Entertainment News Roundup: K-pop supergroup BTS meets Biden, speaks at White House; Warner Bros chairman to step down, MGM studio chiefs to take over and more

The K-pop stars made brief statements to reporters prior to the meeting, calling for a halt to crimes targeting Asian Americans. Actor Damian Lewis and former Northern Ireland leader honoured by Queen Elizabeth Warner Bros chairman to step down, MGM studio chiefs to take over Warner Bros Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich is stepping down, the company announced Wednesday, as Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav puts his imprimatur on the newly formed media company.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

K-pop supergroup BTS meets Biden, speaks at White House

South Korean boy band BTS, a fundraising juggernaut for U.S. social justice causes, met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians. The K-pop stars made brief statements to reporters prior to the meeting, calling for a halt to crimes targeting Asian Americans.

Actor Damian Lewis and former Northern Ireland leader honoured by Queen Elizabeth

Warner Bros chairman to step down, MGM studio chiefs to take over

Warner Bros Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich is stepping down, the company announced Wednesday, as Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav puts his imprimatur on the newly formed media company. Emmerich has served as chairman of the studio since 2018, the year the studio had its greatest box office success, fueled by such hits as "Aquaman," "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," "Ready Player One," "The Meg" and "A Star is Born."

Jamaica legislator calls for reggae legend Bob Marley to be named a national hero

A Jamaican legislator is asking the country's parliament to name reggae legend Bob Marley a national hero, an effort that comes amid rising nationalism in English-speaking Caribbean countries that are distancing themselves from their colonial past. The proposal by lawmaker Lisa Hanna would make the iconic singer a national hero, a title already held by seven Jamaicans including Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey and the nation's first prime minister Alexander Bustamante.

Bill Cosby had sense of "entitlement," lawyer for woman in civil sexual assault case says

A lawyer for a woman who says she was assaulted by Bill Cosby when she was a teenager in the mid-1970s told a jury on Wednesday the comedian has a sense of entitlement and invincibility, as opening statements kicked off in the civil case. The woman, Judy Huth, sued Cosby in 2014, alleging that he brought her to the Playboy Mansion and forced her to perform a sex act around 1974, when she was 15 years old. She is seeking unspecified damages for sexual battery and emotional distress.

U.S. jury mostly sides with Depp in defamation fight with ex-wife Heard

A Virginia jury on Wednesday ruled that actor Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp in a widely watched six-week trial that featured graphic testimony detailing the former Hollywood couple's soured relationship. While the seven-person jury also ruled in favor of Heard on one count in her countersuit against Depp, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film star depicted the decision as a vindication, and his former wife said it was "a disappointment."

U.S. Cinemark's movie plan draws a million subscribers

Cinemark Holdings Inc has signed up 1 million paying subscribers to its Movie Club monthly subscription plan, the company said on Wednesday, hailing a rebound in moviegoing after disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. The third-largest movie theater chain in the United States said it was the first cinema operator to cross the 1 million milestone for a paid subscription plan.

Cholita Mona Lisa: Bolivian artist gives famed portrait indigenous makeover

High in Bolivia's Andean mountains, surrounded by small thatched roofed houses and sheep, Claudia Callizaya, 32, makes the final brushstroke to her newest piece of art: a take on the "Mona Lisa" as a local indigenous cholita woman. Her adaptation has the same steady gaze as in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece portrait and a similar nose. But on her head is the traditional bowler hat of Bolivia's cholitas and she is wrapped in a colorful Andean shawl.

Christie's to offer rare first edition 'Harry Potter' book in private sale

A first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", with some errors and signed by author J.K. Rowling, is going up for a private sale at Christie's in London, with the auction house inviting offers starting from 200,000 pounds ($250,000). The publication is one of 500 hardback copies of the book that were printed in an initial run in 1997. Three hundred of those were sent to libraries.

Indian singer KK dies after falling ill during concert

Indian singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, better known as KK, died on Tuesday night after falling ill in the middle of a concert, local media reported. Kunnath was performing at a crowded indoor stadium in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata when he complained of uneasiness. He was rushed to a hospital, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.