Month: January 2025

Crypto Airdrops to Watch in 2025: Promising Opportunities for Investors  BeInCrypto
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TEHRAN – Iran hosted over 3.1 million foreign tourists in the first half of 2024, a 37% drop compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to updated figures from the UN Tourism.
Statistics released by the UN’s tourism arm indicate that Iran welcomed 3,129,449 international visitors between January and June 2024, with fluctuations in monthly arrivals.
January recorded 494,696 visitors, February 506,313, March 396,772, April 497,469, May 443,282, and June saw the highest influx with 790,917 tourists.
This marks an improvement compared to 2023 when fewer than 3 million tourists entered Iran in the first seven months. However, the data does not specify the nationalities of the travelers.
Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has noted that the reported figures include Iranian expatriates visiting for tourism purposes. Officials have emphasized that increasing the influx of foreign tourists is critical for economic recovery and the development of the sector.
The decline in foreign arrivals underscores the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Iran’s tourism sector. While global tourism was projected to fully recover by the end of 2024, with international travel reaching 98% of pre-pandemic levels, Iran continued to face challenges in regaining its pre-2019 momentum.
Globally, the first nine months of 2024 saw approximately 1.1 billion international travelers, with the Middle East leading growth at a 29% increase compared to 2019. Europe and Africa have also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, while Asia-Pacific, like Iran, continues to recover gradually.
Iran seeks tourism boost
Last month, Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri, announced ongoing discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at removing obstacles to international tourism in the country.
Salehi-Amiri emphasized the importance of correcting global perceptions about Iran, which he underlined have been tarnished by “false narratives” spread by certain media outlets.
“Cultural heritage is our identity and a rich treasure, but it has not been adequately introduced to the younger generations,” he said, stressing the need for youth to take pride in Iran’s historical and civilizational capacity.
Moreover, the minister announced plans to issue “tourist cards” for foreign visitors to facilitate currency exchange during their stay. He called on the Central Bank of Iran to address these issues as part of broader efforts to improve the sector.
Referring to over 2,700 tourism projects under development nationwide, Salehi-Amiri urged the government to streamline bureaucratic processes, remove inefficiencies, and enhance infrastructure to attract investors.
The minister further stressed the importance of global partnerships, participation in international exhibitions, and targeted advertising to counter negative stereotypes about Iran and present an authentic image of the country to potential visitors.
The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 28 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
AM 
All Content by Mehr News Agency is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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World’s most expensive artist, who is exhibiting at the Alhambra in Granada, sees his work as embedded in biology
His hands-off approach to the production of his famous balloon dogs and stainless steel rabbits has been criticised in the past but Jeff Koons, the world’s most expensive artist, has drawn a red-line: “I wouldn’t – for my own base work – be looking at AI to be developing my work.”
The potential and the risks of artificial intelligence is perhaps the hottest topic in the artistic world, with deep-learning models now able to replicate styles and produce unique compositions on request.
It would appear to be a heaven-sent development for Koons, who was speaking to the Guardian at the launch of Reflections, a joint exhibition of his works alongside those of Pablo Picasso at the Alhambra in Granada. Koons’s reliance on teams of craftspeople and cutting-edge technology in the making of his pieces prompted the Collector magazine last year to ask: “Is Jeff Koons an actual artist?”
Exploiting technological advances is what he does. Five years ago, the American’s highly mirror-polished stainless steel Rabbit, made by intensive machine-work to imitate the look and material of a balloon, sold for a record $91m (£72.5m). His previous bestseller, the 10ft-tall steel Balloon Dog, sold for $58m in 2013. A SpaceX rocket took 125 of his miniature lunar sculptures out of the Earth’s orbit in February, to become the first authorised artworks on the moon.
For his Gazing Ball series, in which masterpieces were reproduced but with the addition of a large, blue glass bauble on a shelf, he commissioned 350 of the balls before choosing the best 35. He is also an innovator. “There are certain projects I’m thinking about,” he disclosed. “I have a wonderful dialogue with people that are involved in the core of the development of AI.”
But AI appears likely to remain on the periphery of what he does. “I enjoy where my core of my work comes from – my reflection on everything that has any meaning to me,” he said. “I do not work with AI at this time directly other than to produce options. Here’s this table: could I see this table in a wood? And then, could I see this shape in, you know, a marble? I’d like to see it in reflected steel. Only in that scenario. I’ve been using AI as a tool, not as an agent.
“Now, people speak very much about AI at this moment, being an agent in that it has its own, you know, thoughts, its own ability to create, and I’m sure that at some point that I will be moving in that direction in some manner, but I’m very embedded at this moment in biology.”
He added: “I met a Nobel prize winner one time, and we were talking about life, and he said that, ‘You know, life is just an animated chemical chain reaction.’ And I thought that was so beautiful that I all sudden I felt like I really understood what I’m experiencing, that it’s just an illusion, that it’s just the animation.
“But I believe very much in this process, this biological process, and the senses: the sense of sight and touch and feeling … I don’t want to be lazy in the back seat.”
A Say No to AI Art Movement has emerged in recent months, with advocates voicing particular concern about image generators that steal artwork and art styles from existing artists without their permission and without credit. Others warn that AI could replace humans as creators.
Koons, a month from his 70th birthday, said he was not overly concerned. The invention of photography in the 1800s was seen by some as the antithesis of an artist, but instead of replacing painting it led to a move away from realism towards abstraction.
“I think that if AI is able to become that type of agent, we will be able to understand, work with it, in some manner, to benefit ourselves,” he said. “Or it will have us look at our senses, which are probably lying relatively dormant. We like to think that we’re using our senses to their fullest ability, but we probably have become lazy to a certain degree, and we could only enhance that.
“Throughout history, we have always been confronted by technologies that have been enlightening and that have been very, very powerful, and they change the moment we’re living in, and they change our future. But I embrace this.”
Koons was speaking in an ante room within the eighth wonder of the world, the Alhambra fortress complex, where three of his pieces – Three Graces, Gazing Ball (David Intervention of the Sabine Women) and Gazing Ball (Standing Woman) – are on display until 16 March alongside Picasso’s hand-drawn The Three Graces of 1923 and his 1933 Head With Helmet, and the palace’s own renaissance collection.
With an estimated fortune of $400m, it is said that Koons is the world’s richest living artist. He is a Picasso collector, and two of his favourites are displayed in the library and billiard room of his 21,726 sq ft New York mansion.
“There have been moments in my life where, you know, there’s been a kind of an abundance, and you know, coming from art, if I had an abundance, I acquired some pieces,” he said.
Impeccably turned out in suit, tie and blue trainers, and unfailingly polite, Koons had travelled to the Alhambra with his wife, Justine, an artist and the mother of six of his eight children, who are aged between 14 and 49, for the exhibition put on by the Museo Picasso Málaga in the Alhambra’s Palace of Charles V.
It had taken two days to move Koons’s reflective 1.8-tonne Three Graces a few hundred yards to a niche in the palace’s inner circular patio and a further day to unpack it from its crate and place it on a 1.2-tonne plinth. The initial plan to place the giant work with the others in a room on the first floor had to be abandoned owing to its weight, but Koons said he was delighted by the somewhat-accidental results.
He said: “In this exhibition we really have kind of three elements: we have Picasso, we have myself, and we have the collection of the museum. And within the salon it’s like three different elements, but when you add them, it creates kind of everything. It just doesn’t add up to three. And that’s the creative ability that biology gives us, this ability to make more out of something. And to this moment, AI hasn’t done that.”
The exhibition Reflections. Picasso/Koons at the Alhambra will run until 16 March 2025

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‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ Director Quit After “Bizarre” Meeting With Star Chevy Chase: “Treating Me Like S***”
The Problematics: ‘Silent Night Deadly Night,’ The Ultimate Bad Santa Picture
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Josh Groban & Friends Go Home For The Holidays’ on CBS, Featuring Light Seasonal Sounds … And An Actual Adoption On Stage!
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Happy Howlidays’ on Hallmark, Where Two Dogs Fall In Love — But Will Their Owners?
Sony Pictures CEO Insists ‘Madame Web’ Isn’t A “Terrible” Film, Blames Critics For Box Office Flop
‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Premiere Recap: The Dear Hunter
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Gladiator II’ on VOD, a Swords-and-Sandals Clash Goosed by Denzel Washington
‘Gladiator 2’ Comes to Digital, But When Will ‘Gladiator 2’ Be Streaming Free on Paramount+?
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind At Radio City Music Hall’ On Netflix, Where The Comedian Marks A Milestone And Takes On Transphobes, Famous Or Otherwise
‘Severance,’ ‘Shrinking,’ ‘Ted Lasso,’ Oh My! What To Watch During Apple TV+’s Weekend-Long Free Trial
Paul Rust Says James Franco Flipped Out On Set After Poor 2011 Oscars Reviews: “He Was In A Bad Mood”
R.I.P. Linda Lavin: ‘Alice’ Star Dead At 87
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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Out of My Mind’ on Disney+, a Heartwarming Coming-of-age Story About a Girl with Cerebral Palsy
Zachary Levi Denies He’s Been “Canceled” For Endorsing Trump, Says His Career Is “Still Full Steam Ahead”
‘Landman’ Episode 2 Recap: “Dreamers & Losers”
‘A Real Pain’ Comes to Digital, But When Will Jesse Eisenberg’s Movie Be Streaming on Hulu?
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Order’ on VOD, A Jude Law Vs. Nicholas Hoult Thriller About The Pursuit Of Violent 1980s White Supremacists 
Is the Nicole Kidman Movie ‘Babygirl’ Streaming on Netflix or Max?
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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Chiefsaholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing’ on Amazon Prime Video, a Fascinating True Crime Doc About a Bank Robbing Football Superfan
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World’ on Netflix, a Short-and-Sweet Documentary About a Teenager With Autism
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fast Friends’ On Max, Where ‘Friends’ Superfans Compete To See Who Knows The Most About The Classic Sitcom
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‘Squid Game’ Star Yim Si-wan Breaks Down That Bloody Bathroom Fight Between Player 333 and Thanos: “Was Not Easy to Shoot”
‘Squid Game’ Star Jo Yu-ri Discusses the Emotional Challenge of Playing Pregnant Player 222: “Jun-hee Wanted to Leave the Game from the Get Go”
‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Finale Recap: The Rebel Alliance
‘Landman’ Episode 2 Recap: “Dreamers & Losers”
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‘Landman’ Star Paulina Chávez Says Ariana’s & Cooper’s “Connection Is So Pure”: “He Shows Her What True Love Might Really Be”
‘Landman’ Episode 6 Recap: “Beware the Second Beating”
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‘Outlander’ Star Silvia Presente Thinks Dramatizing the “Traumatic”Captain Harkness Scene Could Have Been “A Bit Too Much”
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New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ + More
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The Top 12 Reality TV Shows of 2024: ‘Love Island USA,’ ‘The Traitors,’ and More
Bethenny Frankel Shares “Inside” Knowledge On Mysterious New Jersey Drones: “They Could Very Possibly Be Sniffing Out Something Very Dangerous”
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‘RHONY’ Exclusive Clip: Ubah Hassan Meets With Fertility Specialist To Discuss Pregnancy Options
Joy Behar Compares Pretending To Like A Gift To “Faking An Orgasm” On ‘The View’: “We’re All Very Practiced At That”
Jamie Lee Curtis Tells ‘The View’ She’s A “Slightly Slutty Sister” To Scrooge During The Holidays
‘The View’s Alyssa Farah Griffin Says AOC Is “Too Far Left,” Claims “Democrats Focused Too Much On Trump” Ahead Of The Election
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‘Silo’ Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: Waterworld
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Hundreds of Beavers is an inventive comedy movie that generated a lot of buzz in 2024. Hundreds and hundreds of stand-up comedy specials?! That’s a lot to chew on, even for the most ardent comedy nerd.
You could watch a comedy special every day in 2024 and still miss out on hundreds of other comedy specials that came out during the year. Thank and/or blame the lack of gatekeepers and the ease of uploading anything you want, anytime, to YouTube (and Amazon, and even other platforms offering self-generated material). Decider published 66 of my reviews this year to help you decide whether to Stream It or Skip It. But there were perhaps 10 times that many new comedy “hours” streaming through your social media feeds in 2024, and if you didn’t know where to look for them, how would you even know they existed? That sadly includes the streaming platforms themselves, who for whatever reason don’t want to make it easy for comedy fans to find stand-up comedy.
Netflix continues to dominate through sheer global reach and output, pumping out a new stand-up hour just about every week (not including others they released for the non-English speaking parts of the globe). But the streaming giant pivoted to live in a big way in 2024, pushing their marketing chips all-in on live stand-up from Katt Williams and Joe Rogan, a live talk show from John Mulaney, and their biggest event, the three-hour live Roast of Tom Brady. HBO remains committed to quality over quantity, with the awards and nominations to show for it. Hulu ended the year by making a big splash and recruiting big names to make an even bigger statement in the stand-up space for 2025. And two newer platforms, Veeps and Dropout, gave boosts to acts who otherwise might’ve gotten lost in the algorithm. By contrast, two of the bigger streamers, Amazon and Peacock, seemed to pull back a bit.
So what do we have to show for the glut of digital stand-up? Here are two comedians I’d like to single out for special shout-outs.
The most popular American comedian on YouTube, Ali Siddiq finished perhaps the most ambitious undertaking by a stand-up by releasing the final two parts of The Domino Effect, in which Siddiq spent upward of two hours at a time walking audiences through his rough childhood and teen years in Houston, where he dodged drugs and gangs until the law caught up with him first, landing him in prison from age 19-25. Ali Siddiq: The Domino Effect Part 3: First Day of School has generated more than 5.4 million views since its release in May; Part 4: Pins & Needles, another 5.3 million-plus since June. Comedians Christopher Titus and John Leguizamo have mined their life stories for multiple one-man shows, but I cannot think of any stand-up who could pull off what Siddiq has, so matter-of-factly, in such short order.
Johnson, a writer for The Daily Show, released comedy specials in 2021 (Comedy Central) and 2023 (Peacock). But that’s nothing compared to what he did this past year, when he challenged himself to write, perform and release a new 15-minute chunk of jokes every week. Johnson did that and then some. And took over your TikTok feed in the process, becoming as much of a regular commentator on the headlines as your previously favorite late-night TV host. The numbers speak for themselves.

A post shared by Josh Johnson (@joshjohnsoncomedy)

Johnson also released a concert film on YouTube in November documenting his process and showing off some of his less-topical material: Freshman Fifteen: A Stand Up Comedy Film.
Here are two handfuls of honorable mentions, listed here in alphabetical order. Check them out even if you don’t already know their names!
Now for my personal best of the best! Feel free to disagree! What makes you laugh is quite subjective, so I’d love to see how you’d rank your own Top 10s.

Alex Edelman won Tonys and Emmys for his HBO debut for good reason. While he may have hoped to write an hour full of silly jokes observing what we’re to make of the relationship between Robin Williams and Koko the gorilla, the deadly serious times we live in forced his hand. Or perhaps he wanted to test how far his white male privilege might win out over anti-semitism. Either way, his hopefulness has won over the industry, coming now when we need hope the most.
Read my full review.

And Jacqueline Novak delivered the Sex Ed Talk generations of women wish they could’ve received. In Novak’s reframing of her own sexual awakening, we as a collective audience wake up to her comedic talents. She may have bloomed years later than her college comedy partners (kudos to another older Georgetown alum, Mike Birbiglia, for helping Novak stage her initial off-Broadway run), but now is her time to blossom.
Read my full review.
I only put them both here together at 10 because, while their performances are so perfect that they already stand the test of time, they had been performing their respective shows since the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, and only got held up to 2024 due to pandemic shutdowns holding them back. Which actually should make their efforts that much more impressive for picking back up where they left off and delivering such great pointed shows.

I loved seeing the live stage versions in 2023 of both Courtney Pauroso’s sex-robot satire, as well as Grace’s meta-commentary on race, but what Grace was able to do in adapting his show to video is quite remarkable. The clip above demonstrates where the filmed special deviates most from the live stage show, as Grace falls into a self-referential rabbit hole, where we eventually jump into multiple Dropout shows such as Game Changer and Very Important People and gets roasted by the likes of Sam Reich and Paul F. Tompkins. And to think, it all started when Johansson starred in 2017’s big-screen adaptation of Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell, inspiring Grace to draw parallels between Hollywood’s white-washing there with all of his own experiences trying to become a successful actor and comedian. It’s sad, it’s funny because it’s sad, and it’s weirdly even funnier and more incisive and insightful when given the Dropout treatment.

“I might surprise us both!” Taylor says of judging him on his looks.
There are hints of Chappelle in Taylor’s work, at least tonally in both delivery and subject matter. But while the extremely more rich and famous Chappelle may seem mired in trolling his critics, Taylor enjoys exploring all perspectives of his premises. Taylor has a strong point of view and an even stronger command of his audience. And his relative youth also works in his favor here, such as looking back on movies he grew up watching and realizing how, whether the films were intended for kids or for adults, their subtext said much more damning things about race, sex, and American society writ large. You might not always see his points coming, whether it’s defending the portrayal of sex in porn or refuting vegan arguments against eating animals, but you best keep an eye on Taylor. Because he’s very much up-and-coming, and deserving of much bigger platforms in the future.


Thinking back to the Biden campaign pressing Ramy Youssef to get out the vote in Michigan, where the Arab-American population is most concentrated, he can only respond bleakly: “Is it up to me? Am I the guy?” He might not have been the guy in 2020, when he was still questioning his faith and his place in both his Hulu series and in his stand-up. But four years later, he’s no longer struggling with his identity or his confidence. And Storer’s camerawork reflects this confidence, framing Youssef often for long shots in close-up, the comedian’s face bathed in the glow of the spotlight, so we can focus on him plainly and clearly.
Read my full review here.
Let’s face it. The next year or four or more are going to be even more ridiculous than the four or more that came before, and we could really use some comedy that meets the moment. When real-life feels like satire, whom can we turn to for laughs and a bit of a release?
Conner O’Malley and Nathan Macintosh take two different tacks at addressing the capitalist cyber Cerberus that threatens to eat us alive if we’re not more careful.

In May, I wrote that “I sadly fear that O’Malley’s satire is so on-the-nose that some real-life evil venture capitalists and tech bros might actually turn his joke concept into a reality.” Somehow, Mark Zuckerberg still emerged this year with a new look that looks exactly like O’Malley’s caricature of him.
Read my full review here.

Macintosh, meanwhile, may be a millennial from Canada. But he’s a tried-and-true New York comic now, and his bubbling frustration bubbling over into outrage makes him a rightful heir to the mantle long held in this city by Lewis Black. That he’s targeting the tech industry right now just makes this hour more indispensable. From our addictions to our phones to the evils of social media and AI, he may have more than a few of you wishing the jocks ruled again instead of the Big Tech nerds.

On Hacks, Hannah Einbinder sometimes suffers onscreen in the shadow of Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance. But here, finally, in her stand-up debut, what a showpiece of Einbinder’s talents in a very theatrical, intentional, polished hour. Anyone who saw Einbinder get a chance to perform on Late Show with Stephen Colbert before Hacks, pre-pandemic, could see she had such an assured sensibility and stage presence already. But now we all can see what she’s capable of, so no matter what happens to her character’s arc next season, this hour shows us why she’s deserving of the spotlight in her own right. A star is born, indeed.
Read my full review here.

For his first solo stand-up special in a decade, Dave Attell proved once more he’s operating in a different league from his peers, eschewing whatever traditions other comedians might be observing for their comedy specials. He’s short on time. He’s quick with the punchlines. He cuts out the chaff. Attell introduces several of his jokes as offensive or naughty or transgressive (“I don’t care if  lose my entire North Korean fanbase”), but ultimately so few of them actually are worth protesting because of just how well he has crafted not only the construction of the jokes themselves, but also in how ludicrous it sounds when he delivers them. With Attell, there’s no confusion. Just comedy.
Read my full review here.

Whereas too many comedians today may see our divisions and look to take advantage of them for their own self-interested profit motive, Ronny Chieng speaks with a refreshing awareness and astuteness about how Americans are divided but perhaps not in as many ways as we’re led to believe. His bits about social media algorithms and influencers and socio-economic trends demonstrate a savviness and sophistication that not only make him a great correspondent for The Daily Show, but also would serve the show well were they ever to promote him as a permanent anchor for the late-night satire.
Read my full review here.

If the key to comedy is timing, then Glaser unlocked all of her possible career opportunities by releasing her newest HBO special just days after stealing the show at Netflix’s Roast of Tom Brady. She’ll be hosting the Golden Globes this year. What else might bear fruit from this?
All of which makes her special’s physically-intensive closer more poignant, as Glaser wonders aloud: “Why is this your career at the age of 39?” Yet few of her peers in gender or age could do what she’s doing, whether it’s singing her own songs or pulling off punchlines such as “I don’t have the kegels to get into some Claussens.” This is her moment. And she’s making the most of it.
Read my full review here.

Even if you haven’t seen any clips of Anthony Jeselnik before, this serves as a perfect introduction to him. As he says at one point: “Comedians are supposed to be unparalleled badasses. I know this because I have a f—ing mirror.” It’d be great if more comedians were this bad-ass.
Though his onstage persona is all about making him the bad guy, someone for you to boo at while also somehow cracking up at, he’s not really evil. It’s more that he sees life as sometimes so dark and awful that you have to laugh at it, lest you allow the reality of the situation to destroy you. “Gallows humor is what I’m all about,” he says. Part of what makes this special truly special is how, starting from that moment, Jeselnik finally begins to pull back the curtains to reveal a bit of his wizardry, and he shares sincere stories from his 20 years in the business.
Read my full review here.
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Following the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that left 10 dead and 35 injured, heightened security can be expected at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Police Department released the following statement regarding safety concerns surrounding the Peach Bowl:
“We acknowledge the concerns raised following the events earlier this morning in New Orleans, Louisiana. In advance of the Peach Bowl, the Atlanta Police Department had already implemented increased security measures, including the deployment of additional officers. In light of today’s development and as an added precaution, specialized units and additional personnel will be further deployed to the Downtown and Midtown areas to ensure the continued safety and security of residents and visitors.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the City of New Orleans and the NOPD.”
The Texas Longhorns and the Arizona State Sun Devils are set to play in the Peach Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

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The Lee Daniels horror is inspired by the true story of an Indiana mother who claimed she and her children were possessed by demons.
By Brande Victorian
[This story contains spoilers from The Deliverance.]
When Andra Day was considering the lead role of Ebony in Lee Daniels’ latest film The Deliverance, she consulted two entities: God and her mom.
“At first, [her mother] kind of had pause,” Day tells The Hollywood Reporter, admitting she was equally hesitant about dabbling in the satanic realm for the Netflix feature. “She was praying with me about it and through the process. And she has been very clear with me, she said, ‘I’m not going to watch the movie,’ not because she doesn’t think that the message is great. My mother’s just like, ‘Listen, if it ain’t Disney+, I’m out. I see her keeping me awake at night.’” (Laughs.)

The Deliverance, which is now streaming on Netflix after a limited theatrical run, draws from the true story of LaToya Ammons, an Indiana woman who, in 2011, claimed she and her children had been possessed by demons. The movie marks Daniels’ first, and admittedly last, foray into the horror genre, though the producer and director sees the project — which also stars Mo’Nique, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Caleb McLaughlin — as more of a story about faith than fearing dark, supernatural beings. It was that angle that got Day, and her mother, on board.
“She was really proud and excited about the movie itself, but also the story that it was telling. That we’d be able to represent this woman as a fully realized Black woman and also be able to talk about and show what it looks like to struggle with your faith, with pain, with healing and this idea that you have to have it all together and that if you don’t, you’re bad,” Day continues. “[Ebony’s] hurting. She’s trying to figure out her life. I love that they show a very real story that’s not a perfect story.”
Below, Day talks about connecting with Mo’Nique and Close on set, praying through difficult scenes and the message she hopes audiences walk away with: “Believe and listen to women, particularly with this film, Black women.”
How did this role come to you, and what made you say yes?
I actually first became familiar with the role on the set of The United States vs. Billie Holiday. One of the producers on the film, Tucker Tooley, who’s an amazing producer, he and Lee were speaking about it and Lee was like, “I think she might be our LaToya” — that’s when the character’s name was still LaToya. So that was a huge factor. It was Lee. He’s a visionary. He puts together incredible roles for Black women, fully fleshed out characters, layers. And I just I love working with him; he’s family. So, that was easy.

But because of the content of the movie, I did hesitate. I was one of those people like, “Well, I’m a believer, I’m a Christian, I don’t think I’m supposed to be talking about demonic possessions.” And it was funny because I didn’t have peace about it, and it was praying about it that made me realize you actually aren’t supposed to be afraid of these things. You have authority over these things and people need to see that on camera, and that was Lee’s goal as well, so that was beautiful. I loved that it was based on a true story and I thought it was important to honor this woman’s legacy, because of everything she’s been through and also because she wasn’t believed for such a long time by the system.
How did you get into the mindset of this woman who is both physically and emotionally abusive to her own children, and also struggling with the neglect she experienced from her own mother?
It was working very, very closely with Lee, working very closely with Patrick Smith as well, my acting coach. There were moments on set that I was like, “I feel like Ebony is more difficult to play than even Billie Holiday,” because there were some aspects of it that were just closer to home. I think the truth of the matter is a lot of us as women are probably in some way, shape or form, maybe not to this extreme, dealing with feeling unworthy, feeling unloved, feeling unlovable. So it was really about finding those commonalities in myself and in my own story. My thing was, “What’s the thing that I would die for?” And that, for me was my faith. That is something that I want to be the best at. I want to feel worthy. I want to be acceptable. I don’t want my past to dictate my future. So that was the common ground I was able to find with Ebony.

And as far as the kids go, I just really loved on them, and they really loved on me. They allowed me to be who I was as Ebony on set. I was very candid with them about certain things. And I think they were able to see, too, playing her kids, that she’s loving us and supporting us with everything she’s got, which she wasn’t really giving herself. I understand Ebony’s struggle to try to do the best she can with what she has, trying to create a better future when she was not given the tools for that.
What was it like playing that opposite of Glenn Close as your mom?
It was amazing. You see the way she looked in the movie? The transformation is insane. It was a huge honor, and I told people I was fully ready to come to set and just use it as an opportunity to watch this woman work, to learn from her, which I was able to do. But at the same time, she also happens to be one of the most lovely people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s so refreshingly youthful, she has such a playful, light energy about her, which I realized at the time, I think is what makes her so versatile. She’s definitely serious about the work but she’s also very giving. She’s super fun, she wanted to make sure she got this right. It was great to watch this incredible veteran actor who could have come to set and just done anything, and we would have been happy with it. But she came to set hungry every day as if this was her first role and that is always a beautiful lesson to learn, to stay in that place of being a perpetual student. Same thing with Mo’Nique, same with Aunjanue Ellis, and with the kids, with Omar Epps. These people are legendary, but they came every like it was day one.

Mo’Nique plays the opposite of her award-winning character in Precious, starring as the social worker to a dysfunctional mother. What kind of conversations did you have on set?
Oh my God, we had mostly funny, loving conversations, and then we had some conversations that got really deep, and she just poured into me in a way that I couldn’t have asked for better. God was just so gracious with this cast of people. I remember her saying the two things to me on set. She said, “Sweet baby,” because that’s her name [for people], “Sweet baby, don’t let anybody tell you you’re talented; you’re gifted. And that is special. And that is rare.” And she would also remind me when she would see me kind of struggling through scenes and how much certain things hurt, “Make space to let it go,” she said. “Because your mind knows what you’re doing, which is acting, but your body doesn’t know the difference. Your body’s still reading all of this pain and trauma.” And then she’ll crack a joke to remind us we’re just playing.
What scenes were hardest for you, and what did shaking them off look like?
The scene where I’m the demon and myself was definitely a duality that I was like: If I don’t find common ground between this demon and between Ebony, it’s over, it’s a wrap. That was a very, very difficult scene to play. And any scene where I’m being vicious or emotionally or physically violent toward my kids was painful. Shaking it off starts at the opposite end, which is to do everything with intention. I walked into this film with peace from God because I’m not supposed to be afraid of these things, they’re under my foot, and during [filming] and even after, it was just prayer. It sounds really simple, but prayer. I definitely go to therapy, but my relationship with God always reminds me that God is never out to harm me — things may be difficult and challenging, but God loves me — and I’m here for a reason. Always having the why in place is very important.

What are you hoping audiences will take away from this film?
A few things, because this is a very layered movie. First thing I’ll say, I’m a believer so I hope they take away a relationship with God. And not with people telling you who you should be and who you shouldn’t be, but actually letting God pour into you about how loved you are. I want people to see that. I want them to see healing as well. I want them to see transformation where we desire it, and to heal generational trauma because that’s what we’re watching. There’s trauma with Ebony’s character, there’s trauma with her mother’s character, there’s trauma with these kids, there’s trauma with Cynthia (Mo’Nique). And essentially all of these people are trying to help the kids, but they also end up incurring a lot of damage because of their own unhealed wounds.
The things that we don’t heal and that we don’t pay attention to and examine in our lives will definitely possess our kids and our future generations. And the third thing is a very clear statement: Believe and listen to women, particularly with this film, Black women. We’ve been talking a lot about believe Black women, but I’d go even deeper than that, which is just listen to them. We’re often not heard. Our struggles are not heard. Our pain is not heard. Our fight is not heard. Our triumphs are not heard. We do so much, and we lose so much in silence because we’re constantly supporting everyone else’s struggle or agenda or whatever it is that they need. I think as a community, if we came together and internally decided we’re going to choose to make space to hear, to listen and to believe, I think the landscape would definitely change. We’re already community builders, but we need that support.

The Deliverance is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR‘s interview with Lee Daniels.
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Charisma Magazine Online
The Magazine About Spirit-led Living
Charisma Magazine Online
The Magazine About Spirit-led Living
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When God created the heavens, the earth, the oceans, the plants and the animals, He took time to assess His creation—and according to Genesis 1, He “saw that it was good” (v. 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, NASB 1995). When He finished the job, He took a day to rest—and set in motion a rhythm of rest for all of us. God didn’t need a break; He was teaching us the importance of rest and quiet trust.
This principle of Sabbath has affected the way I start a new year. When one year ends, I always take time to celebrate the highlights by looking at photos, savoring memories and writing down my best moments. I also mourn my losses. And I carefully consider how I can grow spiritually in the coming year.
We all need to take a deep breath before racing into a new year. This has become a spiritual discipline for me. I relish the memories, smell the flowers I saw on my journey and thank God for the victories. It’s my way of saying, “It is good” before I rush into my next assignment.
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Serious self-examination is good for the soul. Psalm 119:59 (NASB) says: “I considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies.” Lamentations 3:40 (KJV) adds: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn back to the Lord.” As you begin 2025, I urge you to set aside some time to ask yourself these 10 questions:
“What were my highlights in 2024?” It’s important to celebrate your victories and mountaintop moments. Psalm 103:2b (NASB 1995) says: “Forget none of His benefits.” I love to write down my best memories of the year and thank God for each one.
“What did I learn in the past year?” The Holy Spirit has been working in your life, perhaps in ways you didn’t notice. Take time to record what you learned from God’s Word, from sermons, from mentors, at your job and even from your mistakes.
“If I could do 2024 over, what would I do differently?” Be honest. What mistakes did you make in the past year? You don’t have to stay stuck in the ruts of 2024. Repent for your moments of weakness. Turn away from your willful sins and run back into the Father’s arms. God has forgiven you, and you can move forward! The year 2025 can be a new beginning.
“Have I made time alone with God a priority?” Fires don’t last long if you don’t regularly pile wood on the flames. You can’t survive spiritually without regular communion with the Lord. If you neglected prayer or reading God’s Word in 2024, identify your time-wasters and rekindle your devotional life.
“Did I develop bad habits that need to be broken?” Paul told the Thessalonians, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). Are you doing anything that is extinguishing the Spirit’s flames in your life? Have you been struggling with anger, anxiety, fear, lust, doubt or resentment? Identify the spiritual strongholds in your life and ask Jesus to replace them with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Get your FREE CHARISMA NEWSLETTERS today! Stay up to date with current issues, Holy Spirit news, Christian teachings, Charisma videos & more!
“What are my spiritual gifts, and am I using them?” Many Christians bury their talents because of fear, or they avoid serving others because of selfishness. The year 2025 is the time to swallow your fears, stretch your faith and step out of your boat. It won’t be easy, but you will find there is no greater joy than being an instrument of the Holy Spirit to bless people.
“How did I influence others for Christ in the past year?” My greatest joy in life is investing in others—especially as I grow older and realize that life is not about me. Jesus said our mission is to “make disciples” (Matt. 28:19), yet many Christians never make a mark on anyone. If you aren’t currently making disciples, look around and ask God to show you your harvest field.
“Am I aligned with the right people?” God called us to be in community. But make sure you are in a church that is on fire for God. If your church compromises God’s Word, you should find a new spiritual home. And if your closest friends aren’t challenging you to live for Jesus, you need new relationships. Don’t live in isolation.
“What is God saying to me as I enter this new year?” God knows your future. He also knows the challenges you face and the storms that may come in 2025. Jeremiah 29:11 (MEV) says: “For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” If you seek the Lord, He will speak a word to your heart—and that word will propel you into a new season.
“What goals do I need to make?” We laugh about New Year’s resolutions—as if they are silly. But the truth is, no one ever lost weight without making a serious decision to change their eating and exercise habits. If you need change in an area—whether it relates to fitness, relationships, Bible study, prayer, reading books, travel or finances—set a goal. The prophet said in Habakkuk 2:2b: “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run.” I pray the Lord will give you fresh strength to run the race of faith in 2025.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
J. Lee Grady is an author, award-winning journalist and ordained minister. He served as a news writer and magazine editor for many years before launching into full-time ministry.
Lee is the author of six books, including “10 Lies the Church Tells Women,” “10 Lies Men Believe” and “Fearless Daughters of the Bible.” His years at Charisma magazine also gave him a unique perspective of the Spirit-filled church and led him to write “The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale” and “Set My Heart on Fire,” which is a Bible study on the work of the Holy Spirit.
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J. Lee Grady is an author, award-winning journalist and ordained minister. He served as a news writer and magazine editor for many years before launching into full-time ministry. Lee is the author of six books, including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe and Fearless Daughters of the Bible. His years at Charisma magazine also gave him a unique perspective of the Spirit-filled church and led him to write The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale and Set My Heart on Fire, which is a Bible study on the work of the Holy Spirit.
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Noa Cohen, the young Israeli actress who plays Jesus’s mother in the Netflix movie Mary, said she received multiple death threats while the movie was filmed in Morocco earlier this year.

While she was on the set from January to March, her life was threatened over and over.

“I got messages from Moroccan profiles [on social media] who said they know ‘what hotel you’re staying at,’” she told the Keshet 12 program Good Evening with Guy Pines on Tuesday night. “That didn’t make me feel the safest in the world. And you go to film in what is, after all, a Muslim country, Morocco… and you need a special visa to get in, and you have to have heavy security guarding you at all times.”

This heavy security was written into her contract, she said.

“It was scary. Some people began to understand that I was in Morocco and I got messages on Instagram, I got threats, the feeling wasn’t always the most comfortable.”

Despite the threats, the film, which was budgeted at $70 million, proceeded smoothly. Cohen, who had previously acted in Israeli teen and children’s shows, received star treatment, with her own trailer and makeup artist, but the biggest thrill was working with Sir Anthony Hopkins, the two-time Oscar winner who portrayed King Herod.

Peace on set

The 86-year-old came to Morocco to make the film and he “was like a 16-year-old when he stepped onto the set,” she said. She tried to be casual when she first met her distinguished co-star, saying, “Hi, nice to meet you, I love your work… it’s a pleasure to work with you.”

But he quickly broke the ice, she said, “And he made dad jokes, and it was like, OK, he’s a regular human being.”

While they did not have in-depth discussions about politics, she said that he told her, “I’m praying for your country and your people.”

Cohen said that once the trailer for the film was released, “It was amazing to see how the responses started with ‘Zionist,’ then went to ‘Israeli,’ and finally ended up with straight-up ‘Jew… you Jewish whore’ – excuse the language. It was amazing to see how much of it was pure antisemitism and not anything else.”

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Gal Gadot, the first Israeli actress to achieve Hollywood superstardom, contacted Cohen to offer her support.

While doing publicity for the role, Cohen was never told what she could and couldn’t say, but was given tips by those in charge of publicity on how to diplomatically avoid any questions that made her uncomfortable.

The actress, who was previously unknown outside Israel, was surprised to be cast in the lead in a movie for a major streaming service. Before the war broke out, the producers were in the midst of discussions on how to tell the story before shooting started. After October 7, 2023, she was sure the producers and director D.J. Caruso would back off and that she had lost the part.

“I never thought they would dare to continue… and get themselves into the conflict by keeping an Israeli actress in the lead,” she said.

Not only did she keep her leading role, but the producers cast four other Israelis: rising star Ido Tako, who plays Joseph, and Ori Pfeffer, Hilla Vidor, and Mili Avital.

Mary, released in early December ahead of the holiday season, has been leading Netflix’s ratings charts around the world for nearly a month. The entertainment industry website, Deadline.com, reported in December that the talent agency, Anonymous Content, signed Cohen “following a competitive pursuit,” so she may well be cast in more high-profile roles.

After her targeting by antisemitic trolls for her work on Mary, the young actress will likely be ready for anything she has to deal with in the future.

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Top Altcoins for 2025- Shiba Inu, Solana, XRP, and Lightchain AI in Focus  CryptoDaily
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51 °F
State Senator Mayes Middleton has pushed for the ban regularly since entering the Texas Legislature. The fate of Middleton’s latest effort will likely depend on the next Speaker of the House.
Republican state lawmakers will make another push to bar local governments from spending public funds on lobbying. A ban is all but certain to pass the Senate, but its prospects in the House are less clear.
State Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) has repeatedly sought to bar local governments from using tax dollars to hire lobbyists. He filed his latest version as Senate Bill 239. Five Republican House members have filed identical or similar bills.
“Over $70 million a year is spent on this right now, and it’s always the first bill I file every single session because of that,” Middleton said, “It’s an unethical practice, and It’s a waste of your local property tax dollars.”
Middleton argued that local governments too often use public funds to lobby against their citizens’ own interests and wishes.
“Taxpayer-funded lobbyists, they lobby against property tax relief and reform,” he said. “They lobby against election integrity. They’ve lobbied against border security. They even lobbied to get boys into girls’ restrooms, locker rooms and showers.”
Political scientist Mark Jones of Rice University’s Baker Institute said that cities and counties have, in fact, frequently lobbied lawmakers against property tax cuts as a way of preserving their revenue streams. But he also noted that lobbyists have often fought for causes Texas voters broadly support.
“We found that an overwhelming majority of Texans favor increasing teacher pay, and that’s one thing that the school districts are lobbying for,” Jones said.
Indeed, apart from property tax reform, most of the issues Middleton named – election law, immigration and border security, and LGBTQ rights – are ones on which Texans divide sharply along partisan lines. These are also issues on which Republican state leaders tend to split with Democratic leaders who represent the state’s largest cities and counties.
The last several legislative sessions have seen Republican state leaders pass multiple bills restricting local government powers. The most notable has been House Bill 2127, also known as the “Death Star” law, which lets private entities sue Texas cities and counties over local regulations in any of eight broad areas that don’t have prior approval from the state Legislature.
Asked whether he would support a similar ban on corporate lobbying to protect shareholders and customers from having their money used for lobbying against their wishes, Middleton said there was no comparison.
“Here’s the problem with taxpayer-funded lobbying,” Middleton said. “You don’t like what Bud Light is doing? Don’t buy Bud Light. If you don’t like what Target is doing, don’t shop at Target, so you don’t have to pay their lobbyists. But if you don’t like what your local government is lobbying on, you quit paying your property taxes, and then what happens? They foreclose in your business or a home.”
Middleton correctly noted that the last time the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs polled on the question of using public funds for local government lobbying, in 2021, an overwhelming majority of respondents (69%) supported a ban. But Mark Jones, who co-authored the study, said that it only reflected those Texans who had a position on the issue. One in five Texans polled had no position either way.
Middleton was optimistic about the chances for SB 239 in the coming session. He noted a lobbying ban passed the Senate in 2019, 2021, and 2023. Each time, the measure subsequently failed in the House.
“Now there are many new state representatives that support the ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying,” Middleton said. “The chances are better than ever, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to get this done next session.”
Jones predicted SB 239 should fly through the Senate. But he said what happens afterwards will largely depend on whom Texas House chooses as its next speaker. State Reps. David Cook (R-Mansfield) and Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) each claim to have the votes they need – Cook through the endorsement of the majority of the House Republican Caucus, Burrows through a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans, including outgoing Speaker Dade Phelan. House members will make their choice at the start of the regular session in January.
“If Dustin Burrows is elected speaker, with the support of the Austin lobby(ists) and Democrats, along with a small group of Republicans, then a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying is probably dead on arrival,” Jones said. “If you have a speaker who depends heavily on Republican conservative votes to retain remain in power, it’s likely to pass.”
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