AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 9:11 a.m. EST

Lainey Wilson wins entertainer of the year at 2025 CMA Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — The 2025 Country Music Association Awards were all about Lainey Wilson. The ‘Whirlwind’ singer hosted and performed at the award show. She also dominated it, winning female vocalist, album and entertainer of the year. Ella Langley's collaboration with Riley Green, “You Look Like You Love Me,” took home single and song of the year. The legendary Vince Gill was presented with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award by George Strait. Zach Top was awarded new artist of the year. The 59th annual CMA Awards were broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. It will become available to stream Thursday on Hulu.

Brendan Fraser's new horizons include 'Rental Family' and rental hedgehogs

BEDFORD, N.Y. (AP) — “Rental Family” is Brendan Fraser’s first leading role since winning the best actor Oscar for “The Whale.” In it, the 56-year-old plays a struggling actor living in Japan who, out of desperation and curiosity, takes a job with an agency that hires out actors to fulfill roles in real people’s lives. In an interview, Fraser discusses his life since the Oscar win, his eye-opening experiences in Japan and what returning to the “Mummy” series means to him. His time in Japan included a visit to a hedgehog cafe. “Rental Family” opens Friday in theaters.

Frida Kahlo self-portrait poised to shatter auction records

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1940 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, titled “El sueño (La cama),” could make auction history Thursday at Sotheby’s in New York. With an estimated price of $40 million to $60 million, it may surpass the record for a female artist's work, currently held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” at $44.4 million. The painting shows Kahlo asleep in a bed with a skeleton above her. Sotheby’s describes it as a meditation on the boundary between sleep and death. The painting is part of a sale featuring over 100 surrealist works.

Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal

LONDON (AP) — Warner Music Group has resolved its copyright dispute with Udio and signed a deal to collaborate on a new AI song creation service. Announced Wednesday, this is the second agreement between a major label and Udio. AI is transforming the music industry, with AI-generated music flooding streaming services. Warner's deal with Udio, set to launch in 2026, aims to create new revenue streams while protecting artists' work. Similar to Universal's recent agreement, Udio will remain a closed system. Artists will be credited and paid if their work is used. Sony Music has yet to sign a deal with Udio.

K-pop fans' environmental activism comes to UN climate talks

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — K-pop is turning up in force at the United Nations climate talks in Brazil, with fans-turned-activists hosting protest and events to mobilize their millions-strong online community to back concrete climate actions. During the conference, known as COP30, costumed protests against fossil fuel funding featured characters from the popular “KPop Demon Hunters” movie, while panels attended by South Korean officials strategized how to engage the K-pop fanbase. The effort to mobilize for collective action mirrors a central message from host nation Brazil for the talks.

2026 Oscars broadcast will include all 24 awards, including new casting prize

The Oscars are making room for one more award on their live broadcast in 2026. The academy says the new prize for achievement in casting will be part of the 98th Academy Awards in March. That brings the total to 24 awards for the Oscars broadcast. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the new prize last year. This marks the first addition since the best animated feature film category in 2001. Earlier this year, the academy also announced a stunt design award for 2028. Conan O’Brien has agreed to return as host for the 98th ceremony on March 15.

Novelist Rabih Alameddine and poet Patricia Smith win National Book Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — The 76th annual National Book Awards have been presented by the nonprofit National Book Foundation, with winners including Rabih Alameddine for fiction, Patricia Smith for poetry, and Omar El Akkad for nonfiction. Hundreds of writers, publishers, editors and other industry professionals gathered Wednesday night to see the awards presented in downtown Manhattan. The event included honorary medals for writers George Saunders and Roxane Gay. Actor Jeff Hiller hosted, and Grammy winner Corinne Bailey Rae was the musical guest.

Paris wax museum unveils new Diana figure in ‘revenge dress,’ decades after her death in the city

PARIS (AP) — A Paris wax museum has unveiled a new figure of Princess Diana in a black dress that has come to be known as her "revenge dress." The Grevin Museum dressed the life-size figure in the black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress that Diana wore on the night in 1994 when her husband Prince Charles admitted to infidelity. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, and the city still honors her memory. Diana's figure joins other British royals and historical figures in the museum. Charles is now King Charles III.

Movie Review: Joel Edgerton delivers a profound, understated performance in ‘Train Dreams’

Joel Edgerton plays a logger at the beginning of the 20th century in “Train Dreams.” Clint Bentley's film is an adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella, about the toll of progress and the people left behind. Edgerton stars alongside Felicity Jones and William H. Macy in the meditative film. In her review, Associated Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr praises Edgerton's understated performance and adds that, “Bentley’s film is haunting and patient, a dreamlike journey through a world that was disappearing in real time and an ode to the beauty that’s remained.” Rated PG-13, “Train Dreams” is streaming on Netflix Friday.