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  • Americana Troubadour Todd Snider, Alt-Country Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 59

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Todd Snider, a singer whose thoughtfully freewheeling tunes and cosmic-stoner songwriting made him a beloved figure in American roots music, has died. He was 59.

    His record label said Saturday in a statement posted to his social media accounts that Snider died Friday.

    “Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases?” the statement read. “Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.”

    Snider’s family and friends had said in a Friday statement that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia at a hospital in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and that his situation had since grown more complicated and he was transferred elsewhere. The diagnosis came on the heels of the cancellation of a tour after Snider had been the victim of a violent assault in the Salt Lake City area, according to a Nov. 3 statement from his management team.

    But Salt Lake City police later arrested Snider himself when he at first refused to leave a hospital and later returned and threatened staffers, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

    He modeled himself on — and at times met and was mentored by — artists like Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark and John Prine. His songs were recorded by artists including Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver and Tom Jones. And he co-wrote a song with Loretta Lynn that appeared on her 2016 album, “Full Circle.”

    “He relayed so much tenderness and sensitivity through his songs, and showed many of us how to look at the world through a different lens,” the Saturday statement from his label read. “He got up every morning and started writing, always working towards finding his place among the songwriting giants that sat on his record shelves, those same giants who let him into their lives and took him under their wings, who he studied relentlessly.”

    Snider would do his best-known and most acclaimed work for Prine’s independent label Oh Boy in the early 2000s. It included the albums “New Connection,” “Near Truths and Hotel Rooms” and “East Nashville Skyline,” a 2004 collection that’s considered by many to be his best.

    Those albums yielded his best known songs, “I Can’t Complain,” “Beer Run” and “Alright Guy.”

    Snider was born and raised in Oregon before settling and making his musical chops in San Marcos, Texas. He eventually made his way to Nashville, and was dubbed by some the unofficial “mayor of East Nashville,” assuming the title from a friend memorialized thusly in his “Train Song.” In 2021, Snider said a tornado that ripped through the neighborhood home to a vibrant arts scene severely damaged his house.

    Snider had an early fan in Jimmy Buffett, who signed the young artist to his record label, Margaritaville, which released his first two albums, 1994’s “Songs for the Daily Planet” and 1996’s “Step Right Up.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys Merge Their Parallel Lives for ‘The Beast in Me’

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    When prestige TV was first thought to be eclipsing movies, with quality scripts and meaty acting roles, two shows frequently bandied about were “Homeland” with Claire Danes and “The Americans” starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell.

    Danes acknowledges other parallels with Rhys.

    “I mean, you married an American lady, I married a British gentleman,” she said, referring to her marriage to Hugh Dancy and Rhys’ partner, Russell.

    “We’ve just been mirroring each other’s lives,” added Rhys, noting that they also had children around the same time.

    Danes and Rhys had never worked together, until now. They co-star in the new cat-and-mouse limited series, “The Beast in Me,” streaming on Netflix.

    Danes plays Aggie, a prickly Pulitzer prize-winning author who has a looming deadline for her second book and a major case of writers’ block. She’s also grieving the death of her young son and dissolution of her marriage soon after. When Rhys’ Nile, a real estate tycoon, moves in next door, his reputation precedes him because he was a suspect in his ex-wife’s disappearance. Nile’s aggressive dogs and loud security alarm unnerves Aggie. He and his new wife try to charm the neighbors but she’s a tough nut to crack and returns their gifted bottle of wine.

    “You’re not how I pictured you…at all,” Nile says to Aggie in an early encounter. “On the page you’re a lot more self-assured.” Somehow he entices Aggie to have lunch and the ice between them begins to thaw.

    “I think they’re both crazy smart and rarely encounter another person who thinks as quickly as they do. They’re kind of hyper-perceptive. And they kind of enjoy challenging each other,” said Danes.

    Although she doesn’t completely trust Nile, Aggie proposes she write a book about him to get his narrative out there.

    “He goes, ‘Hang on, I can undo this kind of, you know, a societal scar that I’ve been living with, and I can possibly clear my name,” said Rhys. “He foolishly thinks he could use Aggie in that sense.”

    “The Beast in Me” reunites Danes with some of the team who worked on “Homeland,” including showrunner Howard Gordon.

    When filming began, only three scripts had been written so no one really knew what was going to happen. “We were all discovering the evolution of the story in real time,” said Danes, who adds her history with the production team made her “trust them implicitly.” Even Rhys was OK with the unknown because it served his portrayal of Nile.

    “In a way it’s kind of liberating because then you’re only playing the present and what’s on the page in that moment,” he said. “Sometimes I think when you do know the outcome, I have a tendency sometimes to kind of play into that or to do something ridiculous that flags it. So there’s freedom in the fact that you don’t know.”

    What they knew for sure was to lean into their character’s unlikely chemistry.

    “The pyrotechnics were pretty much contained within these sparring sessions. There is a little murder in there, but that’s not where the tension really lies. They are hiding a lot from each other. They’re playing each other but they also are forging a genuine intimacy and connection that unnerves both of them.”

    “I mean there’s actually nothing I enjoy more than that,” she said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Teen Behind the Louvre Heist ‘Fedora Man’ Photo Embraces His Mystery Moment

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    PARIS (AP) — When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux realized an Associated Press photo of him at the Louvre on the day of the crown jewels heist had drawn millions of views, his first instinct was not to rush online and unmask himself.

    Quite the opposite. A fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot who lives with his parents and grandfather in Rambouillet, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Paris, Pedro decided to play along with the world’s suspense.

    As theories swirled about the sharply dressed stranger in the “Fedora Man” shot — detective, insider, AI fake — he decided to stay silent and watch.

    “I didn’t want to say immediately it was me,” he said. “With this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last.”

    For his only in-person interview since that snap turned him into an international curiosity, he appeared for the AP cameras at his home much as he did that Sunday: in a fedora hat, Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, jacket chosen by his mother, neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers and a restored, war-battered Russian watch.

    The fedora, angled just so, is his homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.

    In person, he is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.

    The image that made him famous was meant to document a crime scene. Three police officers lean on a silver car blocking a Louvre entrance, hours after thieves carried out a daylight raid on French crown jewels. To the right, a lone figure in a three-piece suit strides past — a flash of film noir in a modern-day manhunt.

    The internet did the rest. “Fedora Man,” as users dubbed him, was cast as an old-school detective, an inside man, a Netflix pitch — or not human at all. Many were convinced he was AI-generated.

    Pedro understood why. “In the photo, I’m dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,” he said. “There is a contrast.”

    Even some relatives and friends hesitated until they spotted his mother in the background. Only then were they sure: The internet’s favorite fake detective was a real boy.

    The real story was simple. Pedro, his mother and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre.

    “We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed,” he said. “We didn’t know there was a heist.”

    They asked officers why the gates were shut. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro midstride.

    “When the picture was taken, I didn’t know,” Pedro said. “I was just passing through.”

    Four days later, an acquaintance messaged: Is that you?

    “She told me there were 5 million views,” he said. “I was a bit surprised.” Then his mother called to say he was in The New York Times. “It’s not every day,” he said. Cousins in Colombia, friends in Austria, family friends and classmates followed with screenshots and calls.

    “People said, ‘You’ve become a star,’” he said. “I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days.”

    The look that jolted tens of millions is not a costume whipped up for a museum trip. Pedro began dressing this way less than a year ago, inspired by 20th-century history and black-and-white images of suited statesmen and fictional detectives.

    “I like to be chic,” he said. “I go to school like this.”

    In a sea of hoodies and sneakers, he shows up in a three-piece suit. And the hat? No, that’s its own ritual. The fedora is reserved for weekends, holidays and museum visits.

    At his no-uniform school, his style has already started to spread. “One of my friends came this week with a tie,” he said.

    He understands why people projected a whole sleuth character onto him: improbable heist, improbable detective. He loves Poirot — “very elegant” — and likes the idea that an unusual crime calls for someone who looks unusual. “When something unusual happens, you don’t imagine a normal detective,” he said. “You imagine someone different.”

    That instinct fits the world he comes from. His mother, Félicité Garzon Delvaux, grew up in an 18th-century museum-palace, daughter of a curator and an artist — and regularly takes her son to exhibits.

    “Art and museums are living spaces,” she said. “Life without art is not life.”

    For Pedro, art and imagery were part of everyday life. So when millions projected stories onto a single frame of him in a fedora beside armed police at the Louvre, he recognized the power of an image and let the myth breathe before stepping forward.

    He stayed silent for several days, then switched his Instagram from private to public.

    “People had to try to find who I am,” he said. “Then journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised.”

    He is relaxed about whatever comes next. “I’m waiting for people to contact me for films,” he said, grinning. “That would be very funny.”

    In a story of theft and security lapses, “Fedora Man” is a gentler counterpoint — a teenager who believes art, style and a good mystery belong to ordinary life. One photo turned him into a symbol. Meeting him confirms he is, reassuringly, real.

    “I’m a star,” he says — less brag than experiment, as if he’s trying on the words the way he tries on a hat. “I’ll keep dressing like this. It’s my style.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Bruce Springsteen Performs at New York Public Library Gala

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    Bruce Springsteen was among six honorees Monday night at the library’s annual “Library Lions” gala, which pays tribute to “outstanding achievements” in arts, culture, letters and scholarship. Others receiving medals were producer-writer Shonda Rhimes and authors James Patterson, Daniel Kehlmann and Louise Erdrich and author-musician James McBride, with whom Springsteen exchanged hugs and greetings shortly before guests were seated for dinner.

    Held in the grand auspices of the main research room of the 5th Avenue branch in Manhattan, the ceremony was brief, and without acceptance speeches. But NYPL President Anthony Marx promised a “special treat” was upcoming, and a few minutes later reintroduced Springsteen, his jacket now off and a guitar in hand.

    “I’ve played fireman’s fairs. I’ve played bowling alleys. I’ve played pizza parlors,” Springsteen related to the hundreds of attendees in his raspy drawl. “I’ve played hockey rinks. I’ve played weddings. I’ve played Bar Mitzvahs. I’ve played insane asylums. I’ve played football stadiums.”

    “But I have never played a (expletive) library.”

    After laughter and applause, Springsteen settled into a slow, soulful performance of “Thunder Road,” scatting the closing passage once filled by the saxophone of Clarence Clemons. To a standing ovation and familiar calls of “Bruuuuce,” he wished everyone good night and added a well-placed message, “Read a book!”

    Springsteen has a history of surprise performances. At the New York Film Festival in late September, he turned up after a screening of the biopic “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen, and sang “Land of Hopes and Dreams.”

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  • Diane Ladd, 3-Time Oscar Nominee, Dies at 89

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    OJAI, Calif. (AP) — Diane Ladd, the three-time Academy Award nominee whose roles ranged from the brash waitress in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” to the protective mother in “Wild at Heart,” has died at 89.

    Ladd’s death was announced Monday by daughter Laura Dern, who issued a statement saying her mother and occasional co-star had died at her home in Ojai, California, with Dern at her side. Dern, who called Ladd her “amazing hero” and “profound gift of a mother,′ did not immediately cite a cause of death.

    “She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

    A gifted comic and dramatic performer, Ladd had a long career in television and on stage before breaking through as a film performer in Martin Scorsese’s 1974 release “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” She earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for her turn as the acerbic, straight-talking Flo, and went on to appears in dozens of movies over the following decades. Her many credits included “Chinatown,” “Primary Colors” and two other movies for which she received best supporting nods, “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose.”

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  • Andrew Will Head Into Exile at King Charles’ Private and Remote Sandringham Estate

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    LONDON (AP) — Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the disgraced younger brother of King Charles III, is going into internal exile that will see him further hidden from view from a clearly angry British public.

    His ejection from the 30-room Royal Lodge on the grounds of Windsor Castle to one of the properties on the king’s private estate at Sandringham in the east of England will symbolize the downfall of the one-time prince and duke.

    Though he’s lost his perks of title and status, Andrew, 65, will not be slumming it.

    But it is a banishment nonetheless that leaves Andrew increasingly exposed to scrutiny both in the U.K. and the U.S. over his friendship with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew denies allegations of improper behavior during his long friendship with Epstein, including from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed she had sex with the ex-prince when she was 17.

    Following years of scandals related to Andrew, Charles arguably took the biggest step of his reign Thursday by seeking to insulate the monarchy from any exposure emanating from Andrew’s connections with Epstein, who took his own life in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, more than a decade after his initial conviction.


    Andrew’s eviction won’t happen too quickly

    Andrew has been given notice that his time at Royal Lodge, the mansion near Windsor Castle where he has lived for more than 20 years, is coming to an end. He signed a 75-year lease in 2003 with the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties that is nominally owned, but not controlled, by the monarch.

    He invested a required 7.5 million pounds ($9.9 million) to refurbish the home and now resides there for the annual sum of a peppercorn, a symbolic figure often used to satisfy the legal requirement of real estate transactions.

    His move won’t happen overnight. As everyone knows, moving house is an ordeal at the best of times, regardless of the size of the dwelling. It’s certainly going to take Andrew, and whoever he can get to help him, a fair chunk of time to go through his belongings, decide what to take, give to charity or what to toss.

    There’s also the little matter of divvying up possessions with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who has lived with Andrew at Royal Lodge since 2008, but who will not be moving on to Sandringham at Charles’ expense.

    With Christmas looming, the likely time and effort is no bad thing for a royal family seeking to isolate Andrew. The last thing the 76-year-old monarch, and his son, the heir to the throne Prince William, will want is Andrew within shouting distance on Christmas Day when members of the royal family go to St. Mary Magdalene church on the Sandringham Estate, before what is no doubt a majestic banquet at the king’s main residence, Sandringham House, and its 100 or so rooms.


    Andrew’s new home was loved by the monarchs

    So the expectation is that Andrew will move to his new home in one of the U.K.’s least densely populated counties, after all the festivities have concluded.

    The Sandringham Estate is not an official royal residence, which means it’s not owned by the state, a fact that Charles will hope will keep a lid on the public’s anger. Charles will be funding Andrew’s relocation and provide his brother an annual stipend from his own private resources. In effect, Andrew will not live out his vintage years at the expense of the British taxpayer.

    Sandringham, the private home of the last six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London. It has been owned by the royal family since 1862, passing directly from one monarch to the next for more than 160 years.

    It was recorded in the Domesday Book, the survey of lands in England compiled by William the Conqueror in 1086, as “Sant Dersingham,” or the sandy part of Dersingham. That was shortened to Sandringham in later years.

    Queen Victoria bought Sandringham for her eldest son, Edward, in 1862, largely in hopes that becoming a country gentleman would keep the playboy prince out of trouble in the nightspots of London, Paris, Monte Carlo and Biarritz. The future Edward VII transformed the estate into a modern country retreat to be passed on from one generation to the next.

    The monarchs since have inherited it — and loved it. Charles was a fan from a young boy, joining shooting parties in the 1950s, with one photograph catching him blowing a miniature hunting trumpet while sitting on horseback.

    There is growing speculation that Andrew will not be moving to Wood Farm on the estate, the property favored by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II and father, Prince Philip, who preferred its cosy surroundings to the grandiose main residence.

    But there are a number of other properties available, including Park House, the birthplace and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales. The late princess continued to live there until the death of her grandfather in 1975.

    York Cottage is another possibility. It’s where King George V, Andrew’s great-grandfather, lived before becoming monarch in 1910.

    The cottage, which is not a cottage in the traditional sense given it has multiple bedrooms and a lake nearby, was reportedly earmarked for William’s brother, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, before they decided to ditch their royal lives and go and live in the U.S.

    York Cottage, which has often been used as holiday accommodation, may have one problem, though. It does after all share the name of the dukedom that Andrew used to have — a constant reminder of what’s transpired.

    Another option for Andrew could be Gardens House, which was once home to the estate’s head gardener. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and is being used as a holiday let, according to Sandringham’s website.

    The Folly, which has been a hunting lodge and a place where ladies enjoyed afternoon tea, would certainly see Andrew downsizing substantially. It only has three bedrooms — but as a single man, does he really need any more?

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  • Andrew’s Royal Exit Is the Latest Crisis for Britain’s Monarchy

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    LONDON (AP) — Holding prestige but not power, Britain’s monarchy is finely tuned to public sentiment.

    That’s been evident with the disgrace of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, who was stripped of his princely title and his spacious home by his brother King Charles on Thursday, a banishment that has left the disgraced royal increasingly exposed to political and legal scrutiny over his finances and his friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

    Following years of scandals related to Andrew, Charles arguably took the biggest step of his reign by seeking to insulate the monarchy from any further scandals relating to Andrew and his connections with Epstein, who took his own life in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, more than a decade after his initial conviction.

    It’s not the first time the current iteration of the British monarchy — the House of Windsor — has been in crisis over the past century and where the future of the institution has been threatened.

    George Gross, a royal expert at King’s College London, said the most recent precedent for what has happened to Andrew is the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act, which “saw various members of loosely affiliated royals and dukes and members of the peerage losing titles if they had sided with Germany in the First World War.”

    The royal families of Europe are intertwined, and Britain’s is heavily German, especially after Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, with whom she had nine children.

    When Britain and Germany went to war in 1914, some members of the wider British royal family found themselves on opposing sides.

    Britain’s King George V changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in 1917, and initiated legislation to strike out the titles of princes and lords “who have, during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who have adhered to His Majesty’s enemies.”

    One target was Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, who was a U.K. royal and also a prince of Hanover. His title was removed for being an enemy of Britain under the 1917 act, which was enacted in 1919, once the war was over.

    According to the House of Commons Library, “this was the first and only time such a title has been removed in this way.”

    The relationship between Edward, Prince of Wales, and U.S. socialite Wallis Simpson was a headache that turned into a constitutional crisis. Simpson was twice divorced, and Edward, the heir to the throne, was destined to be ceremonial head of the Church of England, which did not allow divorced people to remarry in church.

    The prince became King Edward VIII when his father King George V died in early 1936. He continued to say he wanted to marry Simpson, despite the opposition of the British government.

    Forced to choose between duty and passion, he gave up the throne in December 1936, announcing in a radio broadcast that “I have found it impossible … to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

    The news was a surprise to many in Britain, though not beyond it. British newspapers had not reported on the relationship, and American magazines had offending articles cut out before going on sale.

    The abdication set the monarchy on a new course. Edward’s younger brother took the throne as King George VI. He was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, and after her 70-year reign by her son, King Charles III. All doubled down on the idea that the monarch’s primary attribute should be a sense of duty — something Edward, in the popular imagination, lacked.

    Edward and Wallis, now the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and suspected by some of Nazi sympathies, were sent to the Bahamas, where he served as governor. After the war they mostly stayed away from Britain, living a life of nomadic luxury.

    The death of Princess Diana — the ex-wife of Charles — in a car crash in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36 shocked the world and left her family, including sons William and Harry, then 15 and 12, in mourning.

    The strength of public feeling caught the royal family by surprise. Mounds of floral tributes piled up outside the gates of Buckingham Palace to mourn a princess who had been ostracized by the royal family after her divorce from Charles in 1992.

    The queen was at Balmoral in Scotland on her summer holiday with her husband Prince Philip, Charles, William and Harry. The family kept their grief private and stuck to routine — taking the ashen-faced boys to church on Sunday morning — and the queen did not issue a statement for several days.

    She was advised to make a public display of grief by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who perfectly caught the public mood with his own tribute calling Diana “the people’s princess.”

    After newspaper headlines urging “Speak to us Ma’am” and “Show us you care,” the queen made a live televised address to the nation on the eve of Diana’s funeral.

    “What I say to you now, as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart,” the queen said, acknowledging the country’s grief, praising Diana and promising to cherish her memory.

    Until the Epstein scandal reared up again last year, Andrew had been trying to regain favor with the family. He may have benefited indirectly from the trouble with Prince Harry, who was the source of most of the drama at the time outside of the family’s high-profile medical problems.

    Harry became estranged from his father and older brother, Prince William, heir to the throne, when he and his wife, Meghan, stepped down from their working roles and moved to California in 2020. The couple famously aired their grievances with the royal family in a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey and a revealing Netflix series. Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, then fueled the tensions by revealing personal conversations in his memoir, “Spare.”

    Harry also broke from royal protocol in turning to the courts to sort out his legal problems. He became the first senior royal to testify in court in more than a century in his successful phone hacking lawsuit against the Daily Mirror.

    A failed legal effort to restore his police protection detail that was stripped from him when he left royal work, though, was seen as an attack on his father’s government.

    When the courts finally rejected the lawsuit, it provide a chance for a reunion between father and son. The two shared a cup of tea at Charles’ London abode, Clarence House, in September. It was their first meeting in over a year. It lasted less than an hour.

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  • ‘King of K-Pop’ Lee Soo Man on His Career, a Global Industry and What’s Next

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    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Soo Man resisted the title at first. “King of K-pop” sounded too brash, too nightclub-esque — like something you’d see on a neon sign in Itaewon, a nightlife neighborhood in the South Korean capital Seoul once popular with U.S. soldiers and foreign visitors. “I asked them, ‘Couldn’t it be Father of K-pop?’” the 73-year-old recalled during a recent interview with The Associated Press.

    He was discussing the title of Amazon Prime’s documentary about his career. The producers insisted the bolder moniker would resonate better with American audiences. After some back-and-forth, Lee relented. “I had to follow their decision.”

    The compromise speaks to Lee’s pragmatic approach to breaking South Korean acts into the American mainstream — a three-decade quest that often required him to bend but never break his vision. Now, as the founder of SM Entertainment and widely credited as the architect of K-pop’s global expansion, Lee will be inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame on Saturday alongside basketball legend Yao Ming, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, and rock icon Yoshiki, among others.

    Lee remains a prominent but controversial figure in K-pop history. His label pioneered the industry’s intensive training system, recruiting performers as young as elementary school age and putting them through years of rigorous preparation. Some of his artists have challenged their contracts as unfair, sparking broader debates about industry practices.

    The recognition arrives as Lee reemerges into the spotlight after a contentious, high-profile departure from the agency he founded in 1995 — a management battle that included a public feud with his nephew-in-law and a bidding war over his shares. He’s been keeping busy since, debuting a new band, A20 MAY, in both China and the U.S. He’s also investing in a boutique Chinese firm’s high-tech production technologies.

    Born in South Korea, Lee studied computer engineering in the U.S. for his master’s degree. That technical background would later inform his approach to everything from visualization and cutting-edge production technologies — he said he’s been rewatching “The Matrix” to revisit filming techniques — to pioneering elaborate “worldviews” and virtual avatars for his K-pop bands.

    For Lee, the Hall of Fame honor “confirms that K-pop has become a genre that the mainstream is now paying attention to” — an acceptance that came after costly lessons and years of trial and error.


    When America wasn’t ready for K-pop

    Lee invested about $5 million in BoA’s 2009 American debut with “Eat You Up,” one of the first songs by a South Korean artist to be primarily written and produced by Western producers — a bold early attempt to bring K-pop into the U.S. mainstream. But with few widely recognized Asian artists in American pop culture at the time, the market wasn’t ready. After nearly two years, BoA — already a megastar in Korea and Japan — decided to return home. The experience, Lee has said, left him with lasting regrets.

    “When I asked the songwriter(s) to revise ‘Eat You Up,’ they refused,” Lee recalled. “If we had changed it, I believe it would have achieved much better results.”


    Sourcing the world’s best songs for K-pop

    That setback taught Lee that K-pop needed to source global talent while maintaining creative control to adapt songs for the worldwide market. His quest for the perfect tracks took him worldwide.

    “I once heard a song that was so good I couldn’t let it go,” he said, recalling the track that would later become “Dreams Come True” for S.E.S., the late-1990s girl group. “I could’ve bought the license to the song in South Korea, Hong Kong, or Sweden. But I wanted to play it safe, so I found the Finnish address, went to meet the songwriter directly, wrote up a contract, and brought it back.”

    At the time, top Western songwriters prioritized Japan, the world’s second-largest music market. “European songwriters were willing to sell to Asia,” Lee explained. “That’s how we eventually built a system where music from Europe, Asia, and America could come together.”


    Fictional universes that keep fans hooked

    That fusion became K-pop’s signature. Lee also helped to pioneer another innovation: elaborate fictional universes, or “worldviews,” for groups like EXO and aespa — a storytelling approach that would later be adopted across the industry, including by groups like BTS.

    The concept emerged during his time in the U.S., where he witnessed MTV transform music into a visual medium. “But we only have three or four minutes,” he said. “How do we express dramatic, cinematic elements in such a short time?”

    Lee’s solution was to create ongoing narratives that unfold across multiple music videos and releases — think Marvel’s cinematic universe, but for pop groups.

    Unable to attract established screenwriters, Lee developed the storylines himself. The strategy proved prescient: These interconnected narratives give global fans reason to follow groups across comebacks, waiting for the next chapter in an unfolding saga.

    Despite K-pop’s global success, Lee remains focused on Asia’s potential. He envisions South Korea as a creative hub where international talent learns production. “Korea should become the country of producers,” he said.

    With the Asia-Pacific region home to more than half the world’s population, he sees it as entertainment’s inevitable future center.

    His latest venture with A20 MAY, which operates in both China and the U.S., is testing that vision in one of Asia’s most challenging markets. China’s entertainment landscape has grown increasingly restrictive, with Beijing recently cracking down on “ effeminate ” male celebrities and youth culture. Asked about potential political risks, Lee dismissed concerns.

    “Political risk? I don’t really know much about that,” he said.

    He said he aims to elevate South Korea’s cultural influence as a center of production while meeting China’s needs as it seeks to expand its soft power alongside economic dominance.

    “Culturally, does China need what we do? I believe they do.”

    The documentary also addressed darker aspects of K-pop close to Lee’s heart, including the suicides of SM Entertainment artists.

    He traces the problem to anonymous and malicious online comments that often evade accountability, especially when posted on servers outside South Korea’s jurisdiction, calling it a global issue requiring international cooperation. Lee advocates for worldwide standards on user verification and mediation systems where victims could identify attackers without expensive legal battles.

    But Lee resists the media’s focus on K-pop’s problems. “Should we always weigh the dark side equally with the bright side, the future?” he asked. “Media should consider whether K-pop represents more future or more past that holds us back. Rather than just discussing the dark side and dragging us down by clinging to the past, shouldn’t we talk more about the future?”

    After more than three decades, Lee’s definition remains straightforward: “K-pop is a new language of communication that transcends barriers. These languages move around naturally — what you can’t stop is culture.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • President Trump Returns to ’60 Minutes’ for First Time After Settling Lawsuit Against Newsmagazine

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    President Donald Trump is returning to “60 Minutes” this weekend, his first appearance on the show since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over the newsmagazine’s interview with Kamala Harris.

    Trump was interviewed by CBS’ Norah O’Donnell Friday at Mar-a-Lago for the appearance, which will air this Sunday.

    The president has a checkered history with television’s most popular newsmagazine. But he has signaled friendlier relations with CBS News after the takeover of its parent company this summer by new Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of wealthy supporter Larry Ellison.

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  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Transferred to New Jersey Prison to Serve 4-Year Prostitution-Related Sentence

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs has been transferred to a prison in New Jersey to serve out the remainder of his four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related charges.

    The hip-hop mogul is currently incarcerated at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institute, located about 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of Philadelphia on the grounds of the joint military base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, according to his listing in the federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database as of Friday.

    It’s not immediately clear when Combs was moved from the troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he had been held since his arrest last September.

    Lawyers for Combs and spokespersons for the agency didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

    Combs’ lawyers had asked a judge earlier this month to “strongly recommend” transferring him to the low-security male prison so that he could take part in the facility’s drug treatment program.

    FCI Fort Dix, one of several dozen federal prisons with a residential drug treatment program, would best allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” Teny Geragos, his lawyer, wrote in a letter.

    Combs has already served about 14 months of his 50-month sentence and is set to be released from prison on May 8, 2028, though he can earn reductions in his time behind bars through his participation in substance abuse treatment and other prison programs.

    Earlier this week, Combs’ lawyers asked a federal appeals court to quickly consider the legality of his conviction and sentence. The 55-year-old wants his appeal to be considered soon enough that he can benefit from a reduction of time spent in prison if the appeals court reverses his conviction, his lawyers said.

    President Donald Trump has also said Combs had asked him for a pardon, though the Republican did not say if he would grant the request.

    The founder of Bad Boy Records was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters in multiple places over many years. However, he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.

    In a letter to the judge before he was sentenced, Combs said he has gone through a “spiritual reset” in jail and was “committed to the journey of remaining a drug free, non-violent and peaceful person.”

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  • Janelle Monáe Embraces HalloQueen Role, Creating an Empire Where Art and Freedom Collide in October

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just before Janelle Monáe’s DJ set at Cinespia — an outdoor movie series framed by the marble mausoleums of a storied Hollywood cemetery — the multi-hyphenated performer wasn’t just focused on rehearsing a setlist.

    Instead, Monáe paused to guide a symbolic circle inspired by “The Craft.”

    Inside a candle-lit mausoleum, Monáe and several close friends recreated a moment from the 1996 cult classic film that they would later introduce to a sold-out crowd at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The group swayed and chanted, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board” before declaring “This is for the witches tonight.”

    “It’s really about community for me,” Monáe said backstage with The Associated Press before performing a 20-minute set. “We love the ritualistic nature of what Halloween means: being with your friends, embracing your magic and celebrating that together.”

    That brief circle of movement and music captured the essence of Monáe’s growing HalloQueen world, where the artist says play, performance and purpose meet under candlelight and bass lines. It’s all tied into the monthlong creative residency through a series of events reflective of Monáe’s passion for Halloween.

    “Halloween gives context to what I already do every day,” Monáe said. “As an artist, I’m always transforming, world-building and inviting people to play in the worlds I create.”


    The catalyst behind Monáe’s HalloQueen and events

    The HalloQueen experience reaches its peak this week with Vampire Beach, a large-scale festival at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, followed by the annual Wondaween party on Friday. The two signature events crown Monáe’s season of celebration.

    This year, Monáe is fully embracing the role of HalloQueen, turning October into both a playground and creative empire. What began as a love for dressing up as a child has grown into a movement that fuses self-expression under one brand.

    For Monáe, Halloween feels less like a holiday and more like homecoming.

    “I’ve loved transforming since I was a kid,” they said. “I create characters and worlds I want to live in. I’m just playing.”

    At Cinespia, Monáe’s set opened with Nina Simone’s “I Put a Spell on You,” casting a musical spell over a crowd of witches and movie lovers. Among them was actor Rachel True, who portrayed Rochelle in the original “The Craft.”

    “Janelle celebrates the kind of weird that used to make people uncomfortable,” True said after her surprise appearance. “I love that she embraces it so boldly. Back when I was coming up, I was told to be less weird, so to see that energy live on through Janelle means everything. We’re Black girls who own our weirdness, and we unite in that.”


    How Monáe built a world where art meets imagination

    The sense of play has always shaped Monáe’s creative universe from the tuxedo-clad android era to the futuristic gowns and otherworldly Halloween looks that have become their trademark.

    Each October, Monáe treats costumes like character studies: the Grinch’s daughter, a futuristic E.T., even a space-age take on classic horror icons. The performer also hosts AMC’s annual “FearFest.”

    Monáe channels that imagination into a monthlong residency of immersive experiences. The itinerary has already included Monáe Manor at the LA Haunted Hayride, a DJ set for “The Craft” at Cinespia and their starring role as Sally in Danny Elfman’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at the Hollywood Bowl over the past weekend.

    From costume design to music curation, each event carries Monáe’s fingerprints.

    “I consider myself a world-building experience architect,” they said. “I want people to look around and think, these were some of the best memories of my life.”

    On Thursday, the Vampire Beach event offers a playful twist on daylight creatures of the night. The event flows through Wondaween, the new umbrella brand linking Monáe’s music, film, gaming and live experiences.

    “Vampires can be in the sun now because of sunscreen,” Monae said, referencing a partnership with Vacation Sunscreen.


    The blueprint behind the Monáe multiverse

    Monáe’s creative foundation began with the Wondaland collective, co-founded with Nate “Rocket” Wonder and Chuck Lightning in Atlanta. That community of musicians, writers and filmmakers evolved into a multidisciplinary hub for world-building.

    Now, it serves as the backbone for Wondaween’s Halloween expansion. There’s a hope to bring that same spirit of collaboration to live and immersive events.

    “Wondaland has always represented art, community, imagination and pushing boundaries,” Monáe said. “Wondaween extends that vision. It’s a real-world destination for people who love creativity and want to feel free expressing it.”

    From student workshops with horror screenwriter Akela Cooper to curated game nights and immersive music events, Monáe views every project as a portal to connection.

    “Everything I build — from my albums to these events — sits under one creative umbrella,” Monáe said. “The universe made me multidimensional, and I want people to see all of those sides.”


    Will the HalloQueen expand into new worlds?

    What Monáe hopes participants feel after each event is lasting resonance. They see a moment still unfolding.

    For Monáe, HalloQueen represents both a celebration and a blueprint for what’s possible when creativity meets community. They envision taking the experience to other cities including Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and Kansas City, where the artist was born and raised.

    Each stop would feature a new theme, in what Monáe describes as “almost like the Met Gala for Halloween.”

    When October ends, Monáe channels that creative charge into future music and film projects.

    “The season inspires me to build new worlds,” they said. “It keeps me dreaming.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Kelsey Grammer, 70, Announces the Birth of His 8th Child: ‘Isn’t That Lovely?’

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    It’s a boy — named Christopher — for 70-year-old actor Kelsey Grammer and his wife Kayte Walsh.

    The “Frasier” star announced his latest baby news on Monday’s edition of the “Pod Meets World” podcast.

    “We just had our fourth one, it just became eight kids,” Grammer said. “It was like three days ago. Christopher has just joined the family. Pretty cool. Yeah, isn’t that lovely?”

    The child is the fourth for Walsh and Grammer. The actor also has four older children from previous relationships, including two with ex-wife Camille Grammer, an original cast member of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

    Grammer was on the podcast to discuss his recent book, “Karen: A Brother Remembers,” about the murder of his sister when she was 18.

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  • Producers Pay Damages to Settle Libel Suit Over Movie About Search for King Richard III

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    Now a movie about the saga has been accused of stretching the truth too far.

    The producers of “The Lost King” on Monday agreed to pay damages to an academic who sued for libel over his on-screen depiction.

    Richard Taylor said he suffered “enormous distress and embarrassment” because of the 2022 film, which centers on amateur historian Philippa Langley’s quest to find the king’s remains despite what the movie depicts as indifference and condescension from the academic world.

    A judge at a preliminary hearing last year said the film portrayed Taylor, the former deputy registrar at the University of Leicester, as “smug, unduly dismissive and patronizing.”

    The case had been due to go to a full trial, but on Monday a lawyer for Taylor announced that the dispute had been settled. Attorney William Bennett said the defendants — actor-writer Steve Coogan, Coogan’s production company Baby Cow and Pathé Productions — had agreed to pay Taylor “substantial damages” and legal costs. The amount was not disclosed.

    The defendants said they would also add an on-screen clarification at the start of the film stating that the depiction is “fictional and does not represent the actions of the real Mr. Taylor.”

    Taylor, who is now chief operating officer at Loughborough University, said the settlement was vindication after “a long and grueling battle.”

    “There have been moments over the last three years when I thought, when Philippa Langley approached me for the university’s support, I perhaps should have put the request in the bin,” he said. “But I didn’t, and I think I was right not to do that.”

    Coogan, who co-wrote “The Lost King” and played Langley’s ex-husband, insisted that “this film is a true story, Philippa Langley’s story. That is the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did.

    “If it wasn’t for Philippa Langley, Richard III would still be lying under a car park in Leicester,” Coogan said. “It is her name that will be remembered in relation to the discovery of the lost king, long after Richard Taylor has faded into obscurity.”

    University of Leicester archaeologists worked with Langley in 2012 to locate Richard’s skeleton in the city in central England, more than five centuries after he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the last act of a civil conflict known as the Wars of the Roses.

    The victor took the throne as King Henry VII, and under the Tudor dynasty he founded, Richard was vilified. William Shakespeare depicted him as an evil, hunchbacked usurper who murdered his two young nephews because they were rivals for the crown.

    Some historians, including Langley, believe Richard was unfairly maligned, arguing that he was a relatively enlightened monarch whose short reign between 1483 and 1485 saw reforms including the introduction of the right to bail and the lifting of restrictions on books and printing presses.

    Scientists from the University of Leicester worked to confirm the remains belonged to the medieval king, and in 2015 Richard was reburied with royal ceremony in a tomb at Leicester Cathedral.

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  • June Lockhart, Beloved Mother Figure From ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space,’ Dies at 100

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — June Lockhart, who became a mother figure for a generation of television viewers whether at home in “Lassie” or up in the stratosphere in “Lost In Space,” has died. She was 100.

    Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, said Saturday.

    “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times everyday,” he said. “It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.”

    The daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, Lockhart was cast frequently in ingenue roles as a young film actor. Television made her a star.

    From 1958 to 1964, she portrayed Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost), in the popular CBS series “Lassie.” From 1965 to 1968, she traveled aboard the spaceship Jupiter II as mother to the Robinson family in the campy CBS adventure “Lost in Space.”

    Her portrayals of warm, compassionate mothers endeared her to young viewers, and decades later baby boomers flocked to nostalgia conventions to meet Lockhart and buy her autographed photos.

    Offscreen, Lockhart insisted, she was nothing like the women she portrayed.

    “I must quote Dan Rather,” she said in a 1994 interview. “I can control my reputation, but not my image, because my image is how you see me.

    “I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to the concerts. I have driven Army tanks and flown in hot air balloons. And I go plane-gliding — the ones with no motors. I do a lot of things that don’t go with my image.”

    Early in her career, Lockhart appeared in numerous films. Among them: “All This and Heaven Too,” “Adam Had Four Sons,” “Sergeant York,” “Miss Annie Rooney,” “Forever and a Day” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

    She also made “Son of Lassie,” the 1945 sequel to “Lassie, Come Home,” playing the grown-up version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.

    When her movie career as an adult faltered, Lockhart shifted to television, appearing in live drama from New York and game and talk shows. She was the third actress to play the female lead in “Lassie” on TV, following Jan Clayton and Cloris Leachman. (Provost had replaced the show’s original child star, Tommy Rettig, in 1957.)

    Lockhart spoke frankly about her canine co-star. In the first place, she said in 1989, Lassie was a laddie, because male collies “are bigger, the ruff is bigger, they’re more imposing looking.”

    She added: “I worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.

    “Lassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly concentrated on the trainers.”

    After six years in the rural setting of “Lassie,” Lockhart moved to outer space, embarking on the role of Maureen Robinson, the wise, reassuring mother of a family that departs on a five-year flight to a faraway planet in “Lost in Space.”

    After their mission is sabotaged by a fellow passenger, the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), the party bounces from planet to planet, encountering weird creatures and near-disasters that required viewers to tune in the following week to learn of the escape. Throughout the three-year run, Mrs. Robinson offered consolation and a slice of her “space pie.”

    As with “Lassie,” Lockhart enjoyed working on “Lost in Space”: “It was like going to work at Disneyland every day.”

    In 1968, Lockhart joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” for the rural comedy’s last two seasons, playing Dr. Janet Craig. The original star, Bea Benaderet, had been diagnosed with cancer and died, also in 1968.


    A little bit of everything

    Lockhart remained active long after “Lost in Space,” appearing often in episodic television as well as in recurring roles in the daytime soap opera “General Hospital” and nighttime soaps, “Knots Landing” and “The Colbys.” Her film credits included “The Remake” and the animated “Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm,” for which she provided the voice for Mindy the Owl.

    She also used her own media pass to attend presidential news conferences, narrated beauty pageants and holiday parades, appeared in B pictures and toured in the plays “Steel Magnolias,” “Bedroom Farce” and “Once More with Feeling.”

    “Her true passion was journalism,” Gregory said. “She loved going to the White House briefing rooms.”

    Lockhart liked to tell the story of how her parents met, saying they were hired separately for a touring production sponsored by inventor Thomas A. Edison and decided on marriage during a stop at Lake Louise, Alberta.

    Their daughter was born June 25, 1925, in New York City. The family moved to Hollywood 10 years later, and Gene Lockhart worked steadily as a character actor, usually in avuncular roles, sometimes as a villain. His wife, Kathleen, often appeared with him.

    Young June made her stage debut at 8, dancing in a children’s ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. Her first film appearance was a small role in the 1938 “A Christmas Carol,” playing the daughter of Bob Cratchit and his wife, who were played by her parents.

    She was married and divorced twice: to John Maloney, a physician, father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and architect John C. Lindsay.

    Throughout her later career, Lockhart was connected in the public mind with “Lassie.”

    Even though she sometimes mocked the show, she conceded: “How wonderful that in a career there is one role for which you are known. Many actors work all their lives and never have one part that is really theirs.”

    Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Miguel’s ‘CAOS,’ Fueled by Anger and Angst, Is His First Studio Album in Nearly a Decade

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    “I needed to do some growing. I had to get my (expletive) together.”

    “We’re just seeing, I think, a big question mark of humanity being asked in real time every day,” Miguel said. “I needed to go away and recalibrate and just get in touch with my anger and figure out how best to move forward with that in a productive way … I’m really glad that I did because it’s what informed this album.”

    “CAOS” is a sharp departure from the superstar’s vibey, sensual sound that made him a hit-making staple in R&B. The singer-songwriter’s fifth studio project, morphed from his 2023-scrapped “Viscera” LP, dropped Thursday, coinciding with his 40th birthday. He wrote on all 12 tracks and handled the bulk of production with Ray Brady. The lone feature belongs to the legendary George Clinton of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees Parliament-Funkadelic.

    Led by the singles “RIP,” “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U),” “El Pleito,” and “Angel’s Song,” the album radiates his trendsetting fusion of alternative rock, R&B and electronic sounds, but in unfamiliar, darker tones. The music evokes feelings of urgency, protest and rebellion.

    “ This album is the most angsty, angry album I’ve ever made. But I think underlying and underwriting the message and the themes is this core need to express discontentment in a healthy way that creates the feeling and the future that I want.”

    Miguel also faced internal plights: divorce, family death and industry disillusionment.

    “The value of my work became about outside appreciation as opposed to internal gratitude,” said the artist who’s earned four top 20 tracks on the Billboard 100. The admission comes from a Grammy winner who’s created new-day classics such as “Adorn,” and “Sure Thing” and fan favorite mood-setters like “All I Want is You” and “Skywalker.”

    “When you see something in culture be really successful … you can start comparing … and it’s such a slippery slope,” said Miguel, who released bits of music during his hiatus, like the EPs “Te Lo Dije” and “Art Dealer Chic 4,” and songs “Don’t Forget My Love” with Diplo in 2022 and “Sweet Dreams” with BTS’s J-Hope earlier this year. “It’s about connecting more deeply and having a deeper conversation with my audience, as opposed to wanting to make the big song.”

    During his hiatus, Miguel and Nazanin Mandi divorced. The singer began dating Mandi at 19 years old before marrying in 2018. They divorced four years later.

    “It was a painful thing to go through” said Miguel, who wrote “Always Time” to address the breakup. “Some things you do have to let go, if you really, really love it, and I think that was a good indication that I needed to take some time for myself.”

    Last month, in celebration of his son’s first birthday, Miguel publicly revealed he was a first-time father with filmmaker and former Vogue China editor Margaret Zhang. “Angel’s Song” is dedicated to his child.

    “CAOS,” Spanish for chaos, also features another turn from the genre-bending artist: Spanish-language songs. While 2019’s “Te Lo Dije” featured Spanish recordings of previous songs, this project contains original tracks like “El Pleito” and “Perderme.”

    “It was always floated as ‘You should lean into Latin as a marketing (tactic).’ … It just didn’t feel natural,” said Miguel, whose mother is African American and father is Mexican American. “Here I am now, and it’s more about my identity and who I am and who am proud to be.”

    Miguel, serving as this year’s scholar-in-residence at NYU’s Steinhardt School, is also focusing on his S1C venture geared toward providing Black, Mexican and Latino creators with development and financial support. He also appreciates the futuristic-R&B sound that swelled during his absence, which he’s largely credited with helping to introduce.

    “I love that I can hear my influence in some of the music today,” said Miguel, who gained younger fans in 2023 after “Sure Thing” went viral on TikTok and Instagram more than a decade after its release. “You’re like, OK, we were in the right place.”

    Despite grappling with staying true to yourself and your music, not being captive to the charts, Miguel feels appreciated by his fans, and centers himself in gratitude.

    “I’m so lucky to have found a core audience who really rides with me through all of my evolutions,” he said. “I do think that I’ve been appreciated. And I think that there’s opportunity for it to be more, and more importantly, deeper.”

    Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

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  • Bon Jovi Is Hitting the Road. Band Announces First Tour Since Jon Bon Jovi’s Vocal Cord Surgery

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Decades into his career and the unthinkable happened. It was 2022, and Jon Bon Jovi began struggling through his songs. He saw a doctor who said one of his vocal cords was atrophying. He needed major surgery.

    Bon Jovi had the procedure, and in the years since, has undergone extensive rehab, leading to the current moment: Next summer his band, Bon Jovi, will embark on their first tour in four years.

    The “Forever Tour” kicks off with four nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden before the band heads to Edinburgh, Scotland; Dublin and London.

    “There is a lot of joy in this announcement — joy that we can share these nights together with our amazing fans and joy that the band can be together,” Bon Jovi said in a statement. “I’ve spoken extensively on my gratitude but I will say it again, I’m deeply grateful that the fans and the brotherhood of this band have been patient and allowed me the time needed to get healthy and prepare for touring. I’m ready and excited!”

    Bon Jovi’s last concert was held on April 30, 2022, in Nashville — as seen in the 2024 Hulu documentary, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”

    An artist presale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. General sales launch Oct. 31, also at 10 a.m. Eastern, via bonjovi.com.

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  • The Louvre Reopens 3 Days After Thieves Took French Crown Jewels in Daylight Heist

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    PARIS (AP) — The Louvre reopened Wednesday morning, three days after thieves forced open a window and stole French crown jewels in a daring, daylight raid on the musuem.

    The Apollo Room where the theft occurred remained closed to visitors, while crowds — hundreds deep — waited outside the museum’s glass pyramid entrance.

    The Louvre is normally closed on Tuesday and had been shut since the theft for investigation.

    No arrests have been announced, and the stolen jewels remain missing.

    The Paris prosecutor said Tuesday that the stolen crown jewels were worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million), not including their historical value to France.

    About 100 investigators are involved in the police pursuit of the suspects and jewels after Sunday’s theft from the world’s most-visited museum.

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  • One Scandal Too Many Forces UK Monarchy to Sideline Prince Andrew

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    It was one scandal too many.

    After emails emerged this week showing that Prince Andrew remained in contact with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously admitted, the House of Windsor finally moved to insulate the monarchy from years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s dodgy friends and suspicious business deals.

    Buckingham Palace on Friday released a statement from Andrew saying that he had agreed to give up use of his last remaining royal titles so that continued allegations about him “don’t distract from the work of His Majesty.”

    This week’s revelations demonstrated that Andrew had committed the unforgivable sin of misleading the British public, said Craig Prescott, an expert on the monarchy and constitutional law at Royal Holloway University of London.

    “To say something which is proven not to be true, I think, is the straw that broke the camel’s back,’’ he said.

    The move comes as Charles, who is 76 and undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, works to ensure the long-term stability of the monarchy under his son and heir Prince William.

    William recently gave an interview in which he set out his vision for the monarchy, saying that the institution needed to change to make sure that it is a force for good.

    “In some ways, Prince Andrew has been the exact opposite of that,” Prescott said. “And there is no space for that in the modern monarchy.”

    Andrew, 65, is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He spent more than 20 years as an officer in the Royal Navy before leaving to take up his royal duties in 2001.

    Following Friday’s announcement, Andrew will no longer use his remaining royal titles, including the Duke of York, though he technically retains them. Formally stripping him of those titles would be a time-consuming process requiring an act of Parliament.

    That was triggered by a disastrous interview Andrew gave to the BBC as he sought to counter media reports about his friendship with Epstein and deny allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, Virginia Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein in 2001. The prince was widely criticized for failing to show empathy for Epstein’s victims and for offering unbelievable explanations for his friendship with the disgraced financier.

    The interview also sowed the seeds of this week’s upheaval, when Andrew told the BBC that he had cut off contact with Epstein in December 2010.

    British newspapers on Sunday revealed that Andrew wrote an email to Epstein on Feb. 28, 2011. Andrew wrote the note after renewed reporting on the Epstein scandal, telling him they were “in this together” and would “have to rise above it.”

    Andrew has recently faced another round of grimy stories as newspapers release excerpts of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, which will be published on Tuesday. Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.

    Andrew in 2022 reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre after she filed a civil suit against him in New York. While he didn’t admit wrongdoing, Andrew did acknowledge Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.


    Front-page fodder for wrong reasons

    The prince has been the subject of tabloid stories stretching back to at least 2007, when he sold his house near Windsor Castle for 20% over the 15 million pound asking price. The buyer was reported to be Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of Nursultan Nazarbayev, then-president of Kazakhstan, raising concerns that the deal was an attempt to buy influence in Britain.

    Last year, a court case revealed Andrew’s relationship with a businessman and suspected Chinese spy who was barred from the United Kingdom as a threat to national security. Authorities were concerned that the man could have misused his influence over Andrew, according to court documents.

    While the palace said Andrew had decided to give up his royal titles, royal commentator Jennie Bond said the king and Prince William exerted “enormous pressure” on him.

    “We could say he has fallen on his sword, but I think he’s been pushed onto it,” Bond told the BBC. “I don’t think this is a decision that Andrew, quite an arrogant man — very, very fond of his status — would have willingly made without a lot of pressure.”


    Insulating the monarchy at a delicate time

    While the cumulative weight of Andrew’s scandals demanded a response from the royal family, this week’s revelations came at a particularly sensitive moment for the king as he prepares for a state visit to the Vatican, where he is expected to pray beside Pope Leo XIV.

    The visit is very important to Charles, who has made the bridging of faiths an important part of his “mantra,” said George Gross, an expert on theology and the monarchy at King’s College, London.

    “I think this was the speediest, really the quickest way of lowering his status even more without having to go to Parliament,” Gross said. “Even if Parliament would have approved, it takes time.’’

    Charles may also have been motivated by a desire to protect the work of Queen Camilla, who has made combating domestic violence one of her signature issues, and the Duchess of Edinburgh, who has sought to combat sexual violence in war zones such as Congo.

    The king will hope that this move finally draws a line between Andrew and the rest of the royal family, Prescott said.

    “If there are allegations, or further stuff comes out, it will all be on Prince Andrew,” he said. “They’ve severed the connection between Prince Andrew and the monarchy as an institution.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Sir David Attenborough, 99, Breaks Record as Oldest Daytime Emmy Winner

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    PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Sir David Attenborough broke Dick Van Dyke’s record for oldest Daytime Emmy winner on Friday, taking the trophy for daytime personality, non-daily as host of Netflix’s “Secret Lives of Orangutans.”

    Attenborough, who is 99, wasn’t on hand. The Brit’s career as a writer, host and narrator spans eight decades.

    Van Dyke was 98 when he won as guest performer in a daytime drama series for “Days of Our Lives” in 2024. He is the oldest actor to win a Daytime Emmy.

    Jonathan Jackson of “General Hospital” and first-time nominee Susan Walters of “The Young and the Restless” won supporting acting honors.

    Jackson accepted the trophy for playing Lucky Spencer, a role he originated in 1993 and has played on and off ever since.

    The ABC show also claimed trophies for Alley Mills as guest performer in a daytime drama and its writing team.

    It was Mills’ second career win for playing Heather Webber. The 74-year-old, who first won in 2023, is best known as the mom on “The Wonder Years.”

    “We’re living in really dark times right now. Everything’s crazy,” Mills told the audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. “We just got to keep our spirits high.”

    Walters plays Diane Jenkins on CBS’ “Y&R,” which she has appeared in during three different stints.

    “I’m so happy that I won so I can thank my husband of 40 years,” she said, singling out Linden Ashby, who has appeared on the same show.

    “The Young and the Restless” brought a leading 19 nominations into the 52nd annual show. It is just one of three shows nominated for best daytime drama, along with “General Hospital” and “Days of Our Lives.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Susan Stamberg, First Woman to Host a National News Program, Dies at Age 87

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    Susan Stamberg, a “founding mother” of National Public Radio and the first female broadcaster to host a national news program, has died. She was 87.

    Stamberg died Thursday, NPR reported. It did not provide a cause of death.

    Stamberg joined NPR in the early 1970s when it was getting off the ground as a network of radio stations across the country. During her career, she interviewed thousands of people, from prominent politicians and artists to the less well-known like White House chefs and people who work behind the scenes in Hollywood.

    She explained in an oral history interview with Oregon station KLCC in January that she didn’t have women in broadcast to model herself after when she became the host of “All Things Considered” in 1972.

    “The only ones on were men, and the only thing I knew to do was imitate them,” she said.

    She lowered her voice to sound authoritative. After a few days, Bill Siemering, the program manager, told her to be herself.

    “And that was new too in its day, because everybody else, the women, were trained actors, and so they came with a very careful accents and very careful delivery. They weren’t relaxed and natural,” she said. “So we made a new sound with radio as well, with NPR.”

    “All Things Considered” only had five reporters to draw on while they filled their 90-minute program, creating a daily challenge.

    She told KLCC that she coined the term “founding mother” to refer to herself and three other women who helped launch the NPR: Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg and Linda Wertheimer.

    “I got tired of hearing about Founding Fathers, and I knew we were not that, so we were obviously Founding Mothers, and I was going to put that on the map,” she said.

    Stamberg hosted “All Things Considered” for 14 years. She went on to host “Weekend Edition Sunday,” where she started the Sunday puzzle feature with Will Shortz.

    Shortz, who continues to serve as the program’s puzzle master and who is now the crossword editor of the New York Times, explained that Stamberg wanted the show to be the radio equivalent of a Sunday newspaper that provided news, culture, sports and a puzzle.

    She later became a cultural correspondent for “Morning Edition” and “Weekend Edition Saturday.” She retired in September.

    In 1979, she hosted a two-hour radio call-in program with then-President Jimmy Carter from the Oval Office. She managed the listeners who called in to speak with him. The questions were not screened beforehand. It was the second time Carter had a call-in program after the first with Walter Cronkite.

    Stamberg was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, which said she was known for her “conversational style, intelligence, and knack for finding an interesting story.” She interviewed Nancy Reagan, Annie Liebowitz, Rosa Parks and James Baldwin, among thousands of others.

    She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2020.

    Stamberg was born Susan Levitt in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938 but grew up in Manhattan. She met her husband, Louis Stamberg, while working in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    She is survived by her son, Josh Stamberg, and her granddaughters, Vivian and Lena.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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