AP National Entertainment News

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer VENICE, Italy (AP) — As the Venice Film Festival kicks off this week, activists hope to redirect the spotlight from the Hollywood stars arriving on the Lido to Gaza, with an anti-war demonstration planned for one of the festival’s biggest nights. The group Venice4Palestine has called on the festival

NEW YORK (AP) — Ego Nwodim is the latest — and perhaps last — high-profile departure from “Saturday Night Live,” as the long-running sketch show has seen a cast shakeup ahead of its 51st season. Nwodim announced Friday that she is leaving, just days after Hollywood trade outlets reported the Season 51 cast — which

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jeremy Allen White grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen. He doesn’t even remember a time in his life when he wasn’t aware of his music. But sing his songs? It wasn’t until White began preparing to play the rock ’n’ roll legend for “Springsteen: Deliver

By TERRY TANG Associated Press For Rebecca F. Kuang, who has had six bestsellers before the age of 30, an eternal afterlife of leisure scares her more than the idea of going to hell. “As a child, I was told when you die you go to heaven and heaven is where you eat cake all

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer VENICE, Italy (AP) — Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are heading to Venice, Italy, for the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about the festival, the Oscar buzz and who’s going. What is the

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — V of K-pop sensation BTS threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game on Monday night after meeting two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. After taking the mound, the singer bowed slightly in the direction of Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who then caught a

By DASHA LITVINOVA and HILLEL ITALIE Associated Press The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned Woody Allen for speaking virtually at a Russian film festival over the weekend, calling his participation in the event “a disgrace and an insult” to the victims of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to Russian media, Allen spoke Sunday

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lil Nas X was charged Monday with four felonies after police say he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week. The musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, pleaded not guilty in a court

By The Associated Press Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is back. So are the stars of “Wicked” and the animals of “Zootopia.” Summer may be known as sequel season, but part twos, and threes, will play big roles this fall at the movies. That goes not just for the likes of Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — On the first day of shooting “Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro held up a drawing of the creature he had made when he was a teenager. “He said, ‘This is like Jesus to me,’” recalls Oscar Isaac. For the Mexican-born filmmaker, Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel

By ALYCE BROWN AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Over the course of the past week across the U.S. Open’s grounds, eight couples went on their first dates — on camera. They were all part of the tournament’s newest content creation venture, “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” the most recent play for Gen Z attention from

By The Associated Press Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend,” and Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Some of

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer VENICE, Italy (AP) — No Hollywood star seems as intrinsically tied to Venice as George Clooney. Twenty-seven years ago he attended his first Venice Film Festival with the instant classic “Out of Sight”; 20 years ago, it’s where he debuted his sophomore film, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” which

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bob Uecker’s Hall of Fame broadcasting career began only after the Milwaukee Brewers initially hired him as a scout. Former Brewers owner and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said it didn’t take long to realize Uecker might be better suited for a different role. “The first scouting

By ITZEL LUNA and JAKE COYLE Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Netflix appears to have its first No. 1 box-office title in the streaming company’s 18-year history thanks to the sensation of “KPop Demon Hunters.” Rival studios on Sunday estimated “KPop Demon Hunters” led all films over the weekend with $16-18 million in ticket

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A posthumous and “unsparing” memoir by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, will be published this fall, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf said Sunday. “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice” is scheduled for release Oct. 21,

By MALLIKA SEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died at 96. Adler died Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his

By LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Cute and adorable Welsh corgis, widely known for their association with the British royal family, are in fact a breed of passionate racers. That’s at least according to the 120 teams from around Europe taking part in the Corgi Race Vilnius, in Lithuania’s capital, which drew

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press MOUNT GRETNA, Pa. (AP) — It takes a 54-page pamphlet to list all the classes, concerts, outdoor recreation and other self-improvement and entertainment going on at the Pennsylvania Chautauqua in Mount Gretna this summer. The area springs to life every June, July and August, when a year-round population of about

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — If you were surprised when Mariah the Scientist’s “Burning Blue” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s rhythmic airplay chart, you weren’t alone. “It’s shocking. It’s almost like impostor syndrome, feeling, ’I have a number one song on the radio? This is crazy,’” said the 27-year-old with

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Fall books mean more than literary fiction. The top releases this season range from a fairy tale newly told to memoirs about a famous writer’s indomitable mother and life after marriage to a famous rock star. Some books were a decade or more in the

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In the decade since she published her acclaimed debut novel, “The Turner House,” Angela Flournoy has confronted a few delays, welcome and otherwise, en route to completing her second book: her first child, a pandemic, speaking engagements, the occasional essay and, throughout, the challenges of

By JUWON PARK Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After three decades in Hollywood, Daniel Dae Kim has done spy thrillers, sci-fi epics and medical dramas. But there’s one role that’s eluded the Korean American actor: romantic leading man. “I’m still waiting to play a romantic lead after all these years,” Kim says with

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer When ESPN opted out of its contract with Major League Baseball in February, the network was hoping to get a reworked package at a lower cost while Commissioner Rob Manfred thought the sport could optimize its rights in the short term for Home Run Derby and Wild Card round.

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper Lil Nas X was arrested and briefly taken to a hospital for a suspected overdose Thursday after Los Angeles police say he charged at officers responding to a report of a naked man walking on a busy boulevard. Lil Nas X, whose legal name

By ITZEL LUNA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi adopted a daughter, the first child for the married couple, this summer, they announced Thursday. “We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy,” the couple wrote in a social media

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ciara will deliver a new bundle of joy on Friday, but it’s not the fifth child her husband publicly flirts with her about. “It’s time. Honestly, I’ve been working on this album for almost five years,” said the R&B-pop superstar. “I put a lot of

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer Brent Hinds, the former singer-guitarist for the Grammy-winning heavy metal band Mastodon, has died in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta, the band and authorities said. He was 51. Hinds was killed while riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle late Wednesday night when the driver of a BMW SUV failed to yield