All posts tagged: Cox

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

Published by Jenni Sidey

Somewhere in the first act, one of Cox’s narrators looks at a hospital bouquet and decides that flowers are an equation that never balances. You’re devastated, so here are some pointless, pretty dead things. That line hands the novel its title, and it also hands you its method. Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox is a book about what we hand to grieving people instead of the truth, and about the enormous amount of labor that goes into keeping something beautiful on the outside while it rots quietly underneath. I came to this one having read Cox’s 2025 debut, Party of Liars, which announced her as a writer with a real appetite for domestic pressure and a talent for hiding a knife inside a casserole dish. Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox is the harder, colder, more ambitious book. It is also, for long stretches, a slower one, and I want to be honest about that before I start praising it. The Setup, With the Spoilers Left Where They Belong Anhalt, Texas. Hill Country. The …

Transcendent by Laverne Cox review – success against the odds | Autobiography and memoir

Transcendent by Laverne Cox review – success against the odds | Autobiography and memoir

Published by Sam Flores

When Laverne Cox was eight years old and growing up in Mobile, Alabama, she saved up her pocket money and bought herself a fan decorated with Japanese geishas. The fan became her favourite plaything, a prop to be used while dancing in imaginary music videos or recreating scenes from Gone With the Wind in which she cast herself as Scarlett O’Hara. “I lit up, animated, whenever that fan was in my hand,” she recalls in her memoir. But when Cox, who was raised as a boy, began fanning herself with it at school, her teacher, Mrs Ridgeway, yanked her furiously out of the classroom, paraded her and her new accessory in front of the other teachers, and then phoned her mother, Gloria. When Gloria came home that evening, she exploded with fury. She said Mrs Ridgeway had told her she too had a son who had been an effeminate child who was now living on the streets of New Orleans and wearing a dress. “You want to be in a dress on the streets in New Orleans?” shouted Gloria, who …

Sara Cox becomes new queen of breakfast radio with absolute hoot of a first show: ‘About damn time’

Sara Cox becomes new queen of breakfast radio with absolute hoot of a first show: ‘About damn time’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter While most of England spent the weekend debating whether to set an absurdly early (or late?) alarm for the World Cup, a crack-of-dawn start was non-negotiable for Sara Cox. After 28 years on the airwaves, the presenter finally made her debut as the host of Radio 2’s Breakfast Show on Monday (6 July) morning. And as she made the switch to the 6.30am slot, Cox brought all the silliness and fun from her teatime programme (and some of the features) – with an added dose of sparkle from an impressive A-list guest. First things first, though: the football. Starting your new gig the day after a crucial World Cup match is risky business. Especially when the job in question sees you in charge of helping millions of Brits start their day. Thankfully, the Three Lions’ incredible 3-2 win against Mexico meant …

Sara Cox: “I want to bring the megastars into the Radio 2 world”

Sara Cox: “I want to bring the megastars into the Radio 2 world”

Published by Daniella Wilson

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. “HIYA, Y’ALRIGHT?”, asks Sara Cox when we meet at a café near the Radio 2 studios in London for RT’s photoshoot and interview. She later confesses she wasn’t sure if I was a customer or from Radio Times, but it’s testament to her genuine love for people that she greets everyone in the same manner, including listeners who ring in to the teatime slot she’s been hosting for the past seven and a half years. We’re talking ahead of her move to the Breakfast Show, one of the biggest jobs in broadcasting with over 6 million listeners, more than the entire population of Scotland. The promotion means she’ll be interviewing Hollywood greats such as Tom Hanks, who has been announced as the first guest on her launch show. Yet if the glam new job has gone to Cox’s head, you can’t tell. She’s happily waving a fry-up around for our photographer with a tea towel slung over her shoulder, and when a waitress asks for it back, …

Inside Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid’s decade-long romance — with one ‘really intense’ sudden split

Inside Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid’s decade-long romance — with one ‘really intense’ sudden split

Published by Daniella Wilson

Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid have reportedly called it quits after over a decade together. HELLO! has reached out to representatives for both Courteney, 62, and Johnny, 49, for comment. Neither party has addressed the split as of writing. Despite the couple’s long-lasting romance, their relationship endured several hurdles, including a shocking split in the lead-up to their apparent 2026 break-up. Take a deeper dive into their love story, from how it all began to the highlights in between… © Getty Images How did Courteney and Johnny first meet? In 2013, Courteney hosted a star-studded party at her Los Angeles home, to which she had invited Ed Sheeran. Ed brought along some of his other musician friends, including Taylor Swift and Snow Patrol members Gary Lightbody and Johnny. “I remember seeing Johnny and going, ‘Oh, wow. He’s really intense.’ He’s got the eyes, and he’s playing the piano. And I thought ‘Oh he’s really really handsome,’” she recalled during an appearance on Howard Stern’s show in 2022. She then told her friend and attendee Isla …

Courteney Cox ‘splits up with’ Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid after 13 years together

Courteney Cox ‘splits up with’ Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid after 13 years together

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Courteney Cox has separated from her long-term partner, Snow Patrol guitarist Johnny McDaid, according to new reports. The Friends star began dating the Northern Irish musician back in late 2013, having met at a party. News of the separation was first reported by the Daily Mail, with People magazine later confirming the claims. Cox, 62, and McDaid, 49, had not been seen together in public since last year, when they attended the US Open tennis tournament in September. Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2023 (Getty Images) The Independent has contacted representatives of Cox and McDaid for comment. It was singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran who first brought McDaid into Cox’s orbit, owing to the two musicians being housemates. Speaking to E! News, Sheeran said at the time: “My housemate who I’ve lived with for a …

Laverne Cox Lost 90 Percent of Income Due to Trump’s DEI Rollbacks

Laverne Cox Lost 90 Percent of Income Due to Trump’s DEI Rollbacks

Published by Daniella Wilson

President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a mission to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, and those efforts have had a trickle-down effect across corporate America. So much so that it’s cost Laverne Cox approximately 90 percent of her income over the last few years. Cox, a high-profile transgender star who rose to fame thanks to an Emmy-nominated turn on Orange Is the New Black, made the reveal in a new interview with The Guardian while promoting her first book, a memoir titled Transcendent. “This regime has threatened to defund any colleges and universities that promote gender ideology, DEI,” she said, adding that she’s even lost teaching opportunities. “Even though I’d be teaching a graduate acting class, it could be perceived as promoting trans ideology. These are the realities. I’m not complaining — I’m very blessed. The important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income has gone down significantly, what about all the other trans people who are not as privileged and as blessed as I am? …

BBC Radio 2 confirms Sara Cox show launch date and special Hollywood guest

BBC Radio 2 confirms Sara Cox show launch date and special Hollywood guest

Published by Daniella Wilson

Presenter Sara Cox has revealed she will kick off her new BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show next month. The broadcaster was announced as the new host of the station’s flagship programme back in April following Scott Mills’s sacking over allegations about his personal conduct. Cox’s new programme will air on 6 July, with Hollywood star Tom Hanks set to join her as her first guest to talk about his new film Toy Story 5. The DJ shared the news on Monday (15 June) on Vernon Kay’s Radio 2 show, saying she is “very very excited”. “OK, my big news is… God, I’ve gone all hot and excited,” she said. She continued: “My big news is that…there’s been quite a lot of mystery about when the brand new Sara Cox Breakfast Show begins on BBC Radio 2. I’ve been quite mysterious and going, ‘it’s in the summer’ and waggling my eyebrows mysteriously. “But I can now announce, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, please do join me for my very first Breakfast …

Sara Cox To Launch Radio 2 Breakfast Show With Tom Hanks

Sara Cox To Launch Radio 2 Breakfast Show With Tom Hanks

Published by Sam Flores

Sara Cox is pulling out all the stops to get her new Radio 2 show off to a flying start. On Monday morning, Sara announced that her first Radio 2 breakfast show broadcast would be airing on Monday 6 July – as well as unveiling the A-lister of all A-listers as her inaugural guest. For her first show, the presenter will be joined in the studio by two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks, where he’ll be discussing the latest addition in the Toy Story franchise. “Roll on the 6 July!” she enthused. “For generations to come people will (probably) say ‘where were YOU when the Sara Cox Breakfast Show was launched on Radio 2 featuring the legendary Tom Hanks?’ (and hopefully they’ll reply ‘listening and laughing along with a nice brew’).” Back in April, it was announced that Sara would be taking over at the helm of the Radio 2 breakfast show, following the abrupt firing of its previous host Scott Mills. At the time, Sara said she was “ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed” to be …

Emmy-nominated actor Laverne Cox says she’s lost 90 per cent of her income in the last two years

Emmy-nominated actor Laverne Cox says she’s lost 90 per cent of her income in the last two years

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Laverne Cox has predicted she has lost around 90 per cent of her income over the past two years, amid the Trump administration’s attacks on transgender rights in the United States. The Emmy award-nominated actor rose to fame with her role in Netflix’s comedy-drama Orange is the New Black, which became a major hit when it first began airing in 2013. While Cox was cast in further projectsm such as Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman and the 2022 Netflix series Inventing Anna, she supplemented her income from the limited parts she found as a trans actor with public speaking and brand ambassador roles. Yet much of that work has since dried up, Cox told The Guardian. “This regime has threatened to defund any colleges and universities that promote gender ideology, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion],” she said. Even teaching work has …