Reuters People News Summary
Following is a summary of current people news briefs.
UK's Prince Harry says Africa's embrace helped him cope with mother's death
Prince Harry said that Africa's embrace had helped him cope with the death of his mother, Princess Diana, as he and his wife Meghan championed job creation and entrepreneurship on the continent on the final day of their 10-day tour. In a speech in Johannesburg on Wednesday, he made no reference to a lawsuit the couple filed against a British newspaper that cast a shadow over the end of their trip.
Placido Domingo resigns from LA Opera leadership
Opera singer Placido Domingo on Wednesday resigned as general director of Los Angeles Opera, saying that accusations of sexual misconduct had compromised his ability to continue in the role. "Recent accusations that have been made against me in the press have created an atmosphere in which my ability to serve this Company that I so love has been compromised," Domingo said in a statement to the opera house.
R&B singer R. Kelly gets May 2020 trial date in sex abuse case
Singer R. Kelly will face a May 18 trial on charges that he recruited underage girls and women to have sex with him, isolating them and controlling what they ate and when they went to the bathroom, a U.S. judge ruled on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly set the date for next year's trial, which had been agreed on by prosecutors and Kelly's lawyers, at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.
Three indicted on federal drug charges in rapper Mac Miller's death
Three accused drug dealers who prosecutors say supplied rapper Mac Miller with the counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl blamed in his fatal 2018 overdose were indicted on federal drug distribution charges on Wednesday. Investigators say Miller, 26, born Malcolm James McCormick, died at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City after crushing and snorting the pills. An autopsy found he had suffered an accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.
Two women accuse actor James Franco of sexual exploitation in lawsuit
Two women filed a civil lawsuit against Hollywood actor James Franco on Thursday, accusing him of running a bogus film school where young women eager to advance their acting careers were duped into auditioning nude or shooting explicit sex scenes. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accused the 41-year-old, Oscar-nominated actor, currently starring in the HBO television series "The Deuce," of exploiting aspiring actors at his now-defunct school.
Harvey Weinstein loses bid to have rape trial moved out of New York City
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein on Thursday lost his bid to get his upcoming rape trial moved out of New York City, where he has said intense media scrutiny would make it impossible for him to get a fair jury. Once among Hollywood's most powerful producers, Weinstein 67, is scheduled to stand trial in Manhattan in January. He is accused of assaulting two women in 2006 and 2013. To bolster their case, prosecutors will call a third woman to testify that Weinstein raped her in 1993.
