David Bowie has written a song for an upcoming French-British crime series, the rock icon's first foray into television music for two decades. Bowie said on September 22 that he had written the original song for The Last Panthers, a six-part thriller about Balkan jewel thieves that will debut in November. "I was looking for one of the icons of my youth to write the music for the title sequence but was presented with a god," said the programme's director Johan Renck, a Swede best known for his music videos. "The piece of music he laid before us embodied every aspect of our characters and the series itself – dark, brooding, beautiful and sentimental (in the best possible incarnation of this word)." A collaboration between Britain's Sky Atlantic and France's Canal Plus, The Last Panthers stars Tahar Rahim and Samantha Morton. – AFP
Bill Murray skips Emmys for son’s wedding
The mystery over why Bill Murray didn't show up at the 67th Emmys ceremony, held at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, on September 20, to pick up his Outstanding Supporting Actor Award for HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge has been solved – the Ghostbusters star was in Philadelphia celebrating his son Luke's wedding to Kara Cassidy. Actress Kelly Lynch, who had a supporting role alongside Murray in Charlie's Angels, shared a photo of the actor on Twitter and wrote: "Another reason I <3 #BillMurray – he wins an #Emmy but is at his son's wedding #priorities." – IANS
Forbes lists Diddy as biggest- earning rapper
Diddy, aka Sean Combs, has been listed by Forbes as the top-earning rapper of last year. Most of his earnings came not from rapping, however, but his business interests, including his stakes in TV network Revolt, clothing line Sean John and, primarily, his ownership of the French alcohol brand Cîroc. In its annual list, released on September 22, Forbes said that Diddy made US$60million (Dh220m) this year, "more than any other hip-hop act in the world". Diddy rarely performs live and last released an album, Last Train to Paris, in 2010. – AFP
Sean Penn sues Lee Daniels
Sean Penn has filed a $10m (Dh367m) defamation lawsuit against Lee Daniels, the co-creator of TV smash hit Empire and the head of the prize jury at last year's Dubai International Film Festival, over comments the filmmaker made comparing him to the Empire's star Terrence Howard, who has been repeatedly accused of domestic violence. Daniels' comments appeared online about a week ago in the The Hollywood Reporter in a story about the upcoming second season of the Fox television show. "That poor boy (Terrence) ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he's some ... demon," Daniels said. Penn's lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan civil court, says Daniels' statements were egregious and injured Penn's credibility and reputation personally, professionally and in his philanthropic activities. In 2010, Penn pleaded no contest to vandalism after he kicked a celebrity photographer, but the case later was dismissed, and he also found himself in court charged with several violent misdemeanours in the 1980s, while married to Madonna. – AP
Di Caprio tackles global warming
Leonardo Di Caprio is to use his wealth fight global warming, an activist group says. The Wolf of Wall Street and Titanic star joined members of the Divest-Invest Coalition as it announced his plans and highlighted a growth in similar pledges from wealthy individuals during the past year. Di Caprio is reportedly divesting his own and his foundation's fossil-fuel holdings, said Ellen Dorsey, a coalition leader and the executive director of the Wallace Global Fund, an environmental grantmaker. The actor didn't speak at the event on the evening of September 22. – AP
Happy Birthday is copyright-free, rules judge
A judge in America has ruled that the song Happy Birthday to You is free of copyright restrictions, following a two-year lawsuit involving the song's publishers, Warner/Chappel Music, copyright holders Clayton F Summy Co, which claims it bought the rights to the song in 1935, and filmmaker Good Morning To You Productions, which is making a documentary about the origins of the song. It was written by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill some time before 1893, which normally would mean the rights had expired under copyright law limitations in any case. However, differences between musical arrangement, lyrics, and various other legal arguments sparked the legal case. But US district judge George H King concluded: "Because Summy never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics, Summy Co [or its successors], do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics. Happy Birthday to You is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most recognised song. – AP
artslife@thenational.ae
