Peabo Bryson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer greatest generally known as the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney movie duets “Beauty and the Beast” with Regina Belle and “A Whole New World” with Celine Dion from “Aladin,” has died. He was 75.

His household stated in a press release that Bryson died Tuesday, days after having a stroke.

“While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit,” the household’s assertion stated. “His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”

Born and raised in South Carolina, the singer, songwriter and balladeer launched his profession with the group Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display within the Nineteen Seventies. Shortly afterward, Atlanta label Bang Records signed him as a solo artist.

Bryson had a stroke in late May and was positioned below medical care.

“At this time, the family requests privacy as they navigate this deeply personal moment together,” a press release from his consultant learn on the time. “The ideas, prayers and love of mates and followers are welcomed and deeply appreciated.”

In 2019, Bryson made a full restoration after having a coronary heart assault.

© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials might not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.

Hollywood legend Richard Gere criticized Donald Trump on Tuesday, calling the U.S. president a “maniac” who has “dismantled almost everything that was good” in regards to the United States.

“We’re living in the darkest moment that I’ve experienced on this planet,” the 76-year-old star advised an awards ceremony in Oslo for the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.

“Who ever thought America could turn like this? Who ever thought that a maniac like this would be president of the United States?” Gere advised the viewers of a whole bunch. “First day, this guy dismantled almost everything that was good about the U.S. government and the U.S. people.”

As he introduced prizes on Tuesday on the Oslo Freedom Forum for imprisoned Chinese artist Gao Zhen and Myanmar anti-junta dissident Sai, Gere admitted that he had completed too little to marketing campaign towards Trump’s return to the White House.

“How is this even possible? Because we went to sleep. We didn’t care. We didn’t vote. We didn’t really listen,” the veteran actor stated.

Gere advised the viewers that he had just lately visited the Nazi focus camp in Dachau.

“We have to see the cues, this dictatorship of the monsters, how quickly it happens. We have to be vigilant.”

A longtime supporter of Tibet and a convert to Buddhism, Gere has incessantly met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan religious chief accused by China of stoking separatism within the Himalayan area.

Since 2024, he has lived in Spain along with his Spanish third spouse, Alejandra Silva.

© 2026 AFP

As Hollywood’s performers solid their ballots to approve the newest negotiated contract, union leaders say they’ve made some progress in conversations with studio bosses because the huge strike in 2023, particularly in terms of issues about synthetic intelligence.

SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland attributed the largely drama-free agreements on this spherical of negotiations to a brand new mindset, “because the studios and streamers came to the table with a different perspective.”

With 160,000 members working in movie, tv and video video games, SAG-AFTRA is the most important and most influential union of its type globally.

Members of the actors’ union are voting on a newly negotiated settlement that was accepted by the nationwide board earlier this month, forward of the present contract’s expiration on the finish of June.

“The tone of the negotiation was much more collaborative and a lot more creativity was brought by both sides, so I really believe that the 2023 strikes — while they were very difficult for all of us — did help effectuate a reset in the relationship between the studios and the unions in general,” Crabtree-Ireland informed AFP.

Approval would imply avoiding a repeat of disastrous 2023 strikes that shuttered productions, costing studios billions of {dollars}, whereas actors stood their floor towards AI and different points.

The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) lasted 118 days, with star-studded picket traces outdoors main studios in Los Angeles and New York, marking the longest such revolt in Hollywood historical past.

AI expertise was a sticking level for a lot of, and that stress persists, Crabtree-Ireland mentioned.

“They do feel more secure than they did in 2023 but there’s still a very, very strong concern about AI — and especially because the generative AI tools have advanced so much in the last three years,” he mentioned.

The newest settlement doesn’t shut the door on AI, nevertheless it does introduce new protections.

Under the brand new contract, digital replicas — which use AI or any expertise to duplicate an precise residing or deceased performer — should “have informed consent and fair compensation,” Crabtree-Ireland mentioned.

The contract permits for restricted use of synthetics, beneath “unusual circumstances,” when a generative AI system can be utilized to create a personality who is just not primarily based on any precise individual on the earth.

“There’s now process in place which would require the companies to come to the union if they want to use a synthetic in a project, they have to demonstrate to us that this synthetic brings a significant additional value to the production,” Crabtree-Ireland mentioned. “While this doesn’t rise quite to the level of a complete prohibition, it’s a very strong disincentive.”

Voting on the newest contract closes June 4.

© 2026 AFP

Ok-pop band BTS, Benson Boone, Cardi B, Lainey Wilson, Major Lazer, Muse, Snoop Dogg and Zara Larsson are among the many performers this fall on the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. It will likely be broadcast dwell.

The lineup for the occasion, which is able to happen Sept. 18-19 on the T-Mobile Arena, additionally contains Weezer, Goo Goo Dolls and Kenny Chesney. More artists will likely be introduced at a later date.

Ryan Seacrest will as soon as once more host, and followers can hear all of it on iHeartMedia radio stations or watch it streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

The common public can purchase tickets on AXS.com beginning at 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT on June 12. Capital One cardholders will be capable to entry a presale starting at 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT on June 10.

“The iHeartRadio Music Festival is all about bringing together the biggest artists across every genre for two unforgettable nights, and this year’s lineup truly reflects the incredible diversity of music today,” Tom Poleman, chief programming officer, and John Sykes, president of leisure enterprises of iHeartMedia, stated in a joint assertion.

Earlier this 12 months, BTS made a triumphant return after a virtually four-year musical hiatus. “ARIRANG,” the 14-track, fifth studio album from the septet is large; an formidable reunion and the band’s first authentic full-length launch because the seven members accomplished South Korea’s obligatory army service. Not that it has been all quiet at workforce BTS: The band staggered their enlistments, giving ample time for its members to concentrate on solo tasks whereas the group was on a break.

They’ve returned to the stage since then, and iHeartRadio Music Festival is one other victory lap.

© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.

With a number of movies but to be launched, and driving his success from the worldwide hit “A Minecraft Movie,” Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa says he’s residing a novel second.

“It’s probably my biggest year of my career,” Momoa, 46, advised AFP in an interview.

The actor mentioned he is having fun with taking part in a variety of roles, together with Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter within the upcoming “Supergirl” movie, which he described as “a childhood dream.”

The star additionally seems within the movie adaptation of “Street Fighter” and within the “Dune” trilogy, whose remaining installment hits theaters in December.

Momoa, who rose to fame due to “Game of Thrones,” had the chance to work with Julian Schnabel, whom he described as his favourite director, in “In the Hand of Dante,” which premieres this month on Netflix.

The actor is feeling like he is on a roll after taking part in a comedic position in final yr’s field workplace hit, “A Minecraft Movie,” which he starred in with Jack Black.

“Minecraft really was huge, you know?” he mentioned. “We didn’t see that coming.”

“I always wanted to do comedy. I mean, I’ve always done action my whole life,” the place taking part in superheroes felt “inevitable.” But he loved the chance to “make people laugh.”

The actor mentioned that comedic roles like these in “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part,” during which he voices a parody of Aquaman, a personality he has portrayed in a number of productions, additionally allowed him to attach with a really particular viewers: his household.

“It was an epic moment because my kids got to see me do the looping (voiceover),” he mentioned. While they do not appear to care a lot about his different roles, “when I’m involved with Lego, I’m an all-star.”

The actor reconnected with the well-known brick model by debuting this Monday as “the Playmaster,” the central determine in Lego’s “Never Stop Playing” marketing campaign to encourage households to dedicate extra time to taking part in with their kids, as social media and screens acquire floor.

“I grew up with Lego. My children grew up with Lego,” mentioned Momoa, who sees the colourful items and their infinite prospects as a instrument for growing creativity and creativeness.

“It’s something that makes my heart smile,” he mentioned.

The distinctive position got here with a bonus: “Being chosen by Lego to have your own little action figures… for them to make that was pretty special.”

© 2026 AFP