People News Roundup: U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky tells court he tried to avoid fight; Hal Prince, producer of some of Broadway's biggest hits, dead at 91

Following is a summary of current people news briefs.

Hal Prince, producer of some of Broadway's biggest hits, dead at 91

Harold "Hal" Prince, who won a record 21 Tony Awards as producer and director of some of Broadway's biggest hits of the second half of the 20th century including "The Phantom of the Opera," "West Side Story," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Cabaret" and "Evita," died on Wednesday at age 91. Prince died after a brief illness in Reykjavik, Iceland, his publicist said.

R. Kelly lawyer calls alleged victims 'disgruntled groupies': court filing

A lawyer for singer R. Kelly, who is accused of running a years-long scheme sexually preying on women and girls, said on Wednesday that the charges against the R&B artist stemmed from disgruntled groupies. Lawyer Douglas Anton made the claim in a filing in Brooklyn federal court, ahead of Kelly's scheduled Friday court appearance. Kelly has pleaded not guilty.

Assault trial witnesses say did not see A$AP Rocky hit teenager with bottle

Witnesses told a Swedish court on Friday they did not see U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky or his friends hit a 19-year-old man with a bottle during a fight in Stockholm. A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained on July 3 in connection with a brawl outside a hamburger restaurant in Stockholm on June 30 and later charged with assault, along with two of his entourage.

U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky tells court he tried to avoid Stockholm fight

U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky told a Swedish court on Thursday he had tried to avoid the fight in downtown Stockholm that landed him and two of his entourage in custody and facing a charge of assault. The case has drawn huge media attention, with celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Rod Stewart defending the 30-year-old performer, producer and model, and U.S. President Donald Trump asking Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to help free him.

Singer R. Kelly makes first New York court appearance on sex trafficking charges

Singer R. Kelly is expected to plead not guilty in New York on Friday to charges that he ran a criminal scheme in which he recruited women and underage girls to have sex with him, isolating them and often controlling what they ate and when they went to the bathroom. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say that Kelly and his entourage invited women and girls backstage after concerts, kept them from friends and family and made them dependent on him financially.