Sunday, May 24, 2026

“Belfast” Director, Oscar Nominee Actor, Movie Exec All Felled by COVID at BAFTA Awards

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We knew this story earlier on Saturday but kept it quiet because it was a health issue.

But now apparently the beans have been spilled: many people who attended the BAFTA Awards in London last Sunday have tested positive for COVID. And it’s one with a lot of symptoms.

“Belfast” director Kenneth Branagh, star Ciaran Hinds, and at least one movie exec have all been felled. Branagh is missing tonight’s PGA Awards in Hollywood because of it.

The news was broken by young Jude Hill, the kid actor from “Belfast.” He let it slip on the red carpet.

Branagh’s sickness was tipped off today when he Zoomed into a PGA lunch panel rather than appear live.

COVID is not over despite people taking off masks and carrying on like it’s the end of the world. A new variant is out there, and about to make everything bad again unless people go with the protocols. Get vaxxed!

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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