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Showbiz in 2024: Taylor Swift, Oasis and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Make Headlines

A man walks past a mural of Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher by artist Snow Graffiti on a wall in Whitefield, near Manchester, Britain, August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
A man walks past a mural of Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher by artist Snow Graffiti on a wall in Whitefield, near Manchester, Britain, August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
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Showbiz in 2024: Taylor Swift, Oasis and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Make Headlines

A man walks past a mural of Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher by artist Snow Graffiti on a wall in Whitefield, near Manchester, Britain, August 31, 2024. (Reuters)
A man walks past a mural of Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher by artist Snow Graffiti on a wall in Whitefield, near Manchester, Britain, August 31, 2024. (Reuters)

From Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras tour to Sean 'Diddy' Combs' arrest, 2024 saw various stories from the entertainment world dominate headlines.

Below are some of the biggest.

* Taylor Swift won more awards, released another hit album and performed her Eras tour, the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue. Her Vienna shows were cancelled after authorities foiled a planned attack. Swift closed Eras' European leg in London before she wraps it completely in Vancouver on Dec. 8.

* US rapper and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs pleaded not guilty to charges he used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women.

Combs has denied wrongdoing and his lawyers have argued the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.

* One Direction member Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, triggering an outpouring of tributes from fans.

* Oasis announced a series of reunion gigs. Fans waited long hours in virtual queues to buy tickets only to find hiked prices as part of a "dynamic pricing" scheme, sparking probes into Ticketmaster over the sale.

* A New Mexico judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin, agreeing with his lawyers that prosecutors and police withheld evidence on the source of the live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when he pointed a gun at her on the set of Western "Rust" in 2021.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months.

The film premiered at a low-key Polish film festival in November.

* Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was overturned by New York's highest court, reopening the landmark case that fueled the #MeToo movement.

* Singer Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty in a New York State court to a lesser traffic charge than drunk driving - driving while ability impaired - after he was arrested when police spotted him failing to obey a stop sign and veering off lane.

* Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter" became the first album by a Black woman to land at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

* "Inside Out 2" became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, taking $1.698 billion at the global box office.

* The world said goodbye to: actors Donald Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Maggie Smith, Shannen Doherty, Carl Weathers and Louis Gossett Jr., music supremo Quincy Jones and singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson among others.

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Entertainment

Taylor Swift Fans Turn Out Early for Book Launch at Target

Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
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Taylor Swift Fans Turn Out Early for Book Launch at Target

Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)

Taylor Swift fans and their parents lined up outside some of Target's nearly 2,000 US stores early on Black Friday to buy copies of her new Eras Tour book.

Hoping to buck a long stretch of slowing sales at Target stores - with penny-pinched shoppers making purchases at rival retailers - the big-box chain teamed up with Swift to build on the fan momentum she experienced following her Eras Tour concerts.

Several customers queued up outside Target stores as early as 5 a.m. ET in freezing temperatures, with most of them there to snap up Swift merchandise, Reuters reported.

"Yeah, it's really cold but we're here to get Taylor Swift's tour book and her latest vinyl drop," Carlos Miracle, a 31-year old Swift fan, said while waiting outside a Chicago store.

Parents of teenage daughters and youngsters in their late 20's were up and about to buy Swift's Eras Tour book priced at $39.99 at Target. The retailer is also making available a vinyl album and CD version of "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" for the first time containing 35 tracks including four acoustic bonus songs.

The vinyl version is being sold at $59.99 and CDs for $17.99, according to Target's website.

Swift, 34, has been setting music industry milestones and boosting local economies with The Eras Tour, with the last leg of the concert happening in Canada currently, a phenomenon that some economists have termed " Swiftflation."

Swift had released her latest Tortured Poets album in May during Target's first quarter, boosting its sales in its entertainment category by a high-single-digit percentage.

On Friday, Julia Corrin, a 39-year old from Pittsburgh bought the Era Tour book. The tour was a "really special moment ... and it'll be great to have something to remember it by," she said.

In New Jersey, 28-year old Amy Webb was in line to get her hands on the new Eras Tour book. "I usually don't buy anything during the holiday season, but wanted to get my hands on this before it sells out," she said.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, users shared images of long queues to grab Swift's merchandise while some noted that a few Target stores saw nearly empty shelves for the Eras Tour book and were out of Tortured Poets vinyl as of 9:30 a.m.

"The vinyl went quick, I don’t know exactly how many my store got, but I was in line at 5. By the time it was my turn the employee told me there were only 8 left," said an X-user Rachel.

There were no fans in line as of 8:30 a.m. at one Target store in New Jersey that had opened two and a half hours earlier. Its rack holding copies of the Eras Tour book was half empty.

To boost sales during the holiday season, which is shorter than in previous years with only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Target will begin to offer the Eras Tour book and vinyl and CD version of her Tortured Poets album on its app and website beginning Saturday.

"That's the only reason I am here, we don't want to go online and see that it is sold (out)," said a 35-year old Marriott Hotel employee Adrian Antuna, who was waiting to get his hands on the Eras Tour book and a couple of the Tortured Poets Department vinyl albums.