I ain’t saying he’s a gold digger, but …Kanye West has made over $25million this year for not performing.As yet another event is cancelled this week – two controversial dates in St Petersburg, Russia, have bitten the dust – Kanye’s global fans are being left out of pocket. But the rapper is still very much in the money.Sources reveal the artist now known as Ye only signs deals if he’s paid half the fee up front, whether he plays or not. Which means he got $10million (£7.3m) for the cancelled gigs in Russia.Ye has been cancelled a lot, because of public outrage over his anti-Semitic comments. Shows that never happened include London’s Wireless Festival, which he was meant to headline last month. I’m told he still got $7.5million (£5.5m) for it.He also received $4million (£2.9m) for a cancelled gig in France, and the same for an event in Italy which was called off this summer. Making a grand total of $25.5million (£18.7m) this year alone – all without him having to clear his throat.Ye, who’s won 24 Grammy Awards, was set to perform on October 10 and 11 at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg. Kanye West has made over $25million this year for not performing after a string of cancelled gigsIt was a bold move – or a foolish one, depending on your point of view. Although artists are not banned from performing in Russia, doing so while sanctions are in place because of the war with Ukraine involves financial complications and a high risk of political bad odour.Then, earlier this week, the stadium, which had already announced the gigs on social media, said no rental agreements had been signed, and denied ever organising the concerts, adding that they were not now going ahead.A source said: ‘Kanye’s management are killing his career here, because every cancellation means that you have another market where people won’t want to take him on again.’It seems the people who organised the gigs in Russia didn’t have the ability to do so. Everyone got tempted by the money, and then it’s blown up in their faces.’If you want to do a gig in Russia, you need to sit down with one of Putin’s assistants and offer assurances nothing is going to happen to cause the government embarrassment.’Ye would have been the first major Western artist to perform in Putin’s Russia since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.In January, he published a lengthy apology, in the form of an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, blaming bipolar disorder for his ‘poor judgment’ and ‘reckless behaviour’.’I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state,’ he said in the statement. ‘It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.’That may be, but he has previously released a track called Heil Hitler and sold swastika T-shirts.In April, Wireless Festival collapsed after Ye, its headliner, was banned from travelling to the UK, on the basis his presence here ‘would not be conducive to the public good’.We can’t be beet, say Emmerdale farmers Emmerdale stars Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry on their allotmenPossibly the most unlikely influencers, for the most unlikely reasons, are soap actors Jeff Hordley, 56, and his wife Zoe Henry, 52.The Emmerdale stars (he plays bad-boy village mechanic Cain Dingle, she plays the local vet Rhona Goskirk) have launched an account covering their allotment on social media, and it’s been an instant hit.Since Jeff and Zoe started on August 3 they have picked up 226,000 followers on Instagram, and 320,000 on Facebook, for basically discussing the size of their beetroots and problems with prickly courgette leaves.Life imitates art for L-plate Ludwig David Mitchell – who plays reluctant driver and puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor in the hit comedy drama Ludwig – can’t drive in real life either, and failed his test aged 30David Mitchell – who plays reluctant driver and puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor in the hit comedy drama Ludwig – can’t drive in real life either, and failed his test aged 30.Said David, 52: ‘I took lessons and then failed my test aged around 30. Which is just as well as I would have been a danger to other road users.’When I was learning, I could never shake this image of me being in this large metal thing full of petrol, which I could lose control of at any moment: it was like going around waving a loaded gun! ‘One of the great ironies of series one of Ludwig was that my character John Taylor was criticised for being a bad driver, when at least he could drive.’He was being played by someone who couldn’t drive and would have been a menace if they had done. Being able to drive is useful, but I’m at a time in my life when learning any new skill would be incredibly hard.’Rumour has it that on screen Ludwig will re-take his driving test at some point. Watch out.Nicola Peltz Beckham, 31, is getting a ‘rising star’ award at the Venice Film Festival next weekend, even though (as it notes on her citation for the Kineo award) she actually started acting as a kid … 20 years ago. Peltz Beckham is being honoured alongside icon Faye Dunaway, who co-stars in her new self-funded film Prima, which is about ballet.What would Lady Cora say! A new look for the old Lord.. Hugh Bonneville as Lord Hawthorne in the second series of The GentlemenRIP, Lord Grantham. And hello, Lord Hawthorne!Hugh Bonneville practically dances on Downton’s Abbey’s grave in the new series of Netflix’s The Gentlemen, playing a super-camp toff (with a carefully styled bouffant do), hot on the scent of a handsome young man.Bonneville was serious – some might even say dull – as the thoroughly decent Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in Downton.But you can see him having the time of his life in The Gentlemen, series two of which is streaming from Thursday next week.Described in the show by drug kingpin Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone) as a ‘posh c***’, Bonneville plays Lord ‘Dickie’ Hawthorne, who we first meet at a shooting day at the stately home owned by Eddie Horniman, the Duke of Halstead, played by Theo James.Eddie wants to gain entry to the House of Lords so he can influence marijuana legislation. And – no spoilers! – Dickie just might play a big role in these efforts.The colourful Lord Hawthorne takes a shine to Jack (Harry Goodwins), younger brother of Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario). He drinks, he swears, he slurps down oysters – and he dances like Louie Spence in Ibiza.At one point, over cocktails, Lord Hawthorne tells Eddie: ‘I know I look like a useless old fruit, but I do know when I’m being worked, lubed, greased over.’ Fetch the smelling salts, Mrs Hughes! The Gentlemen was in the headlines this week after it was suggested that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, might appear in series three.Netflix alluded to the hoo-ha in a press release for series two, which concluded with the words: ‘ABOUT THE GENTLEMEN S3 …Your guess is as good as mine.’Do you expect me to talk? No, Mr Bond, I expect you to empty the dishwasher Is the ‘twist’ in the James Bond casting which producer Amy Pascal is promising us the fact that Bond and his nemesis will be played by a real-life husband and wife?Slow Horses star Jack Lowden is in the running for 007. And his wife Saoirse Ronan (pictured with Lowden, above) has just told Empire magazine that her dream is to be a Bond villain. ‘I want to go dark,’ she said. ‘I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain, and I’m dead serious.’I think it would be really interesting, having a young female villain. Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere.’ Married couple Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden may star opposite each other in the new BondAmazon MGM Studios struck a deal with longtime franchise stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to take full control of Ian Fleming’s iconic spy in 2025, and are casting at the moment, with an announcement expected this autumn. Filming could then start at the turn of the year.Producer Pascal said: ‘I would say the end of the year is a good bet. We are being really, really methodical.’ She added: ‘Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow. And it’s got to be something really different that is stirring and exciting.’A mister and missus double act would certainly qualify. Other names in the running for Bond are thought to include Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi and Tom Holland.The first of Netflix’s Narnia films, directed by Barbie’s Greta Gerwig, will be the most expensive the streamer has ever made, with a budget of $280million – more than The Odyssey.However, after test screenings it is having emergency reshoots, and has been pulled from a November release and punted into next year.The C. S. Lewis story has been moved to 1950s London, with an all-star cast which includes Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep. The first film is based on The Magician’s Nephew, a prequel to The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.