Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

California cancels talks with Paramount over Warner Bros deal

California Attorney General Rob Bonta ​canceled a meeting with Paramount Skydance representatives scheduled for Monday to begin settlement talks over ​the state's lawsuit seeking to block Paramount's proposed $110 billion acquisition of ‌Warner ​Bros Discovery, his office said. Paramount has pushed for a settlement in the case, which is the last hurdle to the deal along with a parallel lawsuit by the Writer's Guild of America. The company faces a mountain of fees and costs to keep the deal together if the lawsuit ‌continues to a trial scheduled for March. Bonta and his partner states have so far won key rulings, giving them leverage if settlement talks continue.

California AG says no settlement talks scheduled with Paramount

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Tuesday there are no settlement talks scheduled with Paramount Skydance to resolve the antitrust suit seeking to block the studio's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Bonta said he canceled ‌a scheduled Monday meeting after details of confidential settlement discussions leaked to the press, which he said was "unacceptable."

California expected to seek TV channel sales from Paramount-Warner, WSJ reports

California Attorney General Rob Bonta ‌is expected to ask Paramount to divest some cable channels and commit to keeping its movie studio separate from Warner Bros. before he signs off on their merger, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Paramount and California state officials are set to meet on Monday to discuss potential ways to settle the state's antitrust lawsuit, the report said.

AI-generated music barred from Australian charts after Madonna cover controversy

AI-generated music will be excluded from Australia's music charts starting this week, ⁠the country's ​peak music trade group said, following controversy over an ⁠Australian DJ's cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" topping local music charts. The Australian Recording Industry Association, or ARIA, said on Tuesday that wholly AI-generated tracks would no longer be eligible for its popular ARIA Charts, although recordings that use generative AI in a ⁠supporting role would remain eligible.

Dutch broadcaster AvroTros to boycott 2027 Eurovision Song Contest

Dutch public broadcaster AvroTros said on Monday it would boycott the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest for a second year in protest at the presence of ​Israel in light of the situation in Gaza and what it called a lack of clear rules for excluding countries involved in military conflicts. "The recently announced changes by the European ⁠Broadcasting Union do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored," AvroTros said in a statement.

Dolly Parton, queen of country music, dies at 80

Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote ⁠her ​first song: "Little Tiny Tasseltop," an ode to her corncob doll with corn-silk hair. Her mother stored it preciously in a shoebox. "I loved that little doll," Parton wrote decades later. "I expressed myself and my feelings through writing — I’m sure what I was thinking was, 'Well, Tasseltop has to have a song about her.'"

Notable people react to the death of country singer Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton, the irrepressible country ⁠music singer whose charisma, heartfelt lyrics and support of causes she believed in captured the public's imagination for nearly six decades, died on Tuesday aged 80. No cause of death was disclosed, but ⁠her publicist said she died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee, ⁠her home state.

Venice adds Gaza documentary by Oscar-winning team to main competition

A documentary examining Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza was added to the Venice Film Festival line-up on Monday, the second year running that a highly charged work about the conflict has competed for the prestigious Golden Lion. Festival organisers ‌said "NAZA", directed by the Israeli ‌duo Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, will join the main programme for the September 2 to 12 event — ​the only documentary among this year's 21 contenders.