Entertainment News Roundup: Box office: 'Joker' smashes October record with $93.5 million debut; University of Kansas sorry for Snoop Dogg show with stripper poles

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Box office: 'Joker' smashes October record with $93.5 million debut

Warner Bros.' "Joker" laughed its way to a new record at the domestic box office. Despite mounting controversy and security concerns, the R-rated comic-book movie scored $93.5 million over the weekend and now stands as the biggest October launch of all time. Those ticket sales easily crushed the benchmark previously set last year by Sony's superhero tentpole "Venom" with $80 million.

University of Kansas sorry for Snoop Dogg show with stripper poles

The University of Kansas has apologized for a performance by rapper Snoop Dogg that featured drug references and dancers on stripper poles, saying the show fell short of creating a "family atmosphere." The California rapper, whose songs include "Murder Was the Case" and "Sexual Eruption," appeared in Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday night at an annual event dubbed Late Night in the Phog, which ushers in the school's basketball season.

Diahann Carroll, TV trailblazer for black women, dead at 84

Diahann Carroll, a versatile singer and stage actress who quietly blazed a trail for black women on American television in the late 1960s by playing a widowed nurse and single mother in "Julia," died on Friday at age 84, her manager said. Carroll, whose career also was punctuated by a pioneering Tony Award and an Oscar nomination, had been suffering from cancer and died in her sleep at home in Los Angeles with her daughter by her side, her manager, Brian Panella, said by phone.

Ginger Baker, drummer in 1960s group Cream, dies aged 80

British rock music drummer Ginger Baker, a co-founder of the 1960's supergroup Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton, died on Sunday aged 80. Baker, who was born in south London in 1939, first came to prominence as a member of blues group The Graham Bond Organisation before founding Cream in 1966.

Monty Python fans, handkerchiefs on heads, gather to mark anniversary

Monty Python fans, sporting knotted handkerchiefs on their heads, rolled up trousers and Wellington boots, gathered in London on Saturday for a suitably silly celebration of the 50th anniversary of the comedy troupe. The costumes matched those of the Gumbys who were characters in the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" series that first aired on BBC television on Oct. 5, 1969.

Also Read: Ginger Baker, legendary Cream drummer, passes away at 80

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)