Names and faces
■ The reigning Miss Universe said Wednesday the long-running beauty pageant shouldn’t be politicized, even though its next edition is being held in Israel amid pressure on contestants to drop out to show solidarity with the Palestinians. “Everyone with different beliefs, with different backgrounds, with different cultures, they all come together and when you are in there you forget about politics, about your religion,” Andrea Meza, the current Miss Universe, said ahead of a tour of Jerusalem’s Old City, the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It’s just about embracing other women.” Meza, 27, represents Mexico and was crowned in May, during a covid-delayed ceremony in Florida, where contestants accessorized their sparkling gowns with face masks. The 70th Miss Universe pageant is being staged in the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat. Meza will hand over the crown on Dec. 12. Hosting the show is a coup for Israel, which for years has been confronting a Palestinian-led international campaign calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions. While Israel hopes the pageant will draw tourists and project an image of Israel as a safe destination during the pandemic, Palestinian activist groups are calling on contestants to “do no harm to our struggle for freedom, justice and equality by withdrawing from the pageant.” While Malaysia, citing covid-19 concerns, announced it won’t send a contestant, South Africa’s government withdrew its support for the country’s representative.
■ Movie studio Miramax has sued “Pulp Fiction” director Quentin Tarantino over his plan to auction off NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, related to the groundbreaking 1994 film. Tarantino this month announced plans to sell images of pages of scenes from an early handwritten version of the “Pulp Fiction” script as NFTs; they also would include audio commentary. NFTs are essentially certificates of authenticity for objects, such as pieces of digital art, sports memorabilia and concert tickets. For artists and companies — including filmmakers and movie studios — NFTs have emerged as a new way to monetize and promote their work. But studios are seeking to assert control of how intellectual property is used. Tarantino partnered with technology company SCRT Labs to auction seven tokens based on the movie. Miramax, which released “Pulp Fiction,” accused Tarantino on Tuesday of breach of contract, copyright infringement and trademark infringement, saying he doesn’t have permission to sell the NFTs. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Miramax said it had sent Tarantino a cease-and-desist letter after learning of the NFT plans, but Tarantino refused to comply. A representative for Tarantino did not respond to a request for comment.