh or simply Umesh, first played the lead in Makkala Rajya (1960) after featuring in several stage shows as a child actor. Born on 24 April 1945 in Mysuru, he was only four when he played a role in Master K Hirannaiah’s theatre group. Despite his silver screen debut, Umesh faced a lull in his career and had to return to the theatre until Katha Sangama (1977).
His portrayal as Thimmarayi in the Munithaayi episode featuring Rajinikanth and Aarathi fetched him multiple laurels, and there was no looking back for him after that. Since then, he gained recognition through films like Nagara Hole (1978), Apoorva Sangama (1984), Shruthi Seridaaga (1987), Neenu Nakkare Haalu Sakkare (1993), and Venkata in Sankata (2007).
Throughout his career, Umesh worked with all the greats, including Rajkumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B Saroja Devi, and Bharathi.
James Pickens Jr., who’s best known for playing Dr. Richard Webber in Grey’s Anatomy, shocked fans upon revealing his cancer diagnosis. What made the news even more unsettling was that his on-screen character’s cancer battle was revealed in the season 22 midseason finale. As fans grapple with the revelation, many are wondering whether or not James is leaving the show.
The actor spoke with BlackHealthMatters.com in November 2025 to discuss his illness.
“It’s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family,” James pointed out. “My father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it. I would have been surprised if I hadn’t gotten it. I’ve got a 90-year-old first cousin, who’s still alive, actually; he had it. His son has it. A couple of his brothers had it. No one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it.”
Below, Hollywood Life has the latest updates about James’ presence on Grey’s Anatomy.
Yes, as previously noted, James was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024.
“We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take,” the Ohio native told BlackHealthMatters.com. “I do have a rare variant that you don’t see very often. They wanted to err on the side of caution and keep an eye on it. It was rare enough that they wanted to make sure that they were crossing all the T’s and dotting all their I’s. But they hadn’t seen one that was detected as early as mine.”
During the interview, James recalled going back to the doctor and, “when my PSA numbers came back, my primary said, ‘Yeah, you know what? It’s ticked up some more. I want to send you back to the urologist.”
“The urologist looked at him and said,” Yeah, there’s something here. Let’s do an MRI,’ which we did, and it revealed, as he called it, something suspicious,” James elaborated. “They scheduled a biopsy, which revealed a tumor.”
At the time of publication, James has not announced his departure from Grey’s Anatomy.
James appears to be managing his prostate cancer well. According to BlackHealthMatters, he underwent a prostatectomy to fight the disease, and he was hospitalized for about a day.
Jaquel Knight’s talent has opened doors for him to work with some of the industry’s top talent including Beyoncé, Chris Brown, and Brandy, but the Atlanta representative still remembers the first choreography he ever memorized.
“The first song I learned the choreo too was ‘Real Love’ by Mary J Blige when she performed it on Soul Train,” he revealed to VIBE at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final. “Then it was every TLC performance. My favorite one was when they did the MTV VMA’s [1999]. That’s probably one of my favorite things I remember learning. Then I became a pop kid. All the Brittney Spears performances. All the Janet Jackson performances. I can go on and on.”
Enthusiastically, he continued to elaborate on his relationship to street dance as the competitors at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final were tasked with delivering the best of their non-traditional, freestyle moves opposed to showcasing classically trained technique and learned routines.
“I’m from the hood,” he exclaimed. “If you can’t dance, if you can’t get out there and go, you can’t dance. Freestyle dance is the core of who we are as dancers and the core of who I am as a choreographer.”
Knight continued, “For me, it’s important for dancers to be able to freestyle. It’s also an art I want to say we’re losing but thankfully things like this Red Bull event, it’s keeping the freestyle alive…That’s where your personality, your attitude, your charisma comes from.”
Keeping in alignment with street style, 36-year-old listed the top songs for dancers to play for head-to-head competition. Artists he named include Missy Elliott, Fatman Scoop, Pharrell Williams and more.
Watch Jaquel Knight Set A VIBE with the best battle songs below.
Ray J doesn’t usually do subtle, and this time he’s got his sights set on Mario. The R&B veteran recently stirred the pot in Baltimore, claiming he’s ready to go head-to-head with the ‘Let Me Love You’ singer in a song-for-song showdown. He insists Mario might not be prepared for the smoke, but the ‘Let Me Love You’ singer didn’t let him slide. Meanwhile, another R&B icon, Sammie, has picked his side, and social media is eating all of it up!
During a recent sit-down on the ‘Quicksilva Morning Show,’ Ray J rocked a black hoodie and a matching black-and-white cap while making his case. When the hosts started rattling off Mario hits they thought Ray J couldn’t touch, he wasn’t having it. Every time a song title came up, he just shook his head and fired back with a simple, confident, “C’mon bro.” At one point, Ray J doubled down on his claim, telling the hosts, “I’m calling him out,” making it clear he’s ready to prove he can go note-for-note with Mario.
Now, all eyes are on whether Mario will actually step up to the challenge. While the exact spark for this back-and-forth remains unclear, Mario recently appeared on Cam Newton’s podcast and gave his takes on male vocalists who can — and can’t — sing. Interestingly, Ray J’s name never came up during the discussion, but the timing has fans connecting the dots.
The Shade Room comments were absolutely wild as fans ran in to share their takes on the Ray J vs. Mario drama. Some insisted Ray J was straight-up trolling and knew he couldn’t sing, while others were cracking up at the radio host’s disbelief during the interview. Even Mario himself had to step in to address the chaos, though some viewers just shook their heads, claiming that all R&B singers seem a little delusional when it comes to their own talent.
Mario wrote, “MOOD SWINGS OUT NOW!! But [Ray J] stop while your brakes still work homie 😂”
Instagram user @j.remyinspires wrote, “Ray J will say anything 😂😂😂I love it lolol“
And, Instagram user @tarkesha_jones joked, “He playing one wish for every song“
Meanwhile, Instagram user @lenathediva_ added, “Brandy… get ya brother lol“
Instagram user @rnb.radar said, “I love when my R&B men are this delu— I mean confident 👏🏾”
Finally, Instagram user @queenbforreal wrote, “Quick couldn’t believe what he was hearin😂😂😂😂”
Mario also fired back at Ray J on his Instagram Story, calling him out for “talking crazy” while he’s busy grinding on tour and prepping his new EP. He also reminded fans that Ray’s biggest stage was the Verzuz battle — the one Mario helped set up and even made sure Ray was on the setlist for — and seemed genuinely confused that Ray would repay him with this type of energy.
“YOOO! My first tour show and “MOOD SWINGS” EP Release in VA had me busy, I come back to my room and Grayi in my HOME TOWN TALKING CRAZY!!!! I been living in La for 15+ years and have raged every stage in UR city RAY J including with your sister (the female singer goat) The biggest stage you touched was on VERZUZ and I told them to bring u on there. I set the whole play up and this how you coming….!?! OH ARRRDDD,” Mario shared.
Meanwhile, Sammie made sure to share his two cents! After Mario clapped back at Ray J’s song battle threat, Sammie hopped on Instagram to weigh in. He said he usually doesn’t step into drama, but he had to for Ray J. In a video, Sammie said, “I got my money on Ray J.” He claimed that Mario has “ruffled feathers all over the industry.” And apparently Ray recently hit the studio to show Mario what’s up, Sammie said. Ray later shared Sammie’s video on his Instagram Story.
What Do You Think Roomies?
The “Straight Up” singer shared a sweet tribute Instagram Nov. 11 saying, “My heart is heavy today as we say goodbye to the incredible Cleto Escobedo III.”
Noting she first met Cleto when he was playing the saxophone at a small bar at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, Paula recalled, “I was putting together my band for my first world tour and the moment I heard him, I knew I had to hire him, even though he didn’t have any touring experience yet.”
She gushed that Cleto’s “talent and energy were undeniable” and that she was thrilled to see him “have an amazing career, reuniting with his best friend Jimmy Kimmel as the bandleader on Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Cleto was pure light and soul, both on and off stage,” she wrote. “Sending so much love to his family and everyone who loved him.”
James Van Der Beek is parting ways with some of his Dawson’s Creek memorabilia amid his cancer battle.
The 48-year-old actor, who has been battling Stage 3 colorectal cancer, is selling several items from TV teen drama Dawson’s Creek and movie Varsity Blues in a partnership with auction website Propstore, where interested buyers can place their bids.
“I’ve been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them, and with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it’s clear that the time is now,” Van Der Beek told Propstore in a statement.
“And while I have some nostalgia tugging at me as I part with these items, it feels good to be able to offer them through Propstore’s auction to share with those who have supported my work over the years.”
Van Der Beek, who starred as Dawson Leery in the hit show, is auctioning off items including wardrobe, props and set pieces, like Dawson Leery’s flannel, the necklace he wore in the series before he gifted it to Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) and Van Der Beek’s chair back from the set of the series.
Propstoreauction.com
The items will go on sale through Propstore’s annual Winter Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, running from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7.
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All of the proceeds from the items sold will go to Van Der Beek to help “with the financial cost of fighting cancer,” People reports.
Van Der Beek first revealed that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer last November in an interview with People.
“I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family,” the star told the publication. “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”
The actor did not give further details on his diagnosis, but shared in an Instagram post: “I’m in a good place and feeling strong.”
“I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” he continued on Instagram. “It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.”
In the post, he said he decided to make the announcement before he’d planned, explaining that while he wanted to talk about it “at length” with People, another publication was getting set to run the story.
“That plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news,” Van Der Beek wrote.
An increasing number of younger people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Canada and the United States — even though overall cases and deaths have fallen in recent years.
According to a 2023 study from the American Cancer Society, one in five cases diagnosed in 2019 were in people under 55, almost double the rate of 11 per cent in 1995.
It’s a similar situation in Canada, where colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Colorectal cancer starts in the colon or rectum, which are part of the large intestine, and can also spread to other parts of the body.
Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol consumption increase the risks for this type of cancer, but family history is also a contributing factor.
— With files from Global News
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Blake Lively is seeking over US$160 million in damages due to an alleged smear campaign launched against her during the release of the film It Ends With Us.
In a newly unsealed court filing, viewed by People, Lively claimed she lost $56.2 million in past and future earnings from acting, speaking engagements and endorsements.
The documents, originally submitted in July, claim that the 38-year-old actor also suffered $71 million in lost business profits from her haircare line, Blake Brown, and her beverage companies, Betty Buzz and Betty Booze.
Her legal team also alleges Lively has suffered $34 million in reputational harm due to “defamatory statements.”
In her lawsuit, which was first filed on Dec. 31, 2024, Lively’s legal team stated that her damages exceeded $75,000. But in a disclosure provided to the defence in the new documents, her team argued that she has suffered at least $161 million in actual damages.
Her lawyers will also seek at least three times that in punitive damages, according to Variety.
Lively’s disclosure notes that her damages figure is preliminary and subject to proof via expert testimony at trial, per the filing.
The documents came after a final judgment was entered in her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni’s $400-million defamation and extortion countersuit against Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds after Baldoni missed the deadline to file an amended complaint.
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Last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman signed an order stating that Baldoni, 41, and his production company Wayfarer Studios had let the deadline lapse after the court dismissed the case in June.
Liman said he’d contacted all parties on Oct. 17 to let them know he’d be entering a final judgment to conclude the case.
Lively was the only one to respond, asking the judge to finalize the dismissal and keep her request for legal fees open, which the judge agreed to.
Baldoni may still appeal the dismissal after the court decides Lively’s pending motion for legal fees, according to E! News.
Liman previously dismissed Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios’ lawsuit on June 9, but allowed him and his legal team to amend the complaint to change the “allegations relevant to the claims of tortious interference with contract and breach of implied covenant.”
Liman also ruled that Baldoni’s claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn’t count as extortion under California law.
“The Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Lively is responsible for any statements other than the statements in her CRD complaint, which are privileged,” Liman wrote in the opinion and order filing. “The Wayfarer Parties have alleged that Reynolds and (publicist Leslie) Sloane made additional statements accusing Baldoni of sexual misconduct and that the Times made additional statements accusing the Wayfarer Parties of engaging in a smear campaign.
“But the Wayfarer Parties have not alleged that Reynolds, Sloane or the Times would have seriously doubted these statements were true based on the information available to them, as is required for them to be liable for defamation under applicable law.
“The Wayfarer Parties’ additional claims also fail. Accordingly, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed in its entirety.”
The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, which had reported on Lively’s sexual harassment allegations.
Baldoni’s suit was seeking at least $400 million for damages that included lost future income. The lawsuit from Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios, which also named Sloane as a defendant, came about two weeks after Lively sued Baldoni and several others tied to the film, alleging harassment and a co-ordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set.
Lively sought unspecified damages when she sued Baldoni in late December 2024 for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. The trial is currently set to take place in March 2026.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Salman Khan’s upcoming film, Battle of Galwan, is steadily progressing toward completion and is likely to release in June 2026. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the Bollywood superstar’s return to the big screen, and new updates suggest the film is shaping up to be one of his most powerful performances yet.
According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, filming began in September 2025 in Ladakh, where a major portion of the movie has already been shot. The team has reportedly completed several demanding and high-intensity action sequences against the rugged mountain backdrop. A source close to the project revealed, “The shoot will wrap up in December, after which director Apoorva Lakhia will fully focus on post-production. A June 2026 release is being seriously considered, though July or August could also be possible depending on the release calendar.”
Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, Battle of Galwan draws inspiration from the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops — a confrontation that became one of the most defining and emotional moments in recent Indian military history. The film highlights the bravery and sacrifice of soldiers who fought without firearms, using only hand-to-hand combat, sticks, and stones. With its gripping storyline and stellar performances, Battle of Galwan is expected to stand as a heartfelt cinematic tribute to the Indian Armed Forces.
Recently, speculation about Amitabh Bachchan’s involvement in the film spread online after Lakhia shared photos of himself with the veteran actor on set. However, the director clarified that Bachchan was not part of the movie, explaining, “He was shooting for a commercial in a nearby studio, and I simply went to meet him.”
While the release date is yet to be officially confirmed, Battle of Galwan is already one of 2026’s most anticipated Bollywood films.
Hot Boys member B.G. has cleared the air regarding Lil Wayne’s unexplained absence from the highly anticipated Cash Money vs. No Limit VERZUZ matchup, confirming that the rap superstar was forced to withdraw due to illness—not internal tension or scheduling disputes.
Appearing on The Breakfast Club on Friday, Oct. 31, B.G. explained that Wayne had every intention of taking part in the event, but his health took an unexpected turn just before showtime.
“Shorty wasn’t feeling good, man,” B.G. said of Wayne during the interview, pointing out that the hitmaker also missed another show he was scheduled to perform at following the VERZUZ event. “He had a concert at Drai’s the same night, and he canceled that as well, you know,” he explained.
Rapper B.G. visits SiriusXM Studios on October 30, 2025 in New York City.
Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
B.G. emphasized that the decision was strictly health-related and urged his longtime collaborator to take care of himself.
“Like I told him, we ain’t spring chickens no more, man,” the Chopper City rapper added. “You’ve got to make sure you get your rest and make sure that your body and health are just all the way intact.”
The New Orleans veteran also revealed that VERZUZ cofounder Swizz Beatz was particularly disappointed by Wayne’s absence, as the Young Money founder’s participation had been a key factor in getting the event approved.
Lil Wayne performs onstage during Day 1 of the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 05, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Josh Brasted/Getty Images for ESSENCE
“Swizz was, you know, even hurt behind it because … that’s the reason Swizz pulled the trigger on it, because Wayne … agreed,” B.G. shared. Despite Wayne’s absence, the VERZUZ battle lived up to its billing as a celebration of Southern hip-hop history.
Mia X delivered a powerhouse performance that earned her widespread acclaim online, with fans and peers alike praising her commanding stage presence.
Juvenile, stepping up for Cash Money, brought energy and nostalgia with crowd favorites like “Back That Azz Up” and “Ha,” drawing rave reactions from attendees and social media alike.
(L-R) B.G, Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk of the Hot Boys reunite to perform during Lil Weezyana Fest 2024 at Smoothie King Center on November 02, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Erika Goldring/Getty Images
In a bittersweet postscript, No Limit’s Young Bleed, who participated in the event, was hospitalized following a serious medical emergency shortly after the performance. According to reports, he remains under medical care.
While No Limit ultimately claimed victory, the evening underscored the enduring legacy of both camps—and, as B.G. made clear, Lil Wayne’s absence was a matter of health, not hostility.
Watch B.G.’s The Breakfast Club interview below.
