Entertainment category, Page 188
Grammy predictions: AP writers debate who’ll triumph Sunday
The number of nominees for the Grammys’ top awards keeps growing, up to 10 this year, making the competition stronger, but predictions a lot trickier. Are too many pop artists going to split the vote, making an upset more likely? Can we even count on past wins as a guide?...
Bruce Willis, diagnosed with aphasia, steps away from acting
NEW YORK — Bruce Wills is stepping away from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia, a condition that causes loss of the ability to understand or express speech, his family announced Wednesday. In a statement posted on Willis’ Instagram page, the 67-year-old actor’s family said Willis was recently diagnosed with...
Readers recommend these mystery novels that are also funny
It’s a tall order to ask for a mystery novel that’s also funny, like wanting a dog who can both fetch and mix a cocktail. But such things do exist (the novels, not the dog, though surely you’ll tell me if I’m mistaken), and a number of you responded to...
Apple TV+’s journey from Hollywood outsider to first streamer with a best picture OscarVideo
LOS ANGELES — It was only three years ago when Hollywood was looking at Apple with intense skepticism. Before launching its streaming service Apple TV+ in late 2019, the iPhone maker had confused traditional film and television industry players with a presentation that was heavy on star power — Oprah...
‘The Flash’ actor Ezra Miller arrested at Hawaii karaoke bar
HONOLULU — An actor known for playing “The Flash” in “Justice League” films was arrested at a Hawaii karaoke bar, where police say Ezra Miller yelled obscenities, grabbed a mic from a singing woman and lunged at a man playing darts. Miller took issue late Sunday with people singing the...
Stoney Richards stars in ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)’
If you’ve missed popular morning radio host Charles David “Stoney” Richards since he left his “Y’d Awake” morning show on WDSY-FM (Y-108), you’re in luck. You can catch Richards in the hilarious “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” opening at Pittsburgh’s Threadbare Cider House on Wednesday evening. It’s being...
Foo Fighters cancel tour in light of drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death
Foo Fighters on Tuesday announced the cancellation of all remaining tour dates, including a scheduled stop in Western Pennsylvania later this spring. The announcement comes days after drummer Taylor Hawkins died while the band was on tour in Colombia. In a statement to fans, the band called the loss of...
Pittsburgh Symphony, United Way plan free benefit concert for Ukrainian refugees
Pittsburghers pull together in tough times, said Bobbi Watt Geer, president and CEO of United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. She’s seen it happening as the United Way and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra prepare for a concert in support of humanitarian relief for the people of Ukraine. “In true Pittsburgh fashion, all...
From Hollywood’s illusion factory, some unexpected reality
In the minutes and hours after Will Smith accosted and slapped Chris Rock before a live audience of millions, social media platforms lit up with a breathless and emphatic hot take: Surely, multitudes insisted, the whole thing was staged. They talked of the specifics of the altercation (“Rock barely moved”)....
TV Talk: Beaver County teen’s ‘Idol’ streak continuesVideo
Morgan Gruber of Franklin Township, Beaver County, made it through a second week of ABC’s “American Idol” in the season’s first Hollywood Week episode Monday night. Gruber was barely featured in the episode but she could be glimpsed briefly singing Demi Lovato’s “Anyone” as part of the pop performers genre....
Will Smith apologizes: ‘I was out of line and I was wrong’
LOS ANGELES — The day after slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage and upending the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith issued an apology to the comedian, to the academy and to viewers at home, saying he was “out of line” and that his actions are “not indicative of the...
High court to hear case about Andy Warhol art, Prince photo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a copyright dispute involving works of art by the artist Andy Warhol that were based on a photograph of the musician Prince. A lower court had at first said the artwork created before Warhol’s 1987 death was “fair use” of the...
TV Talk: Will Smith’s ego steals the spotlight from award winners
When the Academy has to say that it does not condone violence at its ceremony, you know something has gone terribly wrong. Chris Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the Oscars Sunday night, saying he looked forward to seeing her in “G.I. Jane 2” (“G.I. Jane” starred...
Will Smith dances with family after Oscar win, shocking slap
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Will Smith gleefully danced with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and their family at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, waving his best actor trophy in the air like he just didn’t care as he rapped along to a mash-up of his own songs, from “Gettin’ Jiggy...
TV Talk: Oscars rebound from 2021 disaster, then derailed by a slapVideo
Back in its traditional home with legitimately funny monologues from the hosts, ABC’s telecast of the 2022 Academy Awards proved a vast improvement in entertainment value from the pared-down-for-covid 2021 show. “CODA,” directed by 1999 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama grad Sian Heder, was the big winner, taking home...
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had multiple drugs in his system when he died, authorities say
Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for multiplatinum rock band Foo Fighters, had an assortment of drugs in his system when he died Friday, Colombian authorities said. An initial forensic medical examination and urine toxicology report of the musician’s body revealed 10 substances in his system, including THC (marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines...
Chris Wallace says he found Fox News’ questioning of the truth ‘unsustainable’
Veteran newsman Chris Wallace counts himself among the casualties of Fox News’ coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the conspiracy-mongering leading up to the attack on the Capitol. With his CNN debut slated for Tuesday, Wallace told The New York Times he ditched Fox News in December — his...
Eagles soar with ‘Hotel California’ concert at PPG Paints Arena
Just as most Eagles fans will probably never forget where they were the first time they heard the song “Hotel California,” those at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night won’t soon forget hearing the live version of the song that kicked off an in-concert performance of the entire “Hotel California”...
The Oscars are tonight. Here’s how to watch or stream live
The 94th Academy Awards are right around the corner with just enough time to squeeze in watches of some of the 10 best picture nominees before the lights go down in the Dolby Theatre. After last year’s scaled back ceremony at Los Angeles’ Union Station, this year the Oscars are...
Will Smith, Chris Rock confrontation shocks Oscar audience
LOS ANGELES — A 94th Academy Awards that steadily maintained a buoyant spirit was rocked by an unbelievable exchange after Will Smith took offense to a joke made by Chris Rock about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. After Rock joked to Smith that he was looking forward to a sequel...
Black News Channel shuts down days after ratings high
NEW YORK — The Black News Channel has pulled the plug after the 2-year-old venture failed to meet payroll and lost the backing of its biggest investor. Princell Hair, the company’s president and CEO, told employees Friday in a memo that the news network was ceasing live production and would...
Pittsburgh’s Girl Talk to release full-length album with Wiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA, Big K.R.I.T.
Pittsburgh music producer Gregg Gillis made an international name for himself mashing things together — the Spencer Davis Group and Texas rappers Underground Kingz. Procol Harum and Lil’ Jon. Black Sabbath and Ludacris. On April 8, Gillis — better known as Girl Talk — will debut his latest effort, but...
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dead at 50
LOS ANGELES — Taylor Hawkins, for 25 years the drummer for Foo Fighters and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, has died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50. There were no immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement...
WWE star Triple H retires from wrestling, says heart condition will prevent him from working in-ring againVideo
“The Game” is over inside the squared circle, but he still goes on and it sounds like that is a blessing considering how things could have ended. That’s because WWE personality Triple H, whose real name is Paul Michael Levesque, told Stephen A. Smith during a “First Take” interview Friday...
TV Talk: Pam Surano exits KDKA-TV for job with Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
KDKA-TV freelance reporter Pam Surano has left the station and joined the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh where she’s now working as producer/assignment editor for another former KDKA mainstay: Jennifer Antkowiak, who is the diocese’s executive director of communications and community relations. Surano said Antkowiak, who Surano had met previously...
