LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) – From a surprising Oscars slap to a digital ABBA taking to the stage, this yr has seen a spread of leisure tales dominate headlines.
Beneath are among the largest.
* Will Smith smacked Oscars presenter Chris Rock within the face for making a joke about his spouse’s coiffure in a surprising second that overshadowed Hollywood’s prime awards ceremony. Smith went on to win greatest actor.
* A tearful Adele postponed her Las Vegas residency the day earlier than the live shows had been as a consequence of begin, saying half her crew had COVID-19 and the pandemic had precipitated supply delays. She kicked the exhibits off 10 months later.
* Johnny Depp and Amber Heard confronted off in a Virginia court docket after the actor sued his ex-wife arguing she defamed him when she referred to as herself “a public determine representing home abuse” in a newspaper opinion piece. Heard countersued, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer referred to as her accusations a “hoax”. Depp gained greater than $10 million in damages. The jury dominated for Heard on one counterclaim.
* #MeToo instances continued, with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, presently serving a 23-year jail sentence for intercourse crimes in New York, happening trial in Los Angeles on 11 prices of rape and sexual assault. 4 have since been dismissed. He has pleaded not responsible.
Actor Kevin Spacey defeated a sexual abuse case towards him in a Manhattan civil trial. He appeared in court docket in Britain to plead not responsible to accusations of intercourse offences courting again nearly 20 years.
* Rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, courted controversy with outbursts on social media, together with anti-Semitic remarks, resulting in the tip of some company ties – a transfer has that knocked him off the Forbes checklist of the world’s billionaires.
* Alec Baldwin and producers of Western film “Rust” reached a settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit introduced by the household of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who the actor shot useless throughout filming final yr. A New Mexico state prosecutor is deciding whether or not to press felony prices.
* Beyonce, Rihanna and Britney Spears made comebacks with new music. Kate Bush topped charts with “Operating Up That Hill” because the 1985 music loved a resurgence due to Netflix present “Stranger Issues”. Swedish supergroup ABBA returned to the stage, albeit as digital avatars, or “ABBAtars”.
* Tom Cruise premiered his hotly anticipated sequel “Prime Gun: Maverick”, returning because the cocky pilot he first performed within the 1986 motion flick. “Maverick” stays the largest movie of 2022, grossing $1.48 billion worldwide.
* The world mentioned goodbye to: actors Sidney Poitier, Ray Liotta, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Newton-John and Robbie Coltrane in addition to music stars Jerry Lee Lewis, Meat Loaf, Coolio, Taylor Hawkins and Loretta Lynn amongst others.
Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Modifying by Alison Williams
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