title: Twitch (service)

text: For users who do not have ad-free access to a channel or Twitch Turbo, pre-roll advertising, and mid-roll commercial breaks that are manually triggered by the streamer, are displayed on streams. In September 2020, Twitch announced that it would test automated mid-roll advertising on streams, which cannot be controlled by the streamer.


title: Twitch (service)

text: On August 6, 2014, Twitch announced that all on-demand videos on Twitch became subject to acoustic fingerprinting using software provided by content protection company Audible Magic; if copyrighted music (particularly, songs played by users from outside of the game they are playing) is detected, the 30-minute portion of the video which contains the music will be muted. Live broadcasts were not subject to these filters. A system was available for those who believed they were inappropriately affected and had rights to the music they used to challenge the filtering. Twitch offered a selection of royalty-free music for streamers to use, which was expanded upon later in January 2015. The audio filtering system, along with the lack of communication surrounding the changes in general, proved to be controversial among users. In a Reddit AMA, co-founder Emmett Shear admitted that his staff had "screwed up" and should have provided advance warning of the changes, and promised that Twitch had "absolutely no intention" of implementing audio filtering on live broadcasts.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In June 2020, Twitch received a large wave of DMCA takedown notices aimed at year-old VODs and "clips" (short segments of streams that can be captured by users) that contain copyrighted music from 2017 to 2019. Twitch complied with the takedowns and also issued a number of copyright strikes against viewers. Concerned streamers were notified that they should remove all VODs and clips if not certain they did not contain copyrighted material. This provoked major backlash, both at the loss of prior content but also based on viability concerns due to an inability to review or even rapidly delete content. There were also complaints based that strikes were being issued on viewer-created clips, even where the streamer-created content was deleted.


title: Twitch (service)

text: On September 15, 2020, Twitch signed a licensing agreement with the French performance society SACEM, allowing composers and publishers to collect royalties whenever their music is streamed in France. Twitch already had licensing deals with the American societies ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and Global Music Rights.


title: Twitch (service)

text: To address these issues and also build upon the growth of music-based content on Twitch, Twitch introduced an extension known as "Soundtrack" in September 2020, which plays rights-cleared music with curated genre-based playlists. It is contained within a separate stream that is not recorded with the VODs, and had agreements with 24 music distributors and independent record labels at launch. A group of U.S. performance rights and music associations accused Twitch of designing Soundtrack in such a way as to avoid payment of mechanical and synchronization licenses — claims which Twitch has defended.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In September 2021, Twitch and the National Music Publishers' Association signed a creative partnership.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch users are not allowed to stream any game that is rated "Adults Only" (AO) in the United States by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), regardless of its rating in any other geographical region, and any game that contains "overtly sexual content" or "gratuitous violence", or content which violates the terms of use of third-party services.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch has also explicitly banned specific games from streaming, regardless of rating; this includes games such as "BMX XXX", eroge visual novel games (such as "Dramatical Murder"), "HuniePop", "Rinse and Repeat", "Second Life", and "Yandere Simulator". The banning of "Yandere Simulator" was criticized by YandereDev, the developer of the game. He believed that the game was being arbitrarily singled out with no explanation, as Twitch has not banned other games with similarly excessive sexual or violent content such as "Mortal Kombat X", "Grand Theft Auto", or "The Witcher 3".


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch took temporary action in May 2019 after channels related to the video game "Artifact" began to be used for inappropriate content. "Artifact", a major game by Valve, had lost most of its audience in just months from its release, and by late May 2019, several popular livestreamers commented that the total viewership for "Artifact" streams had dropped to near zero. In the days that followed, several streamers started to make streams purporting to be "Artifact" gameplay but was trolling or other off-topic content. Initially these new streams were playing with the viewers or were jokes, such as showing animal videos or "League of Legends" matches. After a few days, other "Artifact" channel streams appeared containing content that was against the terms of Twitch's use policy, including full copyrighted movies, pornography, Nazi propaganda, and at least one stream that showed the entirety of the shooter's video from the Christchurch mosque shootings. The titles of such streams were usually presented to imply they were showing other content while waiting in queue for "Artifact" matches as to appear legitimate. As word of these streams in the "Artifact" section grew, Twitch took action, deleting the account that streamed the Christchurch shooting. Twitch then took steps to temporarily ban new accounts from streaming until they can resolve the issue. By June 2019, Twitch started taking legal actions against one hundred "John Doe" streamers in a California court, accusing them of trademark infringement, breach of contract, fraud, and unlawful use of the service that was harming and scaring away users of the service.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In early 2021, some streams began to use their Twitch channel to broadcast themselves from hot tubs while wearing swimsuits. Twitch considered these streams to be "not advertiser friendly", banning some of the more predominant channels that had taken this route. In May 2021, Twitch clarified in a "Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches" post that it was not trying to discriminate against women or others through this action, but through content that they deemed to be "sexually suggestive". In June that year, Twitch also took similar action against users that performed yoga while at the same time made autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) sounds via their microphones, which Twitch also stated was approaching sexual content.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In February 2018, Twitch updated its acceptable content policies to direct that any content that it deemed hateful be suspended from its platform.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In June 2020, a number of women stepped forward with accusations towards several streamers on Twitch and other services related to sexual misconduct and harassment claims. Twitch stated it would review all reported incidents and comply with law enforcement in any investigative efforts. However, several popular streamers on Twitch's service believed that the platform could do more to evaluate the accused individuals, prevent incidents, and protect others in the future, and used June 24, 2020, as a Twitch blackout day, not streaming any content through Twitch to show their support. By the evening of June 24, 2020, Twitch had placed several bans on the accounts of those accused after completing their investigation, and stated in a blog post they would be forwarding additional details to law enforcement.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch temporarily suspended an account belonging to President Donald Trump's campaign on June 29, 2020. Twitch stated that "hateful conduct is not allowed" as the reason for the suspension.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch announced a new policy towards harassment and hateful content in December 2020 that would take effect on January 22, 2021, aimed to better protect marginalized users of the service. While the new policy is more strict, Twitch said that this also includes a larger sliding scale of remedies or punishments to better deal with edge cases, such as temporarily blocking one's channel for a short time rather than a full ban. The new rules include a ban on ‘racist emotes’, though the list of such emotes is not clarified yet, and imagery containing the Confederate Flag. The new policy included banning words that were considered sexual insults, such as "incel" and "virgin" when used for harassment. The banned words included "simp", which raised criticism by streamers and long time viewers. While its slang origins have defined "simp" derogatorily as "a man who invests a lot of time and energy into women who don't want him", the term had become common on Twitch as an insult related to men being nice to women on the service or simply to refer to a person with loyalty to another. Twitch, in response, clarified that penalties for using these terms would only be enforced if they were being used in harassment of other users.


title: Twitch (service)

text: On December 4, 2020, Twitch removed the "blind playthrough" tag due to concerns of ableism that it may be offensive to those who are visually impaired. Suggestions for non-offensive and more neutral labels include "first playthrough", "undiscovered," and "no spoilers."


title: Twitch (service)

text: A popular feature of Twitch is the ability to "raid" another channel, where multiple users, coordinated from a different Twitch channel or another social media service, all join a target channel to provide support and encouragement. This is typically used to help boost the popularity of the target channel, particularly if the raid is organized by a popular streamer. Twitch had officially supported this type of activity since 2017 with the ability for a streamer to send all of their viewers to another channel as a raid. However, around mid-2021, new types of "hate raids" began to occur with increasing frequency on Twitch. In these cases, numerous users would flood a channel and its chat with messages of harassment and hate towards the streamer as a form of cyberbullying. Most of these users are typically from automated bots, which made it difficult for channel moderators to deal with the amount of messages. Despite warning Twitch about these hate raids, Twitch had shown little action towards stopping them, leading numerous streams to organize a "#ADayOffTwitch" on September 1, 2021, as a form of protest in anticipation that Twitch will find ways to take action against them. After acknowledging a problem with dealing with hate raids, Twitch launched a lawsuit in early September 2021 against two individuals they had determined to be responsible for managing several hate raids after permanently banning their accounts. At the end of September 2021, Twitch introduced tools for streamers to be able to limit who may participate in their chat as to prevent hate raids. These tools allow streamers to limit chat to those that have verified their phone number or email with Twitch, as well as to those that have followed their channel for a minimum amount of time.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In May 2022, following the mass shooting in Buffalo, the New York state attorney general's office announced an investigation into multiple online platforms, including Twitch, to determine their part in platforming or promoting hateful content. The investigation will also focus on the platforms' moderation efforts. A spokesperson for Twitch stated that the service would comply with the investigation.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In April 2021, it was reported that Twitch was providing a financial lifeline to extremists such as QAnon adherents and far-right influencers. Another report in August and September 2021, by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue also indentified Twitch as a platform where far right extremists run rampant. Clips from far-right extremists, such as ‘Omegle Redpilling’ become quite popular before they are removed from the platform and in some cases, are not removed at all according to ISD.


title: Twitch (service)

text: On September 20, 2022, Twitch announced that it would prohibit online gambling streams, including those that use cryptocurrency. Gambling has been extremely popular on Twitch for years, being one of the most popular types of content on the platform, with many streamers being sponsored by online gambling services; however, it has also been controversial, with prominent streamers such as Mizkif and Pokimane speaking out against the negative effects of gambling streams. The announcement came shortly after a popular streamer admitted he spent $200,000 in donations on "CS:GO" skin gambling. The ban, which is set to take effect on October 18, does not affect sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker.


title: Twitch (service)

text: As of September 20, 2018, the Twitch website is blocked and the app is blocked from the Apple App Store in China.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In India, Twitch was reportedly blocked by Reliance-owned telecommunication company Jio as well as internet service providers JioFiber and Hathway in September 2020 as some users were illegally streaming matches of 2020 Indian Premier League on the platform.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has stated a desire to support a wide variety of platforms, stating that they wanted to be on "every platform where people watch video". Twitch streaming apps are available for mobile devices, digital media players and video game consoles, including Android and iOS, as well as Fire TV, Fire HD, Apple TV, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Xbox 360 video game consoles.


title: Twitch (service)

text: Users can stream to Twitch from Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems, either with stand-alone software like OBS, through a platform like EA's Origin software, Ubisoft's Uplay, or Valve's Steam. Games such as "Eve Online", "PlanetSide 2" and the "Call of Duty" franchise now link directly to Twitch as well. In 2013, Twitch released a software development kit to allow any developer to integrate Twitch streaming into their software.


title: Twitch (service)

text: The Twitch Desktop App replaced the Curse Client and Curse Launcher in 2017. It includes a dedicated browser for the Twitch website and additional functions inherited from the Curse software, such as mod installation and management for supported games via the CurseForge service, and voice chat. The software also serves as the client for the former Twitch Game Store.


title: Twitch (service)

text: In June 2020, CurseForge was sold to Overwolf for an undisclosed sum. The current mod management in the Twitch client will be moved to a dedicated, though not standalone, CurseForge client.


title: Twitch (service)

text: On April 1, 2022, Twitch announced that it would officially end support for the Twitch Desktop App on April 30, 2022, opting users of the Desktop app to use a web browser to interact with Twitch while using the desktop platform.


title: Twitch (service)

text: TwitchCon is a biannual fan convention devoted to Twitch and the culture of video game streaming. The inaugural event was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from September 25–26, 2015. Since its inception TwitchCon has been an annual event. The second TwitchCon was held in San Diego at the San Diego Convention Center from September 30 – October 2, 2016. The third annual TwitchCon was held in Long Beach at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center from October 20–22, 2017. The fourth annual TwitchCon was held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, from October 26–28, 2018. In 2019, Twitchcon expanded overseas and hosted their first ever European event in Berlin in April 2019, alongside a North American event later in November 2019 in San Diego. TwitchCon had planned to host an event in Amsterdam in May 2020, but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another TwitchCon event was planned in San Diego in September 2020, but was also cancelled due to COVID-19.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation, and Exocet missile decoy. In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Their marriage, separation in 1992, and divorce in 1996 attracted extensive media coverage. As Duke of York, Andrew undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of the Queen. He served as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years until July 2011.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2014, the American-Australian campaigner Virginia Giuffre alleged that, as a 17-year-old, she was sex-trafficked to Andrew by the American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew denied any wrongdoing. Following criticism for his association with Epstein, Andrew resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages were removed by Elizabeth II in January 2022. He was the defendant in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault filed by Giuffre in the State of New York. The lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2022.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew was born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace on 19 February 1960 at 3:30 p.m., the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was baptised in the palace's Music Room on 8 April 1960.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Princess Beatrice in 1857. As with his siblings, Charles, Anne, and Edward, Andrew was looked after by a governess, who was responsible for his early education at Buckingham Palace. He was sent to Heatherdown School near Ascot in Berkshire. In September 1973, he entered Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland, which his father and elder brother had also attended. He was nicknamed "the Sniggerer" by his schoolmates at Gordonstoun, because of "his penchant for off-colour jokes, at which he laughed inordinately". While there, he spent six months—from January to June 1977—participating in an exchange programme to Lakefield College School in Canada. He left Gordonstoun in July two years later with A-levels in English, history, and economics.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Royal Household announced in November 1978 that Andrew would join the Royal Navy the following year. In December, he underwent various sporting tests and examinations at the Aircrew Selection Centre, at RAF Biggin Hill, along with further tests and interviews at HMS "Daedalus", and interviews at the Admiralty Interview Board, . During March and April 1979, he was enrolled at the Royal Naval College Flight, undergoing pilot training, until he was accepted as a trainee helicopter pilot and signed on for 12 years from 11 May 1979. On 1 September of the same year, Andrew was appointed as a midshipman, and entered Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. During 1979 he also completed the Royal Marines All Arms Commando Course for which he received his Green Beret. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on 1 September 1981 and appointed to the Trained Strength on 22 October.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: After passing out from Dartmouth, Andrew went on to elementary flying training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Leeming, and later, basic flying training with the navy at HMS "Seahawk", where he learned to fly the Gazelle helicopter. After being awarded his wings, he moved onto more advanced training on the Sea King helicopter, and conducted operational flying training until 1982. He joined carrier-based squadron, 820 Naval Air Squadron, serving aboard the aircraft carrier, .


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory claimed by it, leading to the Falklands War. "Invincible" was one of the two operational aircraft carriers available at the time, and, as such, was to play a major role in the Royal Navy task force assembled to sail south to retake the islands.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew's place on board and the possibility of the Queen's son being killed in action made the British government apprehensive, and the cabinet desired that Prince Andrew be moved to a desk job for the duration of the conflict. The Queen, though, insisted that her son be allowed to remain with his ship. Prince Andrew remained on board "Invincible" to serve as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, flying on missions that included anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, Exocet missile decoy, casualty evacuation, transport, and search and air rescue. He witnessed the Argentinian attack on the SS "Atlantic Conveyor".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: At the end of the war, "Invincible" returned to Portsmouth, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip joined other families of the crew in welcoming the vessel home. The Argentine military government reportedly planned, but did not attempt, to assassinate Andrew on Mustique in July 1982. Though he had brief assignments to HMS "Illustrious", RNAS Culdrose, and the Joint Services School of Intelligence, Prince Andrew remained with "Invincible" until 1983. Commander Nigel Ward's memoir, "Sea Harrier Over the Falklands", described Prince Andrew as "an excellent pilot and a very promising officer."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In late 1983, Andrew transferred to RNAS Portland, and was trained to fly the Lynx helicopter. On 1 February 1984 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, whereupon Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as her personal aide-de-camp. Prince Andrew served aboard HMS "Brazen" as a flight pilot until 1986, including deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Standing NRF Maritime Group 2. He undertook the Lieutenants' Greenwich Staff course. On 23 October 1986, the Duke of York (as he was by then) transferred to the General List, enrolled in a four-month helicopter warfare instructor's course at RNAS Yeovilton, and, upon graduation, served from February 1987 to April 1988 as a helicopter warfare officer in 702 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Portland. He also served on HMS "Edinburgh" as an officer of the watch and Assistant Navigating Officer until 1989, including a six-month deployment to the Far East as part of exercise "Outback 88".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Duke of York served as flight commander and pilot of the Lynx HAS3 on HMS "Campbeltown" from 1989 to 1991. He also acted as Force Aviation Officer to Standing NRF Maritime Group 1 while "Campbeltown" was flagship of the NATO force in the North Atlantic from 1990 to 1991. He passed the squadron command examination on 16 July 1991, attended the Staff College, Camberley the following year, and completed the Army Staff course. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on 1 February and passed the ship command examination on 12 March 1992. From 1993 to 1994, Prince Andrew commanded the Hunt-class minehunter HMS "Cottesmore".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: From 1995 to 1996, Andrew was posted as Senior Pilot of 815 Naval Air Squadron, then the largest flying unit in the Fleet Air Arm. His main responsibility was to supervise flying standards and to guarantee an effective operational capability. He was promoted to Commander on 27 April 1999, finishing his active naval career at the Ministry of Defence in 2001, as an officer of the Diplomatic Directorate of the Naval Staff. In July of that year, Andrew was retired from the Active List of the Navy. Three years later, he was made an Honorary Captain. On 19 February 2010, his 50th birthday, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. Five years later, he was promoted to Vice Admiral.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: He ceased using his honorary military titles in January 2022. The action came after more than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army veterans signed a letter, requesting that Queen Elizabeth II remove his honorary military appointments in light of his involvement in a sexual assault civil case. It was reported that he would still retain his service rank of Vice Admiral.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew is a keen golfer and has had a low single-figure handicap. He was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews between 2003 and 2004—during the club's 250th anniversary season—was patron of a number of royal golf clubs, and had been elected as an honorary member of many others. In 2004, he was criticised by Labour Co-op MP Ian Davidson, who in a letter to the NAO questioned Andrew's decision to fly to St Andrews on RAF planes for two golfing trips. Andrew resigned his honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews when the Queen removed royal patronages at several golf clubs. His honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked in the following month.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, the senior maritime City livery company.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew met the American photographer and actress Koo Stark in February 1981, before his active service in the Falklands War. In October 1982, they took a holiday together on the island of Mustique. Tina Brown said that Stark was Andrew's only serious love interest. In 1983, they split up under pressure from press, paparazzi, and palace. In 1997, Andrew became godfather to Stark's daughter. When Andrew was facing accusations in 2015 over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Stark came to his defence.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey on 23 July 1986. On the same day, Queen Elizabeth II created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh. The first two of these titles were previously held by both his maternal grandfather and great-grandfather. Prince Andrew had known Ferguson since childhood; they had met occasionally at polo matches, and became re-acquainted with each other at Royal Ascot in 1985.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The couple appeared to have a happy marriage and had two daughters together, Beatrice and Eugenie, presenting a united outward appearance during the late 1980s. His wife's personal qualities were seen as refreshing in the context of the formal protocol surrounding the royal family. However, Andrew's frequent travel due to his military career, as well as relentless, often critical, media attention focused on the Duchess of York, led to fractures in the marriage. On 19 March 1992, the couple announced plans to separate and did so in an amicable way. Some months later, pictures appeared in the tabloid media of the Duchess in intimate association with John Bryan, her financial advisor at the time, which effectively ended any hopes of a reconciliation between Andrew and Ferguson. The marriage was ended in divorce on 30 May 1996. The Duke of York spoke fondly of his former wife: "We have managed to work together to bring our children up in a way that few others have been able to and I am extremely grateful to be able to do that."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The couple agreed to share custody of their two daughters, and the family continued to live at Sunninghill Park (built near Windsor Great Park for the couple in 1990) until Andrew moved to the Royal Lodge in 2004. In 2007, Sarah moved into Dolphin House in Englefield Green, less than a mile from the Royal Lodge. In 2008, a fire at Dolphin House resulted in Sarah moving into Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with Andrew. Andrew's lease of Royal Lodge is for 75 years, with the Crown Estate as landlord, at a cost of a single £1 million premium and a commitment to spend £7.5 million on refurbishment.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In May 2010, Sarah was filmed by a "News of the World" reporter saying Andrew had agreed that if she were to receive £500,000, he would meet the donor and pass on useful top-level business contacts. She was filmed receiving, in cash, $40,000 as a down payment. The paper said that Andrew did not know of the situation. In July 2011, Sarah stated that her multi-million pound debts had been cleared due to the intervention of her former husband, whom she compared to a "knight on a white charger".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 2 June 2022, Andrew tested positive for COVID-19, and it was announced that he would not be present at the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral on 3 June.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008. BBC News reported in March 2011 that the friendship was producing "a steady stream of criticism", and there were calls for him to step down from his role as trade envoy. Andrew was also criticised in the media after his former wife, Sarah, disclosed that he helped arrange for Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts. Andrew had been photographed in December 2010 strolling with Epstein in Central Park during a visit to New York City. In July 2011, Andrew's role as trade envoy was terminated and he reportedly cut all ties with Epstein.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 30 December 2014, a Florida court filing by lawyers Bradley J. Edwards and Paul G. Cassell alleged that Andrew was one of several prominent figures, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz and "a former prime minister", to have participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre (then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts), who was allegedly trafficked by Epstein. An affidavit from Giuffre was included in an earlier lawsuit from 2008 accusing the US Justice Department of violating the Crime Victims' Rights Act during Epstein's first criminal case by not allowing several of his victims to challenge his plea deal; Andrew was otherwise not a party to the lawsuit.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In January 2015, there was renewed media and public pressure for Buckingham Palace to explain Andrew's connection with Epstein. Buckingham Palace stated that "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue", and later repeated the denial. Requests from Giuffre's lawyers for a statement from Andrew about the allegations, under oath, were returned unanswered.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Dershowitz denied the allegations in Giuffre's statement and sought disbarment of the lawyers filing the suit. Edwards and Cassell sued Dershowitz for defamation in January 2015; he countersued. The two parties settled in 2016 for an undisclosed financial sum. Epstein sued Edwards for civil racketeering but later dropped his suit; Edwards countersued for malicious prosecution with the result that Epstein issued a public apology to the lawyer in December 2018.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Giuffre asserted that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, including a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17, and later in New York and on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She alleged Epstein paid her $15,000 after she had sex with Andrew in London. Flight logs show Andrew and Giuffre were in the places she alleged their meetings took place. Andrew and Giuffre were also photographed together with his arm round her waist, with an Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the background, though Andrew's supporters have repeatedly said the photo is fake and edited. Giuffre stated that she was pressured to have sex with Andrew and "wouldn't have dared object" as Epstein, through contacts, could have her "killed or abducted".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 7 April 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that the "sex allegations made against Andrew in court papers filed in Florida must be struck from the public record". Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Giuffre are true or false, specifically stating that she may later give evidence when the case comes to court. Giuffre stated she would not "be bullied back into silence".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Tuan "John" Alessi, who was Epstein's butler, stated in a deposition he filed for Giuffre's 2016 defamation case against Maxwell that Andrew's hitherto unremarked visits to the Epstein house in Palm Beach were more frequent than previously thought. He maintained that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and received "daily massages".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In August 2019, court documents associated with a defamation case between Giuffre and Maxwell revealed that a second girl, Johanna Sjoberg, gave evidence alleging that Andrew had placed his hand on her breast while in Epstein's mansion posing for a photo with his "Spitting Image" puppet. Later that month, Andrew released a statement that said, "At no stage during the limited time I spent with [Epstein] did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction," though he expressed regret for meeting him in 2010 after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to sex crimes for the first time. At the end of August 2019, "The New Republic" published a September 2013 email exchange between John Brockman and Evgeny Morozov, in which Brockman mentioned seeing a British man nicknamed "Andy" receive a foot massage from two Russian women at Epstein's New York residence during his last visit to the mansion in 2010, and had realised "that the recipient of Irina's foot massage was His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In July 2020, Caroline Kaufman, an alleged victim of Epstein, said in a federal lawsuit that she had seen Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in December 2010. In November 2021 Lawrence Visoski, Epstein's pilot, testified in court during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that Prince Andrew flew in Epstein's private plane along with other prominent individuals, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John Glenn. Visoski stated he did not notice any sexual activity or wrongdoing on the plane. Similarly, Andrew's name was recorded on 12 May 2001 by Epstein's pilot David Rodgers in his logbook, and he testified that Andrew flew three times with Epstein and Giuffre in 2001. The following month a picture of Epstein and Maxwell, sitting at a cabin on the Queen's Balmoral estate, around 1999, at the invitation of Andrew, was shown to the jury to establish their status as partners.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 5 January 2022, Virginia Giuffre's former boyfriend, Anthony Figueroa, said on "Good Morning Britain" that Giuffre told him Epstein would take her to meet Prince Andrew. He said, "She called me when she was on the trip and she was talking about she knew what they wanted her to do and she was really nervous and scared because she didn't know how to react to it". He alleged the meeting had taken place in London. In a court filing, Andrew's lawyers had previously referred to a statement by Figueroa's sister, Crystal Figueroa, who alleged that in her bid to find victims for Epstein, Giuffre had asked her, "Do you know any girls who are kind of slutty?" The same month, Carolyn Andriano, who as a 14-year-old was introduced by Giuffre to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and was a prosecution witness in Maxwell's trial, said in an interview with the "Daily Mail" that then 17-year-old Giuffre told her in 2001 that she had slept with Prince Andrew. She stated, "And [Giuffre] said, 'I got to sleep with him'. She didn't seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In an ITV documentary, former royal protection officer Paul Page, who was convicted and given a six year sentence following a £3 million property investment scam in 2009, recounted Maxwell's frequent visits to Buckingham Palace, and suggested the two might have had an intimate relationship, while Lady Victoria Hervey added that Andrew was present at social occasions held by Maxwell. The Duke of York's name and contact numbers for Buckingham Palace, Sunninghill Park, Wood Farm and Balmoral also appeared in Maxwell and Epstein's 'Little Black Book', a list of contacts of the duo's powerful and famous friends. In February 2022, "The Daily Telegraph" published a photograph of Andrew along with Maxwell giving a tour of Buckingham Palace to Andrew's guests Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey, with a member of the tour party describing Maxwell as "the one who led us into Buckingham Palace".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Tina Brown, a journalist who edited "Vanity Fair", "The New Yorker" and "The Daily Beast", maintains Epstein described Andrew behind his back as an idiot but found him useful. Brown stated, "Epstein confided to a friend that he used to fly Andrew to obscure foreign markets, where governments were obliged to receive him, and Epstein went along as HRH's investment adviser. With Andrew as frontman, Epstein could negotiate deals with these (often) shady players".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In October 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker while serving her sentence in prison, and when asked about her relationship with Andrew, Maxwell stated that she felt "bad" for him but accepted their "friendship could not survive my conviction. He is paying such a price for the association. I consider him a dear friend. I care about him." She also stated that she now believed the photograph showing her together with Andrew and Virginia Giuffre was not "a true image", and added that in an email to her lawyer in 2015 she was trying to confirm that she recognised her own house, but the whole image cannot be authentic as "the original has never been produced".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In November 2019, the BBC's "Newsnight" arranged an interview between Andrew and presenter Emily Maitlis in which he recounted his friendship with Epstein for the first time. In the interview, Prince Andrew says he met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell; this contradicts comments made by Andrew's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990s". The Duke also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying "the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In the interview, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on 10 March 2001, as she had accused, because he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at PizzaExpress in Woking with his elder daughter Beatrice. Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at a club in London while he was sweaty were false due to him temporarily losing the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War. According to physicians consulted by "The Times", an adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans. He also said that he does not drink, despite Giuffre's account of him providing alcohol for them both. Accounts from other people have supported his statement that he does not drink.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew said that he had stayed in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay". The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him. He also said that he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In July 2022 it was announced that a film would be made of the preparations for the interview and the interview itself. Shooting was planned to start in November 2022. According to "Deadline", "Scoop" is being written by Peter Moffat.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress." The lawsuit was filed under New York's Child Victims Act, legislation extending the statute of limitations where the plaintiff had been under 18 at the time, 17 in Giuffre's case. On 29 October 2021, Andrew's lawyers filed a response, stating that their client "unequivocally denies Giuffre's false allegations".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 12 January 2022 Judge Kaplan rejected Andrew's attempts to dismiss the case, allowing the sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed. In February, the case was settled out of court, with Andrew making a donation to Giuffre's charity for victims of abuse. "The Guardian" reported that the Queen's decision to strip Andrew "of his royal patronages, honorary military titles [sic] and any official use of his HRH title, still stands firm." Criminal procedings in the United States over Virginia Giuffre's claims are still possible.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The 2019 interview was believed by Maitlis and "Newsnight" to have been approved by the Queen, although "palace insiders" speaking to "The Sunday Telegraph" disputed this. One of Prince Andrew's official advisors resigned just prior to the interview being aired. Although Andrew was pleased with the outcome of the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the "Newsnight" team a tour of Buckingham Palace – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside of the UK. The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad" and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Experts and those with ties to Buckingham Palace said that the interview, its fallout and the abrupt suspension of Andrew's royal duties were unprecedented.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 19 November 2019, the Students' Union of the University of Huddersfield passed a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as its chancellor, as London Metropolitan University was considering Andrew's role as its patron. On 18 November, accountancy firm KPMG announced it would not be renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew's entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, and on 19 November Standard Chartered also withdrew its support.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 20 November 2019, a statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew was suspending his public duties "for the foreseeable future". The decision, made with the consent of the Queen, was accompanied by the insistence that Andrew sympathised with Epstein's victims. Other working royals took his commitments over in the short term. On 21 November, Andrew relinquished his role as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Three days later, the palace confirmed that Andrew was to step down from all 230 of his patronages, although he expressed a wish to have some sort of public role at some future time.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 16 January 2020, it was reported that the Home Office was recommending "a major downgrade of security" for Andrew, which would put an end to "his round-the-clock armed police protection". It was later reported that he had been allowed to keep his £300,000-a-year security and the recommendation would be reviewed again in the future. On 28 January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors and the FBI regarding the ongoing investigations, despite his initial promise in the "Newsnight" interview when he said he was willing to help the authorities. Buckingham Palace did not comment on the issue, though sources close to Andrew said that he "hasn't been approached" by US authorities and investigators, and his legal team announced that he had offered to be a witness "on at least three occasions" but had been refused by the Department of Justice. The US authorities responded to the claim and denied being approached by Andrew for an interview and labeled his statements as a way "to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate". Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, said Andrew could be arrested if he ever returns to the United States, saying "It is highly unlikely an extradition would ever occur, so the Prince would have to be here in the US and be arrested while he's here."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2020, Andrew hired crisis-management expert Mark Gallagher, who had helped high-profile clients falsely accused by Operation Midland. In April 2020, it was reported that the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy would not be played anymore, after all activities carried out by the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust were stopped. In May 2020, it was reported that the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust was under investigation by the Charity Commission regarding some regulatory issues about £350,000 of payments to his former private secretary Amanda Thirsk. According to "The Times", senior personnel in the navy and army considered Andrew to be an embarrassment for the military and believed he should be stripped of his military roles. In May 2020 it was announced that Andrew would permanently resign from all public roles over his Epstein ties.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In June 2020, it became known that Andrew is a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States, and that the United States had filed a mutual legal assistance request to British authorities in order to question Andrew. "Newsweek" reported that a majority of British citizens believe Andrew should be stripped of his titles and extradited to the United States. Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2020, Andrew cancelled a planned trip to Spain, reportedly due to fears that he might be arrested and extradited to the United States. In the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew told "Newsnight" his association with Epstein was derived from his long-standing friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of colluding in Epstein's sexual abuse.<ref name="bbc30/12/2021"></ref>


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In August 2020, anti-child trafficking protesters chanting "Paedophile! Paedophile!" referencing Andrew gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and videos of the protest went viral. In August 2021, royal biographer Penny Junor maintained Prince Andrew's reputation with the public was damaged beyond repair.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2020, prosecutors seeking access to Andrew made a formal mutual legal assistance request to the British government. It was reported in August 2021 that American authorities were pessimistic about being able to interview Andrew.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In January 2022, Andrew's social media accounts were deleted, his page on the royal family's website was rewritten in the past tense and his military affiliations and patronages were removed to put an emphasis on his departure from public life. He also stopped using the style His Royal Highness (HRH) though it was not formally removed. In the same month, York Racecourse announced that it would rename the Duke of York Stakes, and Prince Andrew High School in Nova Scotia, which had announced two years earlier that it was considering a name change because the name "no longer reflects the values of the community", stated that it would have a new name at the next academic year. In February 2022, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to fly a union flag for Andrew's birthday. In the same month, the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council announced that they would hold a debate in June 2022 regarding a motion to rename Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus. On 27 April 2022 York City Council unanimously voted to remove Andrew's Freedom of the City. Rachael Maskell York Central MP said Andrew was the "first to ever have their freedom removed". There have also been calls to remove the Duke of York title.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2022, Andrew made his first official appearance in months, helping the Queen to walk into Westminster Abbey for a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh. There was a mixed reaction by commentators to his presence, with some saying that it would send the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse "about how powerful men are able to absolve themselves from their conduct" and others arguing that his appearance was required as "a son, in memory of his father".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In June 2022, "The Telegraph" reported that Andrew had asked the Queen to be reinstated as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, to use his HRH (His Royal Highness) title and to be allowed to appear at official events due to his position as a 'prince of the blood'. In the same month, he took part in private aspects of the Garter Day ceremony, including lunch and investiture of new members, but was excluded from the public procession following an intervention by his brother Charles and his nephew William that banned him from appearing anywhere the public could see him. Andrew's name featured on one of the lists showing this was a last minute decision.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In June 2022 Rachael Maskell MP introduced a 'Removal of Titles' bill in the House of Commons. If passed this bill will enable Andrew to be stripped of his Duke of York title and other titles. Maskell maintains 80% of York citizens want Andrew to lose all connection with their city. The proposed bill will also enable other people considered unworthy to lose their titles. The monarch or a committee of Parliament would be able to remove a title. The bill is due to get its second reading on 9 December 2022.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In August 2022, it was reported that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) had assessed the security threat against Andrew and concluded that he should keep his taxpayer-funded police bodyguards, at an annual cost estimated to be between £500,000 and £3 million. In early 2021 there were at least two trespassing incidents reported at his Windsor property, and in December he was verbally abused by a woman as he was driving his car.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Following the death of the Queen on 8 September 2022, Andrew appeared in civilian clothing at various ceremonial events. As he walked behind his mother's coffin in a funeral procession in Edinburgh on 12 September, a 22-year-old man shouted "Andrew, you're a sick old man"; the heckler was arrested and charged with committing a breach of the peace. Andrew wore military uniform for a 15-minute vigil by the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall on 16 September. Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, was critical of Andrew's public role in the lead-up to the funeral and stated that "he is attempting now to see if he can rehabilitate his image in the public." New York lawyer Mariann Wang, who represented up to 12 Epstein's victims described Andrew's public profile as "quite outrageous" and "harmful for any survivor of trauma to see an abuser or their enablers continue to reap the benefits of privilege, status and power."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In November 2022, it was reported that Andrew was set to lose his police protection as he was no longer expected to carry out public duties in accordance with the King's wishes. In December 2022, "The Telegraph" reported that Andrew had written to the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police to complain about the situation. His armed personal protection officers are expected to be replaced by private security guards, which will be likely paid for by the King at an estimated cost of up to £3 million a year.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Duke was patron of the Middle East Association (MEA), the UK's premier organisation for promoting trade and good relations with the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Iran. Since his role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment ended Andrew continued to support UK enterprise without a special role. Robert Jobson said he did this work well and wrote, "He is particularly passionate when dealing with young start-up entrepreneurs and bringing them together with successful businesses at networking and showcasing events. Andrew is direct and to the point, and his methods seem to work".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Duke was also patron of Fight for Sight, a charity dedicated to research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease, and was a member of the Scout Association. He toured Canada frequently to undertake duties related to his Canadian military role. Rick Peters, the former Commanding Officer of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada stated that Prince Andrew was "very well informed on Canadian military methods".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: While touring India as a part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Andrew became interested in the work of Women's Interlink Foundation (WIF), a charity which helps women acquire skills to earn income. He and his family later initiated Key to Freedom, a project which tries to "find a route to market for products made by WIF". On 3 September 2012, Andrew was among a team of 40 people who abseiled down The Shard (tallest building in Europe) to raise money for educational charities the Outward Bound Trust and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2013, it was announced that Andrew was becoming the patron of London Metropolitan University and the University of Huddersfield. In July 2015, he was installed as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. In recognition of Andrew's promotion of entrepreneurship he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at Hughes Hall in the University of Cambridge on 1 May 2018. He became the patron of the charity Attend in 2003, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Royal United Services Institute.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2014, Andrew founded the Pitch@Palace initiative to support entrepreneurs with the amplification and acceleration of their business ideas. Entrepreneurs selected for Pitch@Palace Bootcamp are officially invited by Andrew to attend St. James Palace in order to pitch their ideas and to be connected with potential investors, mentors and business contacts. The Duke also founded The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust which aimed to support young people in different areas such as education and training. He also founded a number of awards including Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), a programme to develop the digital and enterprise skills, the Duke of York Award for Technical Education, given to talented young people in technical education, and the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award, which recognised talents of young people in entrepreneurship. The Duke of York lent his support to organisations that focus on science and technology by becoming the patron of Catalyst Inc and TeenTech. In 2014, Andrew visited Geneva, Switzerland, to promote British science at CERN's 60th anniversary celebrations. In May 2018, he visited China and opened the Pitch@Palace China Bootcamp 2.0 at Peking University.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2019, Andrew took over the patronage of the Outward Bound Trust from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, serving up until his own resignation in November 2019. Prince Andrew had held the position of chairman of the board of trustees of the organisation since 1999. The charity tries to instil leadership qualities among young people. In May 2019, it was announced that Andrew had succeeded Lord Carrington as patron of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: On 13 January 2022, it was announced that his royal patronages had been handed back to the Queen to be distributed among other members of the royal family.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: From 2001 until July 2011, Andrew worked with UK Trade & Investment, part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. The post, previously held by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, involved representing and promoting the UK at various trade fairs and conferences around the world. His suitability for the role was challenged in the House of Commons by Shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant in February 2011, at the time of the 2011 Libyan civil war, on the grounds that he was "not only a very close friend of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, but also ... a close friend of the convicted Libyan gun smuggler Tarek Kaituni". Further problems arose as he hosted a lunch for Sakher El Materi, a member of the corrupt Tunisian regime, at the Palace around the time of the Tunisian Revolution. Andrew also formed a friendship with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan who has been criticised for corruption and for abuses of human rights by Amnesty International, and visited him both during and after his tenure as the UK trade envoy. As of November 2014, Andrew had met Aliyev, on 12 occasions. The controversies, together with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, made him step down from the role in 2011.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew did not receive a salary from the UK Trade & Investment for his role as Special Representative, but he went on expenses-paid delegations and was alleged to have occasionally used trips paid for by the government for his personal leisure, which earned him the nickname "Airmiles Andy" by the press. On 8 March 2011, "The Daily Telegraph" reported: "In 2010, the Prince spent £620,000 as a trade envoy, including £154,000 on hotels, food and hospitality and £465,000 on travel."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In November 2020, and following reviews of emails, internal documents, and unreported regulatory filings as well as interviews with 10 former bank insiders, "Bloomberg Businessweek" reported on Andrew using his royal cachet and role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for helping David Rowland and his private bank, Banque Havilland, with securing deals with clients around the world. The Rowland family are among the investment advisers to Andrew, and he was present for the official opening ceremony of their bank in July 2009.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: As the United Kingdom's Special Trade Representative, Andrew travelled the world to promote British businesses. It was revealed in the United States diplomatic cables leak that Andrew had been reported on by Tatiana Gfoeller, the United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, discussing bribery in Kyrgyzstan and the investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal. The Duke, she explained, "was referencing an investigation, subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems contract to provide equipment and training to Saudi security forces." The dispatch continued: "His mother's subjects seated around the table roared their approval. He then went on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially from the National Guardian , who poke their noses everywhere' and (presumably) make it harder for British businessmen to do business. The crowd practically clapped!"


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In May 2008, he attended a goose-hunt in Kazakhstan with President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In 2010, it was revealed that the President's billionaire son-in-law Timur Kulibayev paid Andrew's representatives £15 million – £3 million over the asking price – via offshore companies, for Andrew's Surrey mansion, Sunninghill Park. Kulibayev frequently appears in US dispatches as one of the men who have accumulated millions in gas-rich Kazakhstan. It was later revealed that Andrew's office tried to get a crown estate property close to Kensington Palace for Kulibayev at that time.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In May 2012, it was reported that Swiss and Italian police investigating "a network of personal and business relationships" allegedly used for "international corruption" were looking at the activities of Enviro Pacific Investments which charges "multi-million pound fees" to energy companies wishing to deal with Kazakhstan. The trust is believed to have paid £6 million towards the purchase of Sunninghill which now appears derelict. In response, a Palace spokesman said "This was a private sale between two trusts. There was never any impropriety on the part of The Duke of York".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Libby Purves wrote in "The Times" in January 2015: "Prince Andrew dazzles easily when confronted with immense wealth and apparent power. He has fallen for 'friendships' with bad, corrupt and clever men, not only in the US but in Libya, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, wherever."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In May 2016, a fresh controversy broke out when the "Daily Mail" alleged that Andrew had brokered a deal to assist a Greek and Swiss consortium in securing a £385 million contract to build water and sewerage networks in two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, while working as British trade envoy, and had stood to gain a £4 million payment in commission. The newspaper published an email from Andrew to Kazakh oligarch Kenges Rakishev, (who had allegedly brokered sale of the Prince's Berkshire mansion Sunninghill Park), and said that Rakishev had arranged meetings for the consortium. After initially saying the email was a forgery, Buckingham Palace sought to block its publication as a privacy breach. The Palace denied the allegation that Andrew had acted as a "fixer" calling the article "untrue, defamatory and a breach of the editor's code of conduct".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: A former Foreign Office minister, MP Chris Bryant stated: "When I was at the Foreign Office it was very difficult to see in whose interests he [Andrew] was acting. He doesn't exactly add lustre to the Royal diadem".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2011, Kaye Stearman of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade told Channel 4 News CAAT sees Prince Andrew as part of a bigger problem, "He is the front man for UKTI. Our concerns are not just Prince Andrew, it's the whole UKTI set up. They see arms as just another commodity but it has completely disproportionate resources. At the London office of UKTI the arms sector has more staff than all the others put together. We are concerned that Prince Andrew is used to sell arms, and where you sell arms it is likely to be to despotic regimes. He is the cheerleader in chief for the arms industry, shaking hands and paving the way for the salesmen."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In January 2014, Prince Andrew took part in a delegation to Bahrain, a close ally of the United Kingdom. Spokesman for CAAT, Andrew Smith said, "We are calling on Prince Andrew and the UK government to stop selling arms to Bahrain. By endorsing the Bahraini dictatorship Prince Andrew is giving his implicit support to their oppressive practices. When our government sells arms it is giving moral and practical support to an illegitimate and authoritarian regime and directly supporting their systematic crackdown on opposition groups. (...) We shouldn't allow our international image to be used as a PR tool for the violent and oppressive dictatorship in Bahrain."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew Smith has also said, "The prince has consistently used his position to promote arms sales and boost some of the most unpleasant governments in the world, his arms sales haven't just given military support to corrupt and repressive regimes. They've lent those regimes political and international legitimacy."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Andrew's election to the Royal Society prompted "Britain's leading scientists" to "revolt" due to Andrew's lack of scientific background, with some noting he had only a secondary school level of education. In an op-ed in "The Sunday Times", pharmacologist, Humboldt Prize recipient, and Fellow of the Royal Society, David Colquhoun opined, in references to Andrew's qualifications, that "if I wanted a tip for the winner of the 14.30 at Newmarket, I'd ask a royal. For most other questions, I wouldn't."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Rohan Silva, a former Downing Street aide, claimed that, when they met in 2012, Andrew had commented, "Well, if you'll pardon the expression, that really is the nigger in the woodpile." Former home secretary Jacqui Smith also claims that Andrew made a racist comment about Arabs during a state dinner for the Saudi royal family in 2007. Buckingham Palace denied that Andrew had used racist language on either occasion.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2016, Republic CEO Graham Smith filed a formal report to the police, requesting an investigation into allegations that Andrew had damaged sensor-operated gates in Windsor Great Park by forcing them open in his Range Rover to avoid going an extra mile on his way home. The Thames Valley Police dismissed the reports due to lack of details.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: During his four-day Southern California tour in 1984, Andrew squirted paint onto American and British journalists and photographers who were reporting on the tour, after which he told Los Angeles county supervisor Kenneth Hahn, "I enjoyed that". The incident damaged the clothes and equipment of reporters and the "Los Angeles Herald Examiner" submitted a $1,200 bill to the British consulate asking for financial compensation.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: "The Guardian" wrote in 2022, "his brusque manner with servants is well-documented. A senior footman once told a reporter who worked undercover at Buckingham Palace that on waking the prince 'the response can easily be "fuck off" as good morning'." Former royal protection officer Paul Page said, in an ITV documentary, that Andrew maintained a collection of "50 or 60 stuffed toys" and if they "weren't put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream and become verbally abusive." Page later stated in the documentary "Prince Andrew: Banished" that different women would visit Andrew everyday, and when one was denied entry into his residence by the security Andrew allegedly called one of the officers a "fat, lardy-ass cunt" over the phone. The Duke's former maid, Charlotte Briggs, also recalled setting up the teddy bears on his bed and told "The Sun" that when she was bitten by his Norfolk Terrier in 1996 he only laughed and "wasn't bothered". She said that she was reduced to tears by Andrew for not properly closing the heavy curtains in his office and added that his behaviour was in contrast to that of his brothers Charles and Edward who "weren't anything like him" and his father Philip whom she described as "so nice and gentlemanly".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Massage therapist Emma Gruenbaum said Andrew regularly overstepped the mark, making creepy sexual comments when she came to give him a massage. Gruenbaum maintained Andrew talked continually about sex during the first massage and wanted to know when she last had sex. Gruenbaum said Andrew arranged regular massages for roughly two months, and she believed requests for massages stopped when he realised he would not get more.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: It is unclear how Andrew finances his luxury lifestyle; in 2021 "The Guardian" wrote, "With little in the way of visible support, questions over how Andrew has been able to fund his lifestyle have rarely been answered. In the past he has appeared to live the jetset life of a multimillionaire, with holidays aboard luxury yachts, regular golfing sojourns and ski trips to exclusive resorts."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Duke of York received a £249,000 annuity from the Queen. In the twelve-month period up to April 2004, he spent £325,000 on flights, and his trade missions as special representative for UKTI cost £75,000 in 2003. "The Sunday Times" reported in July 2008 that for "the Duke of York's public role... he last year received £436,000 to cover his expenses". He has a Royal Navy pension of £20,000.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: The Duke is also a keen skier and in 2014 bought a skiing chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, for £13 million jointly with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. In May 2020, it was reported that they were in a legal dispute over the mortgage. To purchase the chalet, they secured a loan of £13.25 million and were expected to pay £5 million in cash instalments which, after applying interests, amounted to £6.8 million. Despite claims that the Queen would help pay the debt, a spokesperson for Andrew confirmed that she "will not be stepping in to settle the debt". "The Times" reported in September 2021 that Andrew and Sarah had reached a legal agreement with the property's previous owner and would sell the house. The owner agreed to receive £3.4 million, half of the amount that she was owed, as she had been under the impression that Andrew and Sarah were dealing with financial troubles. The money from selling the property is reportedly to be used to pay Andrew's legal expenses over the civil lawsuit as well. In June 2022 it was reported in "Le Temps", a Swiss newspaper, that the chalet has been frozen because of a £1.6 million debt Andrew owes unnamed people. Law professor Nicolas Jeandin told "Le Temps" "A sale is in principle impossible, except with the agreement of the creditor."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2021 Bloomberg News reported that a firm connected to David Rowland had been paying off Andrew's debts. In November 2017, Andrew borrowed £250,000 from Banque Havilland, adding to an existing £1.25 million loan that had been "extended or increased 10 times" since 2015. Documents showed that while "credibility of the applicant" had been questioned, he was given the loan in an attempt to "further business potential with the Royal Family". 11 days later and in December 2017, £1.5 million was transferred from an account at Albany Reserves, which was controlled by the Rowland family, to Andrew's account at Banque Havilland, paying off the loan that was due in March 2018. Liberal Democrat politician and staunch republican Norman Baker stated, "This demonstrates yet again that significant questions need to be asked about Prince Andrew's business dealings and his association with some dubious characters."


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: Several months after Andrew's controversial 2019 "Newsnight" interview, his private office established the Urramoor Trust, which owned both Lincelles Unlimited (established 2020) and Urramoor Ltd (established 2013), and according to "The Times" was set up to support his family. Lincelles was voluntarily wound up in 2022. Andrew was described as a "settlor but not a beneficiary", and did not own either of the companies, though Companies House listed him and his private banker of 20 years Harry Keogh as people with "significant control".


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In March 2022 it was reported that on 15 November 2019 the wife of the jailed former Turkish politician İlhan İşbilen transferred £750,000 to Andrew in the belief that it would help her secure a passport. The Duke has repaid the money 16 months later after being contacted by Mrs İşbilen's lawyers. "The Telegraph" reported that the money sent to Andrew's account had been described to the bankers "as a wedding gift" for his eldest daughter, Beatrice, though the court documents did not include any suggestions that the princess was aware of the transactions. Mrs İşbilen alleges that a further £350,000 payment was made to Andrew through businessman Selman Turk, who Mrs İşbilen is suing for fraud. Turk had been awarded the People's Choice Award for his business Heyman AI at a Pitch@Palace event held at St James's Palace days before the £750,000 payment was made by Mrs İşbilen. Even though he won the award through a public vote online and an audience vote on the night of the ceremony, there were concerns raised with a senior member of the royal household that Turk was "gaming the system" and should not have won as "he may have used bots – autonomous internet programs – to boost his vote". Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, Tarek Kaituni introduced Andrew to Selman Turk in May or June 2019 and held later meetings on at least two occasions. Kaituni, for whom Andrew allegedly lobbied a British company, had reportedly gifted Princess Beatrice with a £18,000 gold and diamond necklace for her 21st birthday in 2009 and was invited to Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: , Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne. On rare occasions, he is known by his secondary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2019, Inverness residents started a campaign to strip him of that title, stating that "it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew is associated with our beautiful city", in light of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Similar pleas have been made by people affiliated with the village of Killyleagh and the city of York regarding his titles of Baron Killyleagh and Duke of York, with Labour Co-op MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, stating that she would look for ways to make Andrew give up his ducal title if he did not voluntarily relinquish it. In January 2022, it was reported that, while Andrew retains the style of "His Royal Highness", he would no longer use it in a public capacity. In April 2022, several York councillors called for Andrew to lose the title Duke of York. Also in 2022, there was a renewed petition to strip him of the Earl of Inverness title.


title: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

text: In 2019, Andrew's military affiliations were suspended and on 13 January 2022 they were formally returned to the Queen.


title: Disney+

text: Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by The Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, with dedicated content hubs for the brands Disney, Pixar, Marvel, "Star Wars", and National Geographic, as well as Star in some regions. Original films and television series are also distributed on Disney+.


title: Disney+

text: Disney+ relies on technology developed by Disney Streaming Services, which was originally established as BAMTech in 2015 when it was spun off from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM). Disney increased its ownership share of BAMTech to a controlling stake in 2017, and subsequently transferred ownership to DTCI, as part of a corporate restructuring in anticipation of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox.


title: Disney+

text: With BAMTech helping to launch ESPN+ in early 2018, and Disney's streaming distribution deal with Netflix ending in 2019, Disney took the opportunity to use technologies being developed for ESPN+ to establish a Disney-branded streaming service that would feature its content. Production of films and television shows for exclusive release on the platform began in late 2017.


title: Disney+

text: Disney+ was launched on November 12, 2019, in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands, and expanded to Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico a week later. It became available in select European countries in March 2020 and in India in April through Star India's Hotstar streaming service, which was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar. Additional European countries received Disney+ in September 2020, with the service expanding to Latin America in November 2020. It later expanded in Southeast Asian countries since 2021, followed by countries in Eastern Europe, Middle East and parts of Africa since May 2022.


title: Disney+

text: Upon launch, it was met with positive reception of its content library, but was criticized for technical problems and missing content. Alterations made to films and television shows also attracted media attention. Ten million users had subscribed to Disney+ by the end of its first day of operation. The service has 164.2 million global subscribers .


title: Disney+

text: In late 2015, Disney launched a streaming service in the United Kingdom called DisneyLife to test the streaming market. It was eventually replaced by Disney+ on March 24, 2020.


title: Disney+

text: In August 2016, Disney acquired a minority stake in BAMTech (a spin-off of MLB Advanced Media's streaming technology business) for $1 billion, with an option to acquire a majority stake in the future. Following the purchase, ESPN announced plans for an "exploratory [over-the-top] project" based on its technology (ESPN+) to supplant its existing linear television services. On August 8, 2017, Disney invoked its option to acquire a controlling stake in BAMTech for $1.58 billion, increasing its stake to 75%. Alongside the acquisition, the company also announced plans for a second, Disney-branded direct-to-consumer service drawing from its entertainment content, which would launch after the company ends its existing distribution agreement with Netflix in 2019. Not long after, Agnes Chu, story and franchise development executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, was the first executive appointed for the unit, as senior vice president of content. Chu led two projects to launch the new unit. First, Disney needed to verify exactly what content could be physically and legally made available through a streaming service right away, which meant physically reviewing all content in Disney's vaults that had not recently undergone restoration, and reviewing "binders of pieces of paper with legal deals" to identify potential obstacles. Second, Chu met with leaders of Disney's various content-producing divisions to start brainstorming which projects would be appropriate for release on a streaming service rather than in movie theaters. Chu later left in August 2020.


title: Disney+

text: In December 2017, Disney announced its intent to acquire key entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox. Intended to bolster Disney's content portfolio for its streaming products, the acquisition was completed on March 20, 2019.


title: Disney+

text: In January 2018, it was reported that former Apple and Samsung executive Kevin Swint had been appointed as the senior vice president and general manager reporting to BAMTech CEO Michael Paull, who leads development. In March 2018, Disney's top level segment division was reorganized with the formation of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, which then included BAMTech, which contains "all consumer-facing tech and products". In June of the same year, longtime Disney studio marketing chief, Ricky Strauss, was named president of content and marketing, however reporting to chairman of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Kevin Mayer. In January 2019, Fox Television Group COO Joe Earley was named executive vice president of marketing and operations. In June 2019, Matt Brodlie was named as senior vice president of international content development. In August 2019, Luke Bradley-Jones was hired as senior vice president of direct to consumer and general manager of Disney+ for Europe and Africa.


title: Disney+

text: On November 8, 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the service would be named Disney+ and that the company was targeting a launch in late 2019. A September launch was reportedly planned, but on April 11, 2019, Disney announced that Disney+ would launch on November 12, 2019, in the United States. Disney stated that it planned to roll the service out worldwide over the next two years, targeting Western Europe and Asia-Pacific countries by late 2019 and early 2020, and Eastern Europe and Latin America during 2020. The timing of international launches is subject to the acquisition or expiration of existing streaming rights deals for Disney content. On August 6, 2019, Iger announced that it would offer a streaming bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, and the ad-supported version of Hulu for $12.99 per month available at launch. At the D23 Expo in August 2019, Disney opened subscriptions to Disney+ at a discounted rate for three years.


title: Disney+

text: On September 12, 2019, a trial version of Disney+ became available in the Netherlands with limited content available. This testing phase lasted until the official launch on November 12, when trial users were switched to a paid plan. Disney+ became available for pre-order in September in the United States with a 7-day free trial upon launch.


title: Disney+

text: In October 2019, Disney released a video that ran for three hours and eighteen minutes on YouTube to showcase their launch lineup. It was also reported that Disney would ban advertisements for competitor Netflix from most of its TV platforms, except ESPN.


title: Disney+

text: Disney+ launched on November 12, 2019, Midnight Pacific Time in the announced initial three launch countries. The services had some issues the first day from logging in (about 33% of the problems), accessing specific content (about 66%), setting up profiles and watch lists. Some of the issues were due to third party devices.


title: Disney+

text: On November 18, 2019, an investigation by ZDNet discovered that thousands of users' accounts were hacked using keystroke logging or info-stealing malware. Their email addresses and passwords were changed, "effectively taking over the account and locking the previous owner out", and their login information was put up for sale on the dark web.


title: Disney+

text: On March 12, 2020, Vanessa Morrison, who previously served as President of Fox Family and 20th Century Animation, was appointed President of Streaming for Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production and currently oversees the development and production of Disney+ film content from The Walt Disney Studios for both Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios. Morrison reports directly to President of Walt Disney Pictures Sean Bailey.


title: Disney+

text: On October 12, 2020, Disney announced a reorganization of their media business with a greater focus on streaming. They are planning to add more content for Disney+ and their other streaming platforms (such as Hulu) in the future.


title: Disney+

text: On December 10, 2020, Disney announced that a year after the launch of Disney+, it had over 86.8 million subscribers. It was later announced that as of January 2, 2021, the platform had over 94.9 million subscribers. In January of the same year, Ricky Strauss, who led Disney Plus’ content curation and marketing efforts, exited the Walt Disney Company.


title: Disney+

text: In March 2021, Disney announced an increase to the streaming service's pricing that would take place on March 26, 2021. In the second quarter of 2021, Disney+ added 8.7 million subscribers.


title: Disney+

text: In August 2021, Disney CEO Bob Chapek hinted that a possible Hulu/Disney+ merger could happen in the future to create an all-in-one streaming service on Disney+. He mentioned that Disney might ditch its streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ eventually. This is similar to the Star brand on Disney+ available in overseas markets outside of the United States.


title: Disney+

text: On March 4, 2022, Disney announced they will plan to launch a low-cost ad-supported version of Disney+ by late 2022 in the United States, with that version also expanding to other international territories in 2023. Disney later announced on August 10, 2022, that the ad-supported version of Disney+ launches on December 8, with more than 100 advertisers. Costing US$7.99 per month, with the ad free version of Disney+ receiving a price hike of US$3.


title: Disney+

text: In May 2022, the company reported it gained 7.9 million subscribers over the first three months of 2022. In August 2022, it was announced that the combined total of subscribers across all Disney streaming platforms including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ had surpassed Netflix with roughly 221 million.


title: Disney+

text: The service is built around content from Disney's main entertainment studios and film and television library, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disneynature, Disneytoon Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, 20th Century Animation, the former Saban Entertainment, Blue Sky Studios and Hollywood Pictures. The service operates alongside Hulu, which Disney gained a controlling stake in following the 21st Century Fox purchase. Bob Iger stated that at launch, Disney+ would focus on family-oriented entertainment (not carrying any content rated R, or ) and that Hulu would continue to host general entertainment; Hulu also hosts Disney+ as an add-on service. Content intended for mature audiences (R and TV-MA) was later added to the service, including the Disney+ original "" (2021), which includes a content warning, and the Marvel series produced for Netflix, all of which are rated TV-MA. With the addition of the Marvel Netflix series in March 2022, revised parental controls were introduced to the service in the United States to allow the more mature content of the series to be added, similarly to the controls that already exist for other regions that have the Star content hub.


title: Disney+

text: It is suggested that Disney+ had approximately 7,000 television episodes and 500 films at launch, including original television series and films from Disney Channel, National Geographic and Freeform, as well as select titles from 20th Television, 20th Television Animation and ABC Signature. New releases from 20th Century Studios (such as Blue Sky Studios' "Spies in Disguise" and a load of live-action films) may not immediately be available on either Disney+ or Hulu, as the studio has pre-existing output deals with other premium TV/streaming providers (including HBO in the U.S. until 2022, Crave in Canada and Sky in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany). "Captain Marvel", "Dumbo" (2019), and "" became the first theatrically released Disney films to stream exclusively on Disney+ within the pay-cable window.


title: Disney+

text: It was announced that Disney+ would add the first 30 seasons of "The Simpsons" to the service at launch, as the series' new exclusive home, with season 31 being added on October 2, 2020, season 32 being added on September 29, 2021, and season 33 being added on October 5, 2022, in the United States.


title: Disney+

text: Iger said that Disney+ will eventually host the entire Disney film library, including all of the films that are currently in the "Disney Vault". However, he stated that the controversial "Song of the South" (1946), which has never been released on home video in its entirety in the U.S., will never be released on the service. Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1946 film "Make Mine Music" is not available on the service, possibly due to a gunfight scene, making it the only film in the Disney animated canon not to be included. Despite being available at launch, at least five films"Home Alone", "", "", "Ice Age" and ""had been temporarily removed from the service in the U.S.


title: Disney+

text: It was initially unclear whether the first six films of the "Star Wars" franchise would be available in the United States at the service's launch, as TBS held streaming rights through 2024 as part of its cable rights to the franchise, but in April 2019, it was announced that the films would be available at launch along with "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One", with "The Last Jedi" added on December 26, 2019; "The Rise of Skywalker" added on May 4, 2020, and "" was added on July 10, 2020. On April 2, 2021, several older "Star Wars" were released.


title: Disney+

text: In the United States, most of the films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe were available at launch, with the exception of seven films: "" (added on December 5, 2019), "Black Panther" (added on March 4, 2020), "" (added on June 25, 2020), and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (added on August 14, 2020), due to existing licensing deals with Netflix; and "The Incredible Hulk", "", and "", which are unavailable because their distribution rights are owned by Universal Pictures ("The Incredible Hulk") and Sony Pictures through the Columbia Pictures division (Spider-Man).


title: Disney+

text: Some films were modified by Disney: a post-credits scene from "Toy Story 2" was edited out; nudity was eliminated from "Splash" by adding digital hair, blurring, and cropping certain scenes; films such as "Adventures in Babysitting", "Free Solo", and "Hamilton" are altered to remove profanities; "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin" (1967) was edited to remove racial slurs, and the short film "Santa's Workshop" (1932) was edited to remove a "stereotypical black doll". Some older content, such as films, animated shorts, and series, have a content disclaimer on the platform noting the possibility of outdated cultural depictions. Starting in October 2020, a 12-second content disclaimer informing viewers of racially insensitive scenes plays before some older Disney filmsincluding "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", "Swiss Family Robinson", "Lady and the Tramp", "The Jungle Book", "Aladdin" (alongside the two direct-to-video sequels), and "The Aristocats". Additionally, by January 2021, some of these films were no longer viewable on kids profiles; the titles were still available to view on regular profiles. "", which was released by 20th Century Fox on May 23, 2014, contains both nudity and the word "fuck", began airing uncensored in mid-2020. Some series are missing episodes, including "Darkwing Duck", "The Little Mermaid", "The Proud Family", "Phineas and Ferb", "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends", "The Muppet Show","" and "The Simpsons", amongst other programs. All episodes featuring Stoney Westmoreland on "Andi Mack" are banned from the service.


title: Disney+

text: On November 22, 2021, Disney and WarnerMedia reached a deal to amend the pre-existing deal HBO had with Fox to allow Disney+ or Hulu and HBO Max to share the streaming rights to half of 20th Century Studios' and Searchlight Pictures' 2022 theatrical slate in the United States during the pay-one window, with "Ron's Gone Wrong" being the first film under the deal, becoming available on both Disney+ and HBO Max on December 15, 2021. Disney will still have full streaming rights to any 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films produced for Disney+ or Hulu, while the Disney deal with WarnerMedia for streaming 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films on HBO Max will end in 2022, with Disney+ and Hulu assuming the full pay-one rights to films released after 2022.


title: Disney+

text: The service's initial original content goal was planned to include four to five original films and five television shows with budgets from $25–100 million. In January 2019, it was reported that Disney would spend up to $500 million in original content for the service. Original series based on "Star Wars" and Marvel properties have been or are being produced. Original "Star Wars" series include "The Mandalorian" and its spin-offs "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Ahsoka", a seventh season of the animated "" (and a spin-off series titled ""), as well as "Obi-Wan Kenobi", "Andor", "", "The Acolyte" and "Lando". Original Marvel series include "WandaVision" and its spin-offs "" and "Vision Quest", "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", "Loki", "Hawkeye" and its spin-off "Echo", "Moon Knight", "Ms. Marvel", "", "Secret Invasion", "Ironheart", "", and "Wonder Man". Animated Marvel series include "What If..?", "I Am Groot", "X-Men '97", "", and "Marvel Zombies".


title: Disney+

text: In January 2019, Disney+ ordered "Diary of a Future President" from CBS Television Studios, its first series from an outside production company.


title: Disney+

text: A television series remake of the film "High Fidelity" was initially announced for Disney+, but in April 2019, it was announced that the project had been moved to Hulu, citing concerns from its staff that the positioning of Disney+ as a family-friendly service was at odds with their creative vision for the series. "Love, Victor", a spin-off of the film "Love, Simon", was similarly shifted from Disney+ to Hulu in February 2020.


title: Disney+

text: In August 2019, Iger announced that 20th Century Fox films such as "Home Alone", "Night at the Museum", "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", and "Cheaper by the Dozen" will be "'reimagined' for 'a new generation'" exclusively for Disney+ by Fox Family.


title: Disney+

text: Most original episodic content is released weekly, as opposed to all at once with the release time initially being 12:01 a.m. PT on Fridays, which lasted from November 15, 2019, to June 25, 2021. With the premiere of "Loki", which debuted on June 9, 2021, Disney shifted the release schedule for new original series and new seasons of the respective series to Wednesdays.


title: Disney+

text: On December 25, 2020, "Soul" became the first feature-length film from Pixar to be released as a Disney+ original. The following two Pixar films, "Luca" and "Turning Red", were also released as Disney+ originals.


title: Disney+

text: On February 1, 2022, Disney announced that Star Original Korean drama series "Snowdrop" would be released on Disney+ in the U.S. on February 9, 2022, as a Disney+ original; this marks the series becoming the first international content for Disney+ and the first content as both a Disney+ and Star original.


title: Disney+

text: Disney also plans original factual television content for the service, aiming to "find the ethos of Disney in everyday stories, inspiring hope and sparking the curiosity of audiences of all ages." Some of these series will have ties to Disney properties, including behind-the-scenes documentary miniseries focusing on Disney studios (such as one following the production of "Frozen II"), the Disney-themed competition cooking competition "Be Our Chef", "Cinema Relics" (a documentary series showcasing iconic costume and props from Disney films), "Marvel's Hero Project" (a series showcasing "inspiring kids [that] have dedicated their lives to selfless acts of bravery and kindness"), and "The Imagineering Story" (a Leslie Iwerks-directed documentary series chronicling the history and work of Walt Disney Imagineering). National Geographic also produced "Magic of the Animal Kingdom" (a docuseries following the animal caretakers of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot's aquarium) and "The World According to Jeff Goldblum".


title: Disney+

text: Disney reached a two-year pact with the documentary studio Supper Club (Brian McGinn, David Gelb and Jason Sterman, producers of Netflix's "Chef's Table") to produce content for the service, including the conservation-themed nature documentary series "Earthkeepers", and "Marvel's 616", a documentary series chronicling the cultural and societal impact of Marvel's characters. Other factual series include "Encore!" (a Kristen Bell-produced series that reunites casts from high school musical productions to reprise their roles), "(Re)Connect" (a reality series produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Milojo Productions), "Rogue Trip" (a travel series featuring Bob Woodruff and his son Mack), and the reality competition "Shop Class".


title: Disney+

text: On April 8, 2022, it was announced that "Dancing with the Stars" would be moving from ABC to Disney+.


title: Disney+

text: The live-action adaptation of "Mulan" was premiered in select countries on Disney+ with Premier Access for a premium fee ($29.99) on September 4, 2020, and later was made available for free to all subscribers on December 4. A second feature film, "Raya and the Last Dragon", was offered through the Premier Access model on March 5, 2021, the same day as its theatrical release, and was made available for all users on June 4. In March 2021, Disney announced that "Cruella" and "Black Widow" would be released theatrically and through Premier Access. In May 2021, Disney announced that "Jungle Cruise" would also be released theatrically and through Premier Access.


title: Disney+

text: In September 2021, it was reported that Disney had begun a new television release strategy by giving episodes from certain series an early premiere on Disney+ ahead of their television debuts. The first series to be released through this strategy was "The Ghost and Molly McGee", with episodes 3 to 5 being released on Disney+ on October 6, 2021. This was followed by the third and final season of "Fancy Nancy" premiering in its entirety on Disney+ alongside its premiere episode on Disney Junior on November 12, 2021.


title: Disney+

text: In November 2021, it was reported that the Disney Channel Original Movie "Christmas Again" would be released on Disney+ on December 3, 2021, the same day of its television premiere, marking the first film to receive a simultaneous release.


title: Disney+

text: In addition to Disney's own content, select television programs produced by third-party companies but broadcast on Disney-owned television channels are also featured, such as BBC Studios' "Bluey". Content co-produced with Disney's European subsidiaries, such as Zagtoon's "" and "Ghostforce", eOne's "PJ Masks", Zodiak Kids' "The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti" and Samka Studios' "Vikingskool" are also available on Disney+ in several territories worldwide.