AP Entertainment
AP-Entertainment
Michelle Obama and her brother to launch a podcast with weekly guests
NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, will host a new weekly podcast series starting this month featuring a special guest pulled from the world of entertainment, sports, health and business. “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” will address “everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships and the world around us,” according to a press release. IMO is slang for “in my opinion.” Some of the guests slated to speak to the former first lady and Robinson, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, include the actors Issa Rae and Keke Palmer and psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik.
How to Stream Roberta Flack’s ‘Celebration of Life’ memorial
NEW YORK (AP) — The Grammy-winning singer and pianist Roberta Flack died last month. She was 88. Her intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after. On Monday, a “Celebration of Life” memorial will be held for Flack and livestreamed from New York. Flack’s Celebration of Life will take place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern. It is open to the public. The service will also be livestreamed at www.RobertaFlack.com.
‘Moana’ has her origins questioned at trial where man says his surfer boy led to the Disney hit
Was “Moana” based on a boy named Bucky? Plaintiffs will argue that it was in closing arguments in a federal court in Los Angeles on Monday at a trial over the origins of Disney’s 2016 hit about a questing Polynesian princess. Buck Woodall sued in 2020, alleging that essential elements of his script for “Bucky the Surfer Boy” were co-opted for “Moana.” Because of when he filed the suit, Woodall only has a claim on the film’s DVD and Blu-ray sales that totaled about $31 million. Disney says the makes of “Moana” never saw the script and it had no influence.
Book Review: ‘All the Other Mothers Hate Me’ is a breezy read from Sarah Harman
Sarah Harman’s first novel, “All the Other Mothers Hate Me,” “is a breezy read with more than a few lol moments,” writes AP reviewer Rob Merrill. The plot centers around a single mom’s bumbling efforts to clear her son’s name after a classmate goes missing from a posh London private school. Harman writes eloquently about motherhood in the story’s final pages. She’s created a character in Florence that readers will like spending time with, so who knows, if enough of them buy the book, maybe this is the start of a No. 2 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The novel is on sale Tuesday.
South Africa’s giant playwright Athol Fugard, whose searing works challenged apartheid, dies aged 92
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Athol Fugard, South Africa’s foremost dramatist who explored the pervasiveness of apartheid in such searing works as “The Blood Knot” and “’Master Harold’… and the Boys,” has died. He was 92. His best-known works center on the suffering caused by the apartheid policies of South Africa’s white-minority government. Six of his plays landed on Broadway, and he appeared in the films “The Killing Fields” and “Gandhi.” The South African government said Fugard’s work “shaped the cultural and social landscape of our nation.”
Book Review: ‘The Dream Hotel’ is a dystopian world in which people are detained for dreams
Novelist Laila Lalami imagines a dystopian world in which people are detained for dreams about future crimes in her new book “The Dream Hotel.” She draws on the tracking of our every move these days by Big Tech. Protagonist Sara Hussein is detained at the airport after returning to Los Angeles from London. A dream she doesn’t remember about killing the husband she loves is considered enough to hold her for observation against her will. Associated Press reviewer Anita Snow says the book recalls the societal oppression and alienation found in the works of Margaret Atwood and Franz Kafka.
Washington Post columnist quits after her opinion piece criticizing owner Jeff Bezos is rejected
A columnist who has worked at the Washington Post since 1984 quit on Monday, after she said the publisher Will Lewis killed her column criticizing owner Jeff Bezos’ edict that the newspaper’s editorial section concentrate on issues of personal liberties and the free market. Ruth Marcus wrote in a resignation letter that “it breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave.” Her exit was first reported by The New York Times. The Post said that it respected Marcus’ decision and wishes her the best. The newspaper has been reeling, both financially and through an exodus of many of its journalists, over the past year.
Doechii named 2025 Woman of the Year by Billboard
The rising rapper Doechii has earned the title of Billboard’s 2025 Woman of the Year. That lands her in the same company as Taylor Swift, SZA, Lady Gaga and Karol G. The news arrives just one month after Doechii won the Grammy for best rap album, becoming only the third woman to win in the category. She will be recognized at the Billboard Women in Music ceremony on March 29. The awards show will be held at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, hosted by Laverne Cox. Billboard Women in Music will air live on March 29 at 7 p.m. Pacific on VIZIO WatchFree+. Tickets are on-sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
At Sacai, a masterclass in wrapping and reinvention on the Paris runway
PARIS (AP) — Chitose Abe’s latest collection for Sacai is a masterful evolution of her signature hybridization, where garments aren’t just worn— they move, morph, and envelop. The fall show on Monday embraced the art of wrapping, cocooning its protagonist in layers that exuded both protection and sensuality. This season, Abe softened the brand’s signature deconstruction with an almost liquid elegance. Gone were the heavy-duty mashups of past seasons, replaced with sleek, elongated silhouettes that whispered rather than shouted.
Robert Pattison sci-fi ‘Mickey 17’ opens in first place, but profitability is a long way off
“Parasite” filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s original science fiction film “Mickey 17” opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters. Worldwide it’s earned a total of $53.3 million. But profitability for the “Mickey 17” is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce. Second place went to “Captain America: Brave New World,” which added $8.5 million in its fourth weekend. “Last Breath,” “The Monkey” and “Paddington in Peru” rounded out the top five.
