Cranberries lead vocalist dead at 46

Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of The Cranberries, passed away at 46. The news is reported to have been  confirmed by the Irish musician’s publicist, Lindsey Holmes that O’Riordan passed away suddenly. Reportedly, no cause of death has yet been announced. O’Riordan had been in London for a recording session, after she cancelled a tour to Europe and North America with a reunited Cranberries last year because of a back problem. The band released the acoustic album Something Else in 2017.

Kevin Spacey accused of racism

Kevin Spacey has been accused of racism and refusing to acknowledge black employees on the first season of “House of Cards”.

Earl Blue, 51, head of VIP Protective Services, was hired by Knight Takes King Productions to manage on-set security during season 1 of the Netflix series in 2012.

He claims Spacey, who played the lead character Frank Underwood in House of Cards, refused to acknowledge the black team members and even made racial slurs.

Blue said a group of black security guards were watching the trailer for the show when he heard the actor tell his personal security manager: “I don’t want n***ers watching my trailer.”

When Blue raised concerns with set managers about Spacey, who was referred to as “The Powers That Be”, he was told: ‘That’s just the way he is; we have to keep him happy’.”

Breaking his four-year silence, father-of-three Blue, who plans to sue Spacey, claims the fallout resulted in his business, which employs 40 guards, losing millions of dollars in revenue.

An employee, supervisor Eric Lyles, 47, claimed that Spacey refused to shake his hand or acknowledge him.

Blue said: “I was a tremendous fan of the man but now I am disgusted by him. I lost faith that I am in the right job after the contract was terminated. I questioned myself for months. What could I have done differently? Then I came to the realisation that I did everything I was could, but I was dealing with a racist man.

“I sat on it for four years as I believe in confidentiality but when it comes to the point where people are being harmed, enough is enough.”

A former employee of Knight Takes King, on condition of anonymity, said he has “no particular recollection” of Spacey behaving in a racist manner towards security staff.

However, he said Spacey was a “real a ***** e” who was “temperamental” on set and would “get frustrated” if things didn’t go his way.

Mick Jagger in India

Singer-songwriter Mick Jagger was in India and said that  he was enjoying the sights and the sounds of the country. The Rolling Stones frontman  took to Twitter to share a photograph of himself at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, where he is staying. “Enjoying the vibrant sights and sounds of India!” he captioned it. Whether Jagger is here on work or leisure was not immediately clear.