Entertainment
For the latest news in entertainment, see our articles and headlines below.
BASIN EVENTS: Dec. 19-27
COLUMBIA BASIN — It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and a lot of people will be spending time at home wi…
No crowds delight art lovers in Italy at reopened museums
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — The Uffizi Galleries, the most-visited museum in Italy, is open after three months of COVID-19 lockdown, delighting art lovers who don’t have to jostle with throngs of tourists thanks to new …
Lin Miranda doc postponed out of solidarity with protesters
NEW YORK (AP) — Just two days before it was to begin streaming, “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme," a documentary about the hip-hop improv group with Lin-Manuel Miranda and friends, has postponed its release out of so…
Senate confirms Trump's pick to lead Voice of America
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Senate voted along party lines Thursday to confirm President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded international broadcasters that have been…
Ill-considered posts lead to lost jobs amid protests, crisis
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A writer from a “Law & Order" spin-off and the play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings found themselves out of jobs after making social media posts this week that their bosses fou…
Theater master classes for youth attract Broadway talent
NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine being a young songwriter and getting tips from a creative team who really know how to construct a tune. After all, they wrote “Let It Go.”
Weekend protest coverage boosts cable news viewership
NEW YORK (AP) — For many Americans, the unrest sweeping through several cities this past weekend was reason enough to stay home and watch it on television.
Influencer Jake Paul faces charges after Arizona mall riot
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Social media influencer Jake Paul faces misdemeanor charges following a riot at a mall outside Phoenix, police said Thursday. Paul, who has 20 million followers, says he was merely trying t…
Social media, music world go dark for Black Out Tuesday
NEW YORK (AP) — Though Black Out Tuesday was originally organized by the music community, the social media world also went dark in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, joining voices around the world outrage…
Creator fires 'Law & Order' spin-off writer for online posts
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A TV writer who has worked on “S.W.A.T.” and “Chicago P.D.” was fired from an upcoming “Law & Order” spin-off because of online posts about social unrest in Los Angeles.
Chinese dissident Xu Zhiyong to be honored by PEN America
NEW YORK (AP) — Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese activist and legal scholar detained by the government since earlier this year, is being honored by PEN America.
'Just Mercy,' drama of racial injustice, to be free in June
NEW YORK (AP) — The 2019 film “Just Mercy,” which chronicles courtroom struggles against racial injustice and mass incarceration, will be made free on digital platforms throughout June in the wake of George Floyd's…
In COVID-19 darkness, gift of a `Moment of Light' to museum
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — If not for the pandemic, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum would have missed out on a classic Dutch 16th century painting it so badly craved.
Cartoonists to thank frontline workers playfully this Sunday
NEW YORK (AP) — The funny papers this Sunday will have more than laughs.
Best-Sellers-Books-USAToday
1. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
U.S. news organizations focus on lives lost in the pandemic
NEW YORK (AP) — Many are familiar with some of the bold-faced names of people who died of COVID-19 —