AP National Entertainment News

By JESSICA HILL Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The attorneys for the man accused of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 are pushing to suppress evidence obtained in what they claim was an “unlawful nighttime search.” Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys Robert Draskovich and William Brown filed a motion this week on behalf

By STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility. “Your decision to withdraw at the last

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tyler Perry was sued for sexual assault by an actor who appeared in “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” marking the second lawsuit in recent months accusing the filmmaker and studio mogul of leveraging his power in Hollywood to make sexual advances. Mario Rodriguez filed the

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Asmik Grigorian is reaching a new low — in a positive way — and doing it on one of the world’s top stages. A star soprano, she will sing the title role next summer in Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” a mezzo-soprano touchstone, at the Salzburg Festival. “I

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Perry Archangelo Bamonte, longtime guitarist and keyboardist for the influential goth band The Cure, has died. He was 65. The band made the announcement on their official website on Friday. “It is with enormous sadness that we confirm the death of our great friend and

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns and influencer Jordyn Woods are engaged, the couple announced Thursday. In a joint Instagram post captioned with the pun “Marry Christmas” and a few emojis, the couple shared 15 proposal photos taken on a rooftop in New York. Woods,

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press After the crystal ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City, it will rise again, sparkling in red, white and blue to usher in 2026 and kick off months of celebrations for the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday. The patriotic touches at this year’s Times Square gathering, including a

By The Associated Press As 2025 wraps up, The Associated Press has curated a list of memorable stories and enjoyable reads published this year that you may have missed in the flurry of news and the busyness of living. There are storybook endings and heartbreak. Some are stranger than fiction, and others take you behind

By CODY JACKSON Associated Press DORAL, Fla. (AP) — When Fernando Dávila was 8 years old in Colombia, he failed a drawing class because he painted donkeys red. There was a reason for that: He is colorblind. Now the 72-year-old Dávila is an established and respected artist whose vibrant paintings have been exhibited in South

By CONNIE PANZARIELLO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — “Heated Rivalry” is scoring big with hockey romance fans. Since its Thanksgiving weekend debut, the steamy television adaptation of Rachel Reid’s 2019 novel has dominated social media feeds and inspired a growing fanbase devoted to the queer romance at its center. The story traces Canadian Shane

LONDON (AP) — Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump as he warned Thursday about the rise of fascism in an address to U.K. viewers dubbed “The Alternative Christmas Message.” The message, aired on Channel 4 on Christmas day, reflected on the impact from the second term in office for

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It is one of the most surprising music stories of the year. While streams of new music — releases from the last 18 months — were down from last year, one genre is on the rise: Christian and gospel music, according to industry data and

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs urged a federal appeals court in New York late Tuesday to order his immediate release from prison and reverse his conviction on prostitution-related charges or direct his trial judge to lighten his four-year sentence. The

SWANSEA, Wales (AP) — Martha Stewart has joined pal Snoop Dogg as a minority owner of Welsh soccer team Swansea. The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second division, didn’t disclose financial details in Tuesday’s announcement about the American businesswoman and media personality. Stewart, 84, was in attendance last Friday for Swansea’s

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Venus Williams and Andrea Preti are married, the tennis great announced Tuesday on social media. Williams and Preti became wife and husband over the weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of a five-day celebration. After becoming the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in July, the 45-year-old

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — On any given evening as the lights come up on Act 2 of “Liberation,” Bess Wohl’s intergenerational Broadway play about a women’s consciousness-raising group, you can hear supportive cheers of “Whoo!” and “Yeah!” — and sometimes, a round of applause. All before a single word

By KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British authorities on Tuesday brought new counts of rape and sexual assault against comedian Russell Brand, who is already facing similar charges involving four women. The U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service said the new charges — one count of rape and one of sexual assault — against Brand

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Al Michaels has achieved many milestones during his Hall of Fame broadcasting career. The one he has reached this season, though, may stand the test of time — 40 years as the play-by-play announcer for one of the NFL’s primetime packages. According to research from the 506 Sports Archive,

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Timothée Chalamet squints as he gazes out at the Manhattan shoreline. It’s a few hours before the premiere of his new movie, “Marty Supreme,” but at this moment, he’s sitting on a quiet bench at the end of a West Side pier. It’s brisk and

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE Associated Press Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind bestselling video games such as Call of Duty, has died. He was 55. Video game company Electronic Arts said Zampella died Sunday. The company did not disclose his cause of death. In 2010, Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA, and he

Elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that a new mural in London, depicting two children lying down and pointing up at the sky, is his latest work. The artist posted two photos of the artwork on his official Instagram account Monday, hours after its appearance on a wall on the side of a

By The Associated Press Barry Manilow will be having surgery to remove a cancerous spot on his lung and will reschedule his January concerts, the singer announced Monday. Manilow, 82, said doctors found the cancer after he had an extended bout of bronchitis — six weeks, then a relapse of another five weeks. “My wonderful

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new night-time holiday display featuring music, colors and more than a million twinkling lights in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is delighting children and adults. There are towering peonies and fields of lights on the mile-long ( 1.6-kilometer) illuminated trail at the city’s Botanical Garden.

By BERENICE BAUTISTA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Regional Mexican band Grupo Frontera is heading to the 2026 Grammys with two nominations, following a double-nod at the Latin Grammys, where they competed for best regional Mexican song and a collaboration with Fuerza Regida. While they didn’t win a Latin Grammy, the band said they

LONDON (AP) — Chris Rea, the singer and songwriter best known for the hit “Driving Home for Christmas,” has died at 74, his family said Monday. Rea died in the hospital following a short illness, according to a statement from his family to Britain’s Press Association news agency. Rea found fame in the 1980s in

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — John Skelley can’t escape the pull of Harry Potter. It’s as if something magical keeps them together. The stage actor was first hired to be an understudy of the grown-up wizard in Broadway’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Then he led the cast in

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer Dictionaries define things. It’s their job. So when dictionary.com pronounced “6-7” as their 2025 word of the year, you’d think they would have, well, defined it. But no. “We’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” they told us of this year’s “linguistic time capsule.” But