Sylvester Stallone has paid tribute to his Rocky co-star Carl Weathers, following news that the actor passed away at the age of 76.

Yesterday (February 2) the actor’s family confirmed the sad news, explaining that Weathers had passed away ‘peacefully’ on February 1.

The statement, shared with Deadline and Variety, reads: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers.

“He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024.

“Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life.

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney

“Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations.

“He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”

Weathers’ career spanned an impressive 50 years, with the actor getting his first big break in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky.

Following the news, the filmmaker took to social media to pay tribute to his friend.

You can watch the tribute below:

“Today is an incredibly sad day for me,” Stallone began.

“I mean, I’m so torn up I can’t even tell you. I’m just trying to hold it in because Carl Weathers was such an integral part of my life, my success, everything about it.

“I give him incredible credit and kudos, because when he walked into that room, and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness, but I didn’t realize how great.

“I never could have accomplished what we did with Rocky without him. He was absolutely brilliant. His voice, his size, his power, his athletic ability, but more importantly, his heart, his soul. It’s a horrible loss.

“He was magic, and I was so fortunate to be part of his life. So, Apollo, keep punching.”

In the caption, he added: “We lost a legend yesterday. My life was forever changed for the better the day I met Carl Weathers. Rest in power and keeping punching.”

Getty Images/ United Artists

Weathers starred as heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed in Stallone’s 1976 movie.

In the fourth film Rocky IV, Dolph Lundgren, now 66, co-starred alongside Weathers.

He also paid tribute, describing Weathers as a ‘terrific athlete and a good friend’.

“I was saddened to hear the news this morning. Along with the world, I will miss Carl. He was a great actor, a terrific athlete and a good friend,” he wrote.

“I cherish many special memories of Carl, both professionally and personally. Like Apollo Creed, he had that special charm that always brought a smile to your face.”

Meanwhile, Michael B. Jordan, who played Apollo’s son in the sequel Creed, also shared tribute, posting a story on his Instagram account and writing: “We lost a Legend.”

A lip reader has revealed what Barack Obama and Donald Trump said to one another at Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

The former presidents were two of the many well-known faces to attend Carter’s funeral yesterday (January 9) in Washington D.C.

Carter died at the age of 100 years old on December 29. He was the longest-lived president in US history and is survived by his children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

The former president, who left office in 1981, lived so long that two of the eulogies were written by people who died before him — his vice president Walter Mondale, and his White House predecessor Gerald Ford.

Carter was laid to rest in Washington National Cathedral. All of his living successors were in attendance, with President Joe Biden, the first sitting senator to endorse his 1976 run for the White House, delivering a eulogy.

Former president Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump, political rivals who have mocked each other for years, sat next to each other and talked for several minutes — even sharing a laugh.

Now, a lip reader has revealed what the pair were seemingly chatting about.

Barack Obama and Donald Trump sat together at Jimmy Carter’s funeral (LAURENT CARON/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

In one snippet of their lengthy conversation, the lip reader – who spoke with Sky News – shared that Obama was saying something about making it ‘soon’, with Trump admitting: “I haven’t got a clue.”

“Big, big money,” Obama replied. “And you’ll always get people leaving their cabin.”

Elsewhere, Obama was seen laughing at Trump said: “Can you imagine?”

“We are here for a tough show,” the President-elect continued.

Trump also asked his White House predecessor: “Would you give me a go at starting it?”

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Barack Obama and Donald Trump were spotted chatting at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Here’s what a lip reader could make of their conversation – do you agree?

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Obama then said: “Yeah, I would. Yeah. We’ll see what happens.”

Trump went on to discuss getting the public’s view on something, but it’s unclear what.

Away from what Obama and Trump were chatting about, Carter’s family paid tribute to the 100-year-old.

“He built houses for people who needed homes,” said Joshua Carter, a grandson who recalled how Carter regularly taught Sunday school in his native hamlet of Plains, Georgia, after leaving the White House.

Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100 (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“He eliminated diseases in forgotten places. He waged peace anywhere in the world, wherever he saw a chance. He loved people.”

Jason Carter, another grandson, praised his grandfather and his wife Rosalynn, who died in 2023.

He wryly noted the couple’s frugality, such as washing and reusing Ziploc bags, and the former president’s struggles with using his mobile phone.

“They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from no matter what happened in their lives.”

As Americans are waiting to find out who will become their next President until 2028, there’s one question that people just can’t stop asking: Is Donald Trump getting more orange?

Well, the answer is yes, yes, he is.

As he’s been rallying for his campaign in his bid to win over Kamala Harris, it appears that he’s also been rallying the bronzer collection as his face is noticeably more bronze than it ever has been before.

Now, you’ll have heard about all of the memes about Trump when he first became President in 2017.

But while they may have found his complexion a little too orange-esque then, they certainly think it’s mega clementine now.

Despite the fact that he’s been trying to rake in the votes as fast as he can, his orange hue has been taking the spotlight instead.

The former president has become brighter and brighter as the weeks have passed and it’s all anyone can talk about it.

But why is he so orange now?

From sunbeds to fake tan, everyone seems to be having their own say.

In 2018, former aide Omarosa Manigault claimed in her book Unhinged, that Trump fired a staff member for not properly setting up a tanning bed at the White House.

Former FBI director James Comey also shared in his own memoir, A Higher Loyalty ,that Trump’s ‘face appeared slightly orange, with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles’.

Trump in 2016 (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

However, celebrity makeup artist Safia Cox has had the last say on what she thinks is really going on here.

Safia told The Mirror: “I think he uses some sort of fake tan or tinted moisturiser with a bronzer. I 100% do not think it’s sun beds as it would be a completely different tone.

“I think it’s some sort of fake tan or some sort of tinted moisturizer with bronzer, and he’s then used powder with it. It’s definitely some sort of cream product that he uses and has probably mattified it after because it’s so orange.”

She added: “You can see the rim around his face. If you look closely at his hairline, it’s very pale, and that’s not from sunbeds; he’s slapping some sort of cream product on.”

While it’s clear that Trump has been using more and more of whatever has been causing his skin tone, Safia thinks he could be insecure.

She explained: “I think his makeup has changed over the years, and I think it as he’s got older and potentially a little more insecure. The ever changing orange hue has become the subject of many internet discussions and memes – with people wondering why he likes to be so orange.”

Trump now (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The expert shared that Trump has a lot of pictures taken of him, ‘so he must think it’s a good look’.

She even revealed that some people have disclosed that ‘when he’s stressed, he uses more tan’.

She said: “If you look at photos of him towards the end of campaigns, he’s much more orange.”

Like the popular ‘eyebrow-blindness’ trend on TikTok, he seems to have a tan blindness.

Safia shared: “He has orange blindness or fake tan blindness, and I don’t think he realises.

“It’s not a nice bronze, he doesn’t look like he’s just hopped off a plane he just looks like he’s layered on fake tan. It’s bizarre; he’s either really insecure, and it’s for confidence and thinking he looks good, or he’s being clever and doing it to get people to talk about him.”

Donald Trump has declared himself the new president-elect of the US, beating Kamala Harris in the race to become the 47th president.

Trump’s Republican Party became the first to reach the 270 votes as official state counts were declared.

The businessman had vowed to run for president once more in November 2022 and was named as the Republican Party’s official presidential candidate over the summer.

He was elected as president in 2017, serving a term before losing to Joe Biden in 2020’s election.

Currently the president-elect, Trump and vice president JD Vance will be officially inaugurated in Washing D.C on January 6.

SpaceX and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and rapper Kanye West are among Trumps’ outspoken, high-profile supporters.

From maintaining federal government’s bitcoin reserves to cracking down on immigration, here’s the changes President-Elect Trump has promised in his 2024 campaign.

Cryptocurrency

Trump, who has only recently voiced his support for crypto, has vowed to position the US as the ‘crypto capital of the planet’ during his campaign.

At a cryptocurrency conference in July, he pledged some major changes, including ensuring the federal government never sells off its bitcoin holdings. He will also strive to maintain the current level of bitcoin holdings that the US has amassed from seizing assets from financial criminals.

Bitcoin’s value jumped by 10 percent to a record high of more than $75,000 on Wednesday morning (November 6), toppling its previous record of just under $74,000 recorded in March.

Financial analysts predict Bitcoin could end the year at $125,000 after Trump’s election win, although the market is known for being incredibly volatile.

Trump has vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’ (Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Taxes and the economy

Trump claims he will ‘end inflation’ but didn’t explain how this would actually be achieved. He also says he’d lower interest rates – although he can neither set nor control them.

The President-Elect also says he will up taxes on imports while cutting taxes worth trillions of dollars, all while deporting undocumented immigrants.

Justifying the tax cuts, he said it will be paid for through growth and the import tax.

Women’s rights

The US Supreme Court justices who infamously helped to overturn the historic Roe v Wade judgement in 2022 – resulting in 20 states bringing in strict abortion laws – were appointed by Trump.

Having called these laws as a ‘beautiful thing to watch’, Trump has said he will not push for a direct federal abortion ban.

During the campaign, Trump said he will give all women free IVF treatment for those who are struggling to become parents.

Trump and his wall (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Immigration

Remember when Trump vowed to build a wall along the USA’s border with Mexico? Well, he’s wanting to bring it back after the 2016 flagship policy was left incomplete when he was beaten by Joe Biden in 2020.

He could use the Insurrection Act to achieve it, which would give him the power to use the US Army to control the border.

On a similar note, Trump has his sights set on the ‘largest deportation programme in history’.

As many as 11 million people could be removed from the country under Trump’s brutal new programme, costing $968 billion according to a report from the American Immigration Council.

Trump’s controversial ‘Muslim travel ban’ is also back on the cards, banning people from several countries in the world which have a majority of Muslim people living there.

Foreign policy

Trump spent a lot of the campaign saying how global conflicts have grown since he lost to Biden in 2020.

On Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has promised to reassess the US’s approach to the conflict, with the Americans providing huge aid to Ukraine under the Biden administration. He has promised to end the conflict, without revealing how he might do this.

On Israel’s growing conflicts in the Middle East with the likes of Gaza and Iran, Trump has been critical of tactics used by Israel in achieving its aims. Regarding protests in the US from those supporting Palestine, Trump has threatened to strip ‘radical anti-American and anti-Semitic’ foreign students of their visas if they take part in these.

Environment

While previously slamming climate change as an ‘expensive hoax,’ Trump has at least committed to cleaner air and water for the nation.

He is set to halt offshore wind power farms, claiming they ‘kill whales and birds’ and has also suggested opening up the USA’s oil industry in a move he says could ‘make American affordable again’.