Entertainment News Roundup: Pop superstar Britney Spears weds Sam Asghari; 'The Boys' actors Urban and Ackles on season 3 and more

The Recording Academy said it was adding a prize for songwriter of the year (non-classical), which would recognise "the most prolific non-performing and non-producing songwriters for their body of new work released during an eligibility year". A Minute With: 'The Boys' actors Urban and Ackles on season 3 Comedy-drama "The Boys" returns for a third season, for more bad antics by selfish superheroes.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Grammys to introduce new awards for songwriting, song for social change

The Grammy Awards will have five new categories starting from next year's ceremony, organisers said on Thursday, including honours for songwriting, as well as a special recognition for the best song for social change. The Recording Academy said it was adding a prize for songwriter of the year (non-classical), which would recognise "the most prolific non-performing and non-producing songwriters for their body of new work released during an eligibility year".

A Minute With: 'The Boys' actors Urban and Ackles on season 3

Comedy-drama "The Boys" returns for a third season, for more bad antics by selfish superheroes. Based on comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show follows a rogue group of vigilantes called The Boys who are trying to take down The Seven, a group of superheroes ('supes') who are adored by the world but who abuse their powers.

Motor racing-Co-producer Hamilton says he will not appear in Brad Pitt F1 film

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on Friday said he would not appear in a film starring Brad Pitt based on Formula One that the Mercedes racer is co-producing as he does not want it to flop. Apple TV earlier this week said its studio arm had landed the rights to the feature which will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, director of newly-released blockbuster 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

'The Janes' reflect in new U.S. documentary on providing illegal abortions before Roe

Some 50 years ago, before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion, a group of women on the South Side of Chicago worked underground, providing illegal abortions to desperate women in need. These women had little to no medical background.

Ex-judge Roy Moore presses defamation appeal against Sacha Baron Cohen

A U.S. appeals court in Manhattan on Friday appeared unlikely to revive former Alabama judge Roy Moore's lawsuit accusing Sacha Baron Cohen of defamation for falsely portraying him as a sex offender on the British comedian's show "Who Is America?" Moore, 75, sued for $95 million in September 2018 over an interview in Washington, D.C., where the former Republican chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and U.S. Senate candidate expected to receive an award for supporting Israel.

Pop superstar Britney Spears weds Sam Asghari

Pop singer Britney Spears has married longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari after nearly six years together, a representative for Asghari confirmed on Friday. "I am very ecstatic this day has come, and they are married," Brandon Cohen of BAC Talent, which represents Asghari, said in an emailed statement, a day after the couple tied the knot.

Hong Kong protest film stirs fears of arrest, director defiant

The director of a documentary about pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong defended his film on Friday as a truthful historical record after the city's police chief advised people not to watch it. Fears of falling foul of a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 have escalated and some residents have said they have opted not to watch the film, "Revolution of our Times", in another sign of creeping self-censorship.

K-pop's BTS to release new album "Proof" on Friday

South Korean boy band BTS are set to release their new album "Proof" on Friday in a highly anticipated return to the music scene as they celebrate the ninth anniversary of their debut this month. The album will be released at 1 p.m. (0400 GMT). A teaser track, "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)", has had more than 17.8 million views on YouTube in less than two days.

Johnny Depp, Jeff Beck team up for album of cover songs

Hollywood star Johnny Depp, who last week won a near-total victory in a defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, and English guitarist Jeff Beck will release an album of mainly covers next month, after taking to the stage together. Called "18", the 13-track album will be released on July 15. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor performed alongside Beck at several UK venues in the past two weeks.

Australia's longest-running soap Neighbours calls it a wrap

Neighbours, the Australian soap opera that launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce and all three Hemsworth brothers, shot its last episode on Friday, wrapping the country's longest-running television drama after four decades. A fixture of the small screen in Australia since 1985 and in Britain since 1986, the cameras stopped rolling on the fictional Ramsay Street and its families after the main financial backer, British free-to-air broadcaster Channel 5, cut the series from its schedule to make way for local content.