SEOUL (Reuters) – The manager of South Korea’s popular boyband BTS has apologised on behalf of one of its members who went to a bar in April, contrary to government advice, just as the country is trying to contain a recent coronavirus outbreak around Seoul’s c... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Stuck at home with the kids? Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cate Blanchett may be able to help. Oscar-winning New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi has lined up some of his Hollywood friends by videolink from their living rooms for a ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – American jazz singer Melody Gardot is inviting musicians around the world to play along digitally on her new album to overcome the solitude and financial strain of coronavirus lockdowns. For the song “From Paris with Love” on her new album, G... More »
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – He rose from South Africa’s poorest province to become one of the world’s most successful DJs, entertaining millions in dance clubs all over the globe, but the COVID-19 lockdown has got DJ Black Coffee wondering about the future of the... More »
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – On stage in an empty auditorium, backed by starry lights, Patrick Kabre plucks his electric guitar and sings through a microphone to an audience many miles away. Kabre is contributing to COVID-Live, a series of sessions by musicians bro... More »
BOGOTA (Reuters) – This time there are no lights, cameras, dressing rooms or the hundreds of people who usually crowd a film shoot. There is just a mobile phone, a tripod, a bathroom and “Action!” Colombian director Harold Trompetero, who has directed 21 films... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “We Are The World,” the celebrity-packed 1985 charity single, is getting an encore this weekend, courtesy of the stars of “American Idol.” “Idol” judges Lionel Richie, who co-wrote the song with the late Michael Jackson, Katy Perry and ... More »
(Reuters) – Country music star Keith Urban performed a surprise live show at a drive-in movie theater in Nashville in a test drive for how concerts might look in the era of social distancing. Urban, on stage with just one other musician, played at the Stardust... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Haruki Murakami, one of Japan’s most acclaimed novelists, will host a radio special to try to lift the nation’s spirits as a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus lingers. Murakami, whose breakout novel “Norwegian Wood” debuted in 198... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fans may have to wait until the fall for the “Friends” reunion special as HBO Max executives are holding out hopes of filming it before a live audience rather than shooting the much-anticipated get together remotely with stars under qua... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jerry Stiller, who played two of American television’s most cantankerous fathers on the sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens,” has died aged 92, his son Ben Stiller said on Twitter on Monday. “I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Sti... More »
CANNES, France (Reuters) – In a normal year, Joseph Morpelli would be getting ready to plant his stepladder opposite the Cannes Festival venue so he and his fellow diehard fans can get a glimpse of celebrities walking down the red carpet. This year, coronaviru... More »
(Reuters) – Kurt Cobain’s cardigan sold for a record $334,000 last year. Now the acoustic guitar the punk rocker played for Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” session, just five months before his death, is expected to fetch around $1 million at auction in June. Julien’... More »
(Reuters) – Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” who built his ground-breaking sound with a boiling blend of boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues and gospel, died on Saturday at the age of 87. Richard, a Grammy Award winner and inductee ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins will stream a concert from an empty Royal Albert Hall on Friday evening, as locked-down Britain marks the 75th anniversary of “Victory in Europe” Day. Millions of people held a two-minute silence while m... More »
(Reuters) – A trooper stopping a car with a suspected “impaired driver” on a U.S. highway on Monday was bemused to find a 5-year-old in the driver’s seat, the Utah Highway Patrol tweeted. After seeing a vehicle driving slowly and weaving in the left lane of th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Londoners locked out of galleries can find an alternative art fix on a wall under under some railway arches after street artist Lionel Stanhope painted a Caravaggio classic, updated for the coronavirus age. The Italian baroque master’s “Supp... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s ITV said its popular dating show Love Island would be cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and there would not be a new series until 2021, in a big setback for the broadcaster’s advertising revenues. ITV said in ... More »
LAGOS (Reuters) – Two dozen Lagos healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks rushed outside the isolation tents and, making sure to keep six feet apart on the bright green grass, danced and swayed as a saxophone and trumpet struck up the band. Inside the tent... More »
(Reuters) – Icelandic actor and strongman Hafthor Bjornsson set a world record for the deadlift on Saturday when he lifted 1,104 pounds (501 kg) at Thor’s Power Gym in Iceland. Bjornsson, best known for his portrayal of Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on the... More »
(Reuters) – Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) owned NBCUniversal is evaluating a significant reduction of staff across its portfolio of media and entertainment properties as part of a cost-cutting effort, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar... More »
(Reuters) – For a glimpse at how Disney recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, look no further than Shanghai, where the entertainment giant has staged a limited reopening of Shanghai Disney Resort. Adults, kids and senior citizens wear masks while wandering a... More »
(Reuters) – Some of Britain’s top comedians are joining forces to raise money for pubs shut down by the coronavirus, by hosting an online virtual pub quiz with a plan to set a new world record. Russell Howard, Nish Kumar, Jon Richardson, Joel Dommett, Marcus B... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Even Tim Gunn, the immaculately dressed fashion mentor from “Project Runway” and Amazon’s new competition show “Making the Cut,” is finding it hard to get out of his pajamas these days. As much of the world shelters at home to prevent t... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Dressed in black and wearing a facemask, the dancer leaps and pirouttes across Budapest’s deserted central Heroes Square – to the strains of a melody that mirrors the molecular structure of the coronavirus. To mark World Dance Day, Zsolt V... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Taylor Swift on Thursday revived her feud with her former record company, complaining that the release of a 2008 collection of recordings for a radio show was “tasteless.” “I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former reco... More »
(Editor’s note: paragraph 7 contains language that some readers may find offensive) LONDON (Reuters) – The Rolling Stones gave their fans some satisfaction on Thursday by releasing a new track “Living in a Ghost Town”, part-recorded during the coronavirus lock... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Coronavirus quarantine has supermodel Naomi Campbell reinventing herself as a talk show host with the new series “No Filter with Naomi.” The catwalk queen is chatting live on YouTube every day with some of her famous friends, including Vog... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Tom Hanks has sent a letter and a Corona brand typewriter to an Australian boy who wrote to him about being bullied over his name, Corona, Australian television networks reported on Thursday. Corona De Vries, an eight-year-old from the Go... More »
(Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett who accused the city of Chicago of malicious prosecution in concluding that his claim to having been the victim of a racist and homophobic beating was a hoax.... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Whitney Houston is headed back to the big screen in a feature film about the singer’s life that took her to the heights of fame but ended in drug addiction and tragedy. Taking its title from one of Houston’s biggest hits – “I Wanna Danc... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Goldie Hawn, her daughter Kate Hudson and baby granddaughter Rani Rose Fujikawa graced the cover of “People” magazine’s annual Beautiful issue on Tuesday. It was the first time that three generations had appeared on the Beautifu... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Kelly Rowland, Halle Berry and Anthony Anderson are among a host of black celebrities taking on the coronavirus epidemic as the disease continues to disproportionately affect minorities in the United States. The actors and singers will tak... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The cast of the hit TV comedy “Friends” on Tuesday offered six fans the chance to join them for their upcoming reunion show, which will raise funds for those worst-affected by the coronavirus epidemic. “The One Where You Meet the Entire... More »
(Reuters) – AT&T Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will make its HBO Max streaming service free to some customers when it launches on May 27. The HBO Max app will be pre-loaded on the AT&T TV set top box. HBO Max will also be included with the AT&T Internet 10... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Oktoberfest, the world’s largest folk festival, where revellers from all over the world gather to swig large quantities of beer, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, the southern state of Bavaria said on Tuesday. Aroun... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Almost 21 million Americans watched the “One World: Together At Home” global special on Saturday in support of frontline workers battling the coronavirus pandemic, according to Nielsen data released on Monday. Nielsen said that the two-... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics to his 1960s classic “The Times They Are A-Changin’” are going up for sale with a $2.2 million asking price in what could mark a world record for rock lyrics. Gary Zimet, owner of Los Angeles-based autogra... More »
(Reuters) – Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey on Saturday headlined a special broadcast of music, comedy and personal stories celebrating those around the world on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.... More »
(Reuters) – AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N), the world’s largest movie theater operator, said on Friday it has enough cash to withstand a global suspension of operations until a possible partial reopening of its locations in July. The company said it wa... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – San Diego Comic-Con, an annual celebrity-studded showcase of superhero films and pop culture, has been canceled for the first time in its 50-year history due to the global coronavirus outbreak, organizers said on Friday. Comic-Con had b... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Rolling Stones will join a star-studded global television broadcast on Saturday to honor healthcare workers on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, the band announced on Friday. The two-hour “One World: To... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Artist Paul McCartney’s handwritten lyrics to The Beatles’ hit song “Hey Jude” sold for $910,000 on Friday, nine times its original estimate, auction house Julien’s Auctions said. A vintage bass drumhead with The Beatles’ logo that was use... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Harvey Weinstein was charged in Los Angeles on Friday with a third sexual assault case, and prosecutors there said they have started the process of seeking his extradition from New York, where the former film producer is serving prison ... More »
CHIPPING CAMDEN, England (Reuters) – Costume makers in Britain who normally dress actors in shows from Downton Abbey to Game of Thrones and Batman have joined forces to make scrubs for medics fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Working from kitchens, sheds and ... More »
(Reuters) – Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a prison sentence for rape, has no symptoms of the coronavirus, his spokesman said on Thursday, more than two weeks after a union official for corrections officers said the former movie producer had tested positive.... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Sketch show “Saturday Night Live” is returning to U.S. television with a new, remotely produced show this weekend, broadcaster NBC said on Thursday. The network said the satirical show, which shut down production in mid-March because of... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Elmo and Cookie Monster are reaching out to young children confused at being stuck at home during the coronavirus epidemic with a special “Sesame Street” episode airing next week. “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and actors Anne Ha... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Ellen DeGeneres, one of America’s most popular TV personalities, faced a barrage of criticism on Wednesday after comparing her self-isolation in a multimillion-dollar mansion to being in prison. DeGeneres, whose daily television talk sh... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy-winning singer John Prine, who wrote his early songs in his head while delivering mail and later emerged from Chicago’s folk revival scene in the 1970s to become one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, died on ... More »
(Reuters) – Broadway theaters, among New York’s most-visited tourist attractions, will remain closed through June 7 due to the global coronavirus outbreak, an industry group said on Wednesday. The theaters closed on March 12 for what was supposed to be one mon... More »
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnia’s most popular band, Dubioza Kolektiv, invites its audience to “stay connected and disinfected” during a weekly “Quarantine Show” online to cheer up fans locked in their homes due to the coronavirus. Bosnia, like most states in Euro... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An auction of late actress Doris Day’s four Golden Globe awards and other items from her life generated nearly $3 million over the weekend, far outpacing original estimates, Julien’s Auctions said on Sunday. Top-selling items in the liv... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. singer Pink said on Friday she had tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, two weeks ago and has since recovered. “Two weeks ago my three-year old son, Jameson, and I were showing symptoms of COVID-... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bill Withers, a soulful singer best known for the 1970s hits “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has died at age 81 from heart complications, his family said on Friday. Withers produced nine albums, most of them written and... More »
(Reuters) – Country music stars will come together on Sunday with acoustic performances recorded from their homes for a televised special that will replace the annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were canceled due to the global coronavirus outbreak. ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co will release the live-action epic “Mulan” in movie theaters in July and Marvel’s “Black Widow” in November, the company said on Friday as it reshuffled a schedule disrupted by the global coronavirus outbreak. Among other ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday she was donating $10 million to coronavirus relief efforts, including a new venture to help get food to vulnerable Americans during the coronavirus epidemic. Winfrey, one of America’s richest and most infl... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The release of the much anticipated movie sequel to “Top Gun” has been moved to December, Paramount Pictures said on Thursday, the latest disruption in the movie industry caused by the coronavirus epidemic. “Top Gun: Maverick,” starring... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Fans of musical theatre forced by the coronavirus pandemic to stay at home will be able to watch some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most popular shows for free on Youtube every week. The series, entitled “The Shows Must Go On!”, will kick off on ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Taylor Swift is sending cash to some of her fans and Rihanna has donated $6 million to support people whose livelihoods have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Movie and record producer David Geffen said he is self-isolating in t... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Public Enemy’s ouster last month of founding member Flavor Flav was a hoax to generate publicity and provide a commentary on disinformation, members of the rap group said on Wednesday as they released a new album. Founder Chuck D and fo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wilhelm Burmann, a master teacher and coach for the world’s top ballet dancers for more than four decades, has died of renal failure after his treatment was complicated by the coronavirus, a close friend said. He was 80. Burmann died peace... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean K-Pop star on Wednesday pulled an April Fool’s prank announcing that he had contracted coronavirus, and later removed the Instagram post after triggering a backlash. Kim Jae-joong, a member of boyband JYJ, posted on his Instagr... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Lindsay Lohan, whose promising movie career crashed a decade ago in a string of legal woes and substance abuse, on Tuesday announced she was making a comeback with a new music single. “I’m back!,” the 33-year-old star of “Mean G... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Billie Eilish sang on her sofa, Elton John played a keyboard belonging to his children, and the Backstreet Boys sang in harmony from five locations as dozens of musicians put on a fundraiser for the warriors against a coronavirus. Those... More »
WARSAW/KRAKOW (Reuters) – Poland’s Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the world’s most celebrated composers, died on Sunday at the age of 86, his family said. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian rapper MV Bill added his voice to a chorus of criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro for downplaying the gravity of the new coronavirus epidemic in a video clip that urges people to protect themselves. His rap “Quarantine” r... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson returned to Los Angeles on Friday after spending more than two weeks in quarantine in Australia after testing positive for the coronavirus. The “Forrest Gump” and “Toy Story” actor and Wilson were phot... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The stars of the movie “Contagion,” which has seen a surge in popularity as the coronavirus has spread across the globe, on Friday urged fans to listen to experts, wash their hands frequently and practice social distancing. “That was a ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bob Dylan on Friday released a 17-minute song inspired by the assassination more than five decades ago of U.S. President John F. Kennedy – the influential singer’s first original music since 2012. Dylan, 78, announced the release of “Mu... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Five guns which were used in “James Bond” movies, including the last weapon brandished by actor Roger Moore while playing 007, have been stolen from a house in north London by suspects with Eastern European accents, British police said on Fr... More »
ROVANIEMI, Finland (Reuters) – When Peruvian musician Victor Alarcon set out on his dream trip to shoot a music video in the Finnish Arctic for his single called ‘Aurora Boreal’ (Northern Lights), he did not expect the coronavirus outbreak to leave him strande... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo said on Sunday he had tested positive for coronavirus and had gone into self isolation with his family. “We are currently all in good health but I developed a cough and a fever and decided to get tested, ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Members of the Bagby family have operated movie theaters in small U.S. towns for four generations. With the coronavirus outbreak forcing their 400 screens to go dark indefinitely, some of them worry that run could come to an end. The fa... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Movie studios Walt Disney and Universal Pictures said on Thursday they were suspending the release of box office data because of the closure of movie theaters in multiple countries in a bid to contain the coronavirus. The decision follo... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The Cannes Film Festival, the world’s largest, was forced to postpone its latest edition in May due to the spread of the coronavirus, organisers of the annual event on the French Riviera said on Thursday. The postponement follows weeks of spe... More »
(This March 17 story corrects stock symbol of Zoom to ZM.O, not ZOOM.PK in the last paragraph) By Jane Lanhee Lee and Paresh Dave OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – Andre Hilden, a data architecture consultant in Oakland, California, missed a memo from his company la... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Daniel Dae Kim, best known for the television series “Hawaii 5-0,” said on Thursday he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Kim, speaking from his home in Hawaii, announced the news in an Instagram posting and video. “Yesterda... More »
(Reuters) – Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group said on Thursday it has laid off almost all of its workforce, except the support team, as social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic forced the Montreal-based circus company to cancel shows. The job cuts ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Bavaria’s Passion Play, staged every decade since the 1630s when villagers thanked God for the end of the plague, has been postponed for two years due to the coronavirus, organizers in the German village of Oberammergau said on Thursday. Abo... More »
(Reuters) – Abigail Disney, grand daughter of Walt Disney Co’s co-founder Roy Disney, slammed a Twitter post showing a huge crowd at Sunday night’s showing of ‘Happily Ever After’, a fireworks show in Florida’s Magic Kingdom theme park. “Are you … kidding me??... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Much of public life in the United States essentially ground to a halt this week. In the entertainment world, theme parks shut down, Broadway went dark, studios pulled major tentpoles from their release calendar, and virtually all H... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Bans on mass gatherings introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic might have been expected to deal a death blow to musical life, but have instead prompted a boom in free online concerts. One musician to step up to the plate i... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The filming in Mexico of a big budget Steven Spielberg-produced Amazon mini-series, starring Spanish actor Javier Bardem, has been suspended due to concerns about the coronavirus, according to a letter sent to cast and crew on Friday an... More »
(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co said on Friday it would make the sequel to hit animated movie “Frozen” available on its streaming platform Disney+ three months ahead of schedule in the United States, as media companies respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The compa... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. theater operators moved to prevent the spread of coronavirus and reassure audiences ahead of a weekend with options ranging from satirical thriller “The Hunt” to Pixar animated adventure “Onward” and faith-based film “I Still Belie... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge cabaret, the Louvre museum and the Eiffel Tower were among top tourism landmarks that closed their doors on Friday after the government banned gatherings of more than 100 people to curb the spread of coronavirus. The... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Guadalajara International Film Festival, set to kick off in Mexico’s second biggest city late next week, will be postponed until further notice due to coronavirus fears, event organizers announced on Friday. The decision to suspend ... More »
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – The growls from the caged hyena reverberate through the room as Mohamed Sheikh Yakub slumps silently in a chair nearby, hoping the animal will frighten away the evil spirits he says have troubled him since his divorce. The traditional tre... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – From leather bodices to sheer frilly dresses, Italian label Valentino showcased a series of all-black looks in Paris on Sunday as fashion houses pressed on with their shows in spite of the coronavirus outbreak that has kept some attendees awa... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Invisible Man” materialized at the top of box office charts after debuting to $29 million in North America over the weekend. “The Invisible Man” is Universal’s latest attempt to remake its classic mon... More »
(Reuters) – Harvey Weinstein is sitting under guard in a cinderblock room at a New York City hospital days after his conviction for sexual assault and rape, and at times “can go stir crazy just staring at the emptiness,” according to a spokesman. The former Ho... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – A drama film shot in secret to evade government censorship that highlights the moral dilemmas faced by those caught in the web of Iran’s capital punishment machine won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear award on Saturday. “There Is No Ev... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Austrian-British fashion duo Andreas Kronthaler and Vivienne Westwood brought a gypsy-like caravan of models wrapped in tartan and silk to the gilded corridors of Paris’ town hall to present their 2020-21 winter collection. Contrasting the op... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Roman Polanski cast a shadow over France’s Cesar Awards on Friday even as he won best directing for his film “An Officer and a Spy,” with several women in the audience walking out in protest at honoring a man facing rape accusations. The Fren... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Filming of Netflix Inc’s big-budget Dwayne Johnson movie “Red Notice” had been scheduled to move to Italy in the coming weeks, but producers now are exploring other locations due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, a source clos... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Roman Polanski’s film “An Officer and a Spy” collected its first Cesar Award out of 12 nominations on Friday, scooping the prize for best costume designer. Pascaline Chavanne was not at the event to collect her trophy after the entire cast an... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. rock band Green Day on Friday called off all of the Asian shows in its upcoming world tour because of the coronavirus outbreak, the latest music act to pull back from performances in the region. The punk band’s Hella Mega tour was planned to h... More »
(Reuters) – Katherine Johnson, the black woman whose mathematical genius took her from a behind-the-scenes job in a segregated NASA as portrayed in the film “Hidden Figures” to a key role in sending humans to the moon, died on Monday at the age of 101, NASA sa... More »
