Entertainment News Roundup: AppleTV+ streaming service; Jennifer Aniston returns to TV and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

AppleTV+ debuts streaming TV service with Oprah and Aniston

Apple TV+, the iPhone maker's entry into the crowded streaming TV market, debuts on Friday as the first "all-original" subscription video service, according to Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook. All of the programming is original because, unlike Netflix Inc and the forthcoming Disney+ from Walt Disney Co, Apple does not have rights to a back catalog of TV shows and movies.

Jennifer Aniston returns to TV with 'The Morning Show'

Jennifer Aniston returns to television on Friday in "The Morning Show", an original show for Apple Inc's new subscription video service, in which the actress reunites with her "Friends" sister Reese Witherspoon. In the 10-episode program, Aniston plays a well-known television journalist on a fictional morning program whose male co-presenter, played by Steve Carell, has been fired amid sexual harassment accusations. 

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr pleads not guilty to new charges in groping case

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new charges of sexual misconduct involving a third woman, less than a month after pleading not guilty to accusations of groping one woman's breasts and pinching another's buttocks. Gooding pleaded not guilty to the new misdemeanor charges of forcible touching and sexual abuse in Manhattan Supreme Court. He is due back in court on Jan. 22.

Movie 'Harriet' tells a different story about U.S. slavery

When director Kasi Lemmons started work on the first major movie about Harriet Tubman, the 19th century slave turned hero of the Underground Railway, she decided to focus less on the brutality of slavery and more on human stories. "I really felt that I wanted to speak about a different kind of violence, which was family separation, which I hadn't seen as much of but is very much the Harriet Tubman story and what she was motivated by," said Lemmons. Lemmons co-wrote the screenplay for "Harriet," which opens in U.S. movie theaters on Friday.

Ringo Starr 'emotional' as Beatles come together in new recording

When Ringo Starr decided to record a cover of one of the last songs written by John Lennon, the Beatles drummer knew he wanted former bandmate Paul McCartney to play bass. Then, his record producer found a way to bring in a bit of the late George Harrison.

Lady Gaga to play scandal-plagued Gucci wife in next feature film

Lady Gaga has lined up her next feature film and will play the wife of a murdered heir to the Gucci fashion dynasty, Hollywood media reported on Friday. Gaga, whose first lead movie role in "A Star is Born" last year was critically acclaimed, will play Patrizia Reggiani, who served 18 years in an Italian prison for orchestrating the 1995 murder in Milan of her husband Maurizio Gucci, according to Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

(With inputs from agencies.)