AP National Entertainment News

By TERRY TANG Associated Press Christine Choy, a trailblazer for Asian Americans in independent film and whose documentary on the fatal beating of Vincent Chin was nominated for an Academy Award, has died. She was 73. Choy died Sunday, according to a statement from JT Takagi, executive director of Third World Newsreel, a filmmaking collective

By MIKE SILVERMAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — It seems all but unthinkable today: A major TV network hires a famous composer to write an original opera and broadcasts it live in prime time on Christmas Eve. But it was a different world in the early days of television back in 1951 when Gian

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — “Black Box Diaries,” a documentary in which Japanese journalist Shiori Ito investigates her own sexual assault case and the barriers she faced in pursuing justice, has been screened widely abroad since its 2024 festival debut and earned an Oscar nomination early this year. It finally premiered in

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer New York (AP) — Jelly Roll is catching his breath. It’s not a metaphor. He’s running up a hill in South Texas when he answers The Associated Press’ phone call, part of his ongoing health transformation journey. “Endorphins are flying. I feel great,” he cheers. “It’s time to win

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “The Eras Tour was a lifetime within my life,” Taylor Swift told the room at a screening of the first two episodes of her new Disney+ docuseries, “The End of an Era.” “It feels insane.” Swift spoke to the small New York crowd on Tuesday

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — King Charles III will speak about his cancer diagnosis and recovery during a TV broadcast on Friday as the monarch continues to use his personal story to encourage others to get the early screening that can boost their chances of survival. The recorded message will be broadcast

By GIADA ZAMPANO and SALVATORE LAPORTA Associated Press NAPLES, Italy (AP) — At long last, vindication has arrived for an Oscar-winning composer who sought to prove he was just as capable of breathing life into Italy’s grand theaters as into gritty Hollywood films. On Friday night, Naples’ Teatro San Carlo staged Ennio Morricone’s only opera,

NEW YORK (AP) — A Hollywood director was convicted Thursday on charges that he scammed Netflix out of $11 million for a show that never materialized, while he instead used the cash for lavish purchases that included several Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari and about $1 million in mattresses and luxury bedding. Carl Erik Rinsch, best known

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, has said they will return the winner’s trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the politically troubled pop music competition. In an Instagram video, Nemo held the microphone-shaped glass ornament and said “today I no longer feel like this trophy

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s long-celebrated yodeling has received a response from the U.N. cultural agency: The Alpine tradition of chant and song is indeed worthy of classification in a list of the world’s cultural heritage. A committee of Paris-based UNESCO, meeting in New Delhi, on Thursday listed yodeling in its list of intangible cultural heritage.

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Researchers, documentary filmmakers and others will soon be able to get their hands on screenwriter and director Lawrence Kasdan’s papers at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Archivists are about a quarter of the way through cataloging the 150-plus boxes of material that document

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press If you’d rather stay in than brave the elements or deal with holiday crowds, it’s a great time to catch up on the year’s standout television shows. A number of titles got people watching and also talking. In no particular order, here are 10 shows that broke out in 2025.

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and will bring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Luke Skywalker to the AI company’s Sora video generation tool, in a licensing deal that the two companies announced on Thursday. At the same time, Disney went after Google, demanding the tech

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Crystal Hernández steadies her violin and scans the crowd from the sixth floor of SoFi Stadium as 70,000 fans stream into a Los Angeles Rams home game. Below her, blue-and-gold jerseys mix with charro suits and sombreros, and the low rumble of pregame noise

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The landmark Dutch museum that holds some of the most famous paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer announced Thursday that it is planning a new branch in the southern city of Eindhoven to give more people access to its vast trove of art and artifacts. The

By JAMES BROOKS Associated Press LYNGBY, Denmark (AP) — It was a wedding that captivated the world — in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer said “I will” to Prince Charles, becoming Princess of Wales and bringing youth and glamour to Britain’s royal family. More than 40 years after the wedding and many years after the marriage

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press The painting that introduced “Star Wars” to the world nearly 50 years ago — and was reproduced in an iconic movie poster — sold at auction on Wednesday for $3.875 million. The acrylic and airbrush painting by the artist and movie poster designer Tom Jung first appeared in newspaper advertisements

By JILL LAWLESS and ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Writer Sophie Kinsella, whose effervescent rom-com “Confessions of a Shopaholic” sparked a millions-selling series, died Wednesday, her family said. She was 55 and had been diagnosed with brain cancer. The family said in a statement on Kinsella’s Instagram account that “she died peacefully, with

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Behind the Wizard of Oz in the two-part “Wicked” movies were people actually pulling the strings. They set the table for the hit double-punch movies long before the cameras ever rolled out: The casting directors, helped pick who made it to Oz. “Our job is

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer The New York Times, attacked by President Donald Trump for reporting about his physical condition, said on Wednesday that it wouldn’t be deterred by “false and inflammatory language” that distorts the role of a free press. The president had posted on his Truth Social platform that he believed it

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer CBS News appointed Tony Dokoupil as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday, charging him with taking on ABC’s dominant David Muir on one of the flagship shows for broadcast television. Dokoupil, who has been part of the “CBS Mornings” team since 2019, will start his new job

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Charli XCX is making a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in January. The pop singer-songwriter appears in three films premiering at the 2026 festival, including a mockumentary that she produced and stars in. Programmers on Wednesday unveiled a lineup of 90 feature films set for the festival’s last

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press In what figures to be a score for refined palates, the famous 1976 wine tasting in which California selections stunningly triumphed over older French vineyards will be portrayed in the opera “The Judgment of Paris” by composer Jake Heggie. A rare comedy by Heggie, known best for turning Sister Helen

NEW YORK (AP) — USA Today’s editor in chief, Caren Bohan, is out after a little more than a year leading the flagship newspaper of the Gannett chain. Her exit was confirmed on Wednesday by Monica Richardson, senior vice president of USA Today. No reason was given. Bohan became the newspaper’s top editor in September

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Melanie Moore, who runs the Ohio-based Cincy Book Bus, is one of hundreds of booksellers who received a pleasant surprise for the holidays: a check for $500 from author James Patterson. “I’ve never taken a salary. All profits from the bookstore go to buy books