Entertainment

LOS ANGELES,  (Variety.com) – Talk about scary good. Universal’s “Us,” the second directorial effort from Jordan Peele, pulled off a stunning debut, generating $70 million from 3,741 North American locations.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chicago prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges accusing “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett of staging a phony hate crime, a stunning move that drew the fury of the city’s police superintendent and mayor, who called the decision a “whitewash of justice.” Smollett, who is black and gay, told reporters on Tuesday that he had always been truthful when he said two masked men threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressing support for U.S.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – A black superhero action flick. A film about an indigenous maid in Mexico.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Director Spike Lee, whose film “BlacKkKlansman” was Oscar-nominated for best picture, said “the ref made a bad call” when the competing racial drama “Green Book” won the top prize at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Road trip movie “Green Book” triumphed over “Roma” to win best the best picture Oscar on Sunday, denying Netflix bragging rights as the first streaming service to beat Hollywood at its own game.

(Reuters) – Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma took home two early Oscars on Sunday at an Academy Awards ceremony without a host but filled with powerhouse music performances.

Black Panther production designer Hannah Beachler and costume designer Ruth E. Carter made history Sunday night as the first black winners in the categories.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The estate of Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit on Thursday against HBO, saying that its documentary about allegations of child sex abuse by the late singer breached a previous agreement by the cable channel not to disparage him.

CHICAGO,  (Reuters) – Actor Jussie Smollett paid two brothers thousands of dollars to beat him in a staged racist and homophobic attack because he was unhappy with his salary on the hip-hop TV drama “Empire,” Chicago’s police chief said yesterday.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Hollywood’s awards season reaches a climax at Sunday’s Oscars with a cliffhanger over the top prize after a topsy-turvy best picture race marked by the fading of early favorites and the tantalizing question of whether Netflix can trump traditional movie studios.

PARIS, (Reuters) – German haute-couture designer Karl Lagerfeld, artistic director at Chanel and an icon of the global fashion industry for over half a century, has died, a source at the French fashion house Chanel said today.

(NBC News) Kristoff St. John, an Emmy-winning star on the long-running soap opera ‘The Young and the Restless,’ was found dead at his Los Angeles home over the weekend, authorities said today.

(Reuters) – Grammy-nominated Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage was arrested by U.S. immigration officials on Sunday, who said he was illegally in the country and a convicted felon.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Superhero film “Black Panther,” heralded for its mainly black cast and vibrant celebration of African culture, won the top Screen Actors Guild award on Sunday, boosting its stature ahead of next month’s Oscars ceremony.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Alan Alda, best known for playing a wise-cracking Army doctor on the long-running anti-war television comedy “M*A*S*H,” received a lifetime achievement award from his fellow actors yesterday, celebrating a 60-year career on stage and screen.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Netflix movie “Roma” and British historical romp “The Favourite” from Fox Searchlight led nominations for the Oscars yesterday  in a history-making lineup that left the best picture race wide open.

(Reuters) – Renowned Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a subordinate over a period of six months in 2018.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Queen musical “Bohemian Rhapsody” and U.S. segregation-era comedy “Green Book” took home the top Golden Globes on Sunday on a night of upsets that saw presumed favourite “A Star is Born” largely shut out, and big wins for Netflix.

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is the new box office king, collecting a solid $35.4 million during its first three days of release.

(Reuters) – U.S. singer Beyonce will perform at the wedding of the daughter of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, along with Bollywood stars, and guests will be flown in on 100 chartered flights in lavish marriage celebrations.

(Reuters) – Comedian Kevin Hart stepped down on Thursday from hosting the 2019 Oscar ceremony after “insensitive words” about gays he tweeted in the past resurfaced online.

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – “Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra and U.S. singer Nick Jonas are to marry this weekend in a two-day ceremony at a venue dubbed India’s most opulent royal palace.

ROME,  (Reuters) – Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, whose 1972 movie ““Last Tango in Paris” shocked audiences with a notorious sex scene that came back to haunt him in his later years, died yesterday.

CHENNAI, India,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan was hailed on Wednesday as a star of India’s farmers after clearing loans worth more than 40 million rupees ($560,000) as an agricultural crisis forces many rural workers into extreme poverty.

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” dominated the Thanksgiving box office, generating a massive $84.6 million at 4,017 locations over the five-day holiday period and $56 million for the weekend.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro and his wife of more than 20 years have separated, media reports said on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES,  (Variety.com) – There’s a new box office queen in town. Fox’s Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” overperformed with a rocking $50 million when it debuted in 4,000 theaters.

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush touched his co-star on the breast and humiliated her with sexual innuendo during a production of “King Lear”, the co-star told an Australian court on Tuesday, as News Corp defended publishing some details of her claims.

(Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Neil Young confirmed rumors that have persisted for months, saying he is indeed married to actress Daryl Hannah.

LOS ANGELES,  (Variety.com) – “Halloween” made a killing in North America, earning $77.5 million when the slasher film launched in 3,928 locations.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Laurel and Hardy, perhaps the greatest comedy double act in cinema history, returned to London on Sunday, twiddling their bowler hats to a delighted West End crowd as they arrived for the world premiere of the biopic “Stan & Ollie”.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop superstar Rihanna declined an offer to perform at a Super Bowl halftime show because she supported former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his protest against racial injustice, according to media reports.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Pop superstar Rihanna declined an offer to perform at a Super Bowl halftime show because she supported former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his protest against racial injustice, according to media reports.

MUMBAI, India, (Reuters) – The Bollywood actress who helped trigger the #MeToo movement in India challenging sexual harassment and abuse sees it as part of her religious education after an experience 10 years ago she said effectively ended her career.

(Trinidad Guardian) Vet­er­an T&T ca­lyp­so­ni­ans the Mighty Spar­row (Slinger Fran­cis­co), Chalk­dust (Hol­lis Liv­er­pool) and Crazy (Ed­win Ay­oung) were ho­n­oured at Sun­shine Awards at the Robert Treat Ho­tel in New Jer­sey on Sat­ur­day night.

KAMPALA, (Reuters) – Kanye West and Kim Kardashian gave Uganda’s leader a pair of the rapper’s sneakers on Monday and he gave them both “Ugandan” names, at a meeting aimed at promoting tourism in East Africa.

LONDON, (Reuters) – John le Carre fans will see a new adaptation of one of his spy novels when “The Little Drummer Girl” hits TV screens this month but the British author said there was huge pressure in making the series after the success of hit show “The Night Manager”.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Hollywood star Nicole Kidman undergoes a dramatic makeover for new drama “Destroyer”, playing a tired-looking and worn out police detective with a painful history.

WINDSOR, England (Reuters) – Hollywood stars joined Queen Elizabeth and her family for Britain’s second major royal wedding this year, as the monarch’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank yesterday.

(Reuters) – The #MeToo movement in India has gathered momentum in recent days, with more than a dozen complaints of sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct leveled online against prominent journalists, actors, movie directors, comedians and other public figures.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rapper Cardi B surrendered to New York City police yesterday and was charged with assault and reckless endangerment after a complaint claimed she was involved in a fight at a strip club in August.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – One letter can make all the difference. A federal judge rejected Beyoncé’s request for a permanent injunction to stop a Texas company catering to people engaged to be married from selling dozens of shirts, tank tops, hoodies and other items bearing the name “Feyoncé.” The pop superstar complained in a lawsuit brought in April 2016 that Feyonce Inc’s sale of knockoffs infringed her trademark rights and would confuse consumers.

NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Feathery costumes, multi-coloured makeup and East African instruments are packed into boxes, ready for shipping as Kenya’s National Theatre prepares to take its popular children’s show “Tinga Tinga Tales” to New York.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Bollywood stars are speaking up against sexual harassment after allegations against a veteran actor surfaced this week, with several calling for action against perpetrators in an industry that is notorious for its exploitation of women.

NORRISTOWN, Pa., (Reuters) – Bill Cosby was marched out of court in shackles yesterday after a judge branded him a “predator” and sentenced him to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault, capping the downfall of the once-beloved comedian known as “America’s Dad.” Cosby, 81, was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

BHUBANESWAR, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Eschewing the typical Bollywood storyline of young lovers facing family opposition, an upcoming Indian film instead features a couple battling climate change in order to be together.

PARIS,  (Reuters) – Michael Kors’ swoop on Versace leaves a shrinking universe of fashion brands determined to go it alone and fend off luxury empire builders, raising the pressure on those struggling financially to lift sales or sell out.

NORRISTOWN, Pa.,  (Reuters) – The woman whose complaint led to Bill Cosby’s conviction for sexual assault called for justice in brief testimony on the first day of the comedian’s two-day sentencing hearing yesterday, where prosecutors asked for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

LOS ANGELES,  (Variety.com) – “The House With a Clock in Its Walls” easily topped the domestic box office in an otherwise quiet weekend at multiplexes.

(Reuters) – Burt Reynolds, whose good looks and charm made him one of Hollywood’s most popular actors as he starred in films such as “Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard” and “Smokey and the Bandit” in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at age 82.