������Ƶ

DUBAI: British singer-songwriter and actor Cynthia Erivo picked Saudi-helmed Parisian label Ashi Studio for two of her electrifying looks as she hosted the 2025 Tony Awards, the annual ceremony celebrating the best in Broadway theater, held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Erivo’s first Ashi Studio look featured an oversized black coat dress dotted with bedazzled details, which she wore over black pants and a tube top.

Her second look was a black and gold snakeskin-print tailored trench coat with voluminous sleeves and an oversized collar, cinched by a fitted corset from the SS25 Ashi Studio collection. She wore the look to welcome Auli'i Cravalho to the stage.

“Maybe Happy Ending,” “Purpose,” “Sunset Blvd.” and “Eureka Day” took the top prizes at the awards, winning best musical, best play, best musical revival, and best play revival, respectively.

The ceremony also saw Sarah Snook (“The Picture of Dorian Gray”), Cole Escola (“Oh, Mary!”), Darren Criss (“Maybe Happy Ending”), and Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Blvd.”) win the lead acting awards for plays (Snook and Escola) and musicals (Criss and Scherzinger).

“Maybe Happy Ending” won a total of six awards after going into the night tied with “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Death Becomes Her” for the most nominations, with 10 apiece.

“Buena Vista Social Club” won four awards, while “Death Becomes Her” only took home one trophy, for Paul Tazewell’s costume design, which was presented in the “Tony Awards: Act One” pre-show.

Also in attendance at the event as British Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, along with actor-husband George Clooney. The couple’s arrival at the Tonys came hours after George closed his record-breaking Broadway show, “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Amal wore an off-the-shoulder white gown with strands of pearls draped across the fabric, which she accessorized with a matching clutch.

A major highlight of the show saw the cast of the hit musical “Hamilton” reunited for a special performance in honor of its 10th anniversary.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the Tony-winning show, was joined by more than two dozen members of the original cast, including Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Anthony Ramos, Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, and Ariana DeBose.

The performance began with Miranda and Odom Jr. performing a snippet from the song “Non-Stop.” The show continued with a medley of tracks from the “Hamilton” score, including “My Shot,” “The Schuyler Sisters,” “You’ll Be Back,” “The Room Where it Happens” and “History Has Its Eyes on You.”

DUBAI: American Dutch Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid has shared a powerful poem by popular children’s educator and YouTuber Rachel Griffin Accurso, known globally as Ms. Rachel, amplifying its message of hope and solidarity with Gaza.

The poem, titled “The People Were Brave,” went viral on social media for its stirring call to action urging people to show bravery and use their voices for good.

“The leaders were mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. The celebrities were mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. The media was mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. But the people were not silent. They were brave,” the poem begins.

“So never stop speaking up for those in need. Never wait for the world. It was ordinary people that became extraordinary. And changed everything. And moved us all. And saved us all,” it ends.

Last week, Ms. Rachel made headlines when she said she was willing to jeopardize her career to advocate for Palestinian children suffering under the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

She said she had been targeted by online campaigns and faced calls for government investigation after voicing support for children affected by war in Gaza and elsewhere.

Despite growing criticism from some pro-Israel groups and conservative media, in a recent interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, she said she remained defiant.

“I would risk everything — and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for children,” she said.

“It’s all about the kids for me. I wouldn’t be Ms. Rachel if I didn’t deeply care about all kids.”

The YouTube star added a recent meeting with Palestinian mothers whose children remain trapped in Gaza had had a profound effect on her: “When you sit with a mother who’s FaceTiming her boys in Gaza who don’t have food, and you see that anguish, you ask yourself: What more can I do?”

A former teacher in New York, Ms Rachel said her work had always been rooted in the principle that all children, regardless of nationality or background, deserved dignity, safety, and access to basic needs.

“That’s the basis of everything for me — children are equal,” she said.