R. Kelly's hopes of doing a tour of Europe in April have been all but dashed now that he is facing new criminal charges.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For five years, Jussie Smollett has been enmeshed in weekly drama on the set of "Empire," the Fox TV series that gave the actor a breakout role and the fame to advance his social activism.

CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly, the R&B star who has been trailed for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves, was charged Friday with aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.

CHICAGO (AP) — The story Jussie Smollett told police had it all: racism, homophobia, politics, celebrity — all tied up with a hangman's noose. There was no question the news coverage was going to be massive.

CAMDEN, Maine (AP) — Don McLean's former wife has launched a photo exhibition about domestic abuse that includes a copy of the protection order issued against him, and the "American Pie" singer is threatening to sue a weekly newspaper that wrote about it.

MILAN (AP) — Anna Wintour paid tribute Friday to Karl Lagerfeld's generosity and sense of humor as she presented a new fashion exhibition. Elsewhere in Milan, Versace unveiled its first womenswear collection since the Italian fashion house become part of a U.S. fashion group, and luxury bran…

CHICAGO (AP) — Actor Jussie Smollett's character on "Empire" will be removed from the final two episodes of this season in the wake of his arrest on charges that he staged a racist, anti-gay attack on himself last month in downtown Chicago, producers of the Fox TV show announced Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sure, it's easy to Netflix and chill these days. Or Prime and recline. Or Hulu and ... well, whatever. But if you really want to savor a film, there's still no substitute for a movie theater.

CHICAGO (AP) — In one version of a Feb. 21 story about "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett being charged with staging an attack on himself in Chicago, The Associated Press erroneously referred to police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaking at a Thursday afternoon news conference. The news confer…

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Even with rain clouds threatening from above, the spirits, and heels, were high at Diane von Furstenberg's idyllic Coldwater Canyon property Thursday afternoon.

Of all the little moments of joy and strife that fill the top-nominated Oscar film "Roma," the most gut-wrenching takes place in a Mexico City hospital room, where a doctor coolly tells a frightened young woman, "Your baby was born dead."

CHICAGO (AP) — Actor Jussie Smollett is accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in Chicago in January in a celebrity scandal that has captured attention online and in the media. Smollett is not the first celebrity to be accused of lying to the public. But he faces a felony ch…

CHICAGO (AP) — "Empire" actor and R&B singer Jussie Smollett told Chicago police last month that two men physically attacked him and yelled racial and homophobic slurs. Some key moments in the story:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — By the time filmmaker Ava DuVernay got to Vanity Fair and Lancome's Women in Hollywood pre-Oscars event Thursday night, she had already been to two other events that day. Not only that, she had to be "on" at each — they all had her name on the invitation. Such is the life …

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Believe it or not, Hollywood executives told Dwayne Johnson "no thanks" when he pitched his latest movie.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rita Moreno plays one of TV's best villains. Or is she one of its snidest heroines? Either way, her sassy grandmother on the Netflix reboot of "One Day at a Time" is truly a funny concoction.

CHICAGO (AP) — Police tapped into Chicago's vast network of surveillance cameras — and even some homeowners' doorbell cameras — to track down two brothers who later claimed they were paid by "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to stage an attack on him, the latest example of the city's high-tech …

Democratic politicians and celebrities called it a shocking instance of Trump-era racism and hate. Republicans now depict it as yet another example of liberals and mainstream media rushing to judgment while disparaging the president's supporters as bigots.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gender equality initiative Time's Up says its president and CEO resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations against her son.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the attack reported by Jussie Smollett (all times local):

NEW YORK (AP) — In a story Feb. 16 about the Oscars reversing a decision to hand out four awards during commercial breaks, The Associated Press erroneously described a quote from Board of Governors member Lois Burwell as discussing changes to the Oscars ceremony. Burwell was speaking about c…

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Amandla Stenberg brought the audience to their feet as she talked of being protected by the ancestors.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Academy Awards producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss have been hearing the same question a lot recently: Are you OK?

CHICAGO (AP) — Two brothers who told police that Jussie Smollett paid them $3,500 to help stage an attack on himself were linked to the actor through the "Empire" television series, and court documents filed Thursday allege one of the men provided Smollett with designer drugs.

CHICAGO (AP) — Two brothers who played central roles in what Chicago police say was a staged racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett are, compared to the "Empire" actor, so far walking away legally unscathed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter Tork, a talented singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical skills were often overshadowed by his role as the goofy, lovable bass guitarist in the made-for-television rock band The Monkees, has died at age 77.

NEW YORK (AP) — Notable reaction to the arrest of Jussie Smollett :

MILAN (AP) — Fendi paid understated tribute Thursday to Karl Lagerfeld, who died this week and was the Rome-based fashion house's creative director for 54 years.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two women said Thursday that singer R. Kelly picked them out of a crowd at a Baltimore after-party in the mid-1990s when they were underage and had sex with one of the teens although she was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol and could not consent.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The estate of Michael Jackson on Thursday sued HBO over a documentary about two men who accuse the late pop superstar of molesting them when they were boys, saying the film violates a 1992 contract to air a Jackson concert.

NEW YORK (AP) — For Grammy-winning producer-songwriter Alexander Shuckburgh, the Academy Awards are so close and yet so far.

Hayes Carll, "What It Is" (Dualtone)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sasha Sagan, daughter of the late Carl Sagan, is working on a book her publisher is calling "part memoir, part guidebook and part social history."

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson took it personally when detectives determined that "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett allegedly lied about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack .

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville producer Fred Foster, who produced some of Roy Orbison's most popular records and was the first to produce records from Kris Kristofferson and Dolly Parton, has died. He was 87.

NEW YORK (AP) — "All the Stars" are not performing at the Academy Awards, including Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Wade Robson and James Safechuck didn't know what to think when the lights went up after the first public screening of "Leaving Neverland" late last month at the Sundance Film Festival. In the 236-minute documentary that will air in two parts on HBO and Britain's Channe…

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police used justifiable force when firing dozens of bullets at an armed robbery suspect in a fast-food restaurant and had no duty to protect a law enforcement reality television show crew member who was inadvertently shot and killed, the police chief said.

NEW YORK (AP) — After more than a decade collaborating with the writer and director Alfonso Cuaron, producer Gabriela Rodriguez knew his work inside out. But even she didn't anticipate the universal success his "Roma" has enjoyed.

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Kentucky teen at the heart of an encounter last month with a Native American activist at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington is suing The Washington Post for $250 million, alleging the newspaper falsely labeled him a racist. His attorneys are threatening numerous other n…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a documentary featuring two men who accuse Michael Jackson of molesting them as boys (all times local):