17/12/2025

LYFE WEDNESDAY | DEC 17, 2025

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Met Gala embraces girl power M USIC powerhouse Beyonce, tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar-winning actress o Beyonce, Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman to co-chair May 4, 2026 event with Anna Wintour museum in Manhattan and will seek to explore the “dressed body” in artworks across the centuries. The co-chairs are power players in their fields: music, sports and film.

Nicole Kidman will co-chair the 2026 Met Gala on May 4 alongside Vogue ’s Anna Wintour, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced recently in New York. The annual Met Gala, traditionally held on the first Monday in May, was first organised in 1948 and for decades was reserved for New York high society. Wintour, the high priestess of US fashion, took over the show in the 1990s, transforming the party into a catwalk for the rich and famous. The gala is a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute, but it is also a social media extravaganza that sees stars don over-the-top looks, vying to create the greatest spectacle. The dress code has not yet been revealed but it will dovetail with the “Costume Art” exhibition, which opens on May 10 at the venerable THE father of late British singer Amy Winehouse recently defended his UK lawsuit against two of her friends after they sold some of her clothes at auction for around £730,000 (RM4 million). Mitch Winehouse told the High Court in London that Naomi Parry, the star’s former stylist, and her friend Catriona Gourlay did not have the right to sell dozens of items in auctions between November 2021 and May 2023. Lawyer Henry Legge, acting for Winehouse, told the court on the first day of the trial that the two women sold 150 objects which had belonged to Winehouse, including dresses which she wore on her last tour in June 2011. The British singer-songwriter, who enjoyed meteoric global success, died a month later from alcohol poisoning, aged just 27. Winehouse was a distinctive figure with her beehive hairdo,

The gala will mark the first time in a decade that Beyonce has attended, and fashionistas will be holding their breath waiting to see what look – or looks – she unveils. She was an honorary co-chair in 2013. Williams, 45, is the winner of seven Grand Slam titles. She is still competing on the WTA Tour. Her sister Serena – who has retired from tennis – co-hosted the event in 2019. Kidman, who co-chaired the event in 2003 and in 2005, has several projects in the works for 2026, including Practical Magic 2 , a sequel to the popular 1998 film about a family of witches, and Scarpetta , a series based on Patricia Cornwell’s crime novel heroine.

From left: Williams, Beyonce and Kidman will co-chair the 2026 Met Gala. – PICS FROM AFP

The Met also announced a gala “host committee” led by Saint Laurent designer Anthony

Vaccarello and actress Zoe Kravitz. Also on the committee are singers Sabrina Carpenter and Doja Cat,

retired ballet superstar Misty Copeland, and WNBA champion A’ja Wilson. – AFP

Amy Winehouse’s father sues star’s friends for auctioning her clothes

Mariah Carey to headline Winter Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will be held on Feb 6 next year.

The dress worn by Winehouse in her final performance during the 2011 Summer Festival Tour.

was no proof. “If a 19-year-old gives a scarf or a pair of earrings to their friends, no one signs a contract,” he told the court, stressing the singer’s generosity. Gourlay and Parry met Amy Winehouse in the early 2000s, before she shot to fame. Parry went on to create some of the singer’s most iconic looks – including the green bamboo dress worn on the June 2011 tour which sold at auction for US$243, 200. Beth Grossman, the lawyer for Parry, said the two “women are not thieves and they are not dishonest”. She accused Winehouse of bringing the lawsuit against the women out of “petty jealousy”, which he strongly denied, saying “you’re wrong”. Grossman also highlighted the financial differences between the multi-millionaire Mitch Winehouse and the two women who are “living pretty much hand to mouth”. – AFP

heavy black eye makeup, multiple tattoos and smoky voice. She shot to international fame with her Grammy Award-winning 2006 album Back to Black, which included the track Rehab , charting her battle with addiction. According to court documents, Winehouse believed that any sums collected from the sales organised by Los Angeles-based Julien’s Auctions would be due to him. The auctioneers had also been told that a third of the proceeds would be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation – a charity set up in the singer’s name working with young people to foster hope and self-reliance. However, Winehouse’s team accused the women of failing to donate the share of proceeds to the foundation. You’re wrong Ted Loveday, lawyer for Gourlay, said that most of the objects had been given or lent to the two women by the singer, even if there

US pop star Mariah Carey will sing at the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb 6 next year, organisers said. Carey, one of the top selling artistes in the world, is the first international guest announced for the ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium. In a statement, organisers said her music was “capable of crossing generations and cultures”, and reflected the emotion and atmosphere of the event. The Olympic torch is currently winding its way across Italy ahead of the Games, which take place between Feb 6 and 22 across a large area of northern Italy. The Paralympic Winter Games follow from March 6 to 15. – AFP

Winehouse. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @AMYWINEHOUSE

Carey. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @MARIAHCAREY