Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. Woody Allen memoir released as publishers cite freedom of speech

An independent publisher released a memoir by movie director Woody Allen on Monday after it was dropped by another outlet following protests over a decades-old allegation that Allen molested his daughter. "Apropos of Nothing," was released nationwide, Arcade Publishing said in a statement. U.S. Supreme Court maroons filmmaker in Blackbeard video piracy fight

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered a legal broadside to a filmmaker who documented the recovery of notorious English pirate Blackbeard's wrecked ship, refusing to revive his video piracy lawsuit that sought monetary damages from North Carolina. The justices unanimously upheld a lower court's 2018 ruling that the state was protected by a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity and could not be sued for copyright infringement for using filmmaker Frederick Allen's images online. Broadcaster ITV scraps soaps as crisis saps British ad sales

ITV ditched forecasts for annual advertising sales and results on Monday as the coronavirus forced Britain's biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster to suspend production of top shows including "Coronation Street" and "Emmerdale". Advertisers across all categories were deferring campaigns in a rapidly changing situation, ITV said as it also pulled its dividend. The company said it had implemented contingency plans to enable it to continue to produce news and live output. Harvey Weinstein tests positive for coronavirus in prison: union official

Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a prison sentence for sexual assault and rape, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the head of the state corrections officers union. Weinstein, 68, has been placed in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility, said Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. U.S. Supreme Court hinders comedian-businessman's race-bias suit against Comcast

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court's ruling that had given the green light to comedian-turned-media entrepreneur Byron Allen's $20 billion racial bias lawsuit against Comcast Corp that accused the cable television operator of discriminating against black-owned channels. The nine justices unanimously sent the case back to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider whether Allen's claims that his failure to land a deal for Comcast to carry channels that he owned was due to racial discrimination were enough to let the case proceed. Allen is black.