Reuters Entertainment News Summary

MTV's VMAs to honor coronavirus shutdown music Pop stars Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga led a girl power list of nominations on Thursday for the MTV Video Music Awards, which added two new categories to reflect how musicians are responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. MTV's VMAs to honor coronavirus shutdown music

Pop stars Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga led a girl power list of nominations on Thursday for the MTV Video Music Awards, which added two new categories to reflect how musicians are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Grande and Gaga got nine nominations each, mostly from their dancey collaboration "Rain on Me" whose nods included best video, song and collaboration of the year. Ellen DeGeneres TV show to make workplace changes after probe of culture

Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday sent an emotional message to the staff of her television talk show saying she was taking steps to improve the culture on set following accusations of a hostile working environment. The email followed an internal investigation by Warner Bros. Television, which produces "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," of complaints ranging from bullying to racism among production staff. A space exploration fan, jazz artist Gregory Porter to sing for NASA launch

Jazz artist Gregory Porter, whose new single "Concorde" is an ode to space exploration, is set to perform on Thursday as part of a ceremony marking the launch of NASA's next generation rover that will search for signs of habitable conditions on Mars. The Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter is scheduled to sing the Ray Charles version of "America The Beautiful" during the U.S. space agency's broadcast of the countdown to the launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Rapper Wiley says 'I'm not racist' after anti-Semitic posts

British rap artist Wiley apologised on Wednesday and said he is not racist after posting a string of anti-Semitic comments on his social media accounts. The rapper's Twitter account, which had half a million followers, published a series of tweets last week asserting that Jews systematically exploited Black artists in the music industry, continuing a pattern of exploitation dating back to the slave trade. Adventurer's 'Into the Wild' bus may be headed to Alaska museum

The infamous bus that served as the final campsite for doomed adventurer Christopher McCandless could be preserved as a museum piece under a plan announced on Thursday by Alaska officials. The University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks has offered to house the bus, removed by the state last month from its six-decades-long resting site near Denali National Park. 'Breaking Bad' star Bryan Cranston says he has recovered from COVID-19

Emmy-winning "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston disclosed on Thursday that he had recovered from mild symptoms of COVID-19 and donated his plasma in the hopes that his antibodies would help others with the disease. Wearing a face mask, Cranston revealed the news in an Instagram video in which he documented the donation process at a blood and plasma center run by the University of California at Los Angeles. Pajamas anyone? Emmy awards show to go virtual

The Emmy Awards show in September is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, and that may mean some celebrities appearing in pajamas or from their bedrooms. Hollywood trade publication Variety on Wednesday said that host Jimmy Kimmel and producers of the Sept. 20 telecast have written to Emmy nominees confirming there will not be a traditional gathering in Los Angeles to celebrate television.

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