AP National Entertainment News

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The top prize of entertainer of the year at the 2025 Country Music Association Awards went to none other than Lainey Wilson, who hosted, performed and barely left the stage Wednesday night. “It takes a village,” she said in her acceptance speech. “We about to

By The Associated Press Ted Danson’s “A Man on the Inside” returning to Netflix for its second season and Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo belting out the “Wicked: For Good” soundtrack are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Rapper Nicki Minaj took up President Donald Trump’s allegations that Christians are persecuted in Nigeria, saying Tuesday at a United Nations event organized by the U.S. that she wants to shine a spotlight on “the deadly threat.” Trump has said Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and has told the

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump denounced ABC News’ Mary Bruce as a “terrible reporter” Tuesday and threatened the network’s license to broadcast after she asked him three sharp questions at the White House. The network’s chief White House correspondent was among reporters let into the Oval Office

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it’s investigating a new sexual battery allegation against hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related convictions. A male music producer and publicist said he was asked in late 2020 to come to a photo shoot involving clothing

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in grant money to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement with the federal government’s steward of funding for public broadcasting stations. The settlement, announced late Monday, partially resolves a legal dispute

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Nobel laureate Han Kang’s “We Do Not Part,” Megha Majumdar’s “A Guardian and a Thief” and Yiyun Li’s “ Things in Nature Merely Grow” are among the finalists for Andrew Carnegie Medals, fiction and nonfiction awards presented by the American Library Association. “A Guardian and

By HILARY FOX Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Royal Mint is celebrating Freddie Mercury with a new coin design that marks 40 years since his iconic Live Aid concert performance. The coin features an image of the Queen front man, head thrown back and holding the microphone stand midperformance. A musical stave that runs

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson filed a petition Monday for his two rape convictions and long prison sentence to be thrown out, saying that his trial lawyer failed to call key witnesses and introduce essential evidence that might have exonerated him. The petition for

NEW YORK (AP) — The December lineup for “Saturday Night Live” now includes Ariana Grande as host on Dec. 20, with Cher returning as musical guest for the first time in nearly 40 years. It’s Grande’s third time hosting. Cher hasn’t been on the “SNL” stage since 1987. Josh O’Connor will make his hosting debut

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If there’s been one uniting theme of all the blockbuster fashion exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it’s the simple idea that fashion is art. “Costume Art,” announced Monday as the next big show at the museum’s Costume Institute — launched by the starry

LONDON (AP) — Bridget Jones has joined Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Paddington as permanent residents of London’s famed Leicester Square. A new bronze statue of the romantic comedy heroine was unveiled Monday to mark 25 years since the release of the first “Bridget Jones” film. Actor Renée Zellweger, who has played the titular character

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Cruise, at 63 still the biggest movie star in a room full of them, finally got to hold his own Oscar on a Hollywood stage on Sunday night. “Making movies is not what I do, it’s who I am,” said Cruise. He was composed

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer It’s no magic trick: The third installment in the thieving magician “Now You See Me” series beat the high-profile action pic “The Running Man” at the North American box office this weekend. Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” pulled in $21.3 million, while Paramount’s “The Running Man”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alice Wong, a disability rights activist and author whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51. Wong died of an infection Friday at a hospital in San Francisco, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family. Ho called her friend a “luminary

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Todd Snider, a singer whose thoughtfully freewheeling tunes and cosmic-stoner songwriting made him a beloved figure in American roots music, has died. He was 59. His record label said Saturday in a statement posted to his social media accounts that Snider died Friday. “Where do we find the words for the

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV welcomed Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, Greta Gerwig and dozens of other Hollywood luminaries to a special Vatican audience Saturday celebrating cinema and its ability to inspire and unite. Leo encouraged the filmmakers and celebrities gathered in a frescoed Vatican audience hall to use

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk hears the popular catchphrase “6-7” all the time at home, possibly more often than please and thank you. Getting an earful of it at a women’s basketball game, well, that was new for the mother of three. Baranczyk and the sixth-ranked Sooners became the latest college team

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Historical Association has reclaimed a series of sketches by American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell, spending a whopping $7.25 million at auction on Friday. The four 1940s-era sketches titled “So You Want to See the President!” were displayed in the

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Fans of the Buddy Holly crosswalk in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, with a painted depiction of the rock and roll legend’s iconic glasses, will soon have to say goodbye to it. That’ll be a day that will possibly make them cry. Lubbock City Council members

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer The emails to and from Jeffrey Epstein released this week shine a light on the delicate relationship between reporters and their sources. And, as can be the case, bright light isn’t always flattering. Messages between Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in 2019, and journalists Michael

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Screen Actors Guild Awards are now called the Actor Awards. The show commonly known as the SAG Awards will officially become the Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA in its next incarnation on March 1, when Netflix will stream the ceremony as it has since 2023. The move was announced Friday

By MIKE CATALINI and HAVEN DALEY Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Laney College football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U”, has died after being shot on campus, the Oakland Police Department said Friday, and a suspect has been arrested. Beam’s death a day after he was shot

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For many, the name Selena Quintanilla-Pérez is the stuff of mythology. The Queen of Tejano broke barriers for women in Latin music genres of all kinds; it’s easy to see the through line between her contributions to the current success of regional Mexicana music. But

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The daughter of a Hollywood screenwriter who was imprisoned and blacklisted during the anti-communist Red Scare has decried Florida’s new social studies teaching standards that other critics have warned rehabilitate shameful aspects of the McCarthy era. “The new Florida standards you write about are appalling,” Mitzi

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press When prestige TV was first thought to be eclipsing movies, with quality scripts and meaty acting roles, two shows frequently bandied about were “Homeland” with Claire Danes and “The Americans” starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell. Danes acknowledges other parallels with Rhys. “I mean, you married an American lady, I

By BROOKE LEFFERTS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When Kristen Wiig steps out of a vintage Rolls-Royce in the opening scene of Season 2 of “Palm Royale,” she’s sporting a tall, yellow, fringed hat, gold platform sandals and sunny bell bottoms, with fabric petals that sway with every determined step. It’s the first clue

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — On a chilly midweek afternoon, hundreds of New York City high school students gathered in the pews of Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. The lesson was “Who tells your story?” The teachers, credentialed with prizes both competitive and honorary and with popular acclaim, were filmmaker