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TRAVIS SCOTT SAYS HE WAS UNAWARE OF DEATHS HAPPENING AT ASTROWORLD
HOUSTON (AP) – Travis Scott says he did not know fans were dying in a crowd surge during the Astroworld Festival last month, but he feels a responsibility to make sure that sort of thing does not happen again. Scott tells radio personality Charlamagne Tha God in a YouTube video that he stopped a couple of times to make sure everyone was OK, but he did not hear fans screaming for help. Scott denies that his history of encouraging fans to rush the stage contributed to the problems. Scott says he spoke privately with some of the families of the 10 people who died. He says he understands why some refused his offer to pay for funeral expenses, but he will always be there to help them. He says he feels a responsibility to finding a solution to what happened. Meanwhile, a judicial board has ruled that the more than 300 lawsuits filed so far over the Astroworld chaos will be handled by one judge.

RALPH TAVARES, ELDEST BROTHER IN R&B GROUP TAVARES, DIES
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ralph Tavares, the eldest of the five brothers in the Grammy-winning R&B singing group Tavares has died. The group’s manager, David Oriola, says Tavares died Wednesday at his home in Massachusetts; he would have turned 80 today. The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear. The group had several big hits in the 1970s, including “It Only Takes a Minute,” “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel,” and the Bee Gees tune, “More Than a Woman,” which was on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack along with the original. That album went on to win a Grammy.

NEIL YOUNG BUILDS UP A BARN FOR “BARN”
UNDATED (AP) – It’s pretty easy to figure out why Neil Young and Crazy Horse called their new album “Barn.” It was recorded in a barn. Young says he got people to restore a remote log barn from the 1850s in the Colorado Rockies with ponderosa pines. He says because it’s a bunch of round surfaces, “from an acoustic standpoint, it’s flawless.” Young and Crazy Horse built a stage inside to record, and an engineer and a producer ran sound from a truck parked outside. “Barn” comes out today, as does a companion documentary of the same name directed by Daryl Hannah, Young’s wife.

ANUEL AA OPENS UP AFTER GETTING OFF PROBATION
MIAMI (AP) – Anuel AA feels one nice thing about paying his debt to society is that he can now say what he wants in his music. Anuel AA spent 10 months in jail and three years on probation for illegal weapons possession. He says when he was on probation, he had to watch his lyrics, because “even if it’s music, it could be misinterpreted.” He says he’s happy to have that chapter of his life over, and it made him stronger and bigger. Anuel AA’s latest album is “Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren” (Legends Never Die).

FILMS ABOUT KANYE WEST, SINEAD O’CONNOR WILL PLAY AT SUNDANCE FESTIVAL
UNDATED (AP) – One of the films that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah next month is one filmed by a public access TV host who happened to interview Kanye West in 1998, when West was 21. Clarence “Coodie” Simmons was inspired by the film “Hoop Dreams” and continued to chronicle West’s life. Those 21 years of footage have been used to create the movie “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.” A film about Sinead (shun-NAYD’) O’Connor called “Nothing Compares” also will be shown at Sundance. The festival begins Jan. 20.

BOCELLI, CHURCH AMONG “IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE” PERFORMERS
WASHINGTON (AP) – Andrea Bocelli (ahn-DRAY’-ah boh-CHEL’-ee), Eric Church and Pentatonix will be among the performers featured on the PBS special “In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season.” Camila Cabello, the Jonas Brothers, Norah Jones and Billy Porter also will take part. Jennifer Garner will host. The event will be recorded at the White House starting Saturday. It will premiere on PBS stations on Dec. 21.

JOJO SINGS FOR MISS UNIVERSE
NEW YORK (AP) – JoJo will perform at Sunday’s Miss Universe competition. It will air live from Eilat, Israel, Sunday on Fox.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT CONVICTED BY JURY IN CHICAGO OF STAGING HIS OWN HATE CRIME
CHICAGO (AP) – The lead prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett case says a guilty verdict against the former “Empire” actor sends “a resounding message” that authorities got it right when they said he staged his own hate crime – and reported the bogus attack to police. A Chicago jury found Smollett guilty on five of the six felony charges he faced. The jury decision ends a legal saga that began nearly three years ago, when Smollett said he was set upon by two men who roughed him up as they shouted racist and anti-gay slurs at him. He says they also draped a noose around his neck. At first, he garnered sympathy for being the victim of a hate crime because he’s Black and openly gay. But as the investigation continued, police found it was a hoax. They say he hired two brothers to do the beating – and even rehearsed the tussle with them.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT’S ATTORNEY DECLARES ACTOR’S INNOCENCE AFTER GUILTY VERDICT
CHICAGO (AP) – Never mind what a Chicago jury says – the attorney for Jussie Smollett says his client is innocent of the charges he was convicted of yesterday. Nenye Uche says Smollett will appeal his conviction and that the former “Empire” actor is “100% confident” his name will be cleared. After the verdict, Uche told reporters the case was stacked against Smollett since he was, quoting here, “already tried and convicted in the media.” Uche also says the jury’s decision was inconsistent, in that Smollett was found guilty of only five of the six charges against him for lying to police. Uche says he doesn’t get that, since all the charges stemmed from the same incident.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT – WHAT’S NEXT?
CHICAGO (AP) – The next step for Jussie Smollett: a post-trial hearing set for Jan. 27. He will appear before trial judge James Linn, who says he will set the actor’s sentencing for another date. The ex-“Empire” cast member was convicted of five of six counts of disorderly conduct, a class 4 felony that carries a prison sentence of up to three years. But legal experts said before the trial that a conviction likely would get Smollett only probation and an order to do community service. While he may not do prison time, the damage to his personal and professional life may be more serious. He was fired from “Empire” as his allegations dissolved under a police investigation. And because he tapped into hot-button issues of racism and homophobia, it’s hard to believe he will ever be as warmly embraced again as he was when people saw him as a victim of a hate crime, instead of the perpetrator of a fake one.

FORMER REALITY TV STAR JOSH DUGGAR CONVICTED IN CHILD PORN CASE
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Immediately after being convicted of downloading and possessing child pornography, ex-reality TV star Josh Duggar was taken into custody. And it’s unlikely he will see freedom anytime soon. A jury in Fayetteville, Arkansas found him guilty of both charges he faced, with each conviction netting him up to 20 years in prison and a quarter-million dollars in fines. Sentencing will be in about four months. Duggar’s conviction completes a public fall from grace after he was featured with his family in the TLC series, “19 Kids and Counting.” The show was dropped in 2015 after revelations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. He also publicly apologized for a porn addiction – and for cheating on his wife.

TRAVIS SCOTT SAYS HE DIDN’T KNOW OF FAN DEATHS UNTIL AFTER ASTROWORLD EVENT
HOUSTON (AP) – Travis Scott says he had no idea fans were being crushed to death and injured at his Astroworld Music Festival in November. The rapper says in an interview with Charlamagne Tha God posted on YouTube that he paused his performance a couple of times to try to figure out what was happening – but insists he didn’t hear fans screaming for help. Ten concertgoers died and hundreds were injured when fans surged toward the stage as Scott’s performance began. In the interview, the rap star denied his history of encouraging fans to rush the stage or push past security contributed to the chaos at the Astroworld event.

JOE BIDEN TO DO FALLON TONIGHT
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is doing his first late-night TV appearance since taking office. He will be on tonight’s edition of “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.” The segment will be taped remotely. Though the NBC show focuses on comedy, Biden is on a serious mission: trying to recapture some of the popularity he’s lost since taking office in January. He’s down in the polls and trying to gain some momentum to push his agenda through a partisan, divided Congress.