Entertainment News Roundup: Woman at trial says celebrity chef Mario Batali groped her at Boston bar; Disney to provide next streaming gauge after Netflix retreat and more

The 29-year-old Scot, a star of Netflix hit "Sex Education", posted two hearts plus a blue square, representing the Doctor's Tardis, a time-travelling police telephone box, on his Instagram account before the news was confirmed by the broadcaster. 'Strange Loop' and Michael Jackson musical lead Tony nominations Musical "A Strange Loop," the story of a Black gay man and his mental struggles as an artist, landed a leading 11 Tony nominations on Monday as Broadway prepared to honor its first season following a long pandemic shutdown.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Woman at trial says celebrity chef Mario Batali groped her at Boston bar

A teary Boston-area software worker on Monday testified that celebrity chef Mario Batali groped and squeezed her "sensitive feminine areas" five years ago at a Boston bar while posing with her for "selfie" photographs. Natali Tene, 32, recounted from the witness stand being "shocked" and "alarmed" by the encounter with the famed chef as Batali, 61, went on trial in Boston Municipal Court on a 2019 charge of indecent assault and battery.

Disney to provide next streaming gauge after Netflix retreat

Walt Disney Co's streaming TV business will face scrutiny on Wednesday from investors who are re-evaluating the media industry's aggressive shift from cable television to online video subscriptions. Netflix Inc shook Wall Street last month when the streaming video pioneer disclosed it lost subscribers in the first three months of the year and forecast more defections through June.

Comer, Bean, Macfadyen win at Britain's BAFTA TV awards

Actors Jodie Comer, Sean Bean, and Matthew Macfadyen were among the winners at the British Academy Television Awards in London on Sunday night. Bean won the leading actor prize for the prison drama "Time", which also scooped the award for mini-series. Comer, who rose to fame playing an assassin in "Killing Eve", won leading actress for "Help", a drama set in a care home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Sex Education' actor Ncuti Gatwa to be new 'Doctor Who

Ncuti Gatwa will be the first Black actor to play the lead role in the British sci-fi series "Doctor Who", taking over from Jodie Whittaker as the 14th incarnation of the Time Lord next year, the BBC said on Sunday. The 29-year-old Scot, a star of Netflix hit "Sex Education", posted two hearts plus a blue square, representing the Doctor's Tardis, a time-traveling police telephone box, on his Instagram account before the news was confirmed by the broadcaster.

'Strange Loop' and Michael Jackson's musical lead Tony nominations

Musical "A Strange Loop," the story of a Black gay man and his mental struggles as an artist, landed a leading 11 Tony nominations on Monday as Broadway prepared to honor its first season following a long pandemic shutdown. "A Strange Loop," winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama, will compete for best musical with "MJ," a biographical musical that features two dozen Michael Jackson hits, and race relations story "Paradise Square."

Dennis Waterman, star of British TV show 'Minder', dies aged 74

Dennis Waterman, a British actor famous for his roles in TV shows "The Sweeney", "Minder" and "New Tricks", has died, his family said in a statement reported by media on Sunday. Waterman, who started acting as a child, became a household name playing Detective Sergeant George Carter in the police series "The Sweeney" in the 1970s, followed by the role of Terry McCann in the hit comedy-drama "Minder" for a decade from 1979.

Warhol's famed 'Marilyn' silk screen sells for a record $195 million at auction

Pop artist Andy Warhol's famed 1964 silk-screen portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million at auction on Monday, a record for a work by an American artist sold at auction. "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" is one in a series of portraits Warhol made of the actress following her death in 1962 and has since become one of pop art's best-known pieces.

Box Office: 'Doctor Strange 2' Debuts to Heroic $185 Million

Doctor Strange and his questionably effective book of spells have summoned a blockbuster $185 million at North American movie theaters over the weekend, reaffirming the box office dominance of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe after a shakier, pandemic-battered year for the franchise. The timeline-bending "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" represents a return to form for Disney's MCU after COVID-era releases "Black Widow" ($80 million debuts, plus $60 million on Disney Plus), "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" ($75 million debut), and "Eternals" ($71 million debuts). Due to the pandemic and other extenuating circumstances, those installments failed to live up to their franchise predecessors in terms of ticket sales.

U2's Bono gives 'freedom' concert in Kyiv metro

Irish rock group U2's frontman Bono and his bandmate The Edge performed a 40-minute concert in a metro station in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday and praised Ukrainians fighting for their freedom from Russia. "Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now ... The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you're fighting for all of us who love freedom," Bono told a crowd of up to 100 gathered inside the Khreshchatyk metro station. He was referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

(With inputs from agencies.)