Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. Rock band Queen to open Oscars show

British rock band Queen will open this weekend's Oscars show, a representative for the band said on Tuesday, ending the mystery over how the telecast would begin without a traditional host. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday that Queen would be among the performers at the Feb. 24 ceremony in Hollywood but did not say when the band would take the stage. Justice Thomas assails landmark U.S. libel ruling that protects media

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its landmark 1964 ruling that made it harder for public figures to sue for defamation, a precedent that has served as powerful protection for the news media. Thomas took aim at the unanimous ruling in the libel case known as New York Times Co. v. Sullivan in an opinion he wrote concurring with the court's decision to end a defamation suit against Bill Cosby filed by a woman who said the comedian raped her in 1974. Lady Gaga splits with fiance Christian Carino

Pop superstar and Oscar nominee Lady Gaga has split with her fiance, her second broken relationship in three years. A representative for the 32-year-old Gaga on Tuesday confirmed celebrity media reports that the "Shallow" singer and Christian Carino, who is also her talent agent, had ended their engagement, but gave no details. From street kids to war romance, Oscar foreign-film slate keeps it real

From Lebanese street children to love behind the Iron Curtain and the daily life of a Mexican housekeeper, this year's Oscar-nominated foreign language films draw from real life and, in some cases, deeply personal experiences. While Poland's "Cold War" and Germany's "Never Look Away" are set decades ago, Japan's "Shoplifters" and Lebanon's "Capernaum" take on contemporary themes, while "Roma" is the most personal film ever made by Alfonso Cuaron. Fashion's 'creative genius' Karl Lagerfeld dies at 85

Haute-couture designer Karl Lagerfeld, artistic director at Chanel and an icon of the fashion industry with his extravagant outfits and striking catwalks, has died aged 85. Instantly recognizable in his dark suits, pony-tailed white hair and sunglasses, Lagerfeld was best known for his association with Chanel but delivered collections for LVMH's Fendi and his own eponymous label. 'Green Book' enjoys biggest Oscar nominations bounce at box office

Oscar-nominated dramedy "Green Book" has turned Hollywood awards race publicity into more box-office gold than each of the seven other films in the best-picture contest. The road-trip movie about race relations in the segregated U.S. South of the 1960s had collected more than $127.1 million at global box offices as of Monday, according to estimates released on Tuesday by website Box Office Mojo. Viacom keeps cutting cord, will stream programs on fuboTV

Viacom Inc said on Wednesday it will provide programming on fuboTV's live TV streaming service, part of an industry trend of cord-cutting that also has Viacom distributing content through "vitual pay-TV" providers Sling TV, DirectTV Now and Philo. New York-based fuboTV is a four-year-old streaming service that focused on soccer before expanding into other sports and carrying entertainment programming from networks such as FX and Showtime. Fox says Smollett remains in 'Empire' cast, counters media report

Jussie Smollett remains a cast member in the televised drama "Empire," Fox Entertainment said on Wednesday, in a show of support for the actor after a report said he had staged an attack on himself because he was being written off the show. Smollett, 36, last month told police in Chicago that two men shouting racist and homophobic slurs had accosted him on the street and put a rope around his neck. Smollett, an openly gay African-American man, also plays a gay man on the show. Karl Lagerfeld: fashion's prolific commander-in-chief

Karl Lagerfeld enjoyed the stature of a god among mortals in the world of fashion, where he stayed on top for well over half of a century and up to his death, at an age almost nobody apart from himself knew with to-the-day precision. The German designer was best known for his association with France's Chanel, dating back to 1983. The brand, the legend now goes, risked becoming the preserve of monied grannies before he arrived, slashing hemlines and adding glitz to the prim tweed suits of what is now one of the world's most valuable couture houses. No host? No problem. Queen, Lady Gaga bring Grammys vibe to Oscars

There will not be a host and Sunday's Oscars ceremony will not open with the traditional monologue in which celebrities and politicians are skewered. Yet, with rock band Queen, pop superstar Lady Gaga and two musicals in the race for best picture, the highest honors in the movie industry will have an unusually strong music vibe as the Oscars seek to regain television audiences.