Comedian Michelle Collins has been confirmed as a co-host of ABC's The View. The network says she will officially start in September when the daily talk show returns for its 19th season. But Collins will make regular appearances until the show breaks for a hiatus in August. She joins moderator Whoopi Goldberg and panellist Raven-Symoné. Collins has been featured on VH1's Walk of Shame Shuttle. She has served as a host on the syndicated talk show The Gossip Queens, as well as being a daily correspondent on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live. The View is broadcast on weekdays at 11am EDT. – AP
Enrique Iglesias to headline new US Latin festival
Pop star Enrique Iglesias will headline a new festival of Latin American music and art near Los Angeles, organisers announced on Monday. The October 24-25 event at the Orange County Fair and Event Center, called the L Festival – Feria Cultural Latinoamericana, comes amid a proliferation of live music happenings across the United States. Iglesias, the Spanish-born singer and major crossover figure in Latin pop, will be among acts from 10 countries spanning genres including tropical and electronic dance music. Other performers will include veteran Mexican acts such as 65-year-old crooner Juan Gabriel and La Arrolladora Banda El Limon. – AFP
M.I.A. heads to Indian temple for video
The hip-hop star M.I.A. has gone to an Indian temple and the Ivory Coast to direct her first videos, as she announced a new album on the theme of a world without borders. The outspoken artist on Monday released a video of two songs including the new track Swords, which begins with the clanking of swords before M.I.A.'s signature heavy beats kick in. Swords is full of Hindu imagery including temple scenes and aflame Sanskrit script for the mantra "Om". M.I.A., who was born in London to Sri Lankan Tamil parents, did not specify where in India she filmed, but the video shows riverside ghats reminiscent of the sacred city of Varanasi. The video, released on the new Apple Music streaming site, transitions to Ivory Coast where a man in a shiny golden outfit and red tutu dances at fast pace to Warriors, a song from M.I.A.'s last album Matangi that came out in 2013. – AP
50 Cent files for bankruptcy protection
The rapper 50 Cent, known for the album Get Rich or Die Tryin', has filed for bankruptcy. The artist, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in US Bankruptcy Court in Hartford on Monday, days after a jury ordered him to pay US $5 million (Dh18.3 m) in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. The filing lists both the assets and liabilities for the rapper and actor as between $10m and $50m and indicates his debts are primarily consumer and not business related. The filing comes after a New York jury on Friday ordered Jackson to pay $5m to a woman who said he acquired a video she made with her boyfriend, added himself as a crude commentator and posted it online without her permission. – AP
October release for Kemmu's new drama
Kunal Kemmu – who recently married Soha Ali Khan, sister of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, is starring in the new drama, Guddu Ki Gun, out in the UAE on October 29. Soha took to Twitter to share the news. "Excited to announce the release of GUDDU KI GUN starring @kunalkemmu on 30th October 2015. This one is a tickle monster more updates soon. Kemmu was last seen in the 2013's Go Goa Gone. – IANS
Trailer of Bajirao Mastani out today
The trailer of period drama Bajirao Mastani, with Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra as the lead actress, will be released on digital platforms today, ahead of its theatrical release on December 25. Bajirao Mastani is based on the love story between 18th-century Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I (Ranveer Singh) and his second wife Mastani (Deepika Padukone). Priyanka plays Kashibai, the first wife of Peshwa Bajirao. – IANS
Cosby victims seek transcript release
Two of Bill Cosby's accusers joined a court bid on Monday to have his full testimony from a 2005 sexual-battery lawsuit unsealed. Beth Ferrier and Rebecca Neal say the deposition excerpts released last week mention them but don't paint the whole picture. Lawyer Gloria Allred, speaking on their behalf at a news conference in Los Angeles, says they want to challenge defence comments that Cosby's accusers have been "discredited". The women's lawyers filed the papers in Philadelphia, where they were "Jane Does" supporting a former Temple University employee who said Cosby had drugged and molested her. The newly released excerpts show Cosby acknowledging he got Quaaludes in the 1970s to give women before they had sex. More than two dozen women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct in the past four decades, and many alleged that he drugged and raped them. The 77-year-old comedian has denied some accusations while declining to comment or respond to the others. – AP
