Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. China film industry's 'bleak winter' deepens as coronavirus adds to censorship woes

Even before the new coronavirus, people working in Chinese entertainment had been calling the industry's struggles their "bleak winter" - as tighter censorship, a crackdown on tax evasion and new government restrictions strangle opportunities for work. The epidemic is only exacerbating that misery. Lost portrait and unpublished letters of Charles Dickens to go on display

A lost portrait of Charles Dickens and 25 of his unpublished letters will go on display for the first time after a major acquisition from a private collector. The Charles Dickens museum in London has bought a huge collection of objects belonging to the Victorian novelist, including a delicate chalk and pastel portrait by Samuel Laurence. Inside the $225,000 gift bag for Oscar nominees

An Oscar nomination can open doors to bigger roles and higher pay. This year, it also comes with a cruise on a luxury yacht, cosmetic surgery, and a personal matchmaking service in a gift bag worth more than $225,000. The gift bag, which is not affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be sent to all 20 acting nominees and the five men nominated for best director, Distinctive Assets, the Los Angeles-based company behind the goodie bags, said on Friday. Memories can become distorted, defense expert says at Weinstein rape trial

A psychology professor called by the defense as an expert witness at the New York rape trial of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein testified on Friday that people's memories can become distorted. Professor Elizabeth Loftus, a human memory expert at the University of California, Irvine, told jurors that receiving misinformation about an event, trying to remember it in therapy and discussing it with law enforcement can all distort memory. UK's Princess Beatrice to marry at St James's Palace in May

Britain's Princess Beatrice, the elder daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, will marry her fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at London's St James's Palace on May 29, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday. The ceremony will be a much more private affair than the wedding of her younger sister Eugenie, who married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank amid typical royal pomp and pageantry at Windsor Castle in 2018. First defense witness in Weinstein's New York rape trial takes aim at accusers

The first defense witness in Harvey Weinstein's rape trial acknowledged on Thursday sending messages to the former producer in which he disparaged the "dog pile of actresses" who had accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Writer Paul Feldsher testified for the defense that actress Annabella Sciorra told him in the early 1990s that she had a sexual encounter with Weinstein but did not say she had been raped. WarnerMedia nears deal with 'Friends' cast for reunion special: reports

The one with the long-awaited reunion. Warner Bros is finalizing deals with the cast of "Friends" for a reunion special that will likely be used to launch the HBO Max streaming service this spring, the Wall Street Journal reported https://on.wsj.com/2St9Pb5 on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Married British TV presenter Schofield comes out as gay

British television presenter Phillip Schofield on Friday revealed that he was gay as he paid tribute to his wife of nearly 27 years. "I am gay," Schofield, one of broadcaster ITV's biggest stars, said in a post on Instagram. "This is something that has caused many heart-breaking conversations at home." 'Joker' star Phoenix takes aim at climate apathy with film about dying Earth

Oscar favourite Joaquin Phoenix stars as a medic battling to save a dying planet Earth in a film launched on Thursday, the first in a series of short Hollywood productions aimed at spurring action on climate change. The "Joker" star teamed up with environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion and Amazon Watch, a California-based organisation campaigning to protect the Amazon rainforest, to produce the 2-minute film "Guardians of Life." Cliffhangers, slam dunks and dark horses at Sunday's Oscars

Hollywood's awards season reaches its climax at Sunday's Oscars, with a cliffhanger over the top prize after a season marked by dark horses, renewed anguish over diversity, and a South Korean underdog that could snatch victory from the biggest names in show business. While dark comic book movie "Joker" goes into the ceremony with a leading 11 nominations, it's the immersive World War One movie "1917" that has emerged as the film to beat in the best picture race after winning a slew of accolades in the last five weeks.

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