Entertainment Shorts

Morgan Freeman interviews police recruits in Alabama town

GULF SHORES, Alabama (AP):

The latest batch of police recruits in an Alabama beach town faced an interview board that included law enforcement experts and a civilian who was recognisable by his voice if not by his face: Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman.

Freeman, a Mississippi native who owns property in Gulf Shores and spends time in the town of 12,000, was part of a seven-member panel that interviewed nine potential officers for the Gulf Shores Police Department last week, Deputy Chief Dan Netemeyer said Wednesday.

The department sometimes asks residents to participate in such screening committees, Netemeyer said. Freeman knows some people who have helped and volunteered to serve.

"It was kind of a last-minute thing, but he was an active participant," Netemeyer said.

Known for roles in movies including The Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven, and Million Dollar Baby, Freeman sat at a table asking questions with other interviewers, including Netemeyer, the police chief, a criminal justice professor and others.

"He had a hat on, and he was kind of sitting back. When he introduced himself, it was almost like an old 'Candid Camera' scene," Netemeyer said.

Even if someone did not recognise Freeman's face, he said, there was no mistake once he spoke. "It was that voice, the same one you hear in the movies," he said.

The hiring process is not complete, Netemeyer said, but at least some of the recruits likely will be offered jobs.

Freeman and Linda Keena, a University of Mississippi professor who also lives in Gulf Shores and helped with the interviews, recently donated US$1 million to establish the Center of Evidence-Based Policing and Reform at the university.

Rapper Young Thug sues over swiped bag that had cash, songs

ATLANTA (AP):

Atlanta rapper Young Thug said an apartment concierge let an unknown person take his Louis Vuitton bag holding about 200 unreleased songs and more than US$100,000 worth of jewellery and cash.

The performer's allegations are in a lawsuit against the company that manages the apartment complex where he lived and its concierge company, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The newspaper said neither JLB Peachtree nor concierge company Pegasus Residential has answered requests for comment about the lawsuit filed last week in Gwinnett County Superior Court on behalf of Jeffery Williams, 30, whose stage name is Young Thug.

According to the lawsuit, a concierge at Trace Apartments put the bag in a secure location after the rapper accidentally left it next to his vehicle on November 1, 2020, but another employee released it to someone else.

The lawsuit said that the missing bag contained a hard drive with about 200 unreleased songs worth at least US$1 million.

According to the lawsuit, the bag also held US$40,000 in cash, a diamond-encrusted watch worth US$57,000 and a US$37,000 chain with inset diamonds.

Disney delays 'Indiana Jones 5', 'Black Panther 2' releases

LOS ANGELES (AP):

The Walt Disney Co is pushing back the release dates of many of its upcoming titles, including the untitled Indiana Jones movie and the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.

The company said Monday that the fifth Indiana Jones, a James Mangold-directed and Steven Spielberg-produced instalment that sees Harrison Ford's return as the adventurous archaeologist, will be delayed almost a year and open in theatres in June 2023.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has also been pushed several months, from July 2022 to November 2022. Both films are currently in production.

Other Marvel titles like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Marvels, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were also all delayed several months.