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AP National Entertainment News

Kennedy Center to close for 2 years for renovations in July, Trump says, after performers’ backlash

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he will move to close Washington’s Kennedy Center performing arts center for two years starting in July for construction, his latest proposal to upturn the storied venue since returning to the White House. Trump’s announcement on social media

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Music’s biggest stars use the Grammys stage to protest Trump’s immigration crackdown

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press Entertainment’s awards season has coincided with the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in Minneapolis, forcing artists to decide whether and how to join the growing cultural revolt against immigration crackdowns. Pushback from music’s biggest stars was visible Sunday from the Grammys red carpet and throughout the telecast. Activists spent the

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Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Iranian drama ‘It Was Just an Accident’ arrested in Tehran

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer One of the Oscar-nominated screenwriters of the Iranian drama “It Was Just an Accident” has been arrested in Tehran just weeks before the Academy Awards. Representatives for the film on Sunday said that Mehdi Mahmoudian was arrested Saturday. No details on the charges against Mahmoudian were available. But his

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‘Melania,’ panned by some film critics, opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Promoted by President Donald Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted with a better-than-expected $7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The release of “Melania” was unlike any seen before. Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the

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Black History Month centennial channels angst over anti-DEI climate into education, free resources

By TERRY TANG Associated Press For academics, historians and activists, the past year has been tumultuous in advocating the teaching of Black history in the United States. Despite last year proclaiming February as National Black History Month, President Donald Trump started his second term by claiming some African American history lessons are meant to indoctrinate

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In Minneapolis, all-encompassing immigration story tests a newsroom in midst of digital transition

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer With the eyes of a nation fixed on the unrest in Minneapolis, the events haven’t left local journalists overmatched. Over the past month, the Minnesota Star Tribune has broken stories, including the identity of the immigration enforcement officer who shot Renee Good, and produced a variety of informative and

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From Elon Musk to the former Prince Andrew, a who’s who of powerful men are named in Epstein files

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — From tech titans to Wall Street power brokers and foreign dignitaries, a who’s who of powerful men make appearances in the huge trove of documents released Friday by the Justice Department in connection with its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein. Many have denied having close ties to

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Punxsutawney Phil prepares to issue his Groundhog Day weather verdict from Gobbler’s Knob

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press The groundwork has been laid for a sunrise ceremony Monday when international woodchuck celebrity Punxsutawney Phil’s annual long-term weather forecast will be announced — six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Tens of thousands of revelers will be descending on Gobbler’s Knob in rural Pennsylvania to witness this

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Moira Rose, Delia Deetz, Cookie Fleck and Kevin’s mom: Catherine O’Hara’s memorable roles

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer Now is certainly not the time for pettifogging. But can we confabulate about the comic brilliance of Catherine O’Hara? These radically arcane words, like so many others, dripped off the gifted comedian’s tongue so silkily as Moira, her singularly eccentric matriarch in “Schitt’s Creek,” that you laughed well before

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Macaulay Culkin, Eugene Levy and more pay tribute to Catherine O’Hara, who died at 71

By LEANNE ITALIE and MARK THIESSEN Associated Press The death of Catherine O’Hara at 71 prompted an outpouring from the actor’s co-stars and friends over the decades. O’Hara, whose legendary comic skills were on display in “Home Alone,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Beetlejuice” and much more, died Friday in Los Angeles after a brief illness. Macaulay Culkin

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