Kesha drops sex abuse lawsuit against Dr. Luke to focus on music

Here is the latest Celebrity News from Reuters.

Kesha drops sex abuse lawsuit against Dr. Luke to focus on music
(Reuters) – Pop star Kesha has dropped her sexual abuse lawsuit in California against record producer Dr. Luke, saying she wants to focus on getting back to her music.

Actor Ewan McGregor says children in Iraq at risk of death, sex abuse, traffickers
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Scottish actor Ewan McGregor called on Tuesday for greater efforts to help refugee children in Iraq, warning they are at serious risk of death, sexual violence, or recruitment into armed groups.

Gloria DeHaven, perky star of 1940s-50s Hollywood musicals, dies at age 91
Gloria DeHaven, the perky singing actress who starred in a parade of breezy Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and 1950s and gave Frank Sinatra his first big-screen kiss, has died at age 91, her agent said on Monday.

Minnesota judge denies claims of 29 would-be heirs to Prince estate
(Reuters) – A Minnesota judge dismissed claims from 29 would-be heirs to the estate of the late pop star Prince, strengthening the inheritance claims of the performer’s surviving siblings, court records released on Friday showed.

Bill Cosby drops remainder of federal suit against accuser
(Reuters) – Comedian Bill Cosby on Thursday dropped the remaining counts of a lawsuit he filed against one of the women accusing him of sexual assault, along with several others, claiming they violated the terms of a confidential settlement in another lawsuit.

Prince Harry regrets not talking sooner about Diana’s death
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry has spoken about how he regrets not talking sooner about the impact of the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

Administrator of Prince’s estate dismisses more inheritance claims
(Reuters) – The administrator of Prince’s estate has further solidified the inheritance claims of the pop superstar’s six surviving siblings by dismissing more than a dozen other claimants, according to court documents released on Friday.

Edward Snowden talks film debut and dramatizing his life in ‘Snowden’
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) – When former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden met with Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone to discuss a movie on his life, he never thought he would be making his own film debut.

Dying on stage: comedian Marx has come closer than most
GREENWICH, England(Reuters) – Like most stand-up comedians, Carey Marx has stories about “dying on stage”, but in his case they are almost literally true.

‘Snowden’ director Stone talks NSA, Pokemon GO at Comic Con
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) – Pokemon GO may seem a long way from the spy networks of the U.S. National Security Agency, but for Oliver Stone, director of NSA whistleblower movie “Snowden,” the gaming app represents “a new level of invasion” of our digital privacy.

Prince estate’s administrator dismisses claims by three
(Reuters) – The administrator of Prince’s estate has dismissed claims from three would-be heirs who asserted that their father was also the true biological dad of the late pop star through an alleged affair with his mother.

Health remains priority for work of Gates foundation in Africa
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Bill Gates said health would remain a priority for the work of his foundation in Africa and it faced a struggle to bring down the rate of new HIV infections in the world’s poorest continent.

Divisive Ailes gave conservatives a TV home at Fox News
(Reuters) – When Roger Ailes arrived at Fox News Channel two decades ago, his mandate from media titan Rupert Murdoch was to create a network to compete against established market leader CNN and its new rival MSNBC.

Twitter announces crackdown after online abuse of ‘Ghostbusters’ actor
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter Inc said Tuesday it had moved to permanently suspend a number of user accounts for abuse and harassment after Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones on Monday drew renewed attention to the issue and announced she would quit the social media site.

Director, producer and writer Garry Marshall dead at 81: media
(Reuters) – Director, producer and writer Garry Marshall, who was responsible for creating sitcom hits such as “The Odd Couple” and “Happy Days” and directed hit movies “Pretty Woman” and “The Princess Diaries,” died on Tuesday, Variety reported.

Actor Tom Sizemore arrested on domestic violence charge: Los Angeles police
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Tom Sizemore, who co-starred in the films “Saving Private Ryan” and “Black Hawk Down” before he was convicted in 2003 of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of domestic abuse in Los Angeles, a police spokesman said.

Pippa Middleton engaged to hedge fund beau: Daily Mail
LONDON (Reuters) – Pippa Middleton, sister of Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge and possibly the country’s most eligible single woman, is engaged to marry a hedge fund millionaire, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Judge throws out parts of Bill Cosby’s lawsuit over 2006 settlement
(Reuters) – A federal judge has thrown out parts of a lawsuit filed by disgraced comedian Bill Cosby against one of his accusers, her mother, two lawyers and the publisher of the National Enquirer claiming that they violated a confidential settlement agreement.U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno, ruling on motions by the defendants to dismiss the case, said that Cosby could not sue Andrea Constand, her mother or attorneys for speaking to investigators about her accusations.

No shaking off Taylor Swift-Kanye West ‘Famous’ feud
(Editor’s note: this story contains language in paragraph three that may offend some readers)

Mick Jagger, 72, to become father for eighth time
LONDON (Reuters) – Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, 72, is to become a father again for the eighth time.

Actor Idris Elba makes surprise appearance before Star Trek release
(Reuters) – British actor Idris Elba made a surprise appearance outside a London pub on Thursday where street artist Jim Vision had created a giant graffiti mural featuring characters from Elba’s new movie, “Star Trek Beyond”.

Calvin Harris takes to social media to criticize Taylor Swift
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – DJ and producer Calvin Harris criticized his former girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, on social media on Wednesday, for making him “look bad” after a celebrity news publication revealed that Swift had written Harris’ latest hit song under a pseudonym.

Trevor Noah on balancing comedy and current affairs for ‘Daily Show’
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It has been 10 months since Trevor Noah took the helm at Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” but the South African comedian said he still agrees when people say he’s not ready to host the satirical late night news show.

Hollywood stands behind Jennifer Aniston’s take on media sexism
(Reuters) – Hollywood celebrities are lining up behind actress Jennifer Aniston after she penned a blog criticizing the media for the way it scrutinizes female stars.

Taylor Swift tops Forbes highest paid celebrity list
LONDON (Reuters) – Singer Taylor Swift has topped this year’s Forbes list of the world’s 100 highest paid celebrities, earning $170 million mainly thanks to her hugely successful “1989” world tour.

Grammy-winning singer Chaka Khan enters rehab for drug abuse
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Chaka Khan has postponed all performances for this month after checking herself into a drug addiction rehabilitation program, her representatives said in a message posted on her website.

Actor Miranda bows out of award-winning ‘Hamilton’
LONDON (Reuters) – After 11 Tony awards, a Pulitzer prize and plenty of critical acclaim, Lin-Manuel Miranda bowed out of his hit Broadway show “Hamilton”, the pop culture phenomenon based on U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton, at the weekend.

Megaupload coming back? Founder Kim Dotcom plans a relaunch in 2017
(Reuters) – Flamboyant German tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is planning to relaunch file-sharing website Megaupload in January 2017, five years after the U.S. government took down the site accusing it of piracy.

Madonna visits Malawi hospital her charity is funding
BLANTYRE, Malawi (Reuters) – Pop star Madonna paid a visit to a hospital project funded by her charity in Blantyre, Malawi at the weekend, inspecting progress on the construction of a pediatric surgery and intensive care unit.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry stable in hospital after collapsing on stage
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry collapsed on stage while performing in New York on Sunday and was hospitalized, according to reports.

British singer Cliff Richard pursues legal action over raid
LONDON (Reuters) – British singer Cliff Richard is pursuing legal action against the BBC and the police after the broadcaster televised a raid on his house, saying his reputation had been “unnecessarily damaged”.

Sydney Schanberg, journalist who inspired ‘The Killing Fields,’ dies at 82
(Reuters) – Sydney Schanberg, a former correspondent whose Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge inspired the movie “The Killing Fields,” died on Saturday at age 82, the New York Times and Newsday reported.

Famed Pakistani philanthropist Edhi dies in Karachi
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Famed philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of one of Pakistan’s biggest welfare organizations, died in hospital late on Friday, his family said.

Cosby returns to court to seek dismissal of sex assault charges
(Reuters) – Bill Cosby is set to return to a Pennsylvania criminal court on Thursday, when the comedian’s lawyers will mount their latest attempt to have the sexual assault case against him thrown out.

Madonna moved to tears by case of child rape in Kenya
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Pop star Madonna was reduced to tears during a trip to Kenya as she listened to a man describe how his five-year-old daughter had been recently raped by a neighbor in Nairobi’s Kibera slum.

Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Illinois reformer Mikva dies
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Abner Mikva, who served as a White House adviser, federal judge, congressman and mentor to President Barack Obama, has died at age 90, his Chicago non-profit organization said on Tuesday.

In Cosby criminal case, accuser’s turn to face scrutiny
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comedian Bill Cosby faces the latest court hearing this week in his sexual assault case in Pennsylvania, but his attorneys will again try to shift attention to his accuser.

Noel Neill, Lois Lane in ‘Superman’ TV series, dies at 95
Actress Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane, the intrepid reporter on the “Adventures of Superman” television series who never quite figured out her Daily Planet colleague Clark Kent was The Man of Steel, has died at the age of 95, a friend said on Monday.

Kiarostami, master of post-revolution Iranian cinema, dies at 76
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Abbas Kiarostami, the writer-director who showed that Iranian cinema was one of the most original and emotionally engaging in the world, died in Paris on Monday from complications related to cancer, according to Iranian state media. He was 76.

Comedienne Rebel Wilson makes London stage debut in ‘Guys and Dolls’
LONDON (Reuters) – Having made audiences laugh in movies such as “Bridesmaids” and “Pitch Perfect”, Australian comedienne Rebel Wilson now sets her sights on the London stage, making her West End debut in musical “Guys and Dolls”.

It wouldn’t be the 4th of July without Willie Nelson’s moveable ‘picnic’
AUSTIN, Texas – It is an on again, occasionally off again American tradition from the 1970s that has filled football stadiums and sun-baked Texas ranches, with one constant – country music legend Willie Nelson celebrating Independence Day with a music-packed picnic.

Holocaust survivor, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel dies at 87
(Reuters) – Activist and writer Elie Wiesel, the World War Two death camp survivor who won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust victims, died on Saturday. He was 87.

‘Deer Hunter’ director Michael Cimino dies aged 77
LONDON (Reuters) – Michael Cimino, whose roller-coaster career as a Hollywood film director included Oscar-winner “The Deer Hunter” and legendary box office flop “Heaven’s Gate,” has died. He was 77.

Screen legend Olivia de Havilland turns 100
Olivia de Havilland, best known for the 1939 film “Gone With The Wind,” celebrates her 100th birthday on July 1.

Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore dies at 84: report
(Reuters) – Scotty Moore, a pioneering rock guitarist best known for backing Elvis Presley as a member of his original band and into superstardom, died on Tuesday at the age of 84, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported.