<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LOLITA%20C.%20BALDOR%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press</a>

WASHINGTON (AP) — When&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tom-cruise-jerry-bruckheimer-california-74bbbb5552c75cb268ae8298e4fe1379">“Top Gun: Maverick”</a>&nbsp;roared into theaters in late May, the Air Force was ready.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-north-america-steven-spielberg-bb005f1efd6a5de2ef40acd4c588214e">smash hit movie</a>&nbsp;may feature Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/top-gun-maverick-film-review-dfe987ecf3250c3f0103da09b3dc76dc">a hotshot Navy aviator</a>, but to much of the movie-going public, the distinction between Air Force and Navy fighter jets is lost. So Air Force recruiters struggling to meet their enlistment goals took boxes of free mugs and lanyards, and fanned out to movie theaters for the premiere, determined to capitalize on the jet-fueled excitement surrounding the film.

These are tough times for military recruiters. With COVID-19 complicating their work and low unemployment reducing the number of potential recruits, all services are having problems finding young people who want to join and can meet the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.goarmy.com/how-to-join/requirements.html#:~:text=Enlisted%20Soldiers,-Enlisted%20Soldiers%20are&amp;text=Age%3A%20Between%2017%2D35%20years,high%20school%20graduate%20or%20equivalent">physical, mental and moral requirements.</a>

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-politics-health-army-dc5db721e3270e0e92a0210daa890860">The Army especially is struggling</a>. On Tuesday, it said it will cut the total number of soldiers it expects to have in the force over the next two years. If those trends continue, that could present challenges as it tries to meet future national security and warfighting missions.

The situation is somewhat less dire for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Leaders of those branches say they hope to meet or just slightly miss their recruiting goals for this year. But they say they will have to dip into their pool of delayed entry applicants, which will put them behind as they begin the next recruiting year.

So recruiters are offering bigger bonuses and other incentives to those who sign up. And they are seizing on the boost that Hollywood may offer – such as the buzz over the sequel to the 1986 hit “Top Gun.”

“When the original ‘Top Gun’ was released, the Navy and Air Force received a pretty good recruiting bump,” said Maj. Gen. Edward Thomas, head of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.recruiting.af.mil/">Air Force Recruiting Service.</a>&nbsp;"Frankly, we hope people get excited all over again about what we do. Whether they want to aim high or fly Navy, we just want them to come join us. We want them to be excited about military service.”

The Air Force said it usually goes into each year with about 25% of its recruiting goal already locked in, but this year will have about half of that. The Navy and Marine Corps often have as much as 50% of their goals at the start of the year, but also will see their percentage slashed.

Gen. Eric Smith, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps., said the Marines are focusing more on retention than recruiting. He said the Marine Corps “will make or come very close to making” its recruiting goals this year, but at the expense of the 2023 pool. And when recruits have less time to prepare before reporting to boot camp, more fail to complete their training, he said.

The situation is more dire for the Army, which a top general says faces “unprecedented challenges” in recruitments.

Gen. Joseph Martin, vice chief of staff for the Army, said the service will have a total force of 466,400 this year, down from the expected 476,000. It could end 2023 with between 445,000 and 452,000 soldiers, depending on how well recruiting and retention go.

With just 2 1/2 months to go in the budget year ending Sept. 30, the Army has met just 50% of its recruiting goal of 60,000 soldiers, and based on those trends will likely miss that goal by nearly 25% as of Oct. 1.

An array of factors has made recruiting more difficult across the services.

Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and other large public events that the military relies on to meet young people face to face.

The low unemployment rate means fewer people are looking for jobs. Private companies often pay more and are more nimble in responding to a tight labor market by raising salaries. Military salaries vary widely and are determined by Congress.

Across the country, fewer people are familiar with the military. Many do not know anyone who served and do not have bases in their regions. As political and cultural divisions over race, abortion, vaccines and other issues tear through the nation,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-technology-health-government-and-politics-new-york-cfb56a95aec23dddbabcf3ebbe839f05">trust in the government</a>&nbsp;— including the military — has declined.

At the same time, only about 23% of young adults are physically, mentally and morally qualified to serve without receiving some type of waiver. Moral behavior issues include drug use, gang ties or a criminal record.

“We look at it as the toughest recruiting environment that we’ve had in decades,” said Rear Adm. Lex Walker, who heads Navy Recruiting Command. “Companies are also offering great pay, they’re offering sign-on bonuses, help with college. They’re offering many of the same benefits the Navy has historically used to recruit."

One short-term solution is money. The Air Force and Navy commanders both said they had to request more money for bonuses this year as they began to see the recruiting struggle worsen.

For the first time in a decade, the Air Force approved two rounds of additional bonuses this budget year. Last October the service budgeted $17.5 million for enlistment bonuses, but in April service leaders added another $14 million, and in July they put in $7 million more.

The Navy, said Walker, has also increased bonuses by about $100 million. It also has also relaxed some restrictions to make it possible to enlist some who may not have qualified before. He said the Navy expanded its waiver policy for some prior marijuana use and for tattoos — allowing recruits to have visible ones in more places, such as the neck. A new pilot program allows single parents with up to two children over a year old to seek a waiver to enlist as long as the recruits have someone who can care for the children in case of a deployment.

The recruiting officials also said it's crucial to increase the public's awareness of the military and the benefits available for serving. They said recruiters and all members of the military need to get out into their communities, connect with people and tell their stories.

Air Force Sgt. Eric Way did just that at the Regal Cinema in Waterford, Connecticut, during the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick." Standing in the lobby, surrounded by Air Force swag and banners, he captured the attention of a 22-year-old from Old Lyme, who later told him the movie convinced him that he should enlist.

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Gervacio Maldonado, who helped organize the New England recruiting campaign centered on the movie’s premiere, said recruiters spoke to the young man before the film and gave him social media information to contact them later.

It worked. The man has already done his first interview.

Maldonado said the man later told a recruiter that he had been debating the enlistment idea for some time and said that "after watching the movie, that was my tipping point and I want to start the process.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LOLITA%20C.%20BALDOR%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press</a>WASHINGTON (AP) — When&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tom-cruise-jerry-bruckheimer-california-74bbbb5552c75cb268ae8298e4fe1379">“Top Gun: Maverick”</a>&nbsp;roared into theaters in late May, the Air Force was ready.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-north-america-steven-spielberg-bb005f1efd6a5de2ef40acd4c588214e">smash hit movie</a>&nbsp;may feature Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/top-gun-maverick-film-review-dfe987ecf3250c3f0103da09b3dc76dc">a hotshot Navy aviator</a>, but to much of the movie-going public, the distinction between Air Force and Navy fighter jets is lost. So Air Force recruiters struggling to meet their enlistment goals took boxes of free mugs and lanyards, and fanned out to movie theaters for the premiere, determined to capitalize on the jet-fueled excitement surrounding the film.These are tough times for military recruiters. With COVID-19 complicating their work and low unemployment reducing the number of potential recruits, all services are having problems finding young people who want to join and can meet the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.goarmy.com/how-to-join/requirements.html#:~:text=Enlisted%20Soldiers,-Enlisted%20Soldiers%20are&amp;text=Age%3A%20Between%2017%2D35%20years,high%20school%20graduate%20or%20equivalent">physical, mental and moral requirements.</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-politics-health-army-dc5db721e3270e0e92a0210daa890860">The Army especially is struggling</a>. On Tuesday, it said it will cut the total number of soldiers it expects to have in the force over the next two years. If those trends continue, that could present challenges as it tries to meet future national security and warfighting missions.The situation is somewhat less dire for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Leaders of those branches say they hope to meet or just slightly miss their recruiting goals for this year. But they say they will have to dip into their pool of delayed entry applicants, which will put them behind as they begin the next recruiting year.So recruiters are offering bigger bonuses and other incentives to those who sign up. And they are seizing on the boost that Hollywood may offer – such as the buzz over the sequel to the 1986 hit “Top Gun.”“When the original ‘Top Gun’ was released, the Navy and Air Force received a pretty good recruiting bump,” said Maj. Gen. Edward Thomas, head of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.recruiting.af.mil/">Air Force Recruiting Service.</a>&nbsp;"Frankly, we hope people get excited all over again about what we do. Whether they want to aim high or fly Navy, we just want them to come join us. We want them to be excited about military service.”The Air Force said it usually goes into each year with about 25% of its recruiting goal already locked in, but this year will have about half of that. The Navy and Marine Corps often have as much as 50% of their goals at the start of the year, but also will see their percentage slashed.Gen. Eric Smith, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps., said the Marines are focusing more on retention than recruiting. He said the Marine Corps “will make or come very close to making” its recruiting goals this year, but at the expense of the 2023 pool. And when recruits have less time to prepare before reporting to boot camp, more fail to complete their training, he said.The situation is more dire for the Army, which a top general says faces “unprecedented challenges” in recruitments.Gen. Joseph Martin, vice chief of staff for the Army, said the service will have a total force of 466,400 this year, down from the expected 476,000. It could end 2023 with between 445,000 and 452,000 soldiers, depending on how well recruiting and retention go.With just 2 1/2 months to go in the budget year ending Sept. 30, the Army has met just 50% of its recruiting goal of 60,000 soldiers, and based on those trends will likely miss that goal by nearly 25% as of Oct. 1.An array of factors has made recruiting more difficult across the services.Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and other large public events that the military relies on to meet young people face to face.The low unemployment rate means fewer people are looking for jobs. Private companies often pay more and are more nimble in responding to a tight labor market by raising salaries. Military salaries vary widely and are determined by Congress.Across the country, fewer people are familiar with the military. Many do not know anyone who served and do not have bases in their regions. As political and cultural divisions over race, abortion, vaccines and other issues tear through the nation,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-technology-health-government-and-politics-new-york-cfb56a95aec23dddbabcf3ebbe839f05">trust in the government</a>&nbsp;— including the military — has declined.At the same time, only about 23% of young adults are physically, mentally and morally qualified to serve without receiving some type of waiver. Moral behavior issues include drug use, gang ties or a criminal record.“We look at it as the toughest recruiting environment that we’ve had in decades,” said Rear Adm. Lex Walker, who heads Navy Recruiting Command. “Companies are also offering great pay, they’re offering sign-on bonuses, help with college. They’re offering many of the same benefits the Navy has historically used to recruit."One short-term solution is money. The Air Force and Navy commanders both said they had to request more money for bonuses this year as they began to see the recruiting struggle worsen.For the first time in a decade, the Air Force approved two rounds of additional bonuses this budget year. Last October the service budgeted $17.5 million for enlistment bonuses, but in April service leaders added another $14 million, and in July they put in $7 million more.The Navy, said Walker, has also increased bonuses by about $100 million. It also has also relaxed some restrictions to make it possible to enlist some who may not have qualified before. He said the Navy expanded its waiver policy for some prior marijuana use and for tattoos — allowing recruits to have visible ones in more places, such as the neck. A new pilot program allows single parents with up to two children over a year old to seek a waiver to enlist as long as the recruits have someone who can care for the children in case of a deployment.The recruiting officials also said it's crucial to increase the public's awareness of the military and the benefits available for serving. They said recruiters and all members of the military need to get out into their communities, connect with people and tell their stories.Air Force Sgt. Eric Way did just that at the Regal Cinema in Waterford, Connecticut, during the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick." Standing in the lobby, surrounded by Air Force swag and banners, he captured the attention of a 22-year-old from Old Lyme, who later told him the movie convinced him that he should enlist.Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Gervacio Maldonado, who helped organize the New England recruiting campaign centered on the movie’s premiere, said recruiters spoke to the young man before the film and gave him social media information to contact them later.It worked. The man has already done his first interview.Maldonado said the man later told a recruiter that he had been debating the enlistment idea for some time and said that "after watching the movie, that was my tipping point and I want to start the process.”

As recruiters struggle, Air Force seeks lift from 'Top Gun'

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HILLEL%20ITALIE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michelle-obama">Michelle Obama</a>&nbsp;will have a book out this fall, “The Light We Carry,” in which she reflects upon her experiences and shares insights on navigating an increasingly stressful world.

It's the former first lady's first entirely new work since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-north-america-ap-top-news-ny-state-wire-barack-obama-75d29ff82e364c19a71e0f3261503889">the 2018 release</a>&nbsp;of her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-north-america-united-states-il-state-wire-michelle-obama-0246b1e534004eea812729f3bf875308">acclaimed blockbuster “Becoming,”</a>&nbsp;which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, surpassing the sales of any memoir by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband, former President Barack Obama.

“I’ve learned it’s okay to recognize that self-worth comes wrapped in vulnerability, and that what we share as humans on this earth is the impulse to strive for better, always and no matter what,” Michelle Obama writes in the book's introduction, included in Thursday's announcement by the Random House Publishing Group and its imprint Crown.

“We become bolder in brightness. If you know your light, you know yourself. You know your own story in an honest way. In my experience, this type of self-knowledge builds confidence, which in turn breeds calmness and an ability to maintain perspective, which leads, finally, to being able to connect meaningfully with others — and this to me is the bedrock of all things."

The new book is not part of the reported eight-figure deal the Obamas reached in 2017, shortly after he left office, with parent company Penguin Random House for their respective memoirs. A spokesperson declined to discuss financial terms for “The Light We Carry.”

Crown will publish the 336-page book Nov. 15, almost exactly four years after the release of “Becoming," and has announced a first printing of 2.75 million copies for the U.S. and Canada. “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times” will come out simultaneously in 14 languages and 27 countries, with additional rights deals expected.

“In ‘The Light We Carry,’ Mrs. Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress,” the publisher's announcement reads in part.

“Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles — the earned wisdom that helps her continue to ‘become.’”

On Thursday, Penguin Random House announced it was renaming an annual writing prize in her honor, the $10,000 Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, part of an awards program for public high school students the company launched in 1993.

Since completing “Becoming," Michelle Obama has written an edition for younger readers and launched a podcast. With Barack Obama and their production company Higher Ground she has worked on such projects as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-us-news-barack-obama-michelle-obama-movies-d1d14a8a48054af7ae1498ef32b213de">the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ny-state-wire-dc-wire-il-state-wire-entertainment-michelle-obama-d3aa0b80bb7e0efa21b6215a68645811">a documentary about her tour for “Becoming,”</a>&nbsp;when she appeared at arenas nationwide with such guest interviewers as Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Promotional plans for “The Light We Carry” will be announced later.

Crown is also the longtime publisher of Barack Obama, himself a million-selling author.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barack-obama-memoir-record-setting-sales-fbc4385579c9b6cbe6d04acb7a5f734f">“A Promised Land,”</a>&nbsp;the first of two planned memoirs about his presidency, came out in 2020. A spokesperson declined to comment on when the next book will be released.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HILLEL%20ITALIE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/michelle-obama">Michelle Obama</a>&nbsp;will have a book out this fall, “The Light We Carry,” in which she reflects upon her experiences and shares insights on navigating an increasingly stressful world.It's the former first lady's first entirely new work since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-north-america-ap-top-news-ny-state-wire-barack-obama-75d29ff82e364c19a71e0f3261503889">the 2018 release</a>&nbsp;of her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-north-america-united-states-il-state-wire-michelle-obama-0246b1e534004eea812729f3bf875308">acclaimed blockbuster “Becoming,”</a>&nbsp;which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, surpassing the sales of any memoir by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband, former President Barack Obama.“I’ve learned it’s okay to recognize that self-worth comes wrapped in vulnerability, and that what we share as humans on this earth is the impulse to strive for better, always and no matter what,” Michelle Obama writes in the book's introduction, included in Thursday's announcement by the Random House Publishing Group and its imprint Crown.“We become bolder in brightness. If you know your light, you know yourself. You know your own story in an honest way. In my experience, this type of self-knowledge builds confidence, which in turn breeds calmness and an ability to maintain perspective, which leads, finally, to being able to connect meaningfully with others — and this to me is the bedrock of all things."The new book is not part of the reported eight-figure deal the Obamas reached in 2017, shortly after he left office, with parent company Penguin Random House for their respective memoirs. A spokesperson declined to discuss financial terms for “The Light We Carry.”Crown will publish the 336-page book Nov. 15, almost exactly four years after the release of “Becoming," and has announced a first printing of 2.75 million copies for the U.S. and Canada. “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times” will come out simultaneously in 14 languages and 27 countries, with additional rights deals expected.“In ‘The Light We Carry,’ Mrs. Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress,” the publisher's announcement reads in part.“Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles — the earned wisdom that helps her continue to ‘become.’”On Thursday, Penguin Random House announced it was renaming an annual writing prize in her honor, the $10,000 Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, part of an awards program for public high school students the company launched in 1993.Since completing “Becoming," Michelle Obama has written an edition for younger readers and launched a podcast. With Barack Obama and their production company Higher Ground she has worked on such projects as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-us-news-barack-obama-michelle-obama-movies-d1d14a8a48054af7ae1498ef32b213de">the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ny-state-wire-dc-wire-il-state-wire-entertainment-michelle-obama-d3aa0b80bb7e0efa21b6215a68645811">a documentary about her tour for “Becoming,”</a>&nbsp;when she appeared at arenas nationwide with such guest interviewers as Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Promotional plans for “The Light We Carry” will be announced later.Crown is also the longtime publisher of Barack Obama, himself a million-selling author.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barack-obama-memoir-record-setting-sales-fbc4385579c9b6cbe6d04acb7a5f734f">“A Promised Land,”</a>&nbsp;the first of two planned memoirs about his presidency, came out in 2020. A spokesperson declined to comment on when the next book will be released.

Michelle Obama's book 'The Light We Carry' coming this fall

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MICHAEL%20BALSAMO%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press</a>

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Monday they have declined to bring charges against nine people associated with CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” who were arrested in a building in the U.S. Capitol complex last month.

The decision, made by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, comes after prosecutors determined they “cannot move forward” with the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-robert-smigel-stephen-colbert-arrests-14dc9ee6278519742285b90895f80883">misdemeanor charges against the nine people arrested June 16</a>&nbsp;in the Longworth House Office Building. The incident followed the third public hearing by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it was not probable a conviction could be obtained and sustained given that the nine arrested had been invited and that their escorts had never asked them to leave the building.

Though Capitol Police have refused to provide the names of those who were arrested, a person familiar with the matter provided The Associated Press with a list of nine people who had been stopped by Capitol Police. They included several producers, along with comedian and writer Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

Capitol Police officials said Monday they respect the decision made by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Police said the group was arrested on unlawful entry charges “because members of the group had been told several times before they entered the Congressional buildings that they had to remain with a staff escort inside the buildings and they failed to do so.”

Prosecutors said the group had been invited by congressional staffers and had never been asked to leave by the staff members who had invited them. The U.S. attorney’s office said some people in the group of nine had been told by police that they were supposed to have an escort.

“The Office would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these invited guests were guilty of the crime of unlawful entry because their escort chose to leave them unattended,” said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. “We do not believe it is probable that the Office would be able to obtain and sustain convictions on these charges.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MICHAEL%20BALSAMO%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press</a>WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Monday they have declined to bring charges against nine people associated with CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” who were arrested in a building in the U.S. Capitol complex last month.The decision, made by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, comes after prosecutors determined they “cannot move forward” with the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-robert-smigel-stephen-colbert-arrests-14dc9ee6278519742285b90895f80883">misdemeanor charges against the nine people arrested June 16</a>&nbsp;in the Longworth House Office Building. The incident followed the third public hearing by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it was not probable a conviction could be obtained and sustained given that the nine arrested had been invited and that their escorts had never asked them to leave the building.Though Capitol Police have refused to provide the names of those who were arrested, a person familiar with the matter provided The Associated Press with a list of nine people who had been stopped by Capitol Police. They included several producers, along with comedian and writer Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.Capitol Police officials said Monday they respect the decision made by the U.S. attorney’s office.Police said the group was arrested on unlawful entry charges “because members of the group had been told several times before they entered the Congressional buildings that they had to remain with a staff escort inside the buildings and they failed to do so.”Prosecutors said the group had been invited by congressional staffers and had never been asked to leave by the staff members who had invited them. The U.S. attorney’s office said some people in the group of nine had been told by police that they were supposed to have an escort.“The Office would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these invited guests were guilty of the crime of unlawful entry because their escort chose to leave them unattended,” said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. “We do not believe it is probable that the Office would be able to obtain and sustain convictions on these charges.”

No charges for 'Late Show' crew arrested on Capitol Hill

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22The%20Associated%20Press%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By The Associated Press</a>

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

— Netflix places one of its biggest bets yet on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmllggGO4pM">“The Gray Man,”</a>&nbsp;a globe-trotting action thriller starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. One of the streamer's most expensive films, “The Gray Man" is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers who presided over one of the biggest box-office smashes ever ("Avengers: Endgame") before they started churning out blockbusters for Netflix. Their “Extraction,” with Chris Hemsworth, ranks as one of the service's most-watched films, and “The Gray Man” — a spy vs. spy adventure with some comic flare and major franchise ambitions — is likely to follow suit. It debuts Friday.

— Before Billy Porter was a Broadway star and red-carpet doyen, he was a kid in Pittsburgh. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20WlagB4vFU">“Anything's Possible,</a>&nbsp;” Porter returns to his hometown to make his directorial debut, a trans coming-of-age comedy. The film, which debuts Friday on Amazon Prime Video, stars Eva Reign as a Black transgender girl in a relationship with a boy (Abubakr Ali) that causes a high school-wide stir. Porter fashioned his film, written by Ximena García Lecuona, as a teen rom-com for Gen Z and a love letter to Pittsburgh.

— Few details about Beyoncé‘s new album “Renaissance” out Friday are available but the lead single is performing well. Her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjki-9Pthh0">“Break My Soul”</a>&nbsp;became the first song to debut in the top 10 in 26 years on Billboard’s R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Of the 16-track album itself Beyoncé calls it “a beautiful journey of exploration.” Creating it “allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” the superstar wrote on Instagram, next to an image of her on a see-through horse. Back in June, she teased on her social media accounts that “Renaissance” would be “act i,” but it’s unclear how many acts will follow or when they will be released.

— It’s July so that means a promised second 2022 album from the mad professor of rock, Jack White. He follows up the April release of “Fear of the Dawn” with the 11-track “Entering Heaven Alive.” The two albums share the same song — Taking Me Back” — but arranged differently, one heavy, one jazzy. Another song on the new set is titled “Queen of the Bees” and has the silly lyric “I want to hold you like a sloth hugs a tree.”&nbsp;<a href="https://ew.com/music/jack-white-fear-of-the-dawn-entering-heaven-alive-interview/">He told EW: ”I was challenging myself to sort of see what I could get away with!”</a>

— ZZ Top — now without Dusty Hill — have a new, 11-track live album, called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg9cNGHl-bg&amp;t=3s">“Raw,”</a>&nbsp;with several of the band’s hits like “Gimmie All Your Lovin″” and “La Grange.” Recorded at Gruene Hall — “the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas” — in 2019, “Raw” features the band’s original lineup of electric guitar player Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and the late Hill on bass. Made in connection with the 2019 ZZ Top Netflix documentary, “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas,” the 11-track album was produced by Gibbons, and is dedicated “in righteous memory of Dusty Hill.”

— Ben Harper has never really minced words and that’s clearly the case on his new album, the 11-track “Bloodline Maintenance. “Slavery/We need to talk about it/Black Lives Matter/’Cause history says we don’t,” he sings over a funky guitar on the lead single,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAMcjFGVddc">“We Need To Talk About It.”</a>&nbsp;The new record sees Harper reflecting on the loss of his father and the personal nature of the subject matter led Ben to perform most of the album himself — playing guitar, bass, drums and percussion, including a plastic toy snare. ”I knew the sounds I was hearing in my head were so unorthodox that I had to do most of it myself,” he says.

— Stephen Curry is the host of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.espn.com/espys/">ESPYS</a>&nbsp;sports awards, and more. The NBA championship finals MVP is up for three honors including best male athlete at the ceremony airing Wednesday on ABC. Curry’s rivals for the top award include Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, with Olympic champs Sunisa Lee and Katie Ledecky among those competing for best female athlete. ESPN previously said the ceremony will honor Vitali Klitschko, former heavyweight boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gretchen Evans will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.

— Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were acclaimed actors and a long-married couple. They were also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lJpu8l5BTc">“The Last Movie Stars,”</a>&nbsp;according to the six-part documentary of that title out on Thursday on HBO Max. The docuseries, directed by actor Ethan Hawke, promises a definitive account of their “dedication to their art, philanthropy and each other.” Transcriptions of interviews with Newman and intimates — conducted for his autobiography that went uncompleted — are voiced by actors including George Clooney and Laura Linney. Also heard from are several of their children and Martin Scorsese, an executive producer for the film. Woodward, who is 92, was married to Newman from 1958 until his death in 2008 at age 83.

— The summer thrill ride known as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.discovery.com/shark-week">Shark Week</a>&nbsp;is back on Discovery Channel for its 34th year, with stars including tiger sharks with a taste for pork and “monster” hammerheads. The Bahamas’ Exuma Islands and Papua New Guinea are among the new spots visited during the extravaganza airing from Sunday, July 24, to Saturday, July 30, with Dwayne Johnson as its first emcee. Marine biologists and institutions contribute insights about shark mating and migration, with findings about a new and undescribed species promised. Among the highlights: “Island of Walking Sharks,” on Wednesday, with a scientist’s investigation of shark evolution.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22The%20Associated%20Press%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By The Associated Press</a>Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.MOVIES— Netflix places one of its biggest bets yet on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmllggGO4pM">“The Gray Man,”</a>&nbsp;a globe-trotting action thriller starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. One of the streamer's most expensive films, “The Gray Man" is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers who presided over one of the biggest box-office smashes ever ("Avengers: Endgame") before they started churning out blockbusters for Netflix. Their “Extraction,” with Chris Hemsworth, ranks as one of the service's most-watched films, and “The Gray Man” — a spy vs. spy adventure with some comic flare and major franchise ambitions — is likely to follow suit. It debuts Friday.— Before Billy Porter was a Broadway star and red-carpet doyen, he was a kid in Pittsburgh. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20WlagB4vFU">“Anything's Possible,</a>&nbsp;” Porter returns to his hometown to make his directorial debut, a trans coming-of-age comedy. The film, which debuts Friday on Amazon Prime Video, stars Eva Reign as a Black transgender girl in a relationship with a boy (Abubakr Ali) that causes a high school-wide stir. Porter fashioned his film, written by Ximena García Lecuona, as a teen rom-com for Gen Z and a love letter to Pittsburgh.— AP Film Writer Jake CoyleMUSIC— Few details about Beyoncé‘s new album “Renaissance” out Friday are available but the lead single is performing well. Her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjki-9Pthh0">“Break My Soul”</a>&nbsp;became the first song to debut in the top 10 in 26 years on Billboard’s R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Of the 16-track album itself Beyoncé calls it “a beautiful journey of exploration.” Creating it “allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” the superstar wrote on Instagram, next to an image of her on a see-through horse. Back in June, she teased on her social media accounts that “Renaissance” would be “act i,” but it’s unclear how many acts will follow or when they will be released.— It’s July so that means a promised second 2022 album from the mad professor of rock, Jack White. He follows up the April release of “Fear of the Dawn” with the 11-track “Entering Heaven Alive.” The two albums share the same song — Taking Me Back” — but arranged differently, one heavy, one jazzy. Another song on the new set is titled “Queen of the Bees” and has the silly lyric “I want to hold you like a sloth hugs a tree.”&nbsp;<a href="https://ew.com/music/jack-white-fear-of-the-dawn-entering-heaven-alive-interview/">He told EW: ”I was challenging myself to sort of see what I could get away with!”</a>— ZZ Top — now without Dusty Hill — have a new, 11-track live album, called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg9cNGHl-bg&amp;t=3s">“Raw,”</a>&nbsp;with several of the band’s hits like “Gimmie All Your Lovin″” and “La Grange.” Recorded at Gruene Hall — “the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas” — in 2019, “Raw” features the band’s original lineup of electric guitar player Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and the late Hill on bass. Made in connection with the 2019 ZZ Top Netflix documentary, “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas,” the 11-track album was produced by Gibbons, and is dedicated “in righteous memory of Dusty Hill.”— Ben Harper has never really minced words and that’s clearly the case on his new album, the 11-track “Bloodline Maintenance. “Slavery/We need to talk about it/Black Lives Matter/’Cause history says we don’t,” he sings over a funky guitar on the lead single,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAMcjFGVddc">“We Need To Talk About It.”</a>&nbsp;The new record sees Harper reflecting on the loss of his father and the personal nature of the subject matter led Ben to perform most of the album himself — playing guitar, bass, drums and percussion, including a plastic toy snare. ”I knew the sounds I was hearing in my head were so unorthodox that I had to do most of it myself,” he says.— AP Entertainment Writer Mark KennedyTELEVISION— Stephen Curry is the host of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.espn.com/espys/">ESPYS</a>&nbsp;sports awards, and more. The NBA championship finals MVP is up for three honors including best male athlete at the ceremony airing Wednesday on ABC. Curry’s rivals for the top award include Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, with Olympic champs Sunisa Lee and Katie Ledecky among those competing for best female athlete. ESPN previously said the ceremony will honor Vitali Klitschko, former heavyweight boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gretchen Evans will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.— Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were acclaimed actors and a long-married couple. They were also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lJpu8l5BTc">“The Last Movie Stars,”</a>&nbsp;according to the six-part documentary of that title out on Thursday on HBO Max. The docuseries, directed by actor Ethan Hawke, promises a definitive account of their “dedication to their art, philanthropy and each other.” Transcriptions of interviews with Newman and intimates — conducted for his autobiography that went uncompleted — are voiced by actors including George Clooney and Laura Linney. Also heard from are several of their children and Martin Scorsese, an executive producer for the film. Woodward, who is 92, was married to Newman from 1958 until his death in 2008 at age 83.— The summer thrill ride known as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.discovery.com/shark-week">Shark Week</a>&nbsp;is back on Discovery Channel for its 34th year, with stars including tiger sharks with a taste for pork and “monster” hammerheads. The Bahamas’ Exuma Islands and Papua New Guinea are among the new spots visited during the extravaganza airing from Sunday, July 24, to Saturday, July 30, with Dwayne Johnson as its first emcee. Marine biologists and institutions contribute insights about shark mating and migration, with findings about a new and undescribed species promised. Among the highlights: “Island of Walking Sharks,” on Wednesday, with a scientist’s investigation of shark evolution.— AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

New this week: Beyoncé, Shark Week, ESPYS and 'The Gray Man'

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK KENNEDY &nbsp;AP Entertainment Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Don McLean has listened for decades as people belted out his classic song “American Pie” at last call or at karaoke — and applauds you for the effort.

“I’ve heard whole bars burst into this song when I’ve been across the room,” McLean tells The Associated Press from a tour bus heading to Des Moines, Iowa. “And they’re so happy singing it that I realized, ‘You don’t really have to worry about how well you sing this song anymore. Even sung badly, people are really happy with it.’”

Happy might be a bit of an understatement. “American Pie” is considered a masterpiece, voted among the top five Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

McLean — and his singular tune about “the day the music died” — are now the subject of a full-length feature documentary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5TvCEgTOJA">“The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie,’”</a>&nbsp;airing Tuesday on Paramount+.

It’s mandatory viewing for McLean fans or anyone who has marveled at his sonic treasure. It also represents an elegant film blueprint for future deep dives into a song and its wider cultural relevance.

For those fans who have wondered about the lyrics they are singing loudly in bars and cars, McLean shares the secrets. “That was the fun of writing the song,” he tells the AP. “I was up at night, smiling and thinking about what I’m going to do with this.”

The documentary starts when a single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P. Richardson, the “Big Bopper,” plunged into a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, killing the three stars and their pilot.

McLean was 13, living in a suburban, middle class home in New Rochelle, New York, when the crash occurred. He had bronchial asthma, prompting the description of him in “American Pie” as “a lonely teenage broncin' buck.” The “sacred store” he sings about was the House of Music on Main Street, where he bought records and his first guitar.

Young McLean was a paperboy — “every paper I'd deliver” — and adored Elvis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley but especially Holly, whose death deeply affected him. “I was in absolute shock. I may have actually cried,” he says in the film. “You can’t intellectualize it. It hurt me.”

Years later, McLean would plumb that pain in “American Pie,” baking in his own grief at his father's passing and writing an eulogy for the American dream. He was creating his second album in 1971 while the nation was racked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil right marches. He thought he “needed a big song about America.” The first verse and melody seemed to just tumble out. “A long, long, time ago...”

It climaxed in the huge sing-along-chorus: “We were singin’, ‘Bye-bye, Miss American pie’/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry/Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye/And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die.”

“I said, 'Wow, that is something. I don’t know what it is, but it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to try to get ahold of — that feeling about Buddy Holly — for all these years and that plane crash," McLean tells the AP. "I always feel a tug inside me whenever I think about Buddy.”

<a href="https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/vrmcb4z5mbx3CwjVzC4L5x_76JIz1t8h/">The 90-minute documentary</a>&nbsp;incorporates news footage of the ’70s and uses actors in recreations. Cameras capture McLean visiting the hallowed Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the last place Holly and his fellow musicians played before their fatal flight in 1959.

There are interviews with musicians — Garth Brooks, “Weird Al” Yankovich and Brian Wilson, among them — as well as Valens' sister, Connie, and actor Peter Gallagher, whose character's death on “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” promoted an onscreen performance of “American Pie.” The British singer Jade Bird, Cuban-born producer Rudy Perez and Spanish-language singer Jencarlos Canela speak to how the song has resonated far past America.

The documentary reveals that recording the album was not exactly a smooth process. Producer Ed Freeman was unimpressed with McLean's clutch of songs and didn’t think McLean was up to playing rhythm guitar on “American Pie.” He eventually relented.

McLean — along with a few session musicians — rehearsed for two weeks without nailing the song, getting increasingly frustrated. The addition of pianist Paul Griffin at the last minute was a “Hail Mary” stroke of genius that made the whole tune click.

But recording the song was just the beginning of trouble ahead. At over 8 minutes, radio stations balked at playing it, and McLean's record label, Media Arts, went bust just as it was to release the album “American Pie.”

After seeing the documentary, McLean was struck by a common strand in his career: “What I noticed was that I had to fight so many battles to get this thing done, to get everything. I’ve been fighting everybody my whole life,” he says. “I’m not difficult. I just want things the way I want them.”

“American Pie” is packed with cultural references, from Chevrolet to nursey rhymes, while namechecking The Byrds, John Lennon, Charles Manson and James Dean. The lyrics — dreamlike and impressionistic — have been pored over for decades, dissected for meaning.

The documentary answers some questions, but not all. McLean reveals that his oblique references to a king and a jester have nothing to do with Elvis or Bob Dylan, but he's open to other interpretations. He explains that the “marching band” means the military-industrial complex and “sweet perfume” is tear gas.

The line in the chorus “This’ll be the day that I die” comes from the John Wayne film “The Searchers” and the farewell is a riff off “Bye Bye, My Roseanna,” a song his friend Pete Seeger sang. McLean was going to use “Miss American apple pie” but dropped the fruit.

The end of the song asks for “happy news” — an echo of the first verse — but there is none. The three men McLean admires most — the Father, Son and Holy Ghost — “caught the last train for the coast,” meaning Los Angeles. “Even god has been corrupted,” McLean says in the film.

“He was glad to open up because he and his manager thought it was the time to do it and this was the platform to do it in,” says music producer and songwriter Spencer Proffer, CEO of media production company Meteor 17, which helped make the film. “My hat’s off to Don for writing something this magnificent. My job was to bring it to life.”

For McLean, the song is a blueprint of his mind at the time and a homage to his musical influences, but also a roadmap for future students of history:

“If it starts young people thinking about Buddy Holly, about rock ‘n’ roll and that music, and then it teaches them maybe about what else happened in the country, maybe look at a little history, maybe ask why John Kennedy was shot and who did it, maybe ask why all our leaders were shot in the 1960s and who did it, maybe start to look at war and the stupidity of it — if that can happen, then the song really is serving a wonderful purpose and a positive purpose.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK KENNEDY &nbsp;AP Entertainment Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Don McLean has listened for decades as people belted out his classic song “American Pie” at last call or at karaoke — and applauds you for the effort.“I’ve heard whole bars burst into this song when I’ve been across the room,” McLean tells The Associated Press from a tour bus heading to Des Moines, Iowa. “And they’re so happy singing it that I realized, ‘You don’t really have to worry about how well you sing this song anymore. Even sung badly, people are really happy with it.’”Happy might be a bit of an understatement. “American Pie” is considered a masterpiece, voted among the top five Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.McLean — and his singular tune about “the day the music died” — are now the subject of a full-length feature documentary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5TvCEgTOJA">“The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie,’”</a>&nbsp;airing Tuesday on Paramount+.It’s mandatory viewing for McLean fans or anyone who has marveled at his sonic treasure. It also represents an elegant film blueprint for future deep dives into a song and its wider cultural relevance.For those fans who have wondered about the lyrics they are singing loudly in bars and cars, McLean shares the secrets. “That was the fun of writing the song,” he tells the AP. “I was up at night, smiling and thinking about what I’m going to do with this.”The documentary starts when a single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P. Richardson, the “Big Bopper,” plunged into a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, killing the three stars and their pilot.McLean was 13, living in a suburban, middle class home in New Rochelle, New York, when the crash occurred. He had bronchial asthma, prompting the description of him in “American Pie” as “a lonely teenage broncin' buck.” The “sacred store” he sings about was the House of Music on Main Street, where he bought records and his first guitar.Young McLean was a paperboy — “every paper I'd deliver” — and adored Elvis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley but especially Holly, whose death deeply affected him. “I was in absolute shock. I may have actually cried,” he says in the film. “You can’t intellectualize it. It hurt me.”Years later, McLean would plumb that pain in “American Pie,” baking in his own grief at his father's passing and writing an eulogy for the American dream. He was creating his second album in 1971 while the nation was racked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil right marches. He thought he “needed a big song about America.” The first verse and melody seemed to just tumble out. “A long, long, time ago...”It climaxed in the huge sing-along-chorus: “We were singin’, ‘Bye-bye, Miss American pie’/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry/Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye/And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die.”“I said, 'Wow, that is something. I don’t know what it is, but it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to try to get ahold of — that feeling about Buddy Holly — for all these years and that plane crash," McLean tells the AP. "I always feel a tug inside me whenever I think about Buddy.”<a href="https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/vrmcb4z5mbx3CwjVzC4L5x_76JIz1t8h/">The 90-minute documentary</a>&nbsp;incorporates news footage of the ’70s and uses actors in recreations. Cameras capture McLean visiting the hallowed Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the last place Holly and his fellow musicians played before their fatal flight in 1959.There are interviews with musicians — Garth Brooks, “Weird Al” Yankovich and Brian Wilson, among them — as well as Valens' sister, Connie, and actor Peter Gallagher, whose character's death on “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” promoted an onscreen performance of “American Pie.” The British singer Jade Bird, Cuban-born producer Rudy Perez and Spanish-language singer Jencarlos Canela speak to how the song has resonated far past America.The documentary reveals that recording the album was not exactly a smooth process. Producer Ed Freeman was unimpressed with McLean's clutch of songs and didn’t think McLean was up to playing rhythm guitar on “American Pie.” He eventually relented.McLean — along with a few session musicians — rehearsed for two weeks without nailing the song, getting increasingly frustrated. The addition of pianist Paul Griffin at the last minute was a “Hail Mary” stroke of genius that made the whole tune click.But recording the song was just the beginning of trouble ahead. At over 8 minutes, radio stations balked at playing it, and McLean's record label, Media Arts, went bust just as it was to release the album “American Pie.”After seeing the documentary, McLean was struck by a common strand in his career: “What I noticed was that I had to fight so many battles to get this thing done, to get everything. I’ve been fighting everybody my whole life,” he says. “I’m not difficult. I just want things the way I want them.”“American Pie” is packed with cultural references, from Chevrolet to nursey rhymes, while namechecking The Byrds, John Lennon, Charles Manson and James Dean. The lyrics — dreamlike and impressionistic — have been pored over for decades, dissected for meaning.The documentary answers some questions, but not all. McLean reveals that his oblique references to a king and a jester have nothing to do with Elvis or Bob Dylan, but he's open to other interpretations. He explains that the “marching band” means the military-industrial complex and “sweet perfume” is tear gas.The line in the chorus “This’ll be the day that I die” comes from the John Wayne film “The Searchers” and the farewell is a riff off “Bye Bye, My Roseanna,” a song his friend Pete Seeger sang. McLean was going to use “Miss American apple pie” but dropped the fruit.The end of the song asks for “happy news” — an echo of the first verse — but there is none. The three men McLean admires most — the Father, Son and Holy Ghost — “caught the last train for the coast,” meaning Los Angeles. “Even god has been corrupted,” McLean says in the film.“He was glad to open up because he and his manager thought it was the time to do it and this was the platform to do it in,” says music producer and songwriter Spencer Proffer, CEO of media production company Meteor 17, which helped make the film. “My hat’s off to Don for writing something this magnificent. My job was to bring it to life.”For McLean, the song is a blueprint of his mind at the time and a homage to his musical influences, but also a roadmap for future students of history:“If it starts young people thinking about Buddy Holly, about rock ‘n’ roll and that music, and then it teaches them maybe about what else happened in the country, maybe look at a little history, maybe ask why John Kennedy was shot and who did it, maybe ask why all our leaders were shot in the 1960s and who did it, maybe start to look at war and the stupidity of it — if that can happen, then the song really is serving a wonderful purpose and a positive purpose.”

Don McLean looks back at his masterpiece, 'American Pie'

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20PRATT%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK PRATT Associated Press</a>

The company that makes some of the world's most iconic board games including Scrabble, Monopoly, and Clue is developing a new one based on Wordle, the obsessively popular digital word-guessing game.

Hasbro Inc. and The New York Times —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-times-buys-wordle-c1e77bd65f21464f98f8cf4246457d6b">which purchased Wordle earlier this year</a>&nbsp;— announced Thursday that Wordle: The Party Game will be available for purchase in North America in October, with preorders already being accepted.

“Since Wordle burst onto the scene, it’s undoubtedly been a staple in social and pop culture vocabulary,” Adam Biehl, Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Hasbro's general manager of gaming said in a statement. “We’re beyond thrilled to work with New York Times Games to bring our gaming worlds together and extend Wordle in new ways.”

In the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html">free online version</a>, players get six tries to guess a five-letter word with only the previous guess providing clues.

The appeal is its ease of play. Start by typing in a five-letter word. If a square turns green, it's the right letter in the right place. If it turns yellow, the letter is in the word but in the incorrect spot. Gray squares mean the letters are not in that day's word.

The drawback is that it can only be played once per day.

The board game will give players the opportunity to play against others, and play as much as they want.

One player picks a random five-letter word, and the others try to guess it.

There will also be multiple play options, including classic, fast, timed, or teams, Hasbro and New York Times Games said.

Wordle was created by Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn software engineer. He originally made it for his partner, but released it to the public in October. On Nov. 1, only 90 people had played it. Within two months, that number had grown to 300,000 as the addictive phenomenon spread rapidly on social media.

New York Times Games announced in January that it had purchased the game for an undisclosed price it described as the “low-seven figures,” and it now has millions of players per day.

“Wordle truly brought us all together and that’s what makes it so special," said Jonathan Knight, head of Games for The New York Times.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20PRATT%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK PRATT Associated Press</a>The company that makes some of the world's most iconic board games including Scrabble, Monopoly, and Clue is developing a new one based on Wordle, the obsessively popular digital word-guessing game.Hasbro Inc. and The New York Times —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-times-buys-wordle-c1e77bd65f21464f98f8cf4246457d6b">which purchased Wordle earlier this year</a>&nbsp;— announced Thursday that Wordle: The Party Game will be available for purchase in North America in October, with preorders already being accepted.“Since Wordle burst onto the scene, it’s undoubtedly been a staple in social and pop culture vocabulary,” Adam Biehl, Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Hasbro's general manager of gaming said in a statement. “We’re beyond thrilled to work with New York Times Games to bring our gaming worlds together and extend Wordle in new ways.”In the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html">free online version</a>, players get six tries to guess a five-letter word with only the previous guess providing clues.The appeal is its ease of play. Start by typing in a five-letter word. If a square turns green, it's the right letter in the right place. If it turns yellow, the letter is in the word but in the incorrect spot. Gray squares mean the letters are not in that day's word.The drawback is that it can only be played once per day.The board game will give players the opportunity to play against others, and play as much as they want.One player picks a random five-letter word, and the others try to guess it.There will also be multiple play options, including classic, fast, timed, or teams, Hasbro and New York Times Games said.Wordle was created by Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn software engineer. He originally made it for his partner, but released it to the public in October. On Nov. 1, only 90 people had played it. Within two months, that number had grown to 300,000 as the addictive phenomenon spread rapidly on social media.New York Times Games announced in January that it had purchased the game for an undisclosed price it described as the “low-seven figures,” and it now has millions of players per day.“Wordle truly brought us all together and that’s what makes it so special," said Jonathan Knight, head of Games for The New York Times.

5-letter word for fun? Hasbro, NYT create Wordle board game

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22WAYNE%20PARRY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press</a>

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — I think it's gonna be a long, long time until we see another songwriter and performer like Elton John.

Wrapping up a 50-plus year career with a farewell tour, the British pianist and vocalist has created some of the most memorable and enduring music in the history of pop-rock, songs burned into the collective DNA of humanity.

They may be quite simple, like the basic four-chord glory of “Crocodile Rock,” or dazzlingly complex like the 11-minute magnum opus “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.”

But now that it's almost done, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful it has been to have Elton John on our radios and in our ears since the late 1960s.

The artist born 75 years ago as Reginald Kenneth Dwight kicked off the final leg of his North American farewell tour Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, home of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies. And yes, he felt the love that night.

“America made me famous and I can't thank this country enough,” he told the audience. “Thank you for the loyalty, the love, the kindness you showed me.”

He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, has played over 4,000 shows in 80 countries, and recorded one of the best-selling singles of all-time, his 1997 reworking of “Candle In The Wind” to eulogize Princess Diana, which sold 33 million copies.

Sir Elton (he was knighted in 1998) has scored over 70 top 40 hits, including nine No. 1s, and released seven No. 1 albums in the 3 1/2-year period from 1972 to 1975, a pace second only to that of the Beatles.

He has five Grammy awards, as well as a Tony award for “Aida.” His crooning of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” in “The Lion King” motion picture has serenaded millions of children, and will entertain future generations of little ones.

The outrageous costumes and oversized glasses he was known for in his early ‘70s heyday are gone now (he dressed as Donald Duck, Pac-Man, the Statue of Liberty, Minnie Mouse, and a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, among others). And while the man has not met a sequin or a feather he doesn’t adore, his wardrobe is (by Elton standards) somewhat tamer these days.

He took the stage in a white tuxedo with black lapels, and purple sparkly glasses, walking somewhat tentatively to his shiny black piano to pound out the instantly recognizable opening chord to “Bennie And The Jets.”

Next up was “Philadelphia Freedom,” which he dedicated to the hometown crowd as “one of the greatest cities I've ever played in.” It was his 52nd concert in the City of Brotherly Love.

Throughout the night, John rolled out a dazzling array of smash hits spanning musical styles and genres. The gospel phrasings and cadences that so influenced his early work were evident on “Border Song” and “Take Me To The Pilot,” and even the straightforward radio staple “Levon” got a come-to-meeting revved-up ending.

He showed off the prototypical power ballad, “Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” with its close cousin “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”

And when longtime guitar sidekick Davey Johnstone donned an inverted Flying-V guitar, it was time for the power chord arena rockers, including Elton's hardest-rocking song ever, “Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting,” and the brash, boastful and Elton-to-the-bone anthem “The Bitch Is Back.”

Elton largely eschewed his famous falsetto; he still has 100 shows to go on the worldwide farewell tour that runs through next year, and he's learned over the years how to conserve his voice without sacrificing his style and authenticity.

No matter: the crowd happily supplied the falsetto parts for him, including a mass sing-along of the “la-la-la” chorus on “Crocodile Rock.”

He reached back for only one deep track, “Have Mercy On The Criminal,” featuring Johnstone's bluesy guitar licks, tucking it amid the dozens of smash hits.

And he avoided tear-jerkers like “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” and the gut-wrenching “The Last Song” about a farewell between a father and his son who's dying of AIDS, in favor of an upbeat, celebratory mood.

“All The Girls Love Alice,” one of the earliest mainstream rock songs to focus on lesbian relationships in the early '70s, is an enduring concert staple, as is the straight-from-the-heart “Your Song.”

Before the closing number, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Elton peered toward the finish line of his final tour.

“I'm really looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my children and my husband,” he said. “Be kind to yourself. Love each other.”

The consummate showman to the very end, Elton finished the song, and was elevated into the sky on a hydraulic lift as a hole opened in a brick wall atop the stage, engulfed him, and closed again.

So while Elton John will soon be gone from the stage, thank God his music's still alive.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22WAYNE%20PARRY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press</a>PHILADELPHIA (AP) — I think it's gonna be a long, long time until we see another songwriter and performer like Elton John.Wrapping up a 50-plus year career with a farewell tour, the British pianist and vocalist has created some of the most memorable and enduring music in the history of pop-rock, songs burned into the collective DNA of humanity.They may be quite simple, like the basic four-chord glory of “Crocodile Rock,” or dazzlingly complex like the 11-minute magnum opus “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.”But now that it's almost done, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful it has been to have Elton John on our radios and in our ears since the late 1960s.The artist born 75 years ago as Reginald Kenneth Dwight kicked off the final leg of his North American farewell tour Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, home of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies. And yes, he felt the love that night.“America made me famous and I can't thank this country enough,” he told the audience. “Thank you for the loyalty, the love, the kindness you showed me.”He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, has played over 4,000 shows in 80 countries, and recorded one of the best-selling singles of all-time, his 1997 reworking of “Candle In The Wind” to eulogize Princess Diana, which sold 33 million copies.Sir Elton (he was knighted in 1998) has scored over 70 top 40 hits, including nine No. 1s, and released seven No. 1 albums in the 3 1/2-year period from 1972 to 1975, a pace second only to that of the Beatles.He has five Grammy awards, as well as a Tony award for “Aida.” His crooning of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” in “The Lion King” motion picture has serenaded millions of children, and will entertain future generations of little ones.The outrageous costumes and oversized glasses he was known for in his early ‘70s heyday are gone now (he dressed as Donald Duck, Pac-Man, the Statue of Liberty, Minnie Mouse, and a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, among others). And while the man has not met a sequin or a feather he doesn’t adore, his wardrobe is (by Elton standards) somewhat tamer these days.He took the stage in a white tuxedo with black lapels, and purple sparkly glasses, walking somewhat tentatively to his shiny black piano to pound out the instantly recognizable opening chord to “Bennie And The Jets.”Next up was “Philadelphia Freedom,” which he dedicated to the hometown crowd as “one of the greatest cities I've ever played in.” It was his 52nd concert in the City of Brotherly Love.Throughout the night, John rolled out a dazzling array of smash hits spanning musical styles and genres. The gospel phrasings and cadences that so influenced his early work were evident on “Border Song” and “Take Me To The Pilot,” and even the straightforward radio staple “Levon” got a come-to-meeting revved-up ending.He showed off the prototypical power ballad, “Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” with its close cousin “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”And when longtime guitar sidekick Davey Johnstone donned an inverted Flying-V guitar, it was time for the power chord arena rockers, including Elton's hardest-rocking song ever, “Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting,” and the brash, boastful and Elton-to-the-bone anthem “The Bitch Is Back.”Elton largely eschewed his famous falsetto; he still has 100 shows to go on the worldwide farewell tour that runs through next year, and he's learned over the years how to conserve his voice without sacrificing his style and authenticity.No matter: the crowd happily supplied the falsetto parts for him, including a mass sing-along of the “la-la-la” chorus on “Crocodile Rock.”He reached back for only one deep track, “Have Mercy On The Criminal,” featuring Johnstone's bluesy guitar licks, tucking it amid the dozens of smash hits.And he avoided tear-jerkers like “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” and the gut-wrenching “The Last Song” about a farewell between a father and his son who's dying of AIDS, in favor of an upbeat, celebratory mood.“All The Girls Love Alice,” one of the earliest mainstream rock songs to focus on lesbian relationships in the early '70s, is an enduring concert staple, as is the straight-from-the-heart “Your Song.”Before the closing number, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Elton peered toward the finish line of his final tour.“I'm really looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my children and my husband,” he said. “Be kind to yourself. Love each other.”The consummate showman to the very end, Elton finished the song, and was elevated into the sky on a hydraulic lift as a hole opened in a brick wall atop the stage, engulfed him, and closed again.So while Elton John will soon be gone from the stage, thank God his music's still alive.

From the end of the world to your town, Elton John's goodbye

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22BRIAN%20MELLEY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By BRIAN MELLEY &nbsp;Associated Press</a>

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a promise and imprison Roman Polanski for having sex with a teenage girl in 1977, a former prosecutor testified, setting the stage for the renowned director to flee the U.S. as a fugitive.

A previously sealed transcript obtained by The Associated Press late Sunday of testimony by retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson supports Polanski’s claim that he fled on the eve of sentencing in 1978 because he didn’t think he was getting a fair deal.

Gunson said during closed-door testimony in 2010 that the judge broke a promise to let Polanski go free after state prison officials had determined he shouldn't serve hard time.

“The judge had promised him on two occasions ... something that he reneged on,” Gunson said. “So it wasn’t surprising to me that, when he was told he was going to be sent off to state prison ... that he could not or would not trust the judge.”

Defense lawyer Harland Braun said Friday — in expectation of the transcript's release — that the development would renew his effort to have Polanski sentenced in absentia, which would end his status as a fugitive from justice.

Braun has unsuccessfully tried that before with prosecutors asserting and judges agreeing that Polanski needs to show up in Los Angeles Superior Court to resolve the matter.

Release of the transcript, which was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-california-los-angeles-united-states-cf705f1691203ca4d5b31421ceb82a35">ordered by a California appeals court Wednesday</a>&nbsp;after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón dropped longstanding objections his predecessors made to its release, may support Polanski's claims that he was going to be railroaded by a corrupt judge.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-europe-arts-and-entertainment-movies-academy-awards-e087fdee79e74caf99caa27edd8a8887">legal saga has played on both sides of the Atlantic as</a>&nbsp;a recurring scene over four decades of a life marred by tragedy and also triumph.

As a child, Polanski&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/poland-europe-roman-polanski-the-holocaust-92d5a9b7c4970efc934991bede2e01fd">escaped the Krakow Ghetto during the Holocaust</a>. His wife, Sharon Tate, was among the seven people murdered in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.

Polanski, 88, who was nominated for Oscars for 1974′s “Chinatown” and 1979′s “Tess,” won the best director statuette for “The Pianist” in 2003. But he wasn't able to accept it because he faces arrest in the U.S.

France, Switzerland and Poland rejected bids to extradite him back to the United States and he continues to be feted in Europe, winning praise and working with major actors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, expelled him from its membership in 2018 after the “MeToo” movement spurred a reckoning about sexual misconduct.

Polanski’s 13-year-old victim testified before a grand jury that during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s house in March 1977 when the actor wasn’t home, Polanski gave her champagne and part of a sedative, then forced her to have sex. The girl said she didn’t fight him because she was afraid of him but her mother later called police.

When the girl refused to testify in court, Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for prosecutors dropping drug, rape and sodomy charges.

Polanski has argued that there was judicial misconduct in his case. In 2010, a Los Angeles court took sealed testimony from Gunson about his recollections of promises made to the director by the judge in 1977.

Polanski’s lawyers, who were in the room during Gunson's testimony but couldn't use it in court, have long sought to unseal that transcript to help their case.

Judge Laurence Rittenband, now deceased, had been swayed by publicity in the case and changed his mind several times about the punishment Polanski should face, Braun said.

After a report by probation officials that Polanski should serve no time behind bars, Rittenband sent the director to state prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation to help determine what punishment he should face.

The judge said that as long as Polanski received a favorable report from the prison, he would serve no additional time, Gunson said.

After six weeks of evaluation in prison, Polanski was released with a recommendation he only serve probation, Braun said.

But Rittenband thought the probation and prison reports were superficial and a “whitewash," said Gunson, who agreed they downplayed or misstated Polanski's crimes.

The judge privately told Gunson and Polanski's lawyer that he had to be tougher because of criticism in the news media.

He said he would send Polanski to prison for a longer term but would then get him released within 120 days, which was possible under sentencing rules at the time.

“Roman says, ‘How can I trust the judge that’s lied twice?’ So he takes off to Europe,” Braun said.

Gunson acknowledged during his testimony that the judge had discretion to sentence Polanski up to 50 years because there had been no agreed-upon sentence. But Gunson objected to the “sham” proceedings the judge was orchestrating and felt he had broken promises to Polanski.

The victim, Samantha Geimer, has long advocated that the case be dismissed or that Polanski be sentenced in absentia. She went so far as as to travel from her home in Hawaii to Los Angeles five years ago&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/roman-polanski-entertainment-us-news-ap-top-news-los-angeles-c96c47acf9724da99aa4edac074ec52f">to urge a judge to end “a 40-year sentence which has been imposed on the victim</a>&nbsp;of a crime as well as the perpetrator.”

“I implore you to consider taking action to finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy to myself and my family,” Geimer said.

The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sex abuse, but Geimer went public years ago and wrote a memoir titled “The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski.” The cover features a photo shot by Polanski.

Polanski agreed to pay Geimer over $600,000 to settle a lawsuit in 1993.

Geimer, who has pressed for investigation of judicial misconduct, asked that the transcript be unsealed and in a letter last month and urged the DA’s office to take a fresh look at the case.

Prosecutors have consistently objected to releasing the material but relented earlier this week to honor Geimer’s wishes and be transparent with the public.

“This case has been described by the courts as ‘one of the longest-running sagas in California criminal justice history,’” Gascón said in a statement. “For years, this office has fought the release of information that the victim and public have a right to know."

However, the DA did not indicate that Polanski would be able to avoid a court appearance. The press release said Polanski remains a fugitive and should surrender to the court for sentencing.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22BRIAN%20MELLEY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By BRIAN MELLEY &nbsp;Associated Press</a>LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a promise and imprison Roman Polanski for having sex with a teenage girl in 1977, a former prosecutor testified, setting the stage for the renowned director to flee the U.S. as a fugitive.A previously sealed transcript obtained by The Associated Press late Sunday of testimony by retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson supports Polanski’s claim that he fled on the eve of sentencing in 1978 because he didn’t think he was getting a fair deal.Gunson said during closed-door testimony in 2010 that the judge broke a promise to let Polanski go free after state prison officials had determined he shouldn't serve hard time.“The judge had promised him on two occasions ... something that he reneged on,” Gunson said. “So it wasn’t surprising to me that, when he was told he was going to be sent off to state prison ... that he could not or would not trust the judge.”Defense lawyer Harland Braun said Friday — in expectation of the transcript's release — that the development would renew his effort to have Polanski sentenced in absentia, which would end his status as a fugitive from justice.Braun has unsuccessfully tried that before with prosecutors asserting and judges agreeing that Polanski needs to show up in Los Angeles Superior Court to resolve the matter.Release of the transcript, which was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-california-los-angeles-united-states-cf705f1691203ca4d5b31421ceb82a35">ordered by a California appeals court Wednesday</a>&nbsp;after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón dropped longstanding objections his predecessors made to its release, may support Polanski's claims that he was going to be railroaded by a corrupt judge.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-europe-arts-and-entertainment-movies-academy-awards-e087fdee79e74caf99caa27edd8a8887">legal saga has played on both sides of the Atlantic as</a>&nbsp;a recurring scene over four decades of a life marred by tragedy and also triumph.As a child, Polanski&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/poland-europe-roman-polanski-the-holocaust-92d5a9b7c4970efc934991bede2e01fd">escaped the Krakow Ghetto during the Holocaust</a>. His wife, Sharon Tate, was among the seven people murdered in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.Polanski, 88, who was nominated for Oscars for 1974′s “Chinatown” and 1979′s “Tess,” won the best director statuette for “The Pianist” in 2003. But he wasn't able to accept it because he faces arrest in the U.S.France, Switzerland and Poland rejected bids to extradite him back to the United States and he continues to be feted in Europe, winning praise and working with major actors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, expelled him from its membership in 2018 after the “MeToo” movement spurred a reckoning about sexual misconduct.Polanski’s 13-year-old victim testified before a grand jury that during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson’s house in March 1977 when the actor wasn’t home, Polanski gave her champagne and part of a sedative, then forced her to have sex. The girl said she didn’t fight him because she was afraid of him but her mother later called police.When the girl refused to testify in court, Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for prosecutors dropping drug, rape and sodomy charges.Polanski has argued that there was judicial misconduct in his case. In 2010, a Los Angeles court took sealed testimony from Gunson about his recollections of promises made to the director by the judge in 1977.Polanski’s lawyers, who were in the room during Gunson's testimony but couldn't use it in court, have long sought to unseal that transcript to help their case.Judge Laurence Rittenband, now deceased, had been swayed by publicity in the case and changed his mind several times about the punishment Polanski should face, Braun said.After a report by probation officials that Polanski should serve no time behind bars, Rittenband sent the director to state prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation to help determine what punishment he should face.The judge said that as long as Polanski received a favorable report from the prison, he would serve no additional time, Gunson said.After six weeks of evaluation in prison, Polanski was released with a recommendation he only serve probation, Braun said.But Rittenband thought the probation and prison reports were superficial and a “whitewash," said Gunson, who agreed they downplayed or misstated Polanski's crimes.The judge privately told Gunson and Polanski's lawyer that he had to be tougher because of criticism in the news media.He said he would send Polanski to prison for a longer term but would then get him released within 120 days, which was possible under sentencing rules at the time.“Roman says, ‘How can I trust the judge that’s lied twice?’ So he takes off to Europe,” Braun said.Gunson acknowledged during his testimony that the judge had discretion to sentence Polanski up to 50 years because there had been no agreed-upon sentence. But Gunson objected to the “sham” proceedings the judge was orchestrating and felt he had broken promises to Polanski.The victim, Samantha Geimer, has long advocated that the case be dismissed or that Polanski be sentenced in absentia. She went so far as as to travel from her home in Hawaii to Los Angeles five years ago&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/roman-polanski-entertainment-us-news-ap-top-news-los-angeles-c96c47acf9724da99aa4edac074ec52f">to urge a judge to end “a 40-year sentence which has been imposed on the victim</a>&nbsp;of a crime as well as the perpetrator.”“I implore you to consider taking action to finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy to myself and my family,” Geimer said.The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sex abuse, but Geimer went public years ago and wrote a memoir titled “The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski.” The cover features a photo shot by Polanski.Polanski agreed to pay Geimer over $600,000 to settle a lawsuit in 1993.Geimer, who has pressed for investigation of judicial misconduct, asked that the transcript be unsealed and in a letter last month and urged the DA’s office to take a fresh look at the case.Prosecutors have consistently objected to releasing the material but relented earlier this week to honor Geimer’s wishes and be transparent with the public.“This case has been described by the courts as ‘one of the longest-running sagas in California criminal justice history,’” Gascón said in a statement. “For years, this office has fought the release of information that the victim and public have a right to know."However, the DA did not indicate that Polanski would be able to avoid a court appearance. The press release said Polanski remains a fugitive and should surrender to the court for sentencing.

Prosecutor: US judge reneged on promise in Polanski sex case

NEW YORK (AP) — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed Saturday in a late-night Las Vegas drive-through chapel, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers.

Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the heading “We did it.” Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, “On the J Lo.”

“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez in a message signed Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

Lopez wrote that the couple flew to Las Vegas on Saturday, stood in line for their license with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alittlewhitechapel.com/page/homepage">A Little White Wedding Chapel,</a>&nbsp;a chapel boasting a drive-through “tunnel of love." Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of their lives.

“Stick around long enough and maybe you'll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with," said Lopez.

News of their nuptials first spread Sunday after the Clark County clerk's office in Nevada showed that the pair&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.clarkcountynv.gov/AcclaimWeb/Search/OpenMarriageDocumentAvailable?transactionItemId=14969532">obtained a marriage license that was processed Saturday</a>. The marriage license filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck.

Representatives for Lopez and Affleck declined to comment.

Lopez, 52, and Affleck, 49, famously dated in the early 2000s, spawning the nickname “Bennifer,” before rekindling their romance last year. They earlier starred together in 2003's “Gigli” and 2004's “Jersey Girl.” Around that time, they became engaged but never wed.

Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005, with whom he shares three children. They divorced in 2018.

Lopez has been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001-2003. She and singer Marc Anthony were married for a decade after wedding in 2004 and share 14-year-old twins together.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22The%20Associated%20Press%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By The Associated Press</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed Saturday in a late-night Las Vegas drive-through chapel, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers.Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the heading “We did it.” Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, “On the J Lo.”“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez in a message signed Jennifer Lynn Affleck.Lopez wrote that the couple flew to Las Vegas on Saturday, stood in line for their license with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alittlewhitechapel.com/page/homepage">A Little White Wedding Chapel,</a>&nbsp;a chapel boasting a drive-through “tunnel of love." Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of their lives.“Stick around long enough and maybe you'll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with," said Lopez.News of their nuptials first spread Sunday after the Clark County clerk's office in Nevada showed that the pair&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.clarkcountynv.gov/AcclaimWeb/Search/OpenMarriageDocumentAvailable?transactionItemId=14969532">obtained a marriage license that was processed Saturday</a>. The marriage license filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck.Representatives for Lopez and Affleck declined to comment.Lopez, 52, and Affleck, 49, famously dated in the early 2000s, spawning the nickname “Bennifer,” before rekindling their romance last year. They earlier starred together in 2003's “Gigli” and 2004's “Jersey Girl.” Around that time, they became engaged but never wed.Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005, with whom he shares three children. They divorced in 2018.Lopez has been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001-2003. She and singer Marc Anthony were married for a decade after wedding in 2004 and share 14-year-old twins together.

Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck wed in Las Vegas drive-through

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JAKE%20COYLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — The Marvel sequel “Thor: Love &amp; Thunder” dropped a hefty 68% in its second weekend of release but still held the top spot at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday, while the bestseller adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing” debuted with a better-than-expected $17 million.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-taika-waititi-chris-hemsworth-3dc2ab49be51c7f82a18e915b62df7c5">Taika Waititi's “Love and Thunder”</a>&nbsp;led all films with an estimated $46 million, bringing its two-week global total to $498 million. The sizable decline is more than most Marvel films but in line with recent releases from the Walt Disney Co. superhero studio, including “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (68%), “Black Widow” (68%) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (67%).

“Love and Thunder" also faced a trio of newcomers, though none came close to toppling Chris Hemsworth's god of thunder. Best among them was Sony Pictures' “Where the Crawdads Sing,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-weather-delia-owens-91cc8b72678fd09cc1cc33fca533556e">Olivia Newman's adaptation of Delia Owens' 2018 North Carolina-set novel</a>. It opened well despite weak reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).

The Reese Witherspoon-produced mystery stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as a woman who raised herself in the coastal Carolina marshlands and focuses on a murder investigation of a local celebrity. Moviegoers liked it better than critics, giving it an A- CinemaScore.

It was a particularly good result for a page-to-screen drama, and another sign that adult audiences — who have also helped fuel the success of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tom-cruise-jerry-bruckheimer-california-74bbbb5552c75cb268ae8298e4fe1379">“Top Gun: Maverick"</a>&nbsp;(still in fourth place with $12 million in its eighth weekend) and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d">“Elvis”</a>&nbsp;(up to $106.2 million after four weeks) — are nearly all the way back to pre-pandemic levels&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-entertainment-lifestyle-business-arts-and-entertainment-a4e505df1bcfff8717662721521f282a">after going largely absent for much of the last two-plus years.</a>

Appealing to a similar demographic, Focus Features'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-paris-london-0879dc70abee10222f3bc435d825fe92">“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,”</a>&nbsp;starring Lesley Manville as a London cleaner who pines for a Dior dress, also opened strongly, with $1.9 million in 980 theaters. Said Focus distribution chief Lisa Bunnell: “Older movie-goers are returning to enjoy the in-theater experience.”

Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/summer-2022-movies-minions-despicable-me-e8040ee111ce5a24fab25b2e4667432d">Illumination animated sequel "Minions: The Rise of Gru”</a>&nbsp;held the second spot with $26 million in its third weekend of release. The Universal Pictures release has thus far grossed $262.6 million domestically and $532.7 million worldwide,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-holidays-fbb30e9ce7296555c683b9171f691cd2">setting box-office records along the way</a>.

The Minions made it difficult for a new family entry: “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.” The Paramount Pictures animated release,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/film-reviews-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-40b5ec0205c20e10e76a49cf04c2c3f6">loosely adapted from Mel Brooks' “Blazing Saddles,"</a>&nbsp;launched with a modest $6.3 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $46 million.

2. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $26 million.

3. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $17 million.

6. “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” $6.3 million

9. “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” $1.9 million.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JAKE%20COYLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — The Marvel sequel “Thor: Love &amp; Thunder” dropped a hefty 68% in its second weekend of release but still held the top spot at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday, while the bestseller adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing” debuted with a better-than-expected $17 million.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-taika-waititi-chris-hemsworth-3dc2ab49be51c7f82a18e915b62df7c5">Taika Waititi's “Love and Thunder”</a>&nbsp;led all films with an estimated $46 million, bringing its two-week global total to $498 million. The sizable decline is more than most Marvel films but in line with recent releases from the Walt Disney Co. superhero studio, including “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (68%), “Black Widow” (68%) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (67%).“Love and Thunder" also faced a trio of newcomers, though none came close to toppling Chris Hemsworth's god of thunder. Best among them was Sony Pictures' “Where the Crawdads Sing,"&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-weather-delia-owens-91cc8b72678fd09cc1cc33fca533556e">Olivia Newman's adaptation of Delia Owens' 2018 North Carolina-set novel</a>. It opened well despite weak reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).The Reese Witherspoon-produced mystery stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as a woman who raised herself in the coastal Carolina marshlands and focuses on a murder investigation of a local celebrity. Moviegoers liked it better than critics, giving it an A- CinemaScore.It was a particularly good result for a page-to-screen drama, and another sign that adult audiences — who have also helped fuel the success of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tom-cruise-jerry-bruckheimer-california-74bbbb5552c75cb268ae8298e4fe1379">“Top Gun: Maverick"</a>&nbsp;(still in fourth place with $12 million in its eighth weekend) and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d">“Elvis”</a>&nbsp;(up to $106.2 million after four weeks) — are nearly all the way back to pre-pandemic levels&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-entertainment-lifestyle-business-arts-and-entertainment-a4e505df1bcfff8717662721521f282a">after going largely absent for much of the last two-plus years.</a>Appealing to a similar demographic, Focus Features'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-paris-london-0879dc70abee10222f3bc435d825fe92">“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,”</a>&nbsp;starring Lesley Manville as a London cleaner who pines for a Dior dress, also opened strongly, with $1.9 million in 980 theaters. Said Focus distribution chief Lisa Bunnell: “Older movie-goers are returning to enjoy the in-theater experience.”Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/summer-2022-movies-minions-despicable-me-e8040ee111ce5a24fab25b2e4667432d">Illumination animated sequel "Minions: The Rise of Gru”</a>&nbsp;held the second spot with $26 million in its third weekend of release. The Universal Pictures release has thus far grossed $262.6 million domestically and $532.7 million worldwide,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-holidays-fbb30e9ce7296555c683b9171f691cd2">setting box-office records along the way</a>.The Minions made it difficult for a new family entry: “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.” The Paramount Pictures animated release,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/film-reviews-entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-40b5ec0205c20e10e76a49cf04c2c3f6">loosely adapted from Mel Brooks' “Blazing Saddles,"</a>&nbsp;launched with a modest $6.3 million.Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.1. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $46 million.2. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $26 million.3. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $17 million.4. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $12 million.5. “Elvis,” $7.6 million.6. “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” $6.3 million7. “The Black Phone,” $5.3 million.8. “Jurassic: Dominion,” $5 million.9. “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” $1.9 million.10. “Lightyear,” $1.3 million.