It's the trial that has everybody talking.

Actor Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel over a 2018 op-ed piece she wrote in The Washington Post about her being a victim of domestic abuse.

The piece does not name Depp, but his attorneys say the implications are defamatory, and he claims her allegations cost him his career, as Disney dropped him from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise just days after the article was published.

Depp concluded his testimony in the $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard.

He said he filed the lawsuit against Heard because it was his best chance to reclaim his reputation.

While on the witness stand, Depp spoke about Heard demeaning him and sometimes slapping or shoving him.

She has accused him of physically and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions.

Depp calls those accusations "false and heinous."

Heard said the actor first assaulted her in 2013 when he slapped her for making fun of his "Wino Forever" tattoo.

Depp told jurors in a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom about his rough childhood, his rise to fame, and what his relationship with Heard was like after meeting her in 2011.

The couple went on to get married in 2015, only to divorce a year later.

Although social media says he has already won, will the jury side with him?

Criminal Defense and Entertainment Attorney, Darryl Cohen, talks to Newsy and explains what to expect when Heard takes the stand next week as the first witness for her defense.  

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After a six-week trial, a civil jury in Virginia was still discussing the defamation claims by Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard on Tuesday. A verdict was still pending in the case as the jury finished their day on Tuesday.

The trial has featured lurid testimony with explicit details about the movie stars' short and volatile marriage. But the question the jury needs to answer is whether Heard defamed Depp in an op-ed in which she wrote that she was "a public figure representing domestic abuse."

The jury was also tasked with deciding a counterclaim filed by Heard. She said she was defamed when Depp's former lawyer called her abuse allegations a "hoax."

Throughout the trial, various spectacles have played out, outside of the courtroom. Fans have stood outside to catch a glimpse of the stars and wave. On Tuesday, Court TV captured images of a large Pirates of the Caribbean replica ship traveling by.

The lawsuit filed by Depp asks for $50 million in damages related to defamation claims against Heard and that 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post. Heard said she was a "public figure representing domestic abuse,” but didn't mention Depp by name in the article.

Amid the weeks of trial proceedings, Heard laid out over a dozen alleged examples where she says she experienced abuse, including at least one incident of alleged sexual abuse she claims Depp committed against her. Depp also claimed that Heard physically attacked him in the past.

The seven-member jury was tasked with deciding if two passages from the Washington Post piece, plus the headline, defamed Depp. A verdict form given to the jury will guide them on how to determine that. The jury will have to decide if Heard acted with "actual malice," since she is a public figure. Heard's lawyers told the seven jury members that if she suffered even a single incident of abuse, they must find that Depp's libel claim then fails.

Heard has filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp after Depp's former lawyer called the allegations she has made a "hoax." The jury will have to decide if Depp's former lawyer's three published statements were about Heard, were false, and if they were seen by people other than Heard. They must also decide if Depp's former attorney also made those statements with "actual malice," as the Associated Press reported.

Unionized Hollywood actors on the verge of a strike have agreed to allow a last-minute intervention from federal mediators but say they doubt a deal will be reached by a negotiation deadline late Wednesday.

"We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement," the Screen Actors Guild -American Federation of Radio and Television Artists said in a statement Tuesday night.

Video above: A Writers Guild of America member weighs in on the possibility of an actor's strike

The actors could join the already striking Writers Guild of America and grind the already slowed production process to a halt if no agreement is reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The sides agreed to an extension before the original contract expiration date on June 30, resetting it to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.

Growing pessimism surrounding the talks seemed to turn to open hostility when SAG-AFTRA released a statement Tuesday night.

It came in response to a report in Variety that a group of Hollywood CEOs had been the force behind the request for mediation, which the union said was leaked before its negotiators were informed of the request.

The AMPTP declined comment through a representative. It's not clear whether federal mediators have agreed to take part, but such an intervention would presumably require more time than the hours left on the contract.

"The AMPTP has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process," the SAG-AFTRA statement said. "We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal."

Issues on the table in the talks include residual pay and the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence.

R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to systematic sexual abuse.

The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year at a trial that gave voice to accusers who had once wondered if their stories were ignored because they were Black women. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly imposed the sentence at a courthouse in Brooklyn.

The sentence caps a slow-motion fall for Kelly, who is 55. He remained adored by legions of fans even after allegations about his abuse of young girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

“You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” said one unnamed survivor, directly addressing a Kelly who kept his hands folded and his eyes downcast. “Do you remember that?”

Kelly’s lawyers had argued he should get no more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence,” the Associated Press reported.

The hit maker is known for work including the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and the cult classic “Trapped in the Closet,” a multi-part tale of sexual betrayal and intrigue.

Tony Dow, who played Wally on the sitcom "Leave it to Beaver," is reportedly in hospice care.

Dow's wife told the CBS and ABC affiliates in Los Angeles that Dow has not passed away despite a statement from his management team.

The team posted a statement on the actor's Facebook page Tuesday, saying the actor died. The statement has since been deleted.

Dow was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. However, the type of cancer he is battling has not been disclosed.

In an update last week, Dow's team described his situation as a roller coaster of "ups and downs."

Rapper Mystikal was jailed in Louisiana on Monday, accused of rape more than a year after prosecutors dropped charges that had kept him jailed for 18 months in another part of the state.

Michael "Mystikal" Tyler was arrested on charges including rape and domestic abuse battery, Sheriff Bobby Webre of Ascension Parish, just outside Baton Rouge, said in a Facebook post Monday.

The 51-year-old hip-hop legend is being held without bond on 10 charges, according to the sheriff's office inmate lookup.

Attorney Joel Pearce, of Shreveport, who represented the rapper in the earlier case, said he believes bond will be discussed at a hearing Tuesday in Ascension Parish.

"I'm expecting it to be a big bond," he said.

Pearce said he has not been retained for Tyler's current case but they are supposed to meet Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the case. He said he will make a statement then.

Pearce represented the rapper on charges brought in 2017, accusing him of a sexual assault at a Shreveport casino in 2016. Prosecutors dropped those rape and kidnapping charges in December 2020 after new evidence was presented to a grand jury and it did not bring a new indictment.

Shreveport is more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of Ascension Parish.

Webre said deputies were called to a hospital just before midnight Sunday about a sexual assault and interviewed the victim, who had minor injuries.

"Through further investigation, Michael 'Mystikal' Tyler was identified as a suspect," the statement said.

The new charges include first-degree rape, simple robbery, false imprisonment, simple criminal damage to property, and drug charges including possession of amphetamines. Conviction for first-degree rape carries at least a life sentence — the prosecutor can chose whether to ask for the death penalty.

Tyler pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexual battery and served six years in prison.

In April 2021, he told The Associated Press that his past put him in a "horrible fraternity," but he was ready to move on.

Mystikal's 2000 hit, "Shake (it Fast)" peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2000 album "Let's Get Ready" went multiplatinum.

___

To follow AP coverage of hip hop and rap, go to https://apnews.com/hub/hip-hop-and-rap.

An adorable moment at a celebrity-filled U.S. Open happened when one fan on social media innocently mistook actress Laverne Cox with music superstar Beyoncé.

In a quick clip posted to Twitter and then posted by Cox on Instagram, the actress wrote, "Not me getting mistaken for Beyonce at the #USOpen tonight then trending on Twitter as the internet cackles over the mistaken identity. These tweets are funny ... Enjoy!!!"

Apparently, it all started when Choni Francis of "The Morning Show" posted a clip of Cox in the crowd wearing a mask and watching the match. The tweet indicated that they thought it was Beyonce in the crowd.

Twitter users started to quickly respond, saying that it was not Beyonce they were seeing and corrected Francis, pointing out that it was Cox of "Orange Is the New Black."

Francis responded too saying, "14 years of comedic creativity and one tweet, and this how the #BeyHive finally knows of my existence," he wrote. "I am one of you. accept me."

Production for Netflix's royal drama "The Crown" paused briefly while filming season six of the show as the world paid their final respects to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II after her death.

Season five is still set for release on Nov. 9 and will feature a new actress playing the queen.

Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II for the first two seasons of the show. Then for seasons three and four, Olivia Colman took over portraying Her Majesty.

Now for the latest season, Imelda Staunton will take over the role.

Season five is expected to focus on the queen's preparations for the 40th anniversary of her ascension to the throne, Netflix revealed.

"She reflects on a reign that has encompassed nine Prime Ministers, the advent of mass television, and the twilight of the British Empire," the streaming giant said.

The role of then-Prince Charles is portrayed by Dominic West, and Elizabeth Debicki was cast in the role of Princess Diana.

NEW ROADS, La. (AP) — Authorities are looking for a stolen sign marking a centuries-old tree that inspired Louisiana author Ernest Gaines.

The Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff's Office said the historical marker identifying the "Miss Jane Pittman Oak" was stolen recently and the parish government is offering a $500 reward for information leading to its recovery or the arrest of the thief, news outlets reported.

The tree itself is believed to be about 400 years old and served as partial inspiration for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," the book that gained widespread notice for the internationally acclaimed award-winning author. The book describes a first-person narrative of a fictional 110-year-old woman born into slavery.

Historians have said Gaines regularly walked past the oak tree, which sits along Louisiana Highway 16 in Lakeland, a village in the parish, on his way to the grocery store. In 2008, state officials considered cutting down the oak because its low-hanging branches posed a potential threat to passing cars. But the state ultimately relented amid pushback from Gaines and other activists, opting instead to trim the branches.

Tips leading to an arrest or recovery of the marker should be directed to the sheriff's office at 225-694-3737.

Gaines died in November 2019 at age 86.

A list of lawmakers came out to issue renewed criticism over widely-held disapproval of the grip that events giant Ticketmaster has over the industry and its record of poor customer service.

The reinvigorated critiques over the ticketing giant came after multiple days of issues with ticket presale windows for Taylor Swift fans waiting in line to purchase high-priced concert tickets.

Thursday, Ticketmaster tweeted, "Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled."

The frustrating news for fans came after multiple site crashes with Ticketmaster's purchasing platform.

Accusations that Ticketmaster has become a monopoly, or a near-monopoly, have been hurled at the company on social media, after many believe it has become too large and powerful to deal with a plethora of issues that its customers have been having over the years since its merger with Live Nation.

This month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted her criticism of the company writing, "Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in."

"Break them up," she said.

On the state level, Tennessee's Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Tuesday, "We have received complaints, we are concerned about this very dominant market player, and we want to make sure that they're treating consumers right and people are receiving fair opportunity to purchase the tickets that clearly matter a great deal to them."

As the Tennessean reported, the attorney general is concerned that there could be consumer protection laws being violated.

With little to no other competitor companies for fans and artist to turn to in order to buy and sell tickets to shows, Taylor Swift fans found themselves, this time, stuck in long online queues amid the multiple site crashes, to purchase tickets that many see as exorbitant in price, with a list of fees.

The issue has been ongoing for lawmakers who have watched the company continue to provide customer service and benefits that aren't always in the best interest of the customer.

In 2020, Rep. Katie Porter from California, the Deputy Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote on Twitter saying Ticketmaster appeared to be trying to "provide the worst customer service in any industry" after it announced in April of that year that the company would not be providing refunds for tickets to postponed shows.

This can be a major financial blow for fans who have to travel from other cities to see concerts and attend other types of events, to then find out there has been a postponement to another date because of unforeseen circumstances.

Lawmaker criticism for Ticketmaster has been ongoing, but this recent resurgence of red hot disapproval came after Taylor Swift announced her Eras Tour, a massive 52-show concert series set to begin in March. For fans, it's incredibly exciting as it's her first since 2018, and her largest, as the New York Times reported.

Tickets went on presale Tuesday via Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program that tries to keep tickets out of the hands of resellers, and first in the hands of fans.

Ticketmaster said in a statement on Tuesday that the company was “aware fans may be experiencing intermittent issues with the site and are urgently working to resolve" the issue, the company said in a tweet.

Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey wrote in a tweet that same day, "You'd think all these service and convenience fees could go to a working website Ticketmaster."

In 2009, Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged two years after an announcement that the live-events company planned to create its own ticketing service. Before the deal Live Nation was Ticketmaster's biggest customer, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Since then the merger has been criticized by artists, fans and lawmakers. In 2009 Bruce Springsteen tried to get fans to purchase tickets from his own ticketing platform.

While Springsteen lists tour dates with Ticketmaster, he said in a statement to fans, “the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing.”

An activist group has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to unwind the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger, joining lawmakers, fans and artists in their continued pursuit to allow for more competition in the space.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly close to deciding on the name "Max" for their planned combination of the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services.

The company plans to merge the two streaming services in the spring according to a report from CNBC.

The report says lawyers are currently vetting the name that executives with the company have chosen. The combined platform would contain content from brands including HBO, Discovery and DC Comics.

CNBC previously reported that executives from the company had been looking for a new name for the combined streaming services.

As The Verge reported, pricing for the new service has not been announced yet.

The company wants to increase their subscription base and improve profitability, while also choosing a name that doesn't overshadow the other branded content offerings.

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of rock and blues legend Elvis Presley, will be buried at Graceland next to her son Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020.

The famous mansion in Memphis, Tennessee was once owned by Elvis and was later inherited by his daughter after his death.

Elvis died in 1977 at 42 years old, when Lisa Marie was just 9.

She was staying at Graceland at the time of his death.

She told a reporter for Rolling Stone in 2003 of her father's death, “I just had a feeling,” she said.

“He [Elvis] wasn’t doing well. All I know is I had it [a feeling], and it happened. I was obsessed with death at a very early age,” Presley said.

Her only son, Keough died by suicide at 27.

Lisa Marie died Thursday at 54 after she was hospitalized following a medical emergency.

Raquel Welch, an actress of television, film and stage, has died. The well-known model and entertainer was 82.

Welch was known for her roles in films like 1966's "Fantastic Voyage."

Her death was confirmed to Scripps News by one of her representatives who said, "Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances. The Golden Globe winner, in more recent years, was involved in a very successful line of wigs."

The representative said, "Raquel Welch, the legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness."

Born on Sept. 5, 1940 in Chicago she moved to San Diego when she was a young child.

She studied theater arts at San Diego State College in 1958.

She became well-known after another role in 1966 on the film "One Million Years B.C."

She launched businesses selling wigs and a line of deerskin bikinis all turning her into a star of the 1960s and 1970s.

Welch went on to star in other roles like in the film "A House Is Not A Home" and an Elvis Presley musical titled "Roustabout."

A representative for the actress and model said, "Raquel leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch,"

A founding member of the American boy band LFO, Brian “Brizz” Gillis, has died at 47 years old. 

The group was formed in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1995 and released their debut self-titled album in 1999 with the hit song "Summer Girls" pushing the group into heavy rotation on music video channels like MTV, and on radio. 

The group, whose name stands for "Lyte Funkie Ones," went on to achieve modest success for a time with members Brad Fischetti, Rich Cronin and Gillis. 

Cronin laterdied in 2010 from leukemia in his mid-thirties. 

Fischetti wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday about the death of Gillis that read, "I am really struggling to process this tragic loss. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it. The LFO Story is a tragedy. If you know what I’ve been doing, you know I’m trying to bring light into the darkness. Trying find redemption in pain and suffering. Trying to honor the legacy."

No cause of death was given as Fischetti wrote that he was still without details and said he felt it wouldn't be his place to reveal them if he did. 

Gillis left the group in the late 1990s and was replaced by Devon Lima. One more album was released in 2001 called "Life is Good."

In 2017 Fischetti and Lima released the song "Perfect 10" before Lima died of adrenal cancerthe next year at 41. 

Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com

Australian-American musician Rick Springfield coming to Cincinnati in May

Updated: 12:58 PM EDT May 5, 2023

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NEW YORK (AP) — Thom Bell, the Grammy-winning producer, writer and arranger who helped perfect the "Sound of Philadelphia" of the 1970s with the inventive, orchestral settings of such hits as the Spinners' "I'll Be Around" and the Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly, Wow," has died at age 79.

Bell's wife, Vanessa Bell, said that he died Thursday at his home in Bellingham, Washington, after a lengthy illness. She declined to give additional details.

A native of Jamaica who moved to Philadelphia as a child, Thom Bell drew upon the classical influences of his youth and such favorite composers as Oscar-winner Ennio Morricone in adding a kind of cinematic scale and grandeur to the gospel-styled harmonies of the Spinners, Stylistics, Delfonics and other groups.

Few producer-arrangers compared to Bell in setting a mood — whether the celebratory strings and horns kicking off the Spinners' "Mighty Love," the deadly piano roll at the start of the O'Jays' "Back Stabbers" or the blissful oboe of "Betcha by Golly, Wow," a soulful dreamland suggesting a Walt Disney film scored by Smokey Robinson.

"Nobody else is in my brain but me, which is why some of the things I think about are crazy — I hear oboes and bassoons and English horns," he told recordcollectormag.com in 2020.

"An arranger told me 'Thom Bell, Black people don't listen to that.' I said, 'Why limit yourself to Black people?' I make music for people.'"

Bell, often collaborating with lyricist Linda Creed, worked on more than 30 gold records from 1968-78 as Philadelphia became as much a center of soul music as Detroit and Motown Records were in the 1960s. He was an independent producer but so vital to the Philadelphia International Records empire built by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff that the publishing company they formed together was called Mighty Three Music.

Bell's other hits included the Delfonics' "La-La (Means I Love You)," the Stylistics' "You Make Me Feel Brand New," Joe Simon's "Drowning in the Sea of Love" and Elton John's "Mama Can't Buy You Love."

He is widely credited with reviving the Spinners, a former Motown act that hadn't had a hit in years. Bell took them on in the early 1970s and helped create such hits as "I'll Be Around," "Ghetto Child" and "The Rubberband Man."

The Spinners' chart-topping "Then Came You" featured Dionne Warwick, who had been skeptical that the up-tempo ballad would catch on. Bell tore a dollar bill in half and got Warwick to agree that whoever guessed wrong about the song would have to inscribe an apology on their half of the money and send it to the other. Bell would long hold on to the signed note he received from Warwick.

He also worked with some personal favorites, such as an album with Anthony Gourdine of Little Anthony of the Imperials, one of his early influences, and "I'm Coming Home" and "Mathis Is ..." for Johnny Mathis, whom Bell would call the most talented singer he ever worked with, "sterling of sterling."

Bell won a Grammy in 1975 for best producer, but within a few years, the Philadelphia sound had been overtaken by other trends. He had just a handful of hits in the 1980s and after, including Deniece Williams' "Gonna Take a Miracle" and James Ingram's "I Don't Have the Heart." He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, and received an honorary Grammy in 2017. Three years later, his work was highlighted in the anthology "Ready or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements & Productions, 1965-1978."

"To put it in a nutshell, he's responsible for everything that's happened to me in my career," Stylistics lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. told the Seattle Times in 2018. "He helped me in knowing my vocal range, finding the best way to sing a song. Everyone was his instrument. It didn't matter if you were a singer, a trombonist or a studio engineer. You were part of his construction."

One of 10 siblings, Thomas Randolph Bell grew up in a household where both parents were accomplished musicians and only classical works were heard. He was taking piano lessons by age 5 and thought of becoming a conductor, but he could not ignore the sounds he was imagining in his head — high notes keyed to his own tenor — or discovering on the radio, notably Little Anthony and the Imperials' mournful "Tears On My Pillow."

"I fell in love with the whole production,'' he told the Seattle Times. "I listened to the background, the bass, a lot more than just the lyrics."

Thanks to such longtime friends as Gamble and Huff, he became well connected in the local music scene. He and Gamble were together briefly in Kenny Gamble & the Romeos, and he also worked as an arranger and session player for the Cameo and Parkway labels, where artists included the Delfonics and Chubby Checker of "The Twist" fame. Gamble and Huff began producing together in 1967, and Bell was soon working with them on songs by Jerry Butler and Dusty Springfield among others.

In the early 1970s, he met Creed, a Philadelphia-born Jew who as a teen fell in love with soul music and with Bell formed a rare interracial musical partnership. Their songs often began with Bell creating a melody and arrangement and Creed providing the words.

For "You Are Everything," a Stylistics hit which opens with "Today I saw somebody/Who looked just like you/She walked like you do," inspiration was found during a break from recording.

"We're walking down the street. We're looking around, because there's always something in the street to write about," Bell told NPR in 2006. "I saw this guy crossing, we were all crossing, and this guy stopped in the middle of the street and he looked back. Then he looked back again. He's looking at this woman. And he calls out this girl's name. And he was chasing her, and the girl looked at him like he was crazy. I was watching this, and I said, 'Creed, I've got an idea.'"

A private jet carrying 74-year-old Sir Elton John suffered a hydraulic failure while at 10,000 feet in the air, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in the U.K. on Monday, the Independent reported.

The plane was reportedly forced to abort the landing twice as it worked to touch down at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, England.

John was on his way to New York to perform at the 20,000-capacity Madison Square Garden arena that night. He had to take a later flight but was able to make it in time to perform for the show.

As Fox News reported, a representative said that fire crews and ambulances were called to assist on the ground as the plane landed. As the Sun reported, a witness who said they saw the landing told the outlet, "The jet was buffeted and couldn't land. It was horrible to see."

A representative told Fox News that the singer is "all good and performed last night at Madison Square Garden."

John was scheduled to perform in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Snoop Dogg is now the owner of the Death Row Records brand, the label which launched his career. Blackstone, the global investment firm which manages private equity funds that control the group he bought the brand from made the announcement on Wednesday.

Snoop Dogg bought the Death Row Records brand from MNRK Music Group just before his latest album called B.O.D.R. is set to be released on Feb. 11, Blackstone said in a statement.

“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value. It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members," Snoop Dogg said. "This is an extremely meaningful moment for me. I would like to personally thank the teams at Blackstone, MNRK and especially David Kestnbaum, who worked collaboratively with me over several months to make this exciting homecoming a reality. I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records,” he said.

As the Guardian reported in a profile of his career, then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, he released his first debut single in October of 1993. Hits like "Gin & Juice," and "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang" followed leading the artist to enormous success which lasts until this day with various ventures in the entertainment world, even outside of music.

Snoop Dogg has released 20 studio albums and sold over 40-million copies of those albums globally, garnering multiple number one spots on the Billboard charts and he has received 20 Grammy nominations.

As NPR reported, Tupac Shakur was Death Row Record's star artist for a period in the late 1990s before he was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996. Another hit artist and producer on the label, Dr. Dre, released his first solo album with the brand called "The Chronic," and Snoop Dogg's own debut album "Doggystyle" was also released by Death Row.

Howard Hesseman, who played the radio disc jockey Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati" and the actor-turned-history teacher Charlie Moore on “Head of the Class,” has died. He was 81.

Hesseman died Saturday in Los Angeles due to complications from colon surgery, his manager Robbie Kass said Sunday.

Video above: In 1978, Turkeys fell from the sky in iconic 'WKRP' episode

Hesseman, who had himself been a radio DJ in the '60s, earned two Emmy nominations for playing Johnny Fever on CBS’ “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran for four seasons from 1978-1982. The role made Hesseman a counterculture icon at a time when few hippie characters made it onto network television.

“I think maybe Johnny smokes a little marijuana, drinks beer and wine, and maybe a little hard liquor," Hesseman told The New York Times in 1979 as he readied for one of three “Saturday Night Live” hosting gigs. “And on one of those hard mornings at the station, he might take what for many years was referred to as a diet pill. But be is a moderate user of soft drugs, specifically marijuana.”

Hesseman played a hippie in one of his first roles, on “Dragnet,” in 1967, and also in the 1968 Richard Lester film “Petulia.” Born in Lebanon, Oregon, Hesseman wasn't so disconnected from some of the characters he played. In 1983, he told People magazine that he had conducted “pharmaceutical experiments in recreational chemistry.” He was jailed in San Francisco in 1963 for selling marijuana.

Hesseman started out as a member of the San Francisco improv group The Committee, and at the time he moonlighted on Saturdays as the disk jockey for the San Francisco rock-and-roll station KMPX. Later on “WKRP in Cincinnati," Hesseman often ad-libbed his on-air banter.

“Impossible to overstate Howard Hesseman’s influence on his and subsequent generations of improvisors,” said the actor and comedian Michael McKean on Twitter. He recalled first seeing Hesseman in 1971 with The Committee. “I saw that he was the real deal.”

Hollywood mourned actress and comedian Betty White on Monday on what would have been her 100th birthday. The actress, known for her quick wit and warm charm, died at 99 on Dec. 31.

A television legend, Betty White was welcomed into homes for years. She held onto an illustrious career before, and long after one of her most famous roles, that of Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls."

People magazine has celebrated with a newsstand issue and a special commemorative issue devoting the covers to White's 100th. And fans can honor Betty White's life on her centennial in different ways. White was an animal lover and held a close connection to the Los Angeles Zoo where she was a member of its board of trustees. Fans can head out to the accredited zoo and go on "Betty's L.A. Zoo Tour."

The Betty White Challenge, which was trending on Twitter Monday, is a call to action and another way fans and fellow animal lovers can give back by donating to an animal rescue or charity group in her honor. White's fan club dues were donated to animal rescue charities.

The Hallmark Channel will also honor White's career by airing a 40-episode marathon of "The Golden Girls" on Jan. 17.

As fans from multiple generations celebrate Betty White's 100th birthday, notable reactions to her life and legacy will continue to be updated here.

Peter Bogdanovich, director of ‘Paper Moon,’ dead at 82

Updated: 11:58 PM EST Jan 6, 2022

Peter Bogdanovich, the ascot-wearing cinephile and director of 1970s black-and-white classics like “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” has died. He was 82.Bogdanovich died early Thursday morning at this home in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Antonia Bogdanovich. She said he died of natural causes Considered part of a generation of young “New Hollywood” directors, Bogdanovich was heralded as an auteur from the start, with the chilling lone shooter film “Targets” and soon after “The Last Picture Show,” from 1971, his evocative portrait of a small, dying town that earned eight Oscar nominations, won two (for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman) and catapulted him to stardom at the age of 32. He followed “The Last Picture Show” with the screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?,” starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, and then the Depression-era road trip film “Paper Moon,” which won 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal an Oscar as well.His turbulent personal life was also often in the spotlight, from his well-known affair with Cybill Shepherd that began during the making of “The Last Picture Show” while he was married to his close collaborator, Polly Platt, to the murder of his Playmate girlfriend Dorothy Stratten and his subsequent marriage to her younger sister, Louise, who was 29 years younger than him.Reactions came in swiftly at the news of his death.“Oh dear, a shock. I am devastated. He was a wonderful and great artist,” said Francis Ford Coppola in an email. "I’ll never forget attending a premiere for ‘The Last Picture Show.’ I remember at its end, the audience leaped up all around me bursting into applause lasting easily 15 minutes. I’ll never forget although I felt I had never myself experienced a reaction like that, that Peter and his film deserved it. May he sleep in bliss for eternity, enjoying the thrill of our applause forever.”Tatum O’Neal posted a photo of herself with him on Instagram, writing “Peter was my heaven & earth. A father figure. A friend. From ‘Paper Moon’ to ‘Nickelodeon’ he always made me feel safe. I love you, Peter.”Guillermo del Toro tweeted: “He was a dear friend and a champion of Cinema. He birthed masterpieces as a director and was a most genial human. He single-handedly interviewed and enshrined the lives and work of more classic filmmakers than almost anyone else in his generation.”Born in Kingston, New York, in 1939, Bogdanovich started out as a film journalist and critic, working as a film programmer at the Museum of Modern Art, where through a series of retrospectives he endeared himself to a host of old guard filmmakers including Orson Welles, Howard Hawks and John Ford.“I’ve gotten some very important one-sentence clues like when Howard Hawks turned to me and said ‘Always cut on the movement and no one will notice the cut,’” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was a very simple sentence but it profoundly affected everything I’ve done.”But his Hollywood education started earlier than that: His father took him at age 5 to see Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies at the Museum of Modern Art. He'd later make his own Keaton documentary, “The Great Buster,” which was released in 2018.Bogdanovich and Platt moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, where they attended Hollywood parties and struck up friendships with Corman and Frank Marshall, then just an aspiring producer, who helped get the film “Targets” off the ground. And the professional ascent only continued for the next few films and years. But after “Paper Moon,” which Platt collaborated on after they had separated, he would never again capture the accolades of those first five years in Hollywood.Bogdanovich’s relationship with Shepherd led to the end of his marriage to Platt, with whom he shared daughters Antonia and Sashy, and a fruitful creative partnership. The 1984 film “Irreconcilable Differences” was loosely based on the scandal. He later disputed the idea that Platt, who died in 2011, was an integral part of the success of his early films.He would go on to make two other films with Shepherd, an adaptation of Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and the musical “At Long Last Love,” neither of which were particularly well-received by critics or audiences.And he also passed on major opportunities at the height of his successes. He told Vulture he turned down “The Godfather,” “Chinatown” and “The Exorcist.”“Paramount called and said, “We just bought a new Mario Puzo book called The Godfather. We’d like you to consider directing it.” I said, “I’m not interested in the Mafia,” he said in the interview.Headlines would continue to follow Bogdanovich for things other than his movies. He began an affair with Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten while directing her in “They All Laughed," a romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara, in the spring and summer of 1980. Her husband, Paul Snider, murdered her that August. Bogdanovich, in a 1984 book titled ″The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten, 1960-1980,″ criticized Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire for its alleged role in events he said ended in Stratten’s death. Then, nine years later, at 49, he married her younger sister Louise Stratten, who was just 20 at the time. They divorced in 2001, but continued living together, with her mother in Los AngelesIn an interview with the AP in 2020, Bogdanovich acknowledged that his relationships had an impact on his career.“The whole thing about my personal life got in the way of people’s understanding of the movies,” Bogdanovich said. “That’s something that has plagued me since the first couple of pictures.”Despite some flops along the way, Bogdanovich's output remained prolific in the 1980s and 1990s, including a sequel to “The Last Picture Show" called “Texasville,” the country music romantic drama “The Thing Called Love,” which was one of River Phoenix's last films, and, in 2001, “The Cat's Meow,” about a party on William Randolph Hearst's yacht starring Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies. His last narrative film, “She's Funny that Way,” a screwball comedy starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston that he co-wrote with Louise Stratten, debuted to mixed reviews in 2014.Over the years he authored several books about movies, including “Peter Bogdanovich’s Movie of the Week,” “Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors” and “Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors.”He acted semi-frequently, too, sometimes playing himself (in “Moonlighting” and “How I Met Your Mother”) and sometimes other people, like Dr. Elliot Kupferberg on “The Sopranos," and also inspired a new generation of filmmakers, from Wes Anderson to Noah Baumbach.“They call me ‘Pop,’ and I allow it,” he told Vulture.At the time of the AP interview in 2020, coinciding with a podcast about his career with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, he was hard at work on a television show inspired by Dorothy Stratten, and wasn’t optimistic about the future of cinema.“I just keep going, you know. Television is not dead yet,” he said with a laugh. “But movies may have a problem.”Yet even with his Hollywood-sized ego, Bogdanovich remained deferential to those who came before.“I don’t judge myself on the basis of my contemporaries," he told The New York Times in 1971. "I judge myself against the directors I admire — Hawks, Lubitsch, Buster Keaton, Welles, Ford, Renoir, Hitchcock. I certainly don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as they are, but I think I’m pretty good.”

Peter Bogdanovich, the ascot-wearing cinephile and director of 1970s black-and-white classics like “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” has died. He was 82.

Bogdanovich died early Thursday morning at this home in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Antonia Bogdanovich. She said he died of natural causes

Considered part of a generation of young “New Hollywood” directors, Bogdanovich was heralded as an auteur from the start, with the chilling lone shooter film “Targets” and soon after “The Last Picture Show,” from 1971, his evocative portrait of a small, dying town that earned eight Oscar nominations, won two (for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman) and catapulted him to stardom at the age of 32. He followed “The Last Picture Show” with the screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?,” starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, and then the Depression-era road trip film “Paper Moon,” which won 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal an Oscar as well.

His turbulent personal life was also often in the spotlight, from his well-known affair with Cybill Shepherd that began during the making of “The Last Picture Show” while he was married to his close collaborator, Polly Platt, to the murder of his Playmate girlfriend Dorothy Stratten and his subsequent marriage to her younger sister, Louise, who was 29 years younger than him.

Reactions came in swiftly at the news of his death.

“Oh dear, a shock. I am devastated. He was a wonderful and great artist,” said Francis Ford Coppola in an email. "I’ll never forget attending a premiere for ‘The Last Picture Show.’ I remember at its end, the audience leaped up all around me bursting into applause lasting easily 15 minutes. I’ll never forget although I felt I had never myself experienced a reaction like that, that Peter and his film deserved it. May he sleep in bliss for eternity, enjoying the thrill of our applause forever.”

Tatum O’Neal posted a photo of herself with him on Instagram, writing “Peter was my heaven & earth. A father figure. A friend. From ‘Paper Moon’ to ‘Nickelodeon’ he always made me feel safe. I love you, Peter.”

Guillermo del Toro tweeted: “He was a dear friend and a champion of Cinema. He birthed masterpieces as a director and was a most genial human. He single-handedly interviewed and enshrined the lives and work of more classic filmmakers than almost anyone else in his generation.”

Born in Kingston, New York, in 1939, Bogdanovich started out as a film journalist and critic, working as a film programmer at the Museum of Modern Art, where through a series of retrospectives he endeared himself to a host of old guard filmmakers including Orson Welles, Howard Hawks and John Ford.

SANDRO PACE

“I’ve gotten some very important one-sentence clues like when Howard Hawks turned to me and said ‘Always cut on the movement and no one will notice the cut,’” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was a very simple sentence but it profoundly affected everything I’ve done.”

But his Hollywood education started earlier than that: His father took him at age 5 to see Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies at the Museum of Modern Art. He'd later make his own Keaton documentary, “The Great Buster,” which was released in 2018.

Bogdanovich and Platt moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, where they attended Hollywood parties and struck up friendships with Corman and Frank Marshall, then just an aspiring producer, who helped get the film “Targets” off the ground. And the professional ascent only continued for the next few films and years. But after “Paper Moon,” which Platt collaborated on after they had separated, he would never again capture the accolades of those first five years in Hollywood.

Bogdanovich’s relationship with Shepherd led to the end of his marriage to Platt, with whom he shared daughters Antonia and Sashy, and a fruitful creative partnership. The 1984 film “Irreconcilable Differences” was loosely based on the scandal. He later disputed the idea that Platt, who died in 2011, was an integral part of the success of his early films.

He would go on to make two other films with Shepherd, an adaptation of Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and the musical “At Long Last Love,” neither of which were particularly well-received by critics or audiences.

And he also passed on major opportunities at the height of his successes. He told Vulture he turned down “The Godfather,” “Chinatown” and “The Exorcist.”

“Paramount called and said, “We just bought a new Mario Puzo book called The Godfather. We’d like you to consider directing it.” I said, “I’m not interested in the Mafia,” he said in the interview.

Headlines would continue to follow Bogdanovich for things other than his movies. He began an affair with Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten while directing her in “They All Laughed," a romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara, in the spring and summer of 1980. Her husband, Paul Snider, murdered her that August. Bogdanovich, in a 1984 book titled ″The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten, 1960-1980,″ criticized Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire for its alleged role in events he said ended in Stratten’s death. Then, nine years later, at 49, he married her younger sister Louise Stratten, who was just 20 at the time. They divorced in 2001, but continued living together, with her mother in Los Angeles

In an interview with the AP in 2020, Bogdanovich acknowledged that his relationships had an impact on his career.

“The whole thing about my personal life got in the way of people’s understanding of the movies,” Bogdanovich said. “That’s something that has plagued me since the first couple of pictures.”

Despite some flops along the way, Bogdanovich's output remained prolific in the 1980s and 1990s, including a sequel to “The Last Picture Show" called “Texasville,” the country music romantic drama “The Thing Called Love,” which was one of River Phoenix's last films, and, in 2001, “The Cat's Meow,” about a party on William Randolph Hearst's yacht starring Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies. His last narrative film, “She's Funny that Way,” a screwball comedy starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston that he co-wrote with Louise Stratten, debuted to mixed reviews in 2014.

Chris Pizzello

Over the years he authored several books about movies, including “Peter Bogdanovich’s Movie of the Week,” “Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors” and “Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors.”

He acted semi-frequently, too, sometimes playing himself (in “Moonlighting” and “How I Met Your Mother”) and sometimes other people, like Dr. Elliot Kupferberg on “The Sopranos," and also inspired a new generation of filmmakers, from Wes Anderson to Noah Baumbach.

“They call me ‘Pop,’ and I allow it,” he told Vulture.

At the time of the AP interview in 2020, coinciding with a podcast about his career with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, he was hard at work on a television show inspired by Dorothy Stratten, and wasn’t optimistic about the future of cinema.

“I just keep going, you know. Television is not dead yet,” he said with a laugh. “But movies may have a problem.”

Yet even with his Hollywood-sized ego, Bogdanovich remained deferential to those who came before.

“I don’t judge myself on the basis of my contemporaries," he told The New York Times in 1971. "I judge myself against the directors I admire — Hawks, Lubitsch, Buster Keaton, Welles, Ford, Renoir, Hitchcock. I certainly don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as they are, but I think I’m pretty good.”

Peter Parker’s good fortune continued over the holiday weekend as Hollywood prepares to close the books on a turbulent 2021. Even with some mighty competition from new Matrix and Sing movies, and rising concerns over the omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stayed in the No. 1 spot and netted a few more milestones too including crossing the $1 billion mark globally.

According to studio estimates Sunday, “Spider-Man” added $81.5 million over the three-day weekend, down 69% from its first weekend. The Sony and Marvel film has now grossed $467 million from North American theaters, more than doubling the domestic grosses of 2021′s previous No. 1 film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

With $587.1 million from 61 overseas markets, in just 12 days of release, “Spider-Man" has grossed $1.05 billion globally. It's the first film of the pandemic to cross $1 billion and is tied with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for being the third-fastest film ever to do so — and this without the benefit of its release in China.

Universal’s “Sing 2” came in second place with an estimated $23.8 million, while Warner Bros.' “The Matrix Resurrections” grossed $12 million to take third place.

The animated musical “Sing 2” features high-profile celebrity talent including Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Bono, as well as a jukebox soundtrack full of well-known hits. Since its release Wednesday, it’s made $41 million ($1.6 million of that came from Thanksgiving weekend showings) from North America and $65 million worldwide.

“We’re extraordinarily pleased,” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution.

Orr said the stellar CinemaScore (A+) and audience scores suggest that the film will continue to perform well in the next few weeks, when many kids are still out of school for the holidays.

The fourth Matrix also opened on Wednesday and has earned an estimated $22.5 million in its first five days in North America. The film, directed by Lana Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, is currently streaming on HBO Max as well. Globally, it’s grossed $69.8 million to date.

While the studio was hoping for a stronger box office, Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' head of domestic distribution, said the movie achieved what they were looking for as an overall strategy including HBO Max.

“The Matrix Resurrections" is the last of the 18 Warner Bros. films released in 2021 to debut both in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Starting in 2022, the studio will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window on their films.

In fourth place was Disney and 20th Century’s “The King’s Man,” a prequel to the action-comedy Kingsman series starring Ralph Fiennes. It came in slightly under expectations with $6.4 million from the weekend and $10 million from its first five days. The audience skewed heavily male (65%).

The Kurt Warner biopic “American Underdog” opened on Christmas Day and has made an estimated $6.2 million in its two days in release to round out the top five. Zachary Levi stars as Warner, the quarterback who went from undrafted free agent to Hall of Famer.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” expanded nationwide on Christmas, after playing in limited release for a month, and added $2.3 million bringing its total to $3.7 million. And right behind it was the Denzel Washington-directed drama “A Journal For Jordan,” which to $2.2 million.

With just a few days left in 2021, the North American box office is currently sitting at $4.3 billion and is likely to net out around $4.4 billion. Pre-pandemic, it was normal for a year's box office to surpass $11 billion.

“To say was a roller-coaster year is an understatement,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, Inc. “The marketplace is still facing challenges from the pandemic, but what an amazing capper to one of the most incredible years ever at the box office."

He added: “The future of the movie theater a year ago was a big question mark, and a year later it’s here to stay.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $81.5 million.

2. “Sing 2,” $23.8 million.

3. “The Matrix Resurrections,” $12 million.

4. “The King’s Man,” $6.4 million.

5. “American Underdog,” $6.2 million.

6. “West Side Story,” $2.8 million.

7. “Licorice Pizza,” $2.3 million.

8. “A Journal For Jordan,” $2.2 million.

9. “Encanto,” $2 million.

10. “83,” $1.8 million.

Three members of the K-pop superstar group BTS have been infected with the coronavirus after returning from abroad, their management agency said.

RM and Jin were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday evening, the Big Hit Music agency said in a statement. It earlier said another member, Suga, tested positive for the virus on Friday.

All three took their second jabs in August, the agency said.

BTS is a seven-member boyband. The four other members are J-Hope, Jungkook, V and Jimin.

According to the agency, RM has exhibited no particular symptoms while Jin is showing mild symptoms including slight fever and is undergoing self-treatment at home. The agency said Friday that Suga wasn’t exhibiting symptoms and was administering self-care at home in accordance with the guidelines of the health authorities.

RM had tested negative after returning from the United States earlier this month following his personal schedule there. But he was later diagnosed with the virus ahead of his scheduled release from self-quarantine, the agency said.

After returning to South Korea this month, Jin underwent PCR tests twice — upon arrival and later before his release from self-quarantine — and tested negative both times. But he had flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon before he took another PCR test that came back positive, the agency said. Media reports said he also had traveled to the U.S.

Suga, who has had a number of personal engagements in the United States during the band's official time off, was diagnosed with COVID-19 during quarantine after returning from the U.S., the agency said.

The agency said it’ll continue to provide support for the three members for their speedy recovery. It said it will cooperate with the requests and guidelines of the South Korean health authorities.

Since their debut in 2013, BTS has garnered global recognition for their self-produced music and activism, which includes giving a speech at the United Nations and publicly calling out anti-Asian racism.

BTS was named artist of the year and favorite pop duo or group, and also won the favorite pop song award for “Butter” at the American Music Awards in November. In October, the group's collaboration with British rock band Coldplay, “My Universe,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was BTS’ sixth Hot 100 No. 1.

Never underestimate your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, even with a mutating virus afoot.

Despite rising concerns over the omicron variant, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" not only shattered pandemic-era box office records; it became the third-best opening of all time behind "Avengers: Endgame" ($357.1 million) and "Avengers: Infinity War" ($257.7 million).

The Sony and Marvel blockbuster grossed a stunning $253 million in ticket sales from 4,325 North American locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday, also setting a record for the month of December.

The web-slinger's success couldn't have come sooner for a movie business that has had a roller coaster 2021 and could be headed for a difficult start to 2022 as the omicron variant of the coronavirus forces more and more event cancellations.

In its five days playing in theaters internationally, it's amassed $334.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its global total to $587.2 million against a $200 million production budget.

The film has yet to open in markets like Thailand and Japan, and there is no release date set for China.

As the third standalone Spider-Man film in the Tom Holland era, "No Way Home" was always going to be an "event film" for fans.

After several delays over the year, Sony planted its launch in the pre-Christmas frame and as of late last week had anticipated a pandemic-best opening in the $130 million to $150 million range.

But it quickly became clear that "Spider-Man" was going to fly much higher. The film netted an incredible $121.5 million in its first day — bumping "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" out of the No. 2 position.

And it's not just fans who have been giving the film good marks: Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive as well.

It has a 94% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Spider-Man" could also help the industry at large as it heads into 2022.

Dave Briggs and Alex Livingston from Newsy along with the Associated Press contributed to this story.