Entertainment News Roundup: Jussie Smollett hoax charge dropped; Apple embraces Hollywood and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Justin Bieber puts music on hold while struggling not to fall apart

Teen hearthrob Justin Bieber has told fans he is putting new music on hold while he struggles with "deep rooted issues" that he hopes will stop him from falling apart. Bieber, 25, said in a lengthy Instagram post for his 106 million followers, that "music is very important to me but nothing comes before my family and my health."

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'Bed-In' remembered at 50

In March 1969, newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono skipped a honeymoon and instead staged a "bed-in" in Amsterdam to promote world peace during the Vietnam War. Dressed in white, the artistic duo received visitors and held press conferences from bed in the presidential suite atop Amsterdam's Hilton Hotel from March 23-29.

China's censors drop gay scenes from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' film

China has scrubbed at least 10 scenes with gay references from the Oscar-winning biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" about British rock musician Freddie Mercury, incensing some domestic viewers who said authorities were overreacting. The film about the lead singer of British rock band Queen, idolized by gay Western fans, has earned more than 50 million yuan ($8 million) in box office revenue since opening in Chinese arthouse cinemas on Friday, according to Alibaba Pictures.

Ovations, hugs and soaring speeches as Apple embraces Hollywood

Apple Inc brought in Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Momoa to talk up its new television streaming service at a Hollywood-style event on Monday marked by standing ovations, hugs and soaring rhetoric. The event ended almost 18 months of secrecy over Apple's television project and featured some of the biggest names in entertainment promoting their original content shows. Apple is working to reinvent itself as an entertainment and financial services company as sales of its iPhones fall.

Film cameras start to roll again in Damascus studios

On a long-disused film set outside Damascus featuring mud houses, palm trees, alleyways and camels, actors in flowing robes are making a television series that the producers say is part of a gradual revival of their industry. Like most other sectors of the economy in Syria, the film and television business has been hit hard by a war that has killed half a million people, forced millions from their homes and laid waste to swathes of the country since 2011.

New Costner movie features men who chased Bonnie & Clyde

A new film starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson takes a fresh angle on the bloody tale of outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde, focusing instead on the two detectives who ended the lovers' criminal rampage across the United States. In "The Highwaymen", directed by John Lee Hancock, Costner plays former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, one of a posse of officers who shot the pair dead in a dawn ambush in Louisiana in 1934. Harrelson plays his partner Maney Gault.

Jussie Smollett hoax charge dropped by Chicago prosecutors, prompting mayor's rebuke

Chicago prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges accusing "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett of staging a phony hate crime, a stunning move that drew the fury of the city's police superintendent and mayor, who called the decision a "whitewash of justice." Smollett, who is black and gay, told reporters on Tuesday that he had always been truthful when he said two masked men threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressing support for U.S. President Donald Trump in January.

Russian ballet moves like Jagger in Stones-inspired show

A ballet set to music by The Rolling Stones and choreographed by Mick Jagger's ballerina girlfriend has premiered in Russia. The eight-minute "Porte Rouge" (Red Door) show, inspired by the veteran British singer's zany dance style, delighted a packed crowd at St Petersburg's famous Mariinsky Theatre on Tuesday night.

Swedish artist's fizzy tablets join vinyl renaissance

Nostalgic music-lovers are increasingly returning to old-style vinyl records to hear artists the same way they discovered them years ago - but they may be startled by a new experiment in Sweden. Instead of old crooners, artist Alexander Hoglund has put the sound of effervescent pain-killers on vinyl after a six-month creative experiment to find the perfect fizz.

'Dumbo' and the elephant not in the room

Big-eared baby elephant Dumbo may be the star of Walt Disney Co's remake of its 1941 animated movie classic but the film was shot without its adorable star ever making an appearance on set. The cast of the live action "Dumbo," arriving in movie theaters worldwide this week, had to act opposite an assortment of models and stunt men and women while the elephant was being created by computer-generated imagery (CGI).