Entertainment News Roundup: Katy Perry named Asian charity ambassador; Justin Bieber on drug abuse and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Baby Yoda powers Disney streaming subscriptions to a fast start

Walt Disney Co's new streaming service Disney+ reached 28.6 million paying subscribers this week, the company said on Tuesday as it reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts. Shares of Disney were flat following the results after bouncing between positive and negative territory.

New York Fashion Week kicks off in the shadow of Oscars

Fresh on the heels of Paris' glittering couture week, the sartorial spotlight shifts to New York, as designers gear up to present looks for fall and winter 2020, starting on Thursday. Formally known as NYFW: The Shows, the week's worth of presentations, runway productions, parties, and other promotional events kicks off on Feb. 6, following several days of menswear collections.

New York jurors were shown naked photos of Harvey Weinstein

Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's New York rape trial were shown naked photographs of the former Hollywood producer on Tuesday over his lawyers' objections. A sketch artist hired by Reuters saw a couple of the naked photos when they were passed to the jury and produced a drawing for the news agency. In the courtroom, prosecutors did not say why the photographs were introduced or how many were presented.

No longer niche: Oscar contenders embraced beyond the art house

From billion-dollar blockbuster "Joker" to one of Quentin Tarantino's highest-grossing films, many of this year's Oscar best-picture nominees have drawn crowds to the box office. It is the second straight year that Academy Awards voters have spotlighted widely seen movies, bucking a trend toward honoring independent films like "Moonlight" and "The Hurt Locker" that played to smaller audiences in art house theaters.

Spanish TV channels may face the music as judge probes royalties fraud

A Spanish High Court judge has opened an investigation into the role of 14 television channels in a suspected multi-million euro fraud involving misattributed author rights for music played on late-night shows, the court said on Tuesday. The channels under investigation include Atresmedia, Mediaset Espana and a dozen local networks. How many people really are watching 'The Mandalorian'?

Data firms offer numbers that Disney and Netflix won't

For those obsessed with who is winning the video streaming wars, one metric matter: subscriber growth. But Netflix Inc and now Walt Disney Co - with its November launch of Disney+ - typically release that figure quarterly, leaving outsiders to guess at subscriber growth in any way they can. A cottage industry of companies has sprung up to fill that vacuum. Firms like Apptopia, Sensor Tower and App Annie, born years ago to track how many people download mobile apps, are now playing a bigger role in the streaming war that kicks into gear this year as AT&T Inc's WarnerMedia and Comcast Corp-owned NBCUniversal launch new services.

Justin Bieber on drug abuse: 'It was legit crazy scary'

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber has opened up about his past heavy drug abuse, calling it an escape from the pressures of fame that he decided to stop only when he felt he was dying. Bieber, 25, has written on social media in the past year about his struggles with depression, drugs, and fame, but he went into detail on camera for the first time in a documentary series about his life.

Oscars 2020 red carpet: Stylist predicts a return to 'extravagance'

A return to "extravagance" is what one fashion stylist is predicting when Hollywood stars parade the red carpet at the Oscars on Sunday. "There were years where it was minimal. And, you know, people were wearing tuxedos, suits, and blacks and that's always a classic," said New York-based stylist Katie Keim.

Weinstein trial revives #MeToo, a hashtag with movement's longevity

The Harvey Weinstein rape trial opened in January with celebrity appearances, noisy protests and graphic accounts of alleged assaults - and a spike in usage of the #MeToo hashtag that has become closely associated with the former Hollywood powerbroker. More than two years after the allegations against Weinstein went public and fueled the use of the hashtag, thousands of people continue to use it to share experiences and debate sexual harassment.

Singer Katy Perry named Asian charity ambassador by UK's Prince Charles

Britain's Prince Charles will announce on Tuesday that U.S. pop singer Katy Perry will become an ambassador for the British Asian Trust to help its fight against child-trafficking, the charity said. Perry, 35, who is already a goodwill ambassador for United Nations children's organization UNICEF, met the British heir-to-throne at a meeting of the Trust's supporters and advisers in Mumbai last November while he was on a visit to India.