- Title: Showbiz in 2024: Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrest, Taylor Swift's record triumphs
- Date: 2nd December 2024
- Summary: SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (FILE - JULY 10, 2024) (REUTERS) BALDWIN WALKING TO COURTHOUSE WITH LAWYERS, ENTERING COURTHOUSE ON DAY OF OPENING STATEMENT OF HIS INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER TRIAL
- Embargoed: 16th December 2024 02:48
- Keywords: Alec Baldwin case dismissed Anna Sawai Ayo Edebiri Britain's King Charles Cassie Ventura Christopher Nolan Cillian Murphy Ebon Moss-Bachrach Eden Golan Eras tour Eurovision Eurovision Song Contest controversy over Israel song Harvey Weinstein 2020 conviction overturned in NY Hiroyuki Sanada Janice Smalls Combs Jeremy Allen White Joost Klein Kate Liza Colón-Zayas Oppenheimer Princess of Wales Robert Downey Jr. Rust shooting Sean 'P Diddy' Combs Shogun Super Bowl Taylor Swift The Bear Travis Kelce Two Emmy Awards in a year cancer doctored royal photo pro-Palestinian supporters showbiz news
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00D559620092024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS FOOTAGE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3 AND PORTRAIT. CONTAINS AUDIBLE PROFANITY IN SHOT 79
EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF SHOWBIZ YEARENDERS RUNNING DEC. 2-5, 2024
FOR MORE ON SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, "RUST" TRIALS, HARVEY WEINSTEIN SECTIONS, PLEASE SEE EDIT 5602, MOVING ON DEC. 3, 2024
FOR MORE ON TAYLOR SWIFT SECTION, PLEASE SEE EDIT 5607, MOVING ON DEC. 4, 2024
FOR MORE ON "OPPENHEIMER" SECTION AND AWARDS SEASON, PLEASE SEE EDIT 5608, MOVING ON DEC. 4, 2024
Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, actor Alec Baldwin and singer Justin Timberlake were among the celebrities who appeared in court this year.
Combs was arrested in Manhattan by federal agents in September following a year in which his career was derailed by several lawsuits accusing him of physical and sexual abuse.
The 55-year-old, who is one of the most influential producers and executives in hip-hop, was arrested on charges accusing him of using his business empire including record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women and male sex workers across state lines to take part in recorded performances called "Freak Offs". He has pleaded not guilty.
Combs, who has been held at a Brooklyn jail, is scheduled to go on trial starting on May 5 on three felony counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prosecution.
Combs' lawyers have said the sexual activity described in the indictment was consensual.
Prosecutors have said Combs' employees helped arrange the "Freak Offs" by booking hotel rooms and buying controlled substances and other items used during sex, according to the indictment.
During raids of his homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida in March, authorities found drugs and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, along with AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers, the indictment said.
He was denied bail several times with multiple judges citing a risk that he might tamper with witnesses. His most recent bid was denied in late November after 10 weeks in jail.
The week before his arrest, a Michigan judge ordered Combs to pay $100 million to Derrick Lee Smith, who said Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him at a party almost 30 years ago, after Combs failed to show up to defend himself in court. A lawyer for Combs said he would seek to dismiss that judgment.
Combs also faces civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, including one that accuses him of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 2005. The latter was filed by Tony Buzbee, a lawyer who says he represents more than 150 victims of Combs' abuse, and has filed at least 17 lawsuits.
Combs' lawyers have said "he never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone--man or woman, adult or minor."
In May, Combs issued an apology after the release of a 2016 surveillance video that appeared to show him assaulting his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, at a Los Angeles hotel.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift enjoyed a hugely successful 2024 as she took her record-breaking "Eras" tour to fans around the world and picked up numerous trophies.
The 34-year-old set another record in February, winning the Grammy award for album of the year for an unprecedented fourth time as women dominated the music industry's top honours.
Swift surprised fans from the Grammys stage with a new album, "The Tortured Poets Department", which stormed charts upon its release in April.
That same month she also ranked on the Forbes Billionaires list. At the time, it put Swift at no. 2,545 on the list with a reported net worth of $1.1 billion. Forbes said Swift was the first celebrity musician to earn her wealth solely off of earnings from her music and performances.
Swift travelled the globe with Eras, the world's highest-grossing concert tour and the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue, scheduled to end on Dec. 8 in Vancouver.
During the European leg of the tour, Swift's three concerts in Vienna were canceled in August after the government confirmed a planned attack at the venue and Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said "a tragedy was prevented".
Police arrested a 19-year-old man who they said confessed to wanting to cause a "bloodbath" at the shows, which were due to be held at Ernst Happel Stadium.
Swift revealed that a "new sense of fear" came over her after authorities uncovered the plot as well as guilt for letting down fans by cancelling her three shows in the city.
The tour continued in London, drawing fans from near and far for the last opportunity to see the critically acclaimed show in Europe, before heading to North America for its final dates.
Swift was also central to this year's Super Bowl story as she watched her boyfriend Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs team defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
Both actor Alex Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez faced trials over the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Western "Rust".
The Ukrainian director of photography died when Baldwin's gun fired a live round inadvertently loaded by Gutierrez as the actor set up a camera shot in a movie-set church southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director Joel Souza was wounded.
Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and is serving an 18-month prison sentence. In September, a judge denied a motion from her lawyers for a new trial or dismissal and a second motion for her immediate release from detention.
Baldwin's trial began in July but a New Mexico judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against him, agreeing with his lawyers that prosecutors and police withheld evidence on the source of the live round that killed Hutchins.
New Mexico district court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case as the actor's lawyers alleged a "cover up" by prosecutors who have been plagued by missteps since first filing charges.
Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey filed a notice of appeal in late November.
The film premiered at a low-key Polish film festival the same month.
"It wasn't an easy decision by any means, but it became important to me, and important to her (Hutchins') husband that people see her final work," Souza told Reuters in an interview.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was overturned by New York's highest court, reopening the landmark case that fuelled the #MeToo movement and highlighting the challenges of holding powerful men accountable.
The New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.
Many accusers of the former Hollywood movie mogul condemned the decision, with actress Ashley Judd telling reporters it was "an act of institutional betrayal."
Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020 in a case that provided impetus for the #MeToo movement. He is in prison awaiting a retrial.
Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a third-degree rape charge. In September, he pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of sexual assault.
In October, NBC News reported that the 72-year-old has chronic myeloid leukaemia, a type of bone marrow cancer, and was undergoing treatment while in prison at Rikers Island in New York. He was rushed to hospital in September to undergo heart surgery.
In Britain, both King Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.
Kensington Palace said in January that Kate, the wife of Prince William, had undergone successful abdominal surgery. On the same day, Buckingham Palace said Charles would undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate.
A few weeks later, Buckingham Palace said Charles had been diagnosed with a form of cancer and would postpone public-facing duties while he underwent treatment.
In March, several news agencies including Getty, Reuters, Associated Press and AFP withdrew a photograph of Kate and her children issued by Kensington Palace after analysis showed it did not meet their editorial standards. The photograph was released alongside a message from Kate thanking the public for their support in her first public message since undergoing surgery.
It caused intense speculation about Kate on social media.
She issued an apology for "any confusion" caused by the edited photograph, saying "like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing".
Less than two weeks later, Kate said tests following the abdominal surgery she had in January found cancer had been present and she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Charles returned to public duties in late April.
In September, Kate said she had finished her course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer, saying the treatment had given her a new perspective and made her grateful for "simply loving and being loved".
In a personal message accompanying an intimate video of her with William and their three young children, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Princes George, 11, and Louis, 6, Kate said she would be carrying out a handful of public engagements later in the year.
But the 42-year-old cautioned her path to full recovery would be long, and her focus was to remain cancer free.
Historical drama "Oppenheimer" dominated awards season, winning the top prize, best picture, at the Oscars.
Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr, added to their many honours when they also picked up Academy Awards statuettes for best director, best actor and best supporting actor respectively.
"Oppenheimer", a blockbuster biopic about the race to build the first atomic bomb, claimed seven Academy Awards in total.
This year saw television stars walk the red carpet at two Emmy Awards ceremonies - Hollywood's top accolades for television - with the first held in an unusual January slot because of disruptions caused by 2023 Hollywood labour strikes.
The second was back on a September schedule, and at both shows restaurant dramedy "The Bear" triumphed with multiple awards.
The show picked up six trophies in January, including best comedy series and acting prizes for cast members Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
In September, White and Moss-Bachrach triumphed again, while co-star Liza Colon-Zayas beat industry giants Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett in the best supporting actress category.
"Shogun", a sweeping, historical epic set in imperial Japan, claimed the prestigious best drama trophy.
A tale of political machinations, "Shogun" also won acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, the first Japanese actors to win their categories. The series earned 18 total awards, a record for a single season of a drama.
Billed as a feel-good celebration of European diversity, this year's Eurovision Song Contest was thrust into the political spotlight with calls for Israel to be excluded over its military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' deadly attack on October 7 in Israel.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Swedish host city Malmo in the run-up to the final, pointing to double standards as the European Broadcasting Union banned Russia from Eurovision in 2022 because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Israel's contender Eden Golan came fifth in the contest, while Swiss rapper and singer Nemo, 24, won with "The Code", a drum-and-bass, opera, rap and rock song, about the singer's journey of self-discovery as a non-binary person.
Dutch artist Joost Klein was expelled from the contest following a complaint made by a female member of the production crew.
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