Dave Shapiro, groundbreaking music executive, dies in San Diego plane crash at 42

Groundbreaking music executive Dave Shapiro has died in a San Diego plane crash. He was 42. The music agency Sound Talent Group confirmed Shapiro died in the crash. He had a pilot’s license and was listed as the owner of the plane that crashed Thursday morning. Shapiro is known for cofounding Sound Talent Group in 2018. The agency has represented major alternative bands across pop-punk, metal, and hard rock. Shapiro grew up in upstate New York and also owns an aviation company. Tributes have poured in from musicians who called him warm, genuine and someone who helped little-known bands put their names on the map.

Scarlett Johansson debuts as a director in Cannes with a comic tale of grief and empathy

CANNES, France (AP) — In an interview, Scarlett Johansson says there's “a lack of empathy in the zeitgeist.” Her directorial debut, “Eleanor the Great,” stars June Squibb in a funny and tender tale about a woman who adopts her late friend's stories of Holocaust survival. Days after hosting the season finale of “Saturday Night Live,” Johansson debuted “Eleanor the Great” at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. In just over a month’s time, Johansson will be back in a big summer movie, “Jurassic World Rebirth.” Following her own instincts has been a regular feature of her career recently.

Stars convene for amfAR gala to raise millions for AIDS research

ANTIBES, France (AP) — Artwork by Adrien Brody and James Franco and a chance to sit courtside at a Knicks game with director Spike Lee were among the starry offerings at the annual amfAR Gala to raise money for AIDS research. Held at the famous Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on Thursday, the evening attracted scores of celebrities in the area for the Cannes Film Festival. Guests included Brody, Lee, Colman Domingo, Michelle Rodriguez and Heidi Klum. The Brody and Franco artwork included lunch with the actors, while Lee sold a walk-on part in his next film. The Foundation for AIDS Research, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy.

A Paris court will deliver the verdict in Kim Kardashian jewelry heist trial

PARIS (AP) — A decade after robbers stormed Kim Kardashian’s luxury residence and tied her up at gunpoint, a Paris court will decide on Friday the verdict in one of the most audacious celebrity heists in modern French history. Nine men and a woman stand accused of carrying out — or aiding — the crime during the 2016 Paris Fashion Week, when masked men dressed as police entered Kardashian’s Paris home, bound her with zip-ties and vanished with $6 million in jewels. At the heart of the trial is Aomar Aït Khedache, a veteran of Paris’ criminal underworld. Prosecutors have asked for a 10-year sentence. The loot was never found.

A wave of new owners brings fresh energy to independent bookselling

NEW YORK (AP) — Amber Salazar is the kind of idealist you just knew would end up running a store like Banned Wagon Books. She's a lifelong reader who cares deeply about the world and felt angered to the core as she learned of bans around the country. Salazar is a among a wave of new owners who have helped the independent book community dramatically expand. In 2016, there were 1,244 members in the American Booksellers Association, at 1,749 locations. As of this month, the ABA has 2,863 individual members, at 3,281 locations. More than 200 other stores are in the process of opening.

Rapper Kid Cudi says his car was set on fire weeks after Sean 'Diddy' Combs broke into his home

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Kid Cudi has testified that he was sure Sean “Diddy” Combs broke into his home in 2011 after learning he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie. Speaking Thursday at Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York, Cudi also said that a few weeks after the break-in, someone set fire to his car in his driveway. Cassie testified last week that Combs threatened to blow up Cudi's car. The Grammy-winning Cudi said Combs denied involvement in the car fire at the time. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering. Cudi left the courthouse without commenting after his testimony.

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's presence in Cannes speaks volumes

CANNES, France (AP) — Before this week, the dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi hasn’t attended the premiere of one of his films in more than 15 years. One of the leading international directors, Panahi was banned from traveling out of Iran in 2009. But even when placed under house arrest, he kept making movies. When his last film debuted in 2022, he was in jail. Three years later, Panahi arrived at the Cannes Film Festival with “It Was Just an Accident,” riven with the fury and pain of incarceration by the Islamic Republic. Panahi’s appearance in Cannes carries tremendous meaning and risk for a filmmaker who has played such a massive role in international cinema in absentia.

From outlaw to icon: Bambi on trans survival, fame, JK Rowling and the fight that isn’t over

PARIS (AP) — The moment that changed queer history occurred on a sweltering day in early 1952 in Algiers. An effeminate teenage boy named Jean-Pierre Pruvot stood mesmerized as traffic halted and crowds swarmed around a scandalous spectacle unfolding in the conservative city streets as Coccinelle — the flamboyant star of Paris’s legendary cabaret, the Carrousel de Paris — strutted defiantly down the boulevard, impeccably dressed as a woman, sparking awe and outrage and literally stopping traffic. What Pruvot — who would soon become famous as Bambi — witnessed was more than mere performance: it was an act of resistance from the ashes of the Nazi persecution of the LGBTQ+ community.

Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' sends Cannes swooning

CANNES, France (AP) — It took nearly until the end of the festival, but the Cannes Film Festival has its first outright sensation. Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” premiered Wednesday night to the kind of rapturous response that Cannes is fabled for. The film starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning marked Triers follow-up to his lauded 2021 film “The Worst Person in the World.” The thunderous standing ovation for “Sentimental Value,” at 15 minutes, was the most rousing of any film in Cannes by a large margin. The debut of “Sentimental Value” immediately made Trier’s film a contender, if not the clear favorite, for Cannes’ top award, the Palme d’Or.

Man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston found mentally incompetent for trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston and crashing his car through the front gate of her home has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, but he has demanded a second opinion at a court hearing. Jimmy Wayne Carwyle a 48-year-old from Mississippi, appeared at a Hollywood courthouse that specializes in mental health cases on Thursday. He had a long, gray beard and wore blue suicide-prevention jail clothing. He has pleaded not guilty to felony stalking and vandalism. His attorney told a judge that one psychiatrist found Carwyle incompetent, but he's exercising his right to an evaluation from another doctor.