Entertainment News Roundup: K-pop sensation BTS' label picks JPMorgan; Domingo apologizes after union finds he harassed women and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

K-pop sensation BTS' label picks JPMorgan, others for IPO: media

Big Hit Entertainment, the music label of South Korean boy band BTS, has chosen JPMorgan, NH Investment and Securities and others to handle its initial public offering (IPO), according to media reports. The IPO could be one of the largest in years in the country's entertainment industry, with its total valuation expected to be as high as 6 trillion won ($5 billion), the reports said, citing industry sources.

Placido Domingo apologizes after union finds he sexually harassed women

Opera singer Placido Domingo apologized to the women who have accused him of sexual harassment on Tuesday after an investigation by the American Guild of Musical Artists concluded he had behaved inappropriately with female performers. One of the most feted and powerful opera stars of the modern era, Domingo said in a statement he had spent several months reflecting on the allegations made by his musical colleagues.

'Mission: Impossible' Italy movie shoot delayed by coronavirus

A planned three-week shoot in Italy for Tom Cruise's new "Mission: Impossible" film has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, movie studio Paramount Pictures said on Monday. Filming was due to have started on Monday in Venice, where the final two days of the lagoon city's annual Carnival festival was canceled on Sunday. New coronavirus cases climbed above 220 on Monday as Italy shut down much of its wealthy north to curb the disease's spread.

Testimony alleging past Weinstein sexual assaults bolstered difficult case

In order to secure the rape and sexual assault convictions that will send Harvey Weinstein to prison, prosecutors called a parade of witnesses who portrayed the former Hollywood producer as a man who abused his power to prey on younger women. Called as "prior bad act" witnesses, these women with no connection to the attacks at the center of the case were nonetheless critical in persuading the jury to reject Weinstein's argument his encounters were consensual, legal experts said.

Upbeat Harvey Weinstein at Manhattan hospital, a day after sex crimes conviction

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was in good spirits on Tuesday, as he accepted visitors while under police guard at a Manhattan hospital, his lawyer said, despite having been convicted a day earlier of sexual assault and rape. Weinstein had been expected to move to New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail complex following the verdict but was admitted late Monday night to Bellevue Hospital a few miles away.

'You messed with the wrong women,' say Weinstein accusers, turning sights to LA

Some of the more than 80 women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct said on Tuesday they are looking to the disgraced producer's trial in Los Angeles to build on what they called a seismic shift in attitudes signaled by his conviction in New York. A day after a New York jury found Weinstein, 67, guilty of rape and sexual assault - in a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement - a dozen women held an emotional news conference in Los Angeles.

Berlin documentary explores value of work in Germany's struggling car industry

Disruptions in Germany's car industry are eroding job security and national identity, with the most vulnerable drawing more self-respect from work than the wealthy, the director of a documentary screening at this year's Berlin Film Festival said. The German documentary "Automotive" explores the value of work in the age of automation and digitization, with low-skilled workers struggling to keep their jobs in Germany's mighty automobile industry.

Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician portrayed in 'Hidden Figures', dies at 101

Katherine Johnson, the black woman whose mathematical genius took her from a behind-the-scenes job in a segregated NASA as portrayed in the film "Hidden Figures" to a key role in sending humans to the moon, died on Monday at the age of 101, NASA said. "Our NASA family is sad to learn the news that Katherine Johnson passed away this morning at 101 years old," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine posted to Twitter. "She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten."

Actor Smollett pleads not guilty to new Chicago hoax charges; seeks stay, dismissal

Former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court on Monday to renewed felony charges that he made false reports to police about being attacked in a hate crime that he is accused of staging in a bid to advance his career. The new charges emerged after a five-month investigation by a court-appointed special prosecutor who overruled a decision by the state's attorney's office last year to dismiss the original case.

'Freddie Mercury Close': London street named after Queen singer

A street in the London suburb where Freddie Mercury lived as a teenager was renamed Freddie Mercury Close on Monday at a ceremony attended by the late Queen frontman's sister. Their family moved to Feltham in west London after fleeing the revolution in Zanzibar in 1964.