Police were called at 5:45 a.m. PST on Friday morning and she was arrested shortly after. She remains in custody as of Friday morning local time, a public information officer told CNN.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Haddish for comment.

Haddish had reportedly performed at The Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on Thursday night for the comedy club’s 43rd annual free Thanksgiving feast for the community.

The comedic actress was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2022 bear Atlanta, Georgia.

Shot in New England, “Good Burger 2” features nine-year-old Alexis Turner, of Dorchester, alongside stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. In the film, Turner plays Ketchup, one of Mitchell’s on-screen daughters.

“I’m so excited to see it,” Turner said. “It was a great experience. I loved to be there, I had a really fun time.”

Turner told 7News some of her favorite parts of filming included scenes where she ate french fries, ran down hallways, and got into a pillow fight.

The young actress, who has been performing since age four, is supported in her career by her mother Antoinette Toney.

“I’m very proud,” Toney said. “She’s my best friend and I’m just going to always be there for her. As long as she wants to do it, I’m going to support her.”

Good Burger 2 is streaming now on Paramount+.

The civil suit filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act names Combs and his companies, including Bad Boy Entertainment, and is just the latest in a rush of cases filed against high profile men among others as the window to file under the state’s look back law closes this week.

The civil suit filed in New York Supreme Court demands a trial by jury and seeks damages. “Plaintiff brings suit against Defendants to redress the substantial and lifetime injuries she has suffered as a result of being drugged, sexually assaulted and abused, and being the victim of ‘revenge porn’ that Sean Combs or ‘P. Diddy’ created and distributed,” the suit filed in New York Supreme Court stated.

A spokesperson for Combs says the allegations are “made up and not credible,” adding the move is “purely a money grab.”

“This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head,” the spokesperson said. “Mr. Combs never assaulted her, and she implicates companies that did not exist,” it continues.

A representative for Bad Boy Entertainment was not immediately available for comment.

The alleged victim, Joi Dickerson-Neal, was a Syracuse University student at the time of the 1991 incident and had previously appeared with Combs in a few video clips of a music video.

The suit alleged she agreed to a dinner at a Harlem restaurant “reluctantly” with Combs while on school break for the holidays in January, when he “pushed” her to keep him company while he attended to “a few things in the city.”

The suit alleges during their date he “intentionally drugged” her “resulting in her being in a physical state where she could not independently stand or walk.”

While at dinner, she left to use the restroom and left her drink “unattended,” it is alleged in the suit.

In the car, the suit alleges she took a puff of a “blunt” under pressure from Combs, and “from that point on, Plaintiffs memory is incomplete.”

“Driving first to a music studio where she could not get out of the car, Combs proceeded to a place he was staying to sexually assault her,” the suit alleges.

“Because she had been drugged, Plaintiff lacked the physical ability or mental capacity to fend Combs off,” the suit alleges.

The suit alleges Combs video recorded  the sexual assault, and days later a male friend revealed to Dickerson he had viewed it.

“Horrified, Ms. Dickerson asked how many others saw it, to which he responded, ‘everyone.’”

Thereafter, Dickerson alleges her life “went into a tailspin,” she was admitted to hospital for severe depression and suicide ideation, the suit claims.

According to the suit, Dickerson filed police reports at unspecified agencies in New York and New Jersey and spoke to “several prosecutors” hoping to press charges and was told her “allegations would need to be corroborated.”

The suit goes on to say Combs had experienced “great success” with the launch of late Notorious B.I.G.’s career whose hit single Juicy was charted on Billboard, and claims witnesses were “terrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose future business and music opportunities if they made a statement in support” of her.

The accuser was trying to gain a foothold in the music industry working as a location scout for an industry cameraman, and despite her allegations of “emotional pain” continued work in the music industry at a DJ management company after the incident, the suit states.

She eventually left as Combs’ “star continued to rise and his presence was inescapable,” according to the suit.

“It was the filing of the lawsuit about his abuse of Cassie Venture [sic] on November 16, 2023, that forced her to face his assault again,” the suit says.

Ventura, former girlfriend of Combs, accused the rapper and producer of years of sexual abuse, rape and trafficking in a suit Combs said was resolved “amicably” one day after the filing.

Combs’ representative at the time said it was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and “does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.”

On Instagram and TikTok, the star posted about welcoming her second child, a daughter named London. Hilton and her husband Carter Reum are also parents of an infant son, Phoenix.

“Thankful for my baby girl,” the caption reads on her Instagram photo of a pink outfit with the name “London” inscribed on the shirt.

Hilton also shared a video in which she’s holding her son and saying, “I’m a big brother” as her husband cheers them on.

“Celebrating Phoenix the ‘Big Brother’ on #Thanksgiving,” the caption reads on the video.

In another TikTok video, Hilton can be heard asking her niece and nephew if they are excited for their new cousin and answering in the affirmative when her nephew asks if she has two babies.

The couple announced the birth of their son in January. Hilton married the venture capitalist in November 2021. The lavishness of their celebrations were documented in the Peacock docuseries, “Paris in Love.”

Earlier this year, Hilton explained to Glamour UK why she and Reum opted to use a surrogate to have their son.

“When I was in ‘The Simple Life,’ I had to be in a room when a woman was giving birth and that traumatized me as well,” she told the publication. “But I want a family so bad, it’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared… childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world.”

“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift said. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

The circumstances surrounding the death are unclear.

Friday marked Swift’s first show in Rio de Janeiro, which is experiencing high temperatures, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology.

“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it,” Swift said. “I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”

Swift is slated to perform on Saturday and Sunday in Rio de Janeiro before heading to Sao Paulo for an additional three performances, according to her website.

Unlike traditional theaters, Alamo Drafthouse feature tables at each seat and moviegoers are able to order food and drinks – including beer, wine, and cocktails – to be delivered to them during screenings.

Tim League, founder of Alamo Drafthouse, said the Seaport is a great fit for the brand.

“I spent a couple days and wandered the streets, went to the restaurants, went to the bars, went to the breweries, and it’s just a vibrant part of the city,” he said. “It just feels like it meshes with what we’re trying to do.”

The programming at the theater will feature a mix of first-run films and curated classics.

For more information, visit the Alamo Drafthouse website.

His wife, Grace Kastel, told the Hollywood Reporter that he died of kidney and heart failure at a hospice facility.

According to Kastel’s website, “Roger got his first paying art job at the age of 15 doing industrial cartoons. He sold his first illustration in the early 1960s and illustrated paperback book covers and movie posters over the next forty years.”

“Roger’s painting of Jaws is included in the books, The Illustrator in American (sic) and 200 Years of American Illustration,” the website reads. “While Jaws and The Empire Strikes Back may be the most widely recognized of his work, Roger received multiple awards for various other illustrations and fine art.”

“Jaws” was a 1975 blockbuster thriller about a great white shark terrorizing a beach community. The film went on to be nominated for a best picture Oscar, and won three other Academy Awards. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and was based on the bestselling 1974 novel by Peter Benchley.

Kastel also provided the artwork for the paperback edition of the novel.

A statement by his family, issued by his publicist, said he died following “a bout of pneumonia.”

“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside,” his family said.

No matter what role he took on in a career that lasted more than five decades, Gambon was always instantly recognizable by the deep and drawling tones of his voice. He was cast as the much-loved Dumbledore after the death of his predecessor, Richard Harris, in 2002.

He once acknowledged not having read any of J. K. Rowling’s best-selling books, arguing that it was safer to follow the script rather than be too influenced by the books. That didn’t prevent him from embodying the spirit of Professor Dumbledore, the powerful wizard who fought against evil to protect his students.

Although the Potter role raised Gambon’s international profile and introduced him to a new generation of fans, he had long been recognized as one of Britain’s leading actors. His work spanned TV, theater and radio, and he starred in dozens of films from “Gosford Park” to “The King’s Speech” and the animated family movie “Paddington.”

Gambon was knighted for services to drama in 1998.

Born in Ireland on Oct. 19, 1940, Gambon was raised in London and originally trained as an engineer, following in the footsteps of his father. He made his theater debut in a production of “Othello” in Dublin.

In 1963 he got his first big break with a minor role in “Hamlet,” the National Theatre Company’s opening production, under the directorship of the legendary Laurence Olivier.

Gambon soon became a distinguished stage actor and received critical acclaim for his leading performance in “Life of Galileo” directed by John Dexter. He was frequently nominated for awards and won the Laurence Olivier award 3 times and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards twice.

A multi-talented actor, Gambon was also the recipient of four coveted British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for his television work.

He became a household name in Britain after his lead role in the 1986 BBC series “The Singing Detective,” written by Dennis Potter and considered a classic of British television drama. Gambon won the BAFTA for best actor for the role.

Gambon was versatile as an actor but once told the BBC of his preference for playing “villainous characters.” He played gangster Eddie Temple in the British crime thriller “Layer Cake” — a review of the film by the New York Times referred to Gambon as “reliably excellent” — and a Satanic crime boss in Peter Greenaway’s “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.”

He also had a part as King George V in the 2010 drama film “The King’s Speech.” In 2015 he returned to the works of J.K. Rowling, taking a leading role in the TV adaptation of her book “The Casual Vacancy.”

Gambon retired from the stage in 2015 after struggling to remember his lines in front of an audience due to his advancing age. He once told the Sunday Times Magazine: “It’s a horrible thing to admit, but I can’t do it. It breaks my heart.”

The actor was always protective when it came to his private life. He married Anne Miller and they had one son, Fergus. He later had two sons with set designer Philippa Hart.

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement.

She has been notified of the charges in Miami, where she lives, according to the statement.

Shakira is already due to be tried in Barcelona on Nov. 20 in a separate case that hinges on where she lived between 2012-14. In that case, prosecutors allege she failed to pay 14.5 million euros ($15.4 million) in tax.

Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, even though her official residence was in the Bahamas.

Spanish tax officials opened the latest case against Shakira last July. After reviewing the evidence gathered over the last two months, prosecutors have decided to bring charges. No date for a trial was set.

The public relations firm that previously has handled Shakira’s affairs, Llorente y Cuenca, made no immediate comment.

Last July, it said the artist had “always acted in concordance with the law and on the advice of her financial advisers.”

Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has been linked to Spain since she started dating the now-retired soccer player Gerard Pique. The couple, who have two children, lived together in Barcelona until last year, when they ended their 11-year relationship.

Spain tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes. Those players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.

Taylor Swift led the pack with a total of eight nominations, including artist of the year, video of the year and song of the year for her hit 2022 track “Anti-Hero.” She won all the categories in which she was nominated that were televised.

Beyoncé, Doja, Karol G, Minaj and Shakira joined Swift as artist of the year nominees, marking the first time since the category was introduced in 2017 that all artist of the year nominees are women. Shakira received the Video Vanguard Award. The night also welcomed brand new category Best Afrobeats.

Demi Lovato, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B with Megan Thee Stallion, Diddy, Lil Wayne, Doja Cat and Fall Out Boy, among others, all performed during the ceremony.

The list of nominees follows below, with winners indicated in bold:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Doja Cat – “Attention”

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”

Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy”

SZA – “Kill Bill”

Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” *WINNER

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Beyoncé

Doja Cat

Karol G

Nicki Minaj

Shakira

Taylor Swift

SONG OF THE YEAR

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”

Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy”

Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”

SZA – “Kill Bill”

Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” *WINNER

BEST NEW ARTIST

GloRilla

Ice Spice *WINNER

Kaliii

Peso Pluma

PinkPantheress

Reneé Rapp

PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

August 2022: Saucy Santana – “Booty”

September 2022: Stephen Sanchez – “Until I Found You”

October 2022: JVKE – “golden hour”

November 2022: Flo Milli – “Conceited”

December 2022: Reneé Rapp – “Colorado”

January 2023: Sam Ryder – “All The Way Over”

February 2023: Armani White – “GOATED”

March 2023: Fletcher – “Becky’s So Hot”

April 2023: Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride” *WINNER

May 2023: Ice Spice – “Princess Diana”

June 2023: FLO – “Losing You”

July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith – “That Part”

BEST COLLABORATION

David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”

Post Malone, Doja Cat – “I Like You (A Happier Song)”

Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”

Karol G, Shakira – “TQG” *WINNER

Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”

Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”

BEST POP

Demi Lovato – “Swine”

Dua Lipa – “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)”

Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”

P!NK – “Trustfall”

Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” *WINNER

BEST HIP-HOP

Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”

DJ Khaled ft. Drake & Lil Baby – “Staying Alive”

GloRilla & Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2”

Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock”

Lil Wayne ft. Swizz Beatz & DMX – “Kant Nobody”

Metro Boomin ft Future – “Superhero (Heroes and Villains)”

Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” *WINNER

BEST R&B

Alicia Keys ft. Lucky Daye – “Stay”

Chlöe ft. Chris Brown – “How Does It Feel”

Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”

SZA – “Shirt” *WINNER

Toosii – “Favorite Song”

Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj

BEST ROCK

Foo Fighters – “The Teacher”

Linkin Park – “Lost (Original Version)”

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My Tongue”

Måneskin – “The Loneliest” *WINNER

Metallica – “Lux Æterna”

Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”

BEST LATIN

Anitta – “Funk Rave” *WINNER

Bad Bunny – “Where she goes”

Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola” –

Bad Bunny – “un x100to”

Karol G, Shakira – “TQG”

Rosalía – “Despechá”

Shakira – “Acróstico”

BEST AFROBEATS

Ayra Starr – “Rush”

Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty”

Davido ft. Musa Keys – “Unavailable”

Fireboy DML & Asake – “Bandana”

Libianca – “People”

Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down” *WINNER

Wizkid ft. Ayra Starr– “2 Sugar”

BEST K-POP

aespa – “Girls”

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom”

FIFTY FIFTY – “Cupid”

SEVENTEEN – “Super”

Stray Kids – “S-Class” *WINNER

TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride”

Hard-core fans were already lining up Wednesday morning outside the Hackney Empire, where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will be interviewed onstage by “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon in a livestreamed event at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT; 9:30 a.m. EDT).

Inside the ornate former Edwardian musical hall where Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel once performed, Jagger, 80, Richards, 79 and Wood, 76 are due to give details of the Stones’ first studio album of new songs since “A Bigger Bang” in 2005.

The band released a set of blues covers, “Blue & Lonesome,” in 2016.

The album is the first since drummer Charlie Watts died in in 2021, and is due to include some contributions he recorded before his death.

Announcement of the new material follows a cryptic teaser campaign, in which the band’s iconic mouth and tongue logo was projected onto the façade of landmarks in cities around the world, including New York, London and Paris.

The band members may reveal what drew them to Hackney, the vibrant east London district that gave the world stars including playwright Harold Pinter and actor Idris Elba.

“Hackney Diamonds” is a slang term for shattered glass, and the band also teased fans with an ad in the local Hackney Gazette newspaper for a fictional glass repair business: “When you say gimme shelter, we’ll fix your shattered windows.”

Founded in 1962, the Stones show no signs of planning to retire. Last year the band played a 60th-anniversary tour of Europe, with Steve Jordan replacing Watts on drums.

The quintet has given the world 50 years of classic rock and some of the most enduring songs of all time, including “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.”

Aerosmith began its farewell “Peace Out” tour Saturday in Philadelphia with a two-hour set spanning its voluminous catalog — giving the world one last chance to see what earned these skinny guys from New England an exalted place in the pantheon of rock’s all-time greats.

Singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, and bassist Tom Hamilton all wore black cowboy hats as they ripped into “Back In The Saddle,” the song that has opened Aerosmith shows for decades as a giant Aerosmith logo folded down from the rafters, flanked by an even bigger set of wings.

Tyler and Perry sang from either side of a microphone stand draped in Tyler’s trademark scarves, recreating one of rock’s most iconic poses. Tyler nailed the extreme high note at the end of the song, proving that even at age 75 and after a life filled with pharmaceutical misadventures, he can still bring it.

“Love In an Elevator” and “Cryin’,” two major radio hits from the late ‘80s and early ’90s, followed, setting up the band’s controversial hit “Janie’s Got A Gun,” a song about a girl who was sexually abused by her father.

The band also tossed fans some rare chestnuts like “No More, No More,” on which Tyler forgot several of the words; “Adam’s Apple,” “Seasons Of Wither” and the Mississippi Delta blues-inspired “Hangman Jury.”

But there’s only room for so many songs in a two-hour show, and with a catalog as deep as Aerosmith’s, some of the biggest hits got cut, including “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” and “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” which often closed the show on previous tours.

That Aerosmith even played Philadelphia is amazing, given its fans’ history of injuring band members. In Oct. 1977, someone threw an M80 explosive onstage that went off in Tyler’s face, burning his cornea and opening a bloody wound on Perry’s arm. A year later, at another Philadelphia show, someone threw a bottle that shattered against an onstage speaker, sending glass shards into Tyler’s face and mouth.

Tyler referenced those assaults during Saturday’s show, recalling them as “the big bang theory” before Perry shushed him. Tyler quickly changed the subject to the fact that his mother’s family came from Philadelphia.

Saturday’s show was the 40th that Aerosmith has played in the City of Brotherly Love, and ended without anyone needing paramedics.

There were the typical opening-night glitches. Tyler started singing the chorus of “Dream On” a verse too soon before catching himself. Perry’s guitar died a few notes into the iconic opening riff to “Walk This Way.” And after a masterful harmonica solo on “Hangman Jury,” Tyler tossed the small instrument backwards over his shoulder, only to realize he’d need it again at the end of the song. A roadie was summoned to hand it back to him.

But so much more went right than went wrong, and it’s been that way for decades at Aerosmith concerts. Perry was positively brilliant on vocals and guitar during a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 three-chord blues jam “Stop Messin’ Round,” during which he and Whitford traded solos, and Tyler gave the harmonica another workout.

Perry even played a guitar that the wife of the late guitar legend Jeff Beck gave him — keeping Beck’s presence onstage for a bit longer — and “Rats In The Cellar,” a song about the filthy environs of drug use in New York in the 1970s, was as hard, fast and tight as it ever was.

Drummer Joey Kramer opted out of the farewell tour “to focus his full attention on his family and health,” according to the band. John Douglas, a drummer, artist and drum kit customizer for acts including Van Halen, ZZ Top and Guns ‘N’ Roses, filled in admirably.

Bassist Tom Hamilton got a huge ovation while playing the opening notes of “Sweet Emotion,” possibly the most famous bass intro to a song in rock history. And a giant elephant, frog, gnome and teddy bear descended from the ceiling on “Toys In The Attic.”

“Walk This Way” was a huge worldwide hit for more than a decade, before taking on added significance in 1986 when rap group Run-D.M.C. teamed up with Aerosmith on a version of the song that is widely credited with helping break down the barriers that had separated fans of rock and rap. (In case the significance of the breakthrough was lost on anyone, the video for the collaboration shows the two acts literally kicking down a wall that separated them in adjacent recording studios, and finally playing together.)

During the song’s performance to close the show Saturday night, confetti and streamers cascaded down from the ceiling; Tyler grabbed a piece of confetti from the air and ate it.

The opening act, The Black Crowes, presumably had a lead singer onstage. But vocalist Chris Robinson was so thoroughly drowned out by his brother Rich’s guitar for most of their hour-long set that it was hard to tell. I’ve got a remedy: turn the guitars down and turn the vocals up. That shouldn’t be too hard to handle.

The musician has reportedly lost over 50 pounds, which he previously said is due to the healthier lifestyle he’s embraced – like quitting drinking soda – since welcoming his daughter last year.

“I’m having a lot of fun performing, and have never felt healthier,” he wrote in an Instagram post in April, going on to say that “dad life kicked in and I decided to kick soda, and start eating better so I can be around for a long time for this little angel.”

He also noted in his post that “next up is smokes and brews” in terms of what he’s attempting to quit using. Malone opened up about his alcohol use – along with psychedelic mushrooms – last month in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

And while he’s most well known for his popular songs such as “White Iverson,” “Rockstar” and “Circles,” the performer is also famous for his head-to-toe tattoos.

His distinct face ink in particular is something he’s previously said is a defense mechanism of sorts, telling GQ in a 2020 interview that his collection of facial tattoos “maybe come from a place of insecurity, to where I don’t like how I look, so I’m going to put something cool on there so I can look at myself and say, ‘You look cool, kid,’ and have a modicum of self-confidence, when it comes to my appearance.”

It seems, however, that Malone has evolved from that point in his transformative journey.

“I’m excited for this next chapter in my life, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and for since I could remember I was sad,” he said In a 2022 statement announcing he and his girlfriend were expecting their daughter.

“Time to take care of my body and my family and friends, and spread as much love as we can every day,” his statement at the time continued.

The Grammy-nominated artist is currently spreading love while on tour in South America and Asia, and released his newest album “Austin” in July.

Wembanyama said he wasn’t told that Spears was the person who grabbed him until hours later, and that he never actually saw her.

Spears, who filed a report with Las Vegas police, said in posts on Twitter and Instagram that the run-in was “super embarrassing,” and denied grabbing Wembanyama, saying she only “tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.”

She said she had recognized him earlier in the evening and when seeing the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft — a 7-foot-3 French standout who is entering the NBA with as much acclaim as anyone since LeBron James 20 years ago — and she “decided to approach him and congratulate him on his success.”

Spears said, “His security then back handed me in the face without looking back, in front of a crowd. Nearly knocking me down and causing my glasses off my face.”

Police said a report was filed on an incident at the Aria Resort & Casino, but gave no further details.

Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart declined comment, citing the police investigation.

Wembanyama said security advised him to not stop for anyone as he walked into the restaurant, mindful that pausing could cause a stir and allow a crowd to build.

“Something did happen, a little bit, when I was walking with some security from the team to some restaurant,” Wembanyama said. “We were in the hall. There was a lot of people, so people were calling (at) me, obviously. There was one person who was calling me but we talked before with security.

“I couldn’t stop. That person was calling me, ‘Sir, sir,’ and that person grabbed me from behind,” Wembanyama said. “I didn’t see what happened because I was walking straight and didn’t stop. That person grabbed me from behind — not on my shoulder, she grabbed me from behind. I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner.”

Spears said in her social media posts that she gets swarmed by people all the time, including that same night, but her “security team didn’t hit any of them.”

TMZ first reported details of the event that took place Wednesday night near a restaurant at the casino. TMZ said Spears was in a group of four trying to enter a restaurant for dinner and that she “was swarmed by fans as she entered the casino.” TMZ’s account of the encounter with Wembanyama was similar to Spears’; the site said she tapped him on the shoulder and wound up being struck in the face and having her glasses knocked off.

“I didn’t know for a couple hours, but when I came back to the hotel … I thought it was no big deal, and then security of the Spurs told me it was Britney Spears,” Wembanyama said. “At first, I was like, ‘You’re joking,’ but yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. I never saw her face. I just kept walking straight.”

He was unaware that the situation had made headlines until Thursday.

“I saw the news obviously this morning. I woke up to a couple of phone calls,” Wembanyama said.

Wembanyama will make his NBA Summer League debut with the Spurs on Friday night in Las Vegas against the Charlotte Hornets. He signed some autographs for fans at the Aria on Wednesday night and did the same for a small number of onlookers as he entered a local high school for practice with the Spurs on Thursday morning.

The +–=÷× Tour, pronounced as The Mathematics Tour, will now feature John Mayer on Friday night and Little Big Town on Saturday. As of Thursday, Khalid was set to reunite with Sheeran after taking a break from the tour due to a recent car accident.

There was no explanation for the change in the line-up for this weekend’s concerts at Gillette Stadium.

Rosa Linn will still open both shows as planned.

The parking lots will be open at 2 p.m. both days. Gates open at 4, and the shows start at 6.

As seen in People, Cody Walker and his wife Felicia have named their newborn son Paul, in tribute to the fallen “Fast & Furious” star. Paul Barrett (“Bear”) Walker was born late last month.

“This November will mark 10 years since we lost my brother, Paul, and I just felt now was the appropriate time,” Cody Walker told the publication.

“My brother, Paul, was Paul William Walker IV and that name goes back four generations,” he continued. “Within the family, he went by ‘little Paul’ or ‘Paul 4,’ even though he quickly outgrew our father in height. It was important to me to have that name carry on.”

CNN has reached out to representatives of Cody Walker for confirmation.

Paul Walker died in late November 2013, while “Furious 7” was still in production. After a production hiatus, filming continued, with Cody Walker and their brother Caleb acting as stand-ins for the late star.

At the time of his death, Walker was in the passenger seat of a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, driven by a racing team partner, CNN reported. The car slammed into a light pole and burst into flames in an office park in the community of Valencia in Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Hollywood.

This year, Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow Walker Thornton-Allan made a cameo in the latest installment of the film franchise that made her father famous, “Fast X.”

Thornton-Allan posted a preview of her appearance in the movie on her verified Instagram page earlier this month, writing about how much it meant to her to be part of the movie.

“The first fast was released when I was one year old! I grew up on set watching my father, Vin, Jordana, Michelle, Chris and more on the monitors,” she said of the “Fast” core cast. “Thanks to my dad, I was born into the fast family. I can’t believe now I get to be up there too.”

“Euphoria” star Zendaya surprised festival-goers on Saturday night during Labrinth’s Coachella Weekend 2 set to sing two songs they collaborated on from the hit HBO show. (HBO is owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Clad in a pink corseted dress, Zendaya joined Labrinth to perform “I’m Tired,” a song they co-wrote that was featured in Season 2 of “Euphoria,” and “All For Us,” their Emmy-winning hit song that was featured in Season 1. “I’m Tired” was nominated for an Emmy in 2022.

Following the performance, the “Dune” actor expressed her gratitude for the experience Instagram.

“I just wanted to say thank you again for such a magical beautiful night,” she said on her Instagram story, going on to thank Labrinth for the “last minute” invitation. She continued to thank the “gorgeous crowd,” saying, “I have never heard screaming like that in my entire life.”

The Disney channel star last released original music in 2013 with her self-titled album before stepping away from the music industry to focus on acting. She has since earned two Emmys for her performance as Rue in “Euphoria,” and has starred in blockbusters such as Marvel’s “Spider-Man” franchise and sci-fi thriller “Dune,” with a sequel for the latter due later this year.

After the 2022 release of “I’m Tired,” Zendaya tweeted that she “stepped away from music quite a while ago, for a number of reasons, but I still really love it.”

Zendaya wasn’t the only surprise guest that Labrinth brought out at Coachella this weekend.

In her signature wig and bow, Sia joined him onstage to perform “Thunderclouds,” a track off of the 2019 album “Audio,” which Sia, Labrinth and Diplo collaborated on after forming their super-group called LSD.

“Dance Moms” star Maddie Ziegler also joined them onstage during the song to perform a dance number. Sia and Ziegler last performed on the Coachella stage together in 2016, and Ziegler often appears in Sia’s music videos and during the singer-songwriter’s on-stage performances.

Last weekend during Labrinth’s set, Billie Eilish surprised the crowd by performing their collaboration “Never Felt So Alone.”

The new service, announced by CEO David Zaslav at a press event Wednesday, will launch May 23 and give consumers access to a large library of programming across Warner Bros. Discovery’s sprawling portfolio: Warner Bros., HBO, HGTV, Food Network, Cartoon Network, TLC and others.

“It’s the one to watch,” Zaslav said, referencing the service’s tagline, “because we have so many of the world’s iconic and globally recognized franchises. It’s our superpower.” The streaming platform is a service “every member of the household” can go to for entertainment, he added.

Max subscribers can choose from three price tiers. The least expensive is $9.99 a month and will show ads. The ad-free version will cost $15.99, the price of the company’s existing HBO Max service. That tier will let customers stream on two devices at once and download up to 30 titles, but the content will be available only in high-definition rather than 4K.

Users who want the higher-resolution 4K streams will have to buy the Max “ultimate plan” for $19.99 a month, which includes up to four concurrent streams, 100 downloads and Dolby Atmos sound.

Existing HBO Max customers will be transitioned to the new service without any action on their part. Those users, said, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery told CNN, can keep existing features like 4K HDR resolution for a limited period before being prompted to move into the “ultimate plan.”

The Max platform was borne of the mega-merger announced between WarnerMedia and Discovery in 2021 and completed last year. Warner Bros. Discovery is also the parent company of CNN.

‘Attack plan’ for news and sports

Company executives have touted the combined streaming service as unique in its content mix: It packages award-winning prestige programming like HBO’s “Succession” and “House of the Dragon” with unscripted shows like HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” and TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé.”

Zaslav also hinted that news and sports programming will factor into the service in the future, given that Warner Bros. Discovery owns properties such as Turner Sports and CNN.

“We are a global leader in sports and we are a global leader in news,” Zaslav said. “And in a few months we will come back to you on our attack plan to use this important and differentiating content to grow our streaming business even further.”

The Max service represents the future for Warner Bros. Discovery, which has been entrenched in a traditional TV business that is declining as audiences switch to streaming.

Other companies enmeshed in the cable business have also moved in recent years to launch streaming platforms, including Disney, NBC, and Paramount. But none of these companies have achieved the success of Netflix, which pioneered the streaming business and has more than 230 million global subscribers.

Warner Bros. Discovery hopes that it will amass 130 million subscribers by 2025. At the launch event, the company’s streaming chief Jean-Briac Perrette discussed several improvements to the HBO Max interface to increase retention and engagement, adding that the company had invested in machine learning so home feeds can recommend content using a “human-plus-machine approach.”

But subscriber growth for streaming services has slowed in recent years as the market becomes more saturated. Some companies have introduced lower-priced ad-supported plans to draw people in.

Increasingly, executives have moved to highlight profitability over subscriber growth as the most important barometer for a company’s success. Netflix even announced last year that it would stop providing guidance for its membership, stating that the company is “increasingly focused on revenue as our primary top-line metric.”

The film’s director James Mangold tells Collider of Chalamet singing Dylan’s songs, “Of course!”

“It’s such an amazing time in American culture and the story of Bob — a young 19-year-old Bob Dylan coming to New York with like two dollars in his pocket and becoming a worldwide sensation within three years,” Mangold told the publication.

“It’s such an interesting true story at about such an interesting moment in the American scene, different characters from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan, to Pete Seeger to Joan Baez, all have a role to play in this movie,” the director added.

The biopic wad announced in 2020 with Chalamet attached.

The movie, with the working title “A Complete Unknown,” begins filming in August.

Affleck and Lopez’ Super Bowl ad showed Affleck working a Dunkin’ drive-thru in Medford.

In the latest ad, Affleck was a customer, walking into a Dunkin’ location, ordering a meal and poking fun at his co-star and close friend Matt Damon after workers confused the two. 

The two actors have been friends for years, making movies and winning awards together. 

Damon has recently been in the Boston area alongside Affleck’s brother, Casey, filming scenes for their movie “The Instigators.” 

On Monday, the “Vogue” entertainer announced that she is adding a stop in Nashville, Tennessee, along with seven other US cities to her world tour, set to kick off in Vancouver in July.

In a statement, the singer said “the oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane” and making “America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color.”

Tennessee earlier this month saw the passage of two of the most sweeping and restrictive anti-trans and anti-drag laws in the country.

On March 2, Republican Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee signed a bill into law that restricts public drag show performances, making his state the first to do so this year. The law is set to limit “adult cabaret performances” on public property so as to shield them from the view of children.

The same day, Lee signed senate Bill 0001 in law, prohibiting gender-affirming care for trans minors, adding Tennessee to the list of Republican-led states to pass this type of legislation.

On Monday, Madonna labeled the “so-called laws to protect” children as “unfounded and pathetic.”

Madonna ended her missive by saying she “will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the Queer community!”

The Celebration tour, billed as a greatest hits tour, will feature a “one-of-a-kind experience” from Bob the Drag Queen, winner of Season 8 on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” across all dates.

The tour will play Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on December 22, with other show dates running into late January 2024.

Complete tour and ticketing information for the Celebration tour is available at madonna.com.

It’s a scene New York City authorities have been bracing for as prosecutors consider an indictment against former President Donald Trump, who has invited followers to rally on his behalf. But on Saturday, it was just a movie shoot — for the “Joker” sequel to be precise.

The roars faded and the crowds dispersed — on command — when the director yelled, “Cut!”

The New York City shoot for the upcoming “Joker” sequel had been planned for months; but in recent days, production crews wrestled with the possibility that filming could be disrupted by real-life protests over the Trump case — none of which have so far materialized.

In the end, film workers forged ahead, said Leo Maniscalchi, a production assistant, who was taking a break at a nearby coffee house.

“They needed to do what they needed to get this done,” he said.

In the film, the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, inspires protests against Gotham’s elites.

In real life, Trump has inspired protests, too. In recent weeks, the former president has called on his supporters to protest what he said was an impending indictment accusing him of paying $130,000 to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels.

“They can’t stop production for anything, really,” Maniscalchi said. “The scene didn’t call for rain, but we’re still out here.”

For the past week, crowds — mostly news media — have been staking out another courthouse up the street from filming. Earlier in the week, a band of young Republicans staged a protest but its numbers were dwarfed by a crush of journalists. A rumored caravan of Trump adherents also did not take place, neither did a march dozens of blocks from the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to the Manhattan courthouse in the lower city.

When we last saw the Joker, he was running down the halls of a mental asylum with Frank Sinatra singing “That’s Life.”

In the sequel, called “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Lady Gaga joins the cast as Harley Quinn, his love interest. Fittingly, the new movie, expected to be released late next year, is being billed as a musical.

Siris Pagan, 30, arrived in lower Manhattan with his friend, Marissa Perez, to watch the filming.

“When some of the shots were being filmed, we started hearing loud chanting in the background and everybody was just turning around,” Pagan said.

Just a block away, both sides of the abortion issue were competing for attention.

He thought it might have been part of the movie, but soon realized: “Oh, no, it’s a whole different thing going on.”

Reality and make-believe were suddenly colliding, he said.

Jaymie Robinson, a 24-year-old extra from Newark, New Jersey, recounted how she heard one bystander who seemed confused about whether she was part of a real protest. The cameras and phony police cars — and signs saying “Free Joker” — should have been a dead giveaway, she said.

Laurie Allard, who was visiting from Montreal, Canada, came upon the outdoor movie set while touring downtown Manhattan and initially didn’t know it was related to filming.

She was vaguely familiar with the Trump case — and knew it was happening nearby. So when she saw the throngs, she was a bit startled.

“I didn’t want to be trapped in a protest or something … if there’s one happening,” Allard said.

Filming continues Sunday.

The audience sang along as Springsteen and the E Street Band covered “Dirty Water” by The Standells.

Springsteen also received two custom Bruins and Celtics jerseys. TD Garden tweeted a photo of the jerseys with “The Boss” written on the back.

During his show, Springsteen separately took a moment to give a shout-out to the Greater Boston Food Bank for their work in the area. 

The food bank said volunteers recently collected more than $20,000 from Springstreen’s fans.

Springsteen headed to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to be honored by President Joe Biden with the National Medal of Arts. Other recipients of the award include Cambridge native and actress Mindy Kaling, legendary singer Gladys Knight, and Emmy Award-winning actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Back in the Boston area, those who missed Monday’s show will have another chance to see Springsteen after he announced Tuesday that he will return to the region on August 26 for a show at Gillette Stadium. Tickets go on sale March 24. 

Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted actor Jason Sudeikis and other members of the cast of “Ted Lasso” at the White House on Monday for a conversation on mental health, Apple TV+ announced Sunday.

Cast members joining the discussion include Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris and James Lance.

The cast visited the White House briefing room on Monday ahead of the meeting with the Bidens.

“No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all probably — I assume, we all know someone who has or had been that someone ourselves actually, that’s struggled, that’s felt isolated, that’s felt anxious, that has felt alone,” Sudeikis said from the press secretary’s podium. “It’s actually one of the many things, that believe it or not, that we all have in common as human beings.”

Sudeikis said President Biden and his team were working on making sure Americans know about the options that are available to help with mental health, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was a cornerstone of Biden’s “unity agenda.”

“I know in this town, a lot of folks don’t always agree right? And don’t always feel heard seen listened to,” Sudeikis said. “But I truly believe that we should all do our best to help take care of each other.”

A White House official said the meeting will focus on discussing “the importance of addressing your mental health to promote overall wellbeing.”

The president on Sunday tweeted a photo of a yellow poster bearing the word “BELIEVE” above a door leading to the Oval Office. The sign is reminiscent of one affixed above Lasso’s office door in the AFC Richmond locker room on the show.

The Emmy Award-winning show, which is now streaming its third season on AppleTV+, has tackled mental health issues in its storyline, chiefly through its title character played by Sudeikis, an affable coach who seeks therapy after grappling with panic attacks.

“In regard to the mental health stuff, it was just there. It’s been there forever, but it’s really come up a lot in just knowing where the characters were headed and how important it is to work on yourself to help your team,” Sudeikis told Us Weekly in 2021. “And I think that we were trying to explore that and personify it in a way and kind of trojan horse that there’s bigger issues in this fun, silly little comedy show.”

“People have really responded to that,” Sudeikis continued, “And myself and other people in the cast and the writing staff get messages daily from people thanking them for really opening their eyes to what it means to go to therapy and what it means for someone in their own life to go to therapy and just speaking about these things and taking the stigma off of any form of health whether it be nutrition or mental, emotional health.”

“Ted Lasso” is produced by Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company.

Biden has made improving mental health a key portion of the “unity agenda” he debuted in his 2022 State of the Union address when he urged the country to “take on mental health.”

“Let’s do more on mental health, especially for our children,” Biden also said in this year’s State of the Union address. “When millions of young people are struggling with bullying, violence, trauma, we owe them greater access to mental health care in their schools.”

The Biden administration has focused on “training more providers, making care more affordable and accessible, and creating healthier and safer communities, including online,” the White House official said.

A 2022 survey by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 9 in ten adults believe a mental health crisis exists in the United States.

The White House has enlisted celebrities on several occasions to raise awareness about key issues, including mental health. Actress and singer Selena Gomez, who has shared her own struggles with bipolar disorder, appeared with the first lady at a Mental Health Youth Action Forum hosted by MTV at the White House last year. Gomez also talked about using her platform to promote mental health awareness in a video with the president, first lady and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.

Content from the Bidens’ meeting with the cast of “Ted Lasso” will appear on the White House’s social medial channels, according to Apple TV+.

A host of comedic and entertainment royalty gathered at Washington’s Kennedy Center as Sandler was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Presenters including Drew Barrymore, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Buscemi, Dana Carvey, and Luis Guzmán gave testimonials to Sandler’s creative longevity, while poking occasional fun at his uneven movie output and tendency to cast all his friends in his movies.

Sandler’s longtime writing and production partner Tim Herlihy joked that the pair were responsible for “31 motion pictures with a combined Rotten Tomatoes score of 59.”

Buscemi, known largely for dramatic and often violent roles, portrayed a string of comedic characters in Sandler movies.

“He takes his comedy very seriously. I laugh hard at everything I do with him,” he said.

Buscemi also singled out Sandler’s musical comedy, including “The Chanukah Song,” which became a multiplatinum hit. “His comedy songs alone deserve this reward,” he said.

Judd Apatow, Sandler’s roommate during their early days in Los Angeles, recalled a young Sandler’s boundless confidence and obvious talent.

“The moment you met him, you knew Adam was going to be a big star,” Apatow said. “And so did Adam.”

To highlight Sandler’s seemingly limitless comedic energy, Apatow played an old video he recorded of a young Sandler prank-calling a local deli in his spare time to try out different comedic voices.

At the end of the night, Sandler paid tribute to his parents and siblings for arming him with “that weird irrational confidence thing that I guess I still have”

Sandler, 56, first came to national attention as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live.” After being fired from the cast following a five-year stint, Sandler launched a wildly successful movie career that has spanned more than 30 films, grossing over $3 billion worldwide.

Sandler’s top hits include “Happy Gilmore,” “The Wedding Singer” and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” Although primarily known for slapstick comedy and overgrown man-child characters, he has excelled in multiple dramatic roles in films such as “Punch Drunk Love” and “Uncut Gems.”

Guzman, who co-starred in “Punch Drunk Love,” admitted he originally thought Sandler was “out of his depth” in a dramatic role scripted by auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson. But he came away impressed and praised Sandler’s “total commitment to something that was so far our of his element.”

Other comedians who received the lifetime achievement award include inaugural honoree Richard Pryor in 1998, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett and Dave Chapelle. Bill Cosby, the 2009 recipient, saw his Mark Twain Prize rescinded in 2019 amid multiple allegations of sexual assault.

The comedy institution “SNL” has provided more than its share of the 24 Mark Twain recipients. Sandler is the seventh cast member to receive the prize, joining Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Show creator and producer Lorne Michaels won in 2004.

The ceremony will be broadcast nationally on CNN on March 26.

The “Anti-Hero” singer shared on Instagram on Thursday that “in celebration of the Eras Tour,” she’ll be releasing four previously unreleased songs. They’re set to debut at midnight.

Those songs will be: “Eyes Open (Taylor’s Version),” “Safe & Sound (Taylor’s Version)” featuring Joy William and John Boy Music, “If This Was a Movie (Taylor’s Version)” and “All of the Girls You Loved Before.”

Three of the four songs that Swift is releasing appear to be rerecordings, as they include the “(Taylor’s Version)” tag in the titles.

In 2019, Swift’s former label, Big Machine, sold the master recordings of her music catalog, prompting the singer to record new versions of her previous albums. In 2021, Swift released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version).”

The track “If This Was a Movie” was originally included on a deluxe edition of Swift’s 2010 album “Speak Now.” Known for including an abundance of Easter eggs in her songs, videos and on her social media, Swifties have speculated that “Speak Now” is the next rerecorded album she plans to release.

Swift has not confirmed which rerecorded album she plans to release next.

“Eyes Open” is a track off of the “The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond” soundtrack, a companion album for the 2012 film “The Hunger Games.” The song was not originally included in the film itself but is featured on the soundtrack, along with “Safe & Sound.”

“All of the Girls You Loved Before” is an unreleased track that was recorded during Swift’s “Lovers” era in 2019, according to Variety.

Her long-awaited Eras Tour is set to kick off in Glendale, Arizona on March 17, marking Swift’s first tour in five years.

To those whose knowledge of the case begins and ends with the conviction of Albert DeSalvo, or who remember the highly fictionalized movie that starred Tony Curtis, this taut film (premiering, somewhat surprisingly, directly on Hulu) indicates it might warrant another look. Watching reporters navigate the maze of Boston politics also brings to mind the Oscar-winning “Spotlight,” on a lesser level, with an especially pointed note of misogyny and sexism in this early-1960s setting for good measure.

Keira Knightley plays the aforementioned reporter, Loretta McLaughlin, who is pigeonholed writing about household products when she takes an interest in the unexplained murders happening around town. Teaming up with another female reporter, Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), she begins delving into the story, receiving grudging support from her editor (Chris Cooper) at the Boston Record American, a tabloid that was later absorbed through mergers into the Boston Herald.

The paper’s management is reluctant to appear overly critical of the police, despite the fact that they seem to be botching the case. A principled cop (Alessandro Nivola) shares Loretta’s skepticism about the investigation, which ignores some of the contradictions involving the 13 victims slain from 1962 to 1964.

Writer-director Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”) nicely captures both the hurdles and indignities Loretta faced as a woman in this male-dominated world — such as the paper seeking to cash in on her photo, much to her chagrin — and the palpable fear that gripped the city, another echo of Zodiac.

Loretta keeps reporting even after DeSalvo’s arrest, but finds that the key constituencies, from the police to the media, have little appetite for pursuing whether others were involved. Her commitment also takes a toll at home, as her at-first-supportive husband (“The Gilded Age’s” Morgan Spector) becomes increasingly frustrated, feeling neglected due to the time that she’s devoting to work.

“The entire city just wanted to move on,” Loretta concludes, even if the debate over the investigation, and whether it was legitimately resolved, has continued decades later, including the use of DNA evidence.

The movie’s focus is diluted somewhat by its emphasis on Loretta’s story, as she fights both for the victims and to be taken seriously in making the leap from the features section to the front page.

Still, given the enduring fascination with such material, underscored by all the recent productions about Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, this is one of those stories that seems ripe for a redo. Because even with the uncertainty the one thing “Boston Strangler” makes clear — 55 years after the previous movie — is that when it comes to true crime, some things never go out of style.

“Boston Strangler” premieres March 17 on Hulu. It’s rated R.

On an episode that aired Wednesday night, the Buffalo Bills player, who collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest during a game in January, surprised the audience and judges with an appearance.

The show opened with a group of “Sesame Street” characters, including Big Bird, Cookie Monster, the Count Elmo, Grover and Oscar the Grouch, performing the BTS hit, “Dynamite.”

Later, Damir Hamlin came out to sit on the stoop and talk to Elmo who asked his name and who he was there with. When the youngster said he was there with his brother, Elmo said, “Let’s bring him out!”

Those present went wild when the elder Hamlin appeared and host Nick Cannon declared, “Ladies and gentlemen, Buffalo Bills in the building! Damar Hamlin, the man that brought the whole world together, inspiring us all!”

Hamlin flashed the heart sign he makes with his hands, which has come to be associated with him.

Judge and actor Ken Jeong jumped up and down before yelling out, “Thank you!” Fellow judge Nicole Scherzinger noted that “Ken is freaking out!”

“I’m just so glad you’re here, but more importantly, I’m just so glad you’re healthy,” Jeong said. “The whole world loves you! The whole world loves you!”

The professional football player thanked him and explained why he was there.

“Mainly because of my brother,” he said. “That’s my world. I put family first and he loves ‘Sesame Street’ more than most things so we had to make it tonight.”

There has been an outpouring of support for Hamlin since his medical incident.

As part of the 95th Academy Awards telecast, two of the film’s stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy came out on stage to present the film, before the trailer aired for viewers at home.

The clip gave a fuller glimpse at Ariel’s (Bailey) underwater world, as well as the object of her affection, Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).

More of McCarthy’s sea witch Ursula was also seen, with her swirling black octopus tentacles glowing with purple tones.

Even a glimpse of a small red crab — presumably Sebastian, voiced by Daveed Diggs — was shown.

The trailer appeared to show brief snippets from some of the movie’s highly anticipated musical numbers, including “Part of Your World” and “Kiss the Girl.”

The new film is a live-action version of the 1989 animated classic “The Little Mermaid,” which won two Academy Awards — best original song for “Under the Sea” and best original score.

The new “The Little Mermaid” swims into movie theaters on May 26.

In victories that were entirely expected Sunday but might have seemed like a sci-fi fantasy a year ago, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won Academy Awards for best director and best original screenplay, two of seven won by their multiversal dramedy. The Daniels topped talented fields that included Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg in both categories.

“There is greatness in every single person,” Kwan said as he accepted best director. “It doesn’t matter who we are. There is genius in every single person, you just have to find it. Thank you to the people who unlocked my genius.”

But Kwan assured his young son he would not foist similar expectations on him.

“This is not normal, this is kind of crazy,” he said. “I will love you no matter what.”

The Daniels came into the night the favorites for the directing Oscar, and “ Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the top nominee with 11, had immense awards season momentum. It also won best picture, best actress for Michelle Yeoh, best supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan and best supporting actress for Jamie Lee Curtis.

Scheinert dedicated the director Oscar to “all the mommies in the world,” and to his own parents.

“Thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody,” he said.

When they won for screenplay, Scheinert railed off the names of his favorite school teachers, saying, “you guys all inspired me and taught me to be less of a butthead.”

And Kwan said “my impostor syndrome is at an all-time high.” He called Scheinert “my confidence. He is the person who told me I was a storyteller before I believed it.”

Each 35 years old, the Daniels were the youngest and least experienced filmmakers in a group of directing nominees that also included 76-year-old Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”), 48-year-old Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) 59-year-old Todd Field (“Tár”) and 52-year-old Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”).

Their wins come almost exactly a year after the film’s release. The Daniels’ only previous feature was the oddball dead-body comedy “Swiss Army Man.” At the time it might have seemed a pipedream that such a pair would win the best director Oscar that has eluded star filmmakers from Alfred Hitchcock to Ridley Scott to Quentin Tarantino.

But “Everything Everywhere,” which mixed the same kind of strangeness with elements of Hollywood sci-fi and action epics, stirred buzz – and inspired memes – from the start and became a magnet for awards in recent months.

Kwan becomes the third winner of Asian descent to win a directing Oscar. Chloe Zhao and Bong Joon also won the prize. The film was a boon for Asian actors, who were cast in most of the major roles, including Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan, all of whom got Oscar nominations, with Quan and Yeoh winning and Hsu losing to castmate Curtis.

The Daniels are the third directing duo to win an Oscar. Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise won for the original “West Side Story” in 1962, and brothers Joel and Ethan Coen won for “No Country for Old Men” in 2008.

They are also among the youngest to win the award. “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle was the youngest at 32 in 2017.

Last month they won the Directors Guild of America Award, which has proven to be a strong predictor of Oscar victory.

Spielberg had once been expected to cruise through awards season with his autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” but the late surge in affection for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” proved too much.

Scheinert, from Birmingham, Alabama, and Kwan, from Westborough, Massachusetts, met while studying film at Emerson College in Boston.

They began their career making music videos before moving on to features, occasionally directing episodes of television.

There were no female directors nominated in the category. After two years of trend-bucking with back-to-back wins for women in the category, the Academy returned to its historic norm of nominating male directors only.

“Four Weddings and a Funeral” co-stars Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell will stand beside one another to present an award at the show, as will Harrison Ford and Glenn Close, the President and Vice President of the United States in “Air Force One,” and “Creed III” frenemies Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors.

The Associated Press got to take a peek inside Oscars rehearsals at the Dolby Theatre Saturday morning. A two-hour power outage in Hollywood did not affect work inside the Dolby but forced shops and restaurants at the Hollywood and Highland complex to close and stopped elevators at an adjacent hotel.

Saturday morning, Oscar presenters made the trek to the theater as a light, chilly rain fell outside, to run through their lines and practice handing out awards. It’s one of several rehearsals in the leadup to the show, culminating with a full run through that stretches late into the night.

The theater, populated by a few dozen people from Janet Yang, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to the stagehands and camera operators practicing their movements, had an air of calm and anticipation.

“I hope I say everything correctly,” MacDowell said while opening the envelope. “I hope I pronounce everything correctly. I wish Hugh was doing this part.”

The awards are fake and so are the winners — working actors are hired to play nominees, sit in their seats, take the stage and give acceptance speeches. The same person might be playing everyone from “Tár” director Todd Field to composer John Williams. And all are ready to go with well-researched, and very brief, remarks.

The presenters all have different approaches. Some are one and done — others have questions and tweaks. Jordan discussed the font size on the teleprompter with show producer Glenn Weiss. Mindy Kaling had her director’s hat on, rewriting and reworking some of her and John Cho’s remarks on the spot.

“Sorry I was asking so many questions,” Kaling said.

“No, thank God you did,” Cho responded.

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield had the giggles running through their lines. Garfield got up to the mic and cleared his throat.

“Maybe don’t do that,” Pugh said.

Halle Berry practiced with a small brunette woman playing Jessica Chastain and Kate Hudson made a dramatic entrance, theatrically extending her arms as if to say “I’ve arrived.”

Though all will be dressed to the nines in 24 hours, rehearsals are a decidedly more casual affair — at least for the men. Jordan was dressed in a matching black sweatsuit, while Grant opted for a more professorial look with a blazer, sweater, Oxford combination. The women all wore their show heels with their jeans and daywear. Not only do the camera operators need to know just how tall the stars are going to be on the night, but it’s also a long walk across the storied stage with millions watching.

Most of what goes on in the theater is strictly off the record, however — from the look of the stage to who is handing out which award and what they’re scripted to say. Those behind the show, which airs live Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern, want to preserve some surprises after all.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.

___

WHEN ARE THE OSCARS?

The Oscars will be held Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. EDT and be broadcast live on ABC.

CAN YOU STREAM THE OSCARS?

The broadcast can be streamed with a subscription to Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and Fubo TV. Some of these services offer brief free trials. You can also stream the show on ABC.com and on the ABC app by authenticating your provider.

WHO’S HOSTING?

Jimmy Kimmel will host for the third time and his first time since 2018. That was also the last Oscars to feature a solo host. The show went hostless for several years after Kimmel’s last outing. Last year, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes hosted as a trio. In an ad for this year’s show styled after “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kimmel made his humble case for being the right person for the job while noting that he can’t get slapped because “I cry a lot.”

WHAT’S NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE AT THE 2023 OSCARS?

The 10 movies competing for best picture are: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Talking.” Here’s a guide to how you can watch them.

WHO’S PRESENTING?

Presenters include: Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Florence Pugh and Sigourney Weaver. They join a previously announced group including: Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen. A third wave was announced Thursday: Halle Berry, Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Harrison Ford, Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Olsen, Pedro Pascal and John Travolta.

WHAT ELSE IS IN STORE FOR THE SHOW?

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has said that winners to all categories will be announced live on the show. (Last year, some categories were taped in a pre-show, something that caused an uproar among academy members.) All signs point to a full slate of musical performances, with Rihanna performing “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava singing Chandrabose and M.M. Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR.” Nominee Lady Gaga, on the other hand, will not sing “Hold My Hand,” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” during the show. On Monday, show producers announced that Lenny Kravitz will deliver the “In Memoriam” performance.

WHO ARE THE FAVORITES?

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s indie sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in with a leading 11 nominations. Close on its heels, though, is the Irish friends-falling-out dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin,” with nine nods, a total matched by Netflix’s WWI film “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) may have a slight edge on Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) for best actress. Best actor is harder to call, with Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) and Austin Butler (“Elvis”) in the mix. In the supporting categories, Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) are the frontrunners, though Jamie Lee Curtis’ Screen Actors Guild Awards win may have thrown a wrench into the supporting actress category. Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) may win his third best director Oscar, though the Daniels may have emerged as the frontrunners. AP Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle are predicting a big haul for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

WHAT’S BEEN CONTROVERSIAL THIS YEAR?

Aside from the usual snubs and surprises, this year’s biggest to-do has been the debate surrounding Andrea Riseborough’s unexpected nomination for best actress. Riseborough was nominated for the little-seen, Texas-set drama “To Leslie” after many A-list stars rallied around her performance. When two other best-actress contenders — Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) and Viola Davis (“Woman King”) — were snubbed, some saw that as a reflection of racial bias in the film industry. The academy launched an inquiry into the star-studded, grassroots campaign for Riseborough but found no reason to rescind her nomination.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR?

Just the reading of the title to one of this year’s short film nominees should prompt a wave of giggles. John Williams (“The Fabelmans”), up for best score, is the oldest nominee ever, at 90 years old. After historic back-to-back best-director wins by Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), no women were nominated this year for best director. Also don’t expect to see Will Smith at the Oscars anytime soon. After striking Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony, Smith was banned by the film academy from attending for 10 years. In a live Netflix special on Saturday, Rock finally punched back at Smith with a blistering stand-up set about the incident.

___

For more on this year’s Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Kwan and Scheinert, known as “the Daniels,” directed “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

The pair met while studying film at Emerson. They thanked Professor John Craig Freeman while on stage this weekend for an awards ceremony.

“We would not be here without the advocates, the cheerleaders, the people who really believed us and snuck us into the back door, starting with our teachers,” Kwan said.

Kwan said Freeman “taught us how to teach ourselves.” 

“Thank you,” Kwan said. 

7NEWS spoke with Freeman, the duo’s visual and media arts professor, who said the recent shoutout was the ultimate compliment coming from students he remembers well. 

“They were self actualizing artists, and they very much knew what they wanted to do, and they trusted their own imagination,” Freeman said.

Freeman said he recognized “something special” in Kwan and Scheinert. 

“It could be said that they became the Daniels in my class,” Freeman said. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once conquered Academy Award nominations this year with eleven nods, including nominations for best picture, best director and best original screenplay.

The sci-fi adventure film was a box office hit and could end up taking several awards home. 

“It’s a movie that very much kind of celebrates life, and what we’re able to achieve despite some of the difficulties we come across,” Freeman said. 

“It’s very much funny,” he continued. “It’s also kind of tragic and timely.”

Freeman said Kwan and Scheinert were always hard-working, adding that they took their fate into their own hands. 

“They didn’t wait around for somebody to give them a job,” Freeman said. “Instead they chose to just immediately found their own independent studio.”

Freeman said that everyone at Emerson is very proud of the now-famous filmmakers.

This weekend, he said, he will be proudly watching, taking his virtual bow as their teacher.

“I’ll probably be watching it from my home, and of course rooting them on, wishing them the best, and looking forward to the results,” Freeman said.

The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”

“You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addiction: Attention.

“We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

“I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

“You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

“I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

“We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

“He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

“I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

“I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

“And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

“Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

“You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

The last leg of the band’s 17-date North American tour kicks off in October in Texas and hits California, Washington, Canada, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland and then culminates in their hometown’s famous venue on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.

“Kiss was born in New York City. On 23rd Street. Half a century ago. It will be a privilege and honor to finish touring at Madison Square Garden, 10 blocks and 50 years from where we first started,” said the band in a statement.

The band is currently made up of original members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons as well as Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. Their best-known songs include “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” and “Detroit Rock City.”

Tickets will be available to the public on March 10 at livenation.com.

Fan sites have reported that the remainder of the Canadian singer’s Justice World Tour dates have been canceled, and Bieber’s website doesn’t currently list any dates.

On ticket company Ticketmaster’s website, all concerts in the US, Ireland, France, Poland, Australia, the US, Denmark and the Czech Republic are also shown as canceled. The same goes for Bieber’s show in Bangkok, Thailand, according to event organizer Live Nation Tero.

The artist and his reps haven’t commented on the cancellations or given a reason.

Fans in London, where Bieber was originally scheduled to perform in February, received an email from events company AXS on Tuesday stating: “We regret to inform you that the Justin Bieber shows planned to take place at The O2 arena have been cancelled.”

“We understand you will be disappointed and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause,” it said, adding that refunds will be issued.

Bieber first announced that he would be taking a break from performing in June, one month after his tour began, due to having Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, which left his face partially paralyzed.

The pop star then resumed touring at the end of July.

However, after going to Europe and performing six live shows, “it took a real toll” on him, the singer announced in a statement posted on Twitter in September.

He added that he needs to make his health “the priority” right now: “I’m going to be ok, but I need time to rest and get better.”

CNN has contacted Bieber’s representatives for comment.

The hit sci-fi horror will take on a new life as a stage play, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” Netflix announced on Wednesday. The play will have its world premiere late this year at the Phoenix Theatre in London.

Tickets for the show, which is being produced by the streaming giant and Sonia Friedman Productions and directed by acclaimed film and theater director Stephen Daldry, will go on sale in the spring.

“Stranger Things has captured the imagination of fans around the world and we are incredibly thrilled to expand this exciting universe with Netflix’s first live stage production,” Greg Lombardo, vice president of Live Experiences for Netflix, said in a statement.

The TV show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, will act as creative producers for the play, which “will be rooted in the mythology and world of the Netflix global phenomenon,” the streaming platform said in the release.

The Duffer Brothers said the play will be “at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt,” adding: “You will meet endearing new characters, as well as very familiar ones, on a journey into the past that sets the groundwork for the future of Stranger Things.”

“We’re dying to tell you more about the story but won’t — it’s more fun to discover it for yourself. Can’t wait to see you nerds in London!”

Written by Kate Trefry — a writer and co-executive producer on the multi-Emmy-winning TV series — the stage adventure will begin in 1959 in our old stomping ground, Hawkins, Indiana, where new student Henry Creel will arrive for a fresh start. But the shadows of his past will not be far behind him.

“The world and mythology of Stranger Things has enabled a rich and fertile ground for creating an incredible story for the stage,” said producer Sonia Friedman.

A “Stranger Things” live-action spin off is also in the works, the Duffer Brothers confirmed in July last year.

The SAG Awards, often an Oscar preview, threw some curve balls into the Oscars race in a ceremony streamed live on Netflix’s YouTube page from Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

But the clearest result of the SAG Awards was the overwhelming success of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s madcap multiverse tale, which has now used its hotdog fingers to snag top honors from the acting, directing and producing guilds. Only one film (“Apollo 13”) had won all three and not gone on to win best picture at the Oscars.

After so much of the cast of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” had already been on the stage to accept awards, the night’s final moment belonged to 94-year-old James Hong, a supporting player in the film and a trailblazer for Asian American representation in Hollywood. He brought up the ignoble yellowface history of the 1937 film “The Good Earth.”

“The leading role was played with these guys with their eyes taped up like this and they talked like this because the producers said the Asians were not good enough and they were not box office,” said Hong. “But look at us now!”

Hong added that the cast of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” wasn’t all Chinese, though he granted Jamie Lee Curtis had a good Chinese name. Curtis’ win was one of the most surprising of the night, coming over the longtime favorite, Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), who had seemed to be on a clear path to becoming the first actor to win an Oscar for a performance in a Marvel movie.

A visibly moved Curtis said she was wearing the wedding ring her father, Tony Curtis, gave her mother, Janet Leigh.

“I know you look at me and think ‘Nepo baby,’” said Curtis, who won in her first SAG nomination. “But the truth of the matter is that I’m 64 years old and this is just amazing.”

The actors guild, though, lent some clarity to the lead categories. Though some have seen best actress as a toss up between Yeoh and BAFTA winner Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Yeoh again took home the award for best female lead performance.

“This is not just for me,” said Yeoh, the first Asian actress to win the SAG Award for female lead. “It’s for every little girl that looks like me.”

Quan, the former child star, also won for best supporting male actor. The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” co-star had left acting for years after auditions dried up. He’s also the first Asian to win best male supporting actor at the SAG Awards.

“When I stepped away from acting, it was because there were so few opportunities,” said Quan. “Now, tonight we are celebrating James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Hong Chau, Harry Shum Jr. The landscape looks so different now.”

Some online commentators suggested there was irony in Mark Wahlberg, who presented best ensemble, handing out the night’s final award to a film with a predominantly Asian and Asian American cast. In 1988, a 16-year-old Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men while trying to steal beer near his home in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Wahlberg, who said race wasn’t a factor in the assault, served 45 days of a two-year sentence. Wahlberg also announced the film “Women Talking” as “Women Are Talking.”

Best actor has been one of the hardest races to call. Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) and Colin Farrell ( “The Banshees of Inisherin” ) have all been seen as possible winners. But it was Fraser who went home with the SAG Award for his comeback performance as an obese shut-in in “The Whale.”

“Believe me, if you just stay in there and put one foot in front of the other, you’ll get where you need to go,” said Fraser, who anxiously eyed the actor-shaped trophy and left the stage saying he was going to go look for some pants for him.

The SAG Awards are considered one of the most reliable Oscar bellwethers. Actors make up the biggest percentage of the film academy, so their choices have the largest sway. Last year, “CODA” triumphed at SAG before winning best picture at the Oscar s, while Ariana DeBose, Will Smith, Jessica Chastain and Troy Kotsur all won at a SAG Award before taking home an Academy Award.

After the SAG Awards, presented by the film and television acting guild SAG-AFTRA, lost their broadcast home at TNT/TBS, Netflix signed on to stream Sunday’s ceremony. Next year’s show will be on Netflix, proper.

Sunday’s livestream meant a slightly scaled-down vibe. Without a broadcast time limit, winners weren’t played off. A regal and unbothered Sam Elliott, winner for male actor in a TV movie or limited series for “1883,” spoke well past his allotted time. The show sped through early winners, including awards for Jean Smart (“Hacks”), Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”) and Jason Bateman (“Ozark”).

Another streaming effect: No bleeping.

Quinta Brunson and Janelle James of “Abbott Elementary” kicked off the ceremony with a few opening jokes, including one that suggested Viola Davis, a recent Grammy winner, is beyond EGOT status and has transcended into “ShEGOTallofthem.”

Brunson later returned to the stage with the cast of “Abbott Elementary” to accept the SAG award for best ensemble in a comedy series. Brunson, the sitcom’s creator and one of its producers, said of her castmates, “These people bring me back down to Earth.”

“The White Lotus” also took a victory lap, winning best ensemble in a drama series and another win for Jennifer Coolidge, coming off her wins at the Emmys and the Golden Globes. A teary-eyed Coolidge traced her love of acting to a first-grade trip to see a Charlie Chaplin film. She then thanked her date, a longtime friend, the actor Tim Bagley.

“You’re a wonderful date tonight,” said Coolidge. “I can’t wait until we get home.”

The ceremony’s first award went to a winner from last year: Jessica Chastain. A year after winning for her lead performance in the film “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Chastain won best female actor in a TV movie or limited series for Showtime’s country music power couple series “George & Tammy.” Chastain jetted in from previews on the upcoming Broadway revival of “A Doll’s House.”

One award was announced ahead of the show from the red carpet: “Top Gun: Maverick” won for best stunt ensemble. Though some have cheered that blockbusters like “Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” are best picture nominees at this year’s Oscars, the indie smash “Everything Everywhere All at Once” increasingly looks like the biggest blockbuster at this year’s Academy Awards.

Toy giant Mattel announced Monday that Barney, the friendly (and, let’s be honest, cringe-worthy to a large group of Millennials who watched him as pre-schoolers, and to their parents) purple dinosaur is making a triumphant return to TVs and toy shelves next year. Thanks to the switch from live-action to animation, he’s now also got great big eyes.

The “Barney & Friends” show, featuring the titular violet-hued T-Rex, aired on PBS in the United States from 1992 until 2010. Mattel said Monday that the new show, unlike the original, will be animated. So no beleaguered actor dressed up in a dinosaur costume marching around and singing to young kids.

A spokesperson for Mattel told CNN that it has no specific news to announce yet about whether the relaunched Barney will be on PBS, but added that the company has “confirmed streaming and broadcast partners that we’ll be announcing later in the year.” PBS was not immediately available for comment.

Mattel did say that the new franchise will include TV, film and Alphabet-owned YouTube content as well as music and a vast array of merchandising, including toys (of course), clothing and books. The company’s Mattel Studios unit is working with Nelvana, a studio owned by Canadian media company Corus Entertainment, to co-produce the new series.

“In creating the new series, it was important to us that we properly reflect the world that kids today live in so that the series can deliver meaningful lessons about navigating it,” said Fred Soulie, general manager of Mattel Television, in the news release.

“With our modern take on Barney, we hope to inspire the next generation to listen, care, and dream big,” Soulie added.

Mattel’s television unit, which has also recently brought back its Monster High and Masters of the Universe franchises, is hoping to cash in once again on young and middle-aged adults yearning for the days of their childhood.

So for anyone who grew up on the original Barney show and actually would admit to enjoying him and friends like BJ the yellow protoceratops and Baby Bop the green triceratops, Mattel is hoping they’ll want to buy old school Barney toys and swag.

The company said in its news release that “apparel and accessories for adult fans, featuring classic Barney, are also in development.”

“We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purple dinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world across content,” said Josh Silverman, chief franchise officer and global head of consumer products at Mattel, in the release.

Mattel could use some more big hit toys. The company announced disappointing earnings and sales for the holidays as well as a sluggish outlook last week and its stock plunged more than 10% on the news. Rival Hasbro has also been hurt by weak demand for toys.

She began and ended the Super Bowl 57 halftime show hovering high above the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The performance lacked the surprise guests stars included in many previous Super Bowl halftimes, save one — her representative revealed afterward that the singer is pregnant with her second child.

Rihanna wore a puffy, bright red jumpsuit with tight, rubbery garb underneath that showed a baby bump that fueled a wave of social media speculation until the big revelation. She stood on a transparent rectangular platform that raised and lowered as she belted out the lyrics to “Bitch Better Have My Money” over the turf where the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were battling moments earlier.

Dancers wearing white ski-style suits and shaded goggles had their own suspended platforms that moved in concert with hers.

She and the dancers were lowered to a long stage that matched her outfit as she sped through hits including “Work,” “Where Have You Been,” and “Only Girl,” belting out “Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.”

There were also none of the constant costume changes and scene shifts from previous years. The theme — and the color scheme — stayed the same throughout the 13-minute show, with red lights bathing the stage at times and golden fireworks exploding in the air above her.

The long stage allowed for extended pull-away shots as she stared down the camera and overhead tracking shots of Rihanna and her dancers.

At one point she powdered her face and checked it in a mirror before getting back on the mic.

Lights sparkled from the stands as she was hoisted alone back into the air and sang “Diamonds” — with its refrain of “shine bright like a diamond” — as the set closed.

Rihanna’s performance was her first solo performance event in seven years, and her first since becoming a mother for the first time nine months ago.

A SIMPLY SPANGLED BANNER

Country star Chris Stapleton made the national anthem a simple affair at Super Bowl 57, standing alone on the field accompanied by only his electric guitar as he sang “The Star Spangled Banner” moments before the Kansas City Chiefs kickoff to the Philadelphia Eagles to start the game.

Dressed simply in smooth black denim and sunglasses, with neatly combed hair instead of his signature feathered cowboy hat, he sang the anthem as a plaintive ballad, picking it up to rock only briefly as he delivered the final lines “banner yet wave” and “land of the free!”

His anthem felt slow, but it clocked in at 2 minutes, 2 seconds, under the 2 minutes, 5 seconds predicted by oddsmakers. But it was more than 10 seconds longer than last year’s sung by another country star, Mickey Guyton.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and starting center Jason Kelce both had tears in their eyes during Stapleton’s emotional performance.

As the eight-time Grammy winner sang, “CODA” star Troy Kotsur, the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar, signed the anthem lyrics.

OTHER ANTHEMS

Before Stapleton’s anthem, “Abbot Elementary” star Sheryl Lee Ralph performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Wearing a flowing red velvet gown, Ralph began the song dubbed the Black national anthem as a reflective ballad, and it became a soaring hymn as it went on, with military-style drums joining her and a choir dressed all in white chiming in behind her on the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

And R&B legend Babyface delivered “America the Beautiful” as a soulful folk song, playing an acoustic guitar painted with an American flag and blue flowers as he stood alone on the field. A backing track with drum machines and singers kicked in before he was done.

FAMOUS FANS, PERFORMERS AND PITCH PEOPLE

Die-hard Chiefs fan Paul Rudd was on the field before the game, sporting a big smile and a team jersey.

Philadelphia native Bradley Cooper, wearing an Eagles T-shirt, celebrated from the stands as his team put the first points of a thriller of a game on the board. Another famous Philly fan, Kevin Hart, wearing a jersey, stood and flapped his arms.

Jay-Z, Tiffany Haddish, rapper GloRilla and chef Gordon Ramsay were also spotted in the stadium.

Pregame performances came from DJ Snake and Jason Derulo, whose backup dancers included synchronized robot dogs.

Many stars have made the scene at Super Bowl week parties.

Many others, including Serena Williams, Adam Driver and John Travolta, are showing up in the big game’s big commercials.

And U2 revealed in a commercial late in the game that they were returning to the concert stage for the first time since 2019.

“Bill Russell: Legend” is a two-part documentary that features Russell’s final interview before his passing in July 2022.

The film highlights both Russell’s accomplishments with the Celtics and his work for civil rights.

Rusell was a five-time MVP and 12-time NBA All-Star, winning 11 NBA championships with the Celtics during his 13-year career.

To watch the new documentary, click here.

“I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me at a lot of different times in my life,” Styles said as he accepted his award. “I think — like on nights like tonight — it’s obviously so important for us to remember that there is no such thing as best in music.”

Styles added, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice.”

The win came as a surprise to some, as Beyoncé, who had a record-making night, and Bad Bunny, who would have made history with his win, were considered top contenders going into the night, as was Adele, who was up for a possible repeat win.

“Harry’s House,” the singer’s third studio album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and included Styles’ hit “As It Was,” which stayed at No. 1 on the charts for 15 consecutive weeks..

Here are some other notable moments from the Grammys.

Tributes to music history

There were, as always, many performances on the Grammys stage that brought the audience to their feet. This year, the 2023 ceremony featured a number of performances that nodded to celebrating music itself.

Stevie Wonder led a performance to honor Motown Founder Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson as MusiCares Persons of Year.

Wonder performed “The Way You Do the Things You Do” by the Temptations and was joined by Robinson to sing “Tears of a Clown,” then Wonder and Chris Stapleton performed “Higher Ground.”

In another ode, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot and more celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a high energy medley that saw Jay-Z, Adele and HER dancing and singing along from their seats.

“Hip-hop will live everywhere, forever,” Queen Latifah said as the medley transitioned into Nelly’s performance.

At the end of the medley, each artist that performed gathered on the stage for the grand finale. “Hip-hop is a global platform today,” LL Cool J said, adding “we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop… for the culture!”

Questlove produced and served as the segment’s musical director, accompanied by The Roots.

Moving moments honoring those we lost

Rapper Quavo took the stage with gospel group Maverick City Music for a moving performance of “Without You,” honoring his nephew and fellow Migos member Takeoff during the in memoriam tribute.

Takeoff, who was one-third of the platinum-selling rap group Migos, was shot and killed in November 2022 in Houston, Texas. He was 28.

“Without You” was released in January in honor of Takeoff, with the lyrics speaking to Quavo’s grief for his loved one and collaborator. Adding to the emotion of the moment, Quavo held up a diamond pendant necklace that appeared to belong to the late rapper.

Country star Kacey Musgraves honored the late Loretta Lynn with a moving acoustic performance of Lynn’s 1971 hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Musgraves played Lynn’s guitar as she sang, according to the Recording Academy.

In one of the most poignant moments of the tribute segment, Sheryl Crow teamed up with Mick Fleetwood and Bonnie Raitt to honor the late Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie, who died in November.

David Crosby, Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley, Irene Cara, Naomi Judd, Olivia Newton-John and Coolio were among the late artists honored elsewhere in the tribute.

Women making history

One of the night’s first history-making moments happened even before the stars took their seats for the main ceremony.

Viola Davis won a Grammy for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for the audio book of her memoir “Finding Me” at the Grammy’s Premiere Ceremony, during which the non-broadcast winners of the night are announced, completing the star’s EGOT collection. (An EGOT is an artist who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony Award in their career.)

“I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola,” Davis said in her acceptance speech. “To honor her life, her joy, her trauma, everything. And, it has just been such a journey — I just EGOT!”

This was Davis’s first-ever Grammy nomination and win. She previously won an Emmy for her role in “How to Get Away with Murder,” an Oscar for “Fences” and two Tony awards for “King Hedley III” and “Fences.”

Davis later appeared at the live Grammys ceremony to present the award for best R&B song, during which the audience greeted her with raucous applause and a standing ovation, acknowledging her accomplishment.

Another powerful moment was when pop singer Kim Petras and Sam Smith won for best pop duo/group performance for “Unholy.”

Petras, the first transgender woman to win in the category, made an impassioned acceptance speech to commemorate the moment, dedicating the award to the “transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me.” Petras also thanked Madonna for supporting LGBTQ rights and her mother for supporting her transition.

While Petras isn’t the first trans performer to win a Grammy, she’s one of the most visible winners. The composer Wendy Carlos won several Grammys in the 1960s, according to Out. This year, the celebrated DJ Honey Dijon was also nominated for a Grammy for Beyoncé’s smash hit “Renaissance.”

Then there was Beyoncé herself, who became the most awarded artist in Grammys history, with a record 32 wins.

Beyoncé’s wins included best dance/electronic recording, best traditional R&B performance, best dance recording and best dance and electronic album.

In her speech, Beyoncé thanked her late Uncle Johnny, whose name she famously drops in the song “Heated,” as well as her husband and three children. She also acknowledged the LGBTQ artists who inspired and directly contributed to “Renaissance.”

“I’d like to thank the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre,” she said.

Lizzo, also a winner tonight, perhaps put it best in her own acceptance speech, in which she addressed Beyonceé directly: “You clearly are the artist of our lives.”

Fashion as only the Grammys could do

Only at the Grammy Awards can Styles wear a fully beaded silver jumpsuit onstage and another chest-bearing, crystal encrusted jumpsuit by Egonlab and Swarovski on the red carpet.

But Style’s fringed frock wasn’t the only notable look at this year’s ceremony.

Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and even presenter Jill Biden were all on Style’s page with the silver trend. But it was Cardi B’s dangerously sharp blue and silver Paco Rabanne gown that grabbed the most attention as she presented Kendrick Lamar with the best rap album trophy. The look was topped off with a geometric, mesh headpiece.

Lizzo, as always, made waves on the red carpet with her bright orange Dolce & Gabbana gown, complete with a cape covered in floral appliques.

Petras walked the red carpet in her red hot ruffled dress that included a matching red veil. Petra’s “Unholy” collaborator, and fellow Grammy winner, Smith also dawned red, wearing a long red coat, with a matching red tophat, cane and gloves. Both artists wore Valentino ensembles.

Kacey Musgraves was perfect in a baby pink Valentino jumpsuit with an oversized, feathered cape to match.

And some artists made curious decisions, like Coldplay singer Chris Martin’s casual sweater and beanie combo for the black-tie event.

But at the Grammy Awards, there’s really one rule: You do you.

This year’s group of 14 includes:

• Kate Bush
• Sheryl Crow
• Missy Elliott
• Iron Maiden
• Joy Division/New Order
• Cyndi Lauper
• George Michael
• Willie Nelson
• Rage Against the Machine
• Soundgarden
• The Spinners
• A Tribe Called Quest
• The White Stripes
• Warren Zevon

Eight artists or groups are appearing on the list for the first time, including Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon.

“This remarkable list of Nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “These artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”

To be eligible to be nominated, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. According to the Hall of Fame, this year is the first year of eligibility for Missy Elliott and The White Stripes.

Fans are able to vote for their picks at vote.rockhall.com through April 28 or in person at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.

Inductees will be announced in May with the induction ceremony held in the fall.

Ticketmaster says the best chance for fans to get a ticket is to register on their website for a chance to get an access code.

The online ticket seller is staggering sales for the ‘Renaissance’ tour based on each show’s location. The deadline to do so is February 10 for the Foxboro show.

The effort to spread out sales comes after Ticketmaster’s website overloaded in November and left fans unable to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.

That ticket disaster prompted a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to talk about Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly in the industry.

The celebration for Odenkirk, known for his roles in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” kicks of Thursday at 6 p.m. with a roast at Harvard.

Coolidge, who saw a a career resurgence following her Emmy-winning role in “The White Lotus,” will be honored on Saturday.

The Hasty Pudding Man and Woman of the Year awards are presented annually to performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.

“Dr. Phil” was the most prominent spinoff from Oprah Winfrey’s show, which once dominated daytime TV. The Texan’s program debuted in September 2002 after he’d been featured as a regular guest on Winfrey’s.

“With this show, we have helped thousands of guest and millions of viewers through everything from addiction and marriage to mental wellness and raising children,” McGraw said in a statement. “This has been an incredible chapter of my life and career, but while I’m moving on from daytime, there is so much more I wish to do.”

The traditional broadcast TV season ends in spring; there was no date given for Phil’s final show.

McGraw, 72, said he wants to focus on prime-time programming and is planning an unspecified project for early next year.

In the meantime, while new “Dr. Phil” episodes won’t be made, the show won’t disappear from TV. CBS Media Ventures, which syndicates his program, said it will offer stations a package of reruns with occasional new wraparound content for future seasons.

That’s a cost-saving path blazed by “Judge Judy,” which aired its last original show in June 2021 but continues to be popular in reruns.

“We plan to be in the ‘Dr. Phil’ business with the library for years to come and welcome opportunities to work together in the future,” said Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures.

The film, which features Hollywood legends Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, tells the true story of four of older women who are diehard Patriots fans and take a road trip from Massachusetts to Texas to see the 2017 Super Bowl.

Tom Brady not only produced the film, but also acts in it alongside former Patriots Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.

“I got a call from my agent and he said I’ve got a really great script and I think you’re going to love the story,” Brady said at the premiere

The women who worked on the movie say they’re excited to be part of a production that shows female sports fans in action.

“Women love sports and its nice to see a film that shows older women are still out there rooting for their athletic heroes,” Jane Fonda said.

The film’s director says Brady is a talented actor and fits right in with the star-studded cast, but the former NFL quarterback says all the credit goes to his costars.

“They still bring it at this age,” Brady said. “It’s really unbelievable to watch them on set and how much energy they have. I certainly was inspired by them and learned a lot of lessons.”

“80 for Brady” hits theatres Friday. People in Boston will get a chance to check out the movie Wednesday night at a special advanced screening at AMC Boston Common.

One of the women who inspired the film is expected to be at Wednesday night’s screening.

“Bill Russell: Legend” is a two-part documentary that features Russell’s final interview before his passing in July 2022 and highlights his accomplishments with the Celtics and his work for civil rights.

The new film will be available to watch on February 8.

Bieber sold his catalog to Hipgnosis, the music rights investment company announced Tuesday.

“Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal,” Bieber’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun, said in a statement. “For 15 years I have been grateful to witness this journey and today I am happy for all those involved. Justin’s greatness is just beginning.”

Bieber’s publicist did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The deal is valued at $200 million, according to Billboard. Rolling Stone called the sale the largest of any artist of Bieber’s generation.

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Justin Timberlake, Sting and many others have recently sold the rights to their royalties. Warner Music Group also purchased late British rock star David Bowie’s entire catalog spanning six decades.

Springsteen’s deal was worth about $550 million. Other artists’ catalogues have reportedly sold for an amount closer to Bieber’s haul.

Many artists at the end of 2021 had rushed to sell their rights before the Biden Administration allowed capital gains taxes to increase, Hannah Karp, editorial director at Billboard, told CNN last year. Others, particularly artists nearing the end of the careers, opted to sell their rights for estate planning purposes, Karp said.

But some younger artists like Bieber have begun selling, too. Imagine Dragons sold their catalog to Concord Music Publishing in August. Shakira stuck a deal announced this month with Hipgnosis Songs Fund for her entire catalog, which includes hits like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Whenever, Wherever,” and “She Wolf.”

But Taylor Swift is taking the opposite tactic, fighting to maintain creative control and rerecording some of her songs to gain publishing rights to her music.

— CNN’s Chloe Melas contributed to this report

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also debated possible action, including making tickets non-transferable to cut down on scalping and requiring more transparency in ticket fees. Some suggested it may also be necessary to split Ticketmaster and Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, which merged in 2010.

“The fact of the matter is, Live Nation/Ticketmaster is the 800-pound gorilla here,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “This whole concert ticket system is a mess, a monopolistic mess.”

Ticketmaster is the world’s largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster, according to data in a federal lawsuit filed by consumers last year.

In mid-November, Ticketmaster’s site crashed during a presale event for Swift’s upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue.

Live Nation’s President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold apologized to fans and to Swift on Tuesday, and said the company knows it must do better. Berchtold said Ticketmaster has spent $1 billion over the last decade trying to improve its security and stop bots.

“We need to do better and will do better,” he said.

But lawmakers were skeptical. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said plenty of others, including banks and power companies, are also frequent targets of bots but don’t suffer service meltdowns.

“They have figured it out but you guys haven’t? This is unbelievable,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of people who are very unhappy with the way this has been approached.”

Senators also took aim at Ticketmaster’s fees. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, recalled piling into a friend’s car in high school to go to concerts by Led Zeppelin, The Cars and Aerosmith. These days, she said, ticket prices have gotten so high that shows are too expensive for many fans. Klobuchar said ticket fees now average 27% of the ticket cost and can climb as high as 75%.

Berchtold insisted that Ticketmaster doesn’t set prices or service fees for tickets or decide how many tickets will go on sale. Service fees are set by venues, he said. Live Nation only owns around 5% of U.S. venues, he said.

But competitors, like Seat Geek CEO Jack Groetzinger, said even if Live Nation doesn’t own a venue, it prevents competition by signing multi-year contracts with arenas and concert halls to provide ticketing services. If those venues don’t agree to use Ticketmaster, Live Nation may withhold acts. That makes it tough for competitors to disrupt the market.

“The only way to restore competition is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation,” Groetzinger said.

Clyde Lawrence, a singer-songwriter with the New York-based pop group Lawrence, said it also hurts artists when Live Nation owns or has contracts with venues, because bands have little ability to negotiate a deal or choose a different ticket seller.

Lawrence shared a hypothetical example: Ticketmaster charges $30 per ticket, but then adds fees that bump the price to $42. Just $12 per ticket goes to the band after accounting for fees they must pay to Live Nation, including — in at least one case — $250 for a stack of 10 towels in the dressing room.

Lawrence wants caps on fees, more transparency in what venue fees are used for as well as fairer distribution of profits. Live Nation takes a cut of the band’s merchandise sales at a concert, for example, but doesn’t share a cut of food and beverage sales.

Berchtold said the ticketing industry would like lawmakers to focus on the problem of ticket scalping — which he said has grown into a massive $5 billion industry — and prohibit fraudulent practices, such as resellers offering tickets that haven’t officially gone on sale yet. He also agreed that the industry should be more transparent about fees.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, suggested legislation that would make tickets non-transferable, thus preventing resales. He also suggested that major artists such as Swift or Bruce Springsteen should demand fee caps.

“Not every kid can afford $500 to go see Taylor Swift,” Kennedy said.

Berchtold said Ticketmaster would support making tickets non-transferable, even though the company does business in the ticket resale market. But others, including Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said making tickets non-transferable would interfere with people’s right to resell them.

The Justice Department allowed Live Nation and Ticketmaster to merge in 2010 as long as Live Nation agreed not to retaliate against concert venues for using other ticket companies for 10 years.

In 2019, the department investigated and found that Live Nation had “repeatedly” violated that agreement. It extended the prohibition on retaliating against concert venues to 2025.

Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said Tuesday that the Justice Department is again investigating Live Nation after the Swift ticket fiasco. At this point, he said, Congress should be asking if the department was right to allow the merger to go ahead in the first place.

“It’s very important that we maintain fair, free, open and even fierce competition,” Lee said. “It increases quality and it reduces price. We want those things to happen.””