Entertainment News Roundup: Mercedes and Ferrari sign up for new Netflix F1 series; HBO addresses 'GoT' backlash

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Dutch Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies at 75: ANP

Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, best known for his role in science fiction classic Blade Runner, died on July 19 after a short illness, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Wednesday, citing his family. He was 75. Hauer, whose funeral took place in the Netherlands on Wednesday, appeared in a total of over 100 Dutch and international movies. He won a Golden Globe in 1988 for his role in Escape from Sobibor.

Lebanese church demands cancellation of Mashrou' Leila show

Lebanese church leaders have demanded the cancellation of a concert by Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila on the grounds its songs are blasphemous, leading the group to say it is the target of a campaign based on fabrications to crush freedom of expression. Though Mashrou' Leila has played all over Lebanon, plans for its Aug. 9 performance at this year's Byblos International Festival have been met by a hostile social media campaign.

Mercedes and Ferrari sign up for new Netflix F1 series

World champions Mercedes and Ferrari have agreed to take part in a second Netflix 'Drive to Survive' documentary series due to be aired next year, Formula One announced on Wednesday. The first 10-part documentary series filmed in 2018 and released this year focused mostly on teams further down the starting grid after the top two decided not to be part of it.

Swift, Grande lead VMA nominations but K-pop fans unhappy

Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande dominated nominations on Tuesday for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) with 10 apiece, but some K-pop fans cried foul when best-selling Korean bands were placed in a separate category. Grande's breakup anthem "thank u, next" and Swift's "You Need to Calm Down," in which she criticizes social media trolls and those who attack LGBTQ people, will contend for the top prizes of song of the year, best pop and video of the year.

Rapper Meek Mill granted new trial on 2008 drugs, weapons convictions

Meek Mill, a rap artist from Philadelphia who has become an advocate for reform of the U.S. criminal justice system, is entitled to a new trial on drugs and weapon charges that have kept him on probation for a decade, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled on Wednesday. A three-judge Pennsylvania Superior Court panel agreed that Philadelphia Judge Genece Brinkley, who presided over a 2008 trial that resulted in his conviction, was no longer impartial, as Meek Mill's attorneys have argued. It ordered a replacement for Brinkley in the case.

HBO addresses 'Game of Thrones' backlash, prequel in the works

The first episode of a possible prequel series to HBO's global hit "Game of Thrones" has completed filming in Belfast, a network executive said on Wednesday. HBO executives will review the episode before deciding whether to make a full season but Casey Bloys, president of programming at the network owned by AT&T Inc, appeared upbeat about what he had seen so far.

Gaultier brings catwalk to the London stage in 'Fashion Freak Show'

French designer Jean Paul Gaultier brought his lively and eccentric "Fashion Freak Show" to the London stage this week, a musical production looking back on his life from childhood classroom sketches to the Paris haute couture catwalks. The two-hour extravaganza, previously at Paris' Folies Bergere hall, sees actors, dancers and performance artists take to the stage as an eclectic mix of characters to recount Gaultier's memories from his nearly 50 years in fashion.

Elton John AIDS fundraiser brings in $6 million for Kenya HIV testing

Elton John on Wednesday hosted a celebrity-packed gala that raised more than $6 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya, thanks partly to auctions of a luxury car and an autographed piano used in the singer's "Rocketman" movie musical. The British singer-songwriter, on a break from his farewell world tour, welcomed the likes of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, actress Joan Collins and Taron Egerton, who plays John in "Rocketman," to a villa in Cap d'Antibes in France.

Also Read: Dutch Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies at 75 -ANP