People News Roundup: Duffy resurfaces with tale of being held captive; NBA's Kobe Bryant mourned at emotional LA tribute and more

Following is a summary of current people news briefs.

British singer Duffy resurfaces with tale of being held captive

British singer Duffy on Tuesday explained a long absence from the music scene by saying she had been "raped and drugged and held captive," but gave no details about where or when the incident took place. Duffy, 35, who had big hits with single "Mercy" in 2008 and her debut album "Rockferry," wrote in an Instagram post that she was "ok and safe now" but said it had taken her time to recover from the ordeal.

'He was my everything': NBA's Kobe Bryant mourned at emotional Los Angeles tribute

A gallery of basketball legends joined thousands of Kobe Bryant fans in Los Angeles on Monday to pay tribute to the transcendent NBA star, his daughter and seven others who died in a helicopter crash last month that shocked the world of sports and beyond. The "Celebration of Life" memorial at the Staples Center, Bryant's home arena during most of his storied 20-season career with the Los Angeles Lakers, featured an emotional address by Bryant's widow Vanessa, who started dating Kobe when she was 17.

Kobe Bryant handprints among Beverly Hills auction items

A copy of Kobe Bryant's handprints, cast in cement outside Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre, are going up for auction in April along with other memorabilia of the basketball legend who died in January. Julien's Auctions said on Thursday that the handprints are tests that were made by Bryant in 2011 when he became the first athlete to leave his mark alongside some of the movie industry's biggest stars in the forecourt of the theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

Weinstein's acquittal on some charges may hamper appeal of sex crimes conviction

Harvey Weinstein will seek to overturn his sex crimes conviction by arguing that the jury was prejudiced by testimony from women unconnected to prosecutors' underlying case, his lawyers have said. But, according to experts, he faces a legal hurdle: his acquittal on some of the most serious charges. Weinstein, 67, faces up to 29 years in prison for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, in 2013.

Weinstein upbeat at Manhattan hospital after sex crimes conviction, lawyer says

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.

Actor Johnny Depp takes Sun newspaper to court in 'wife beater' libel case

Hollywood star Johnny Depp appeared in a London court on Wednesday to hear his lawyer argue that Depp's ex-wife had lied when she accused him of beating her in comments quoted by the tabloid newspaper the Sun. Depp, the 55-year-old star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, is suing the tabloid's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor Dan Wootton for libel over an article Wootton wrote in 2018 calling Depp a "wife beater".

(With inputs from agencies.)