NEW YORK (AP) – Flashback to February. It’s the 2025 Grammys, and Beyoncé has made history. Not only was she finally awarded the top prize of album of the year, but she also became the first Black woman to win best country album, for “Cowboy Carter.” Recent changes by the Recording Academy have made it even more monumental: She might be the last person to ever win the award.
“Everybody wants to rule the world,” goes the Tears for Fears song we hear at a key point in “Marty Supreme,” Josh Safdie’s nerve-busting adrenaline jolt of a movie starring a never-better Timothée Chalamet.
NEW YORK (AP) – People stop reading in adulthood for lots of reasons. But it’s never too late to turn the page. Curling up with a good book can reduce stress, increase creativity and boost empathy. A recent analysis of U.S. government data found that the percentage of Americans who read for pleasure during an average day has fallen to 16% in 2023 from 28% in 2004.
NEW YORK (AP) – “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened with $345 million in worldwide sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, notching the second-best global debut of the year and potentially putting James Cameron on course to set yet more blockbuster records.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – James Ransone, the actor who played Ziggy Sobotka in the HBO series “The Wire” and appeared in many other TV shows and movies, has died. He was 46.
Female rapper Nicki Minaj on Sunday made a surprise appearance at a gathering of conservatives in Arizona that was memorializing late activist Charlie Kirk, and used her time on stage to praise President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, calling them “role models” for young men.
LONDON (AP) – British children’s author and comedian David Walliams has denied allegations of inappropriate behavior after publisher HarperCollins dropped him. Walliams, 54, is one of the U.K.’s bestselling children’s book authors and a former judge on the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent.”
NEW YORK (AP) – Bowen Yang, coming off a huge year or two of projects, will depart “SNL” mid-season after Saturday’s episode hosted by his “Wicked” buddy Ariana Grande. He joined the show as a writer in 2018, became a featured player the following season and was promoted to the main cast two seasons after that. Yang was a fan favorite with five Emmy nominations over the years.
Happiness is taking control of a beloved comic strip. Sony is buying a 41% stake in the Charles M. Schulz comic “Peanuts” and its characters including Snoopy and Charlie Brown from Canada’s WildBrain in a $457 million deal, the two companies said Friday.