A court filing mistake sent social media into a frenzy, but Maoli singer Glenn Awong is not a drug dealer.

US federal prosecutors have corrected a mistake in a criminal complaint that wrongly appeared to link the Hawaiian reggae star to allegations of methamphetamine dealing.

Awong, the founder and lead singer of Maoli, was mistakenly identified as “Person 3” in the document. Prosecutors have since confirmed that was an error and that Awong should have been identified as “Person 5”.

The confusion came from a criminal case involving Maui Police Lieutenant Michael Vaituulala, who is accused of accepting bribes from suspected drug dealers, illegal cockfighting operators and others.

Awong was mentioned in the wider case because Vaituulala had attended a New Year’s party at his home.

But somehow, a typo in the federal filing had TikTok and social media doing detective work before the correction had even landed.

Awong was suddenly being accused online of being a drug dealer, despite there being no allegation against him.

According to his lawyer, John Isbell, the mistake had serious consequences.…more

Pacific music takes centre stage: All the winners from the 2026 Pacific Music Awards

From R&B and hip hop to gospel, reggae, Pacific language music and metal, the 2026 Pacific Music Awards have celebrated the incredible breadth of Pacific music and the artists continuing to shape the sound of Aotearoa and the wider Pacific.

Held in Auckland on Wednesday night, the awards saw some familiar names return to the winners' circle, alongside artists making their mark across the Pacific music scene.

At the top of the night was Sam V, who continued his remarkable run at the awards, taking home three major honours.

The Auckland-based Cook Island Māori artist won Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist for the fifth consecutive year, as well as Best Pacific Male Artist and Best Pacific Song for his track Small Taste, featuring Jaedyn Randell.

Meanwhile, A.R.T backed up their 2025 success by once again taking home Best Pacific Group.…more

By Destiny Momoisea

"I truly felt the weight of the responsibility I had been entrusted with and hope the work we achieved honours the Pacific cultures and peoples they represent, including my own."

When audiences watch Disney's live-action Moana, they'll see woven mats, tapa, siapo, ti leaves and hand-painted textiles filling the screen.

What many won't realise is that behind every stitch, braid and woven fibre is a Tongan woman who grew up surrounded by those very traditions.

For Emmy Award-winning costume designer Liz McGregor, designing the costumes for one of Disney's biggest productions became a deeply personal mission to honour the cultures that shaped her.

A little girl from Tonga with big dreams

McGregor grew up in Fasi, Tongatapu, although her Fifita family is from Kolomotu'a, her mother's village.

She spent much of her childhood around family in Kolomotu'a, "hanging out with my cousins", surrounded by the traditions and craftsmanship that would later become such an important part of her career.…more

"For many of us in the Pacific, these stories don't just exist as films. They're part of a much longer continuum of identity, language, culture and belonging. They carry the weight of generations who rarely saw themselves reflected on screen, and they create a sense of possibility for the next generation who now can." Tongan Director Vea Mafileo

"Of course this remake feels unnecessary to them. It's not their grandmother's voice they hear when they watch Grandma Tala, or their fiapoko sister they think of when Moana almost gets her and Maui killed. Because it was not. Made. for. Them." Destiny Momoisea: Critic of Moana Live Action Critics.

When the reviews for Disney's live action Moana started rolling in, the critics were quick to ask::

Why?

Why remake a film that was already loved? Why revisit a story audiences could already watch? Why create another version of something that was only released less than a decade ago? Why not a live action of Tangled?

Those are fair questions.…more

"We have a lot of talent in Hawaii and a lot of skilled local labor and a lot of stories to share. What we've needed is the opportunity to tell those stories here at home. Working on Chief of War reminded me what's possible when we invest into our own people and we trust our local voices to lead." - Jason Momoa

Hawaii's screen industry has received a major boost after Governor Josh Green signed legislation expanding the state's film tax credit, a move industry leaders say will help attract more productions, create jobs, and ensure Hawaiian stories are told on home soil.

The new law increases Hawaii's annual film tax credit cap to US$60 million, following years of concern that major productions were choosing to film elsewhere due to stronger incentives and lower production costs.

"It expands the tax credits to a more meaningful number, $60 million, and we want to keep going up because doing that means that there's opportunities to bring more films, more attention, more investment into our state," Green said.…more

“Every time we come back with work, it just means so much more. Seeing people who look like us in the crowd…it’s incredible.”

Part circus, part drag, part burlesque, and part live concert, Dangerous Goods brings together powerhouse vocals, aerials, theatre and comedy to explore themes of power, resistance, and joy. 

Internationally acclaimed, award-winning Sāmoan-Australian artist, performer and director Lisa Fa’alafi has spent more than 25 years creating bold, boundary-pushing work that has captivated audiences worldwide.

Fresh from a sold-out season at the Edinburgh Fringe, she’s now bringing her latest production, Dangerous Goods, to Auckland’s iconic Civic Theatre as part of the Auckland Live Cabaret Festival. 

For Fa’alafi, though, this is much more than another stop on an international tour.

“It feels like coming home.”

Born in Aotearoa before growing up in Australia, returning with her work always carries extra meaning. 

“Every time we come back with work, it just means so much more.…more

A Samoan-Chinese-Pākēhā author says his new fantasy book provides a type of character he didn't have as a 10-year-old in love with reading.

Kenneth Chapman said growing up, he loved series like Harry Potter, Lemony Snickets, and His Dark Materials but those fantasy worlds were different to the mixed-race Polynesian family he came from.

Lonasei and the Mystery of Origin Grove is about an 11-year old and her older sister who move into their mother's childhood home - a mansion full of mysterious paintings created by their estranged aunt.

He said it places a Polynesian character in a fantasy world.

"When you're a 10-year-old kid and you're in love with reading, you're not really - or at least I wasn't - thinking about representation and relatability on that kind of cultural level," Chapman told Nine to Noon.…more

A new production of A View from the Bridge at Q Theatre is hitting close to home, with Pacific artists telling a story many families will recognise all too well.

Presented by Silo Theatre and directed by Anapela Polata'ivao, this version centres migrant voices, turning a classic into something deeply personal for Pasifika communities.

“In this instance, the stars have aligned at a time where the lived experiences of our Pasifika actors, whether directly or through their bloodlines, join forces to tackle Arthur Miller’s 'A View From The Bridge.' It speaks to the bones of our migration story and our Dawn Raids experience.”

That connection is what makes this production hit differently. What unfolds on stage, undocumented family members seeking safety, the risk of being exposed, the tension inside the home, is not distant history for many Pacific families in Aotearoa.

It echoes the legacy of the Dawn Raids, when Pacific communities lived with the fear of authorities knocking at the door. That fear, and the choices families made to protect each other, sit at the heart of this story.…more

“It’s an Indigenous-owned studio and the focus for us is bringing that work and uplifting - well, actually not just our people but people in the industry”

Jason Momoa, Taika Waititi and Cliff Curtis have acquired Studio West in West Auckland through their Āriki Group, positioning themselves not just as creatives, but as the ones putting resource behind the kinds of stories Māori and Pacific communities have already proven work.

Across the last two decades, some of Aotearoa’s most successful and widely recognised films have come out of that space. Whale Rider reached global audiences with a story grounded in whakapapa. Sione's Wedding showed Pacific stories could carry at the box office here. Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople followed, each reinforcing that local stories, told from here, don’t need to be adjusted to connect.

More recently, Tinā and Chief of War have continued that trajectory, showing the same stories can scale internationally without losing their grounding.…more