French footballer Patrice Evra will lambast toxic masculinity in a new interview with comedian Munya Chawawa. “My dad said crying is a weakness,” the former Manchester United captain says. “It’s important not to educate our kids in the same way.”
As part of Chawawa’s second Deep Issue Massage interview series, Evra speaks of professional football culture. “I’ve played with players who were gay… and they will never say it out loud,” he says. “At my last club, West Ham, someone from the English federation came and said ‘we need to accept everyone’. Some players were going ‘nah, are you crazy?’”
“Would I have made the same career as the Patrice I am now? No. In that football world, toxic masculinity is at its best.” Chawawa told us he admires Evra for being open, and makes the show for all the men “who have a tendency to block things out.”
Actor hears ABBA musical’s SOS
SOS! There was panic backstage at the Novello Theatre this week, as injuries and holiday time collided and left the cast of Mamma Mia! a man down. In a stroke of luck, crew member Robbie Scotcher thought “here I go again”. Also an actor, he has been in the play before and stepped up to play Father Alexander for two shows. It just so happened he found himself marrying off his fiancée Natalie Langston, who plays the alternate Donna in the production, on stage. Potential threat?
Ukraine art show pulled
The Ukrainian Way, an exhibition set to run at Saatchi Gallery in aid of Ukrainian charities, has been cancelled after artists said they were included without consent.
Their works were in the private collections of the show’s organiser Igor Tsukanov, a Russian banker, and Marat Guelman, a Russian gallerist, The Art Newspaper has reported.
Guelman says he regrets the “unique reaction” to his involvement. Saatchi Gallery says it was “not the organiser or curator” of the event.
Stars descend on the Southbank
Actor Sharon Horgan was at BFI Southbank last night for the premiere of her Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters. Daughter Sadhbh Rainbird and co-star Eva Birthistle turned out in support.
Earlier, Vogue hosted a lunch to celebrate the show with actors Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Max Harwood, model Charli Howard and dancer Eric Underwood.
In Mayfair, model David Gandy attended friend Nihal Arthanayake’s book launch with Montblanc, while Munya Chawawa hosted a supper at The Ned, Bank, for his Deep Issue Massage YouTube series supported by grooming brand Harry’s.
