Entertainment News Roundup: The King lives! Elvis impersonators return to Australian town; Johnny Depp jurors shown actor's explicit texts in defamation case and more

Linnethia "NeNe" Leakes, who starred on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" for seven seasons, claims she suffered racial abuse from white co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann for years and was retaliated against by NBC and Bravo for complaining. Johnny Depp jurors shown actor's explicit texts in defamation case Lawyers for Johnny Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard questioned the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star on Thursday in his defamation case, showing jurors graphic text messages in which Depp referred to a "monster" inside him that he had to keep in check.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Alec Baldwin's lawyer says state's 'Rust' shooting probe clears actor

A lawyer for Alec Baldwin said on Thursday that an investigation by New Mexico has cleared his client of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting on the set of "Rust," pointing out that its report stated the actor believed his gun held only dummy rounds. New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau on Wednesday released the findings of a six-month investigation of the shooting during the filming of the Western movie last October. It blasted Rust Movie Productions LLC for "willful" safety lapses leading to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and fined the company $137,000, the maximum amount possible.

The King lives! Elvis impersonators return to Australian town

Thousands of hip-shaking Elvis Presley impersonators and fans of the late King of Rock and Roll returned on Thursday to the Elvis Festival in the Australian country town of Parkes for the first time in more than two years. Now in its 29th year, the Parkes Elvis Festival was cancelled in 2021 because of COVID-19, which also pushed back the event this year from January, Presley’s birthday month, to April.

Kapow! U.S. comic book stars raise money for Ukraine refugees

Like Batman forming the Justice League of superheroes, or Iron Man helping assemble the Avengers, comic book editor Scott Dunbier needed to put together a team of stars. The call went out and Dunbier quickly signed up the biggest names in the U.S. comic book industry to collaborate on a special anthology to raise money for Ukrainian war refugees.

'Real Housewives' NeNe Leakes accuses NBC, Bravo of race bias in lawsuit

A Black former star of reality television show franchise "The Real Housewives" has filed a lawsuit accusing Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal and sister network Bravo of tolerating a racially hostile work environment. Linnethia "NeNe" Leakes, who starred on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" for seven seasons, claims she suffered racial abuse from white co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann for years and was retaliated against by NBC and Bravo for complaining.

Johnny Depp jurors shown actor's explicit texts in defamation case

Lawyers for Johnny Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard questioned the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star on Thursday in his defamation case, showing jurors graphic text messages in which Depp referred to a "monster" inside him that he had to keep in check. Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, for $50 million after she accused him of abuse before and during their roughly two-year marriage. He has argued that Heard was the one who became violent in the relationship.

Warner Bros Discovery to shut down CNN+ streaming service

Warner Bros Discovery announced on Thursday it would shut down its CNN+ streaming news service less than a month after its highly touted launch. The service, which sought to capitalize on the popularity of streaming video and the growth of digital news subscriptions, will cease operations on April 30. The executive who helped design CNN's streaming strategy, Andrew Morse, also will depart.

(With inputs from agencies.)