Korea’s largest broadcaster KBS is considering whether to take legal action against a lawmaker’s controversial lawsuit against one of its entertainers. Rep. Kang Yong-seok, who was expelled from the ruling party last year for making sexist remarks to female college students, sued comedian Choi Hyo-jong last week, claiming the KBS entertainer insulted legislators during his weekend TV gig. On the Nov. 2 episode of “The Wart’s Kindergarten” segment of the popular “Gag Concert,” a comedy show, Choi

Nov. 22, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― “American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe might have to print some new business cards after he receives a special honor at the 39th Annual International Emmy Awards Ceremony.“I’ve been nominated (six times) for an Emmy for ‘American Idol’ ... and haven’t won any of them,” Lythgoe said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’ve even got printed on my business card ‘multi-Emmy loser’ so it’s going to be wonderful to actually accept one.”Lythgoe, 62, who returned as “Id

Nov. 21, 2011

Six leading entertainers including music producer Lee Soo-man and veteran singer Ha Chun-hwa were awarded cultural medals by the Korean government on Monday in recognition of their contribution to Korean pop culture. Twenty-seven others received commendations by President Lee Myung-bak, the prime minister and culture minister during the award ceremony held at the Korean Pop Concert Hall at Seoul Olympic Park.The Culture Ministry and the state-run Korea Creative Content Agency declared the fourth

Nov. 21, 2011

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ The Benetton clothing company quickly withdrew an ad featuring a fake photo of Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam on the lips after the Vatican denounced it as an unacceptable provocation. (Yonhap News) Benetton had said its ``Unhate'' campaign launched Wednesday

Nov. 17, 2011

YG, third entertainment agency to be listed on KOSDAQ,attracts 3.6 trillion won in IPOThe recent success of YG Entertainment and other listed Korean entertainment agencies in the stock market is an indicator of the growing influence of Korean pop music at home and abroad, analysts said Wednesday. YG Entertainment drew more than 3 trillion won in its initial public offering this week, receiving bids for 561 times the number of shares allocated to individual investors.The company, which produced p

Nov. 16, 2011

Movie director and screenwriter Jang Jin will direct and write scripts for a Korean version of comedy show “Saturday Night Live” on entertainment channel tvN. The operator of the cable channel CJ E&M said “Saturday Night Live Korea” would air for eight weeks starting Dec. 3 at 11 p.m.The American late-night TV show, which started in 1975 on NBC, has been on the air for 37 years every Saturday, inviting top celebrities to perform sketches on politics and culture. Celebrities such as Madonna, Lady

Nov. 10, 2011

BEVERLY HILLS ― Writer-filmmaker Woody Allen may be a private kind of a guy, but when it comes to deconstructing Woody, everybody’s eager to lend a hand.Documentary filmmaker Robert Weide managed to charm his way into Allen’s good graces and the result is the two-parter on PBS’ “American Masters,” “Woody Allen: a Documentary,” airing Nov. 20 and 21.“I’ve known him a little bit for a number of years because years ago I headed development for Rollins and Joffe, who were his producers’ managers,” S

Nov. 9, 2011

Ulala Session, Busker Busker battle for ‘Superstar K3’ title on FridayLast Friday evening, a long line snaked up the steep hill leading to the Peace Hall of Kyunghee University as Korean youngsters waited to see which two of the top three contestants would reach the final round of Mnet’s reality talent show “Superstar K3.”As soon as the show started with the contestants appearing on stage at 11 p.m. sharp, the whole audience screamed in support of their teams.Busker Busker took to the stage firs

Nov. 8, 2011

Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos reacts as she is crowned winner at the Miss World competition held at Earls Court in London, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011. (AP-Yonhap News)Miss Venezuela, Ivian Sarcos, was crowned the 2011 winner of the Miss World beauty pageant on Sunday at a glittering final ceremony in London

Nov. 7, 2011

An Internet news outlet has been ordered to pay millions of won in compensation for calling a comedian-turned-TV hostess a "leftist" loyal to former President Roh Moo-hyun against her will, a Seoul court said Friday.In a compulsory arbitration decision on a libel suit filed by Kim Mi-hwa, the Seoul

Nov. 4, 2011

SYDNEY (AP) _ A grim-looking Kim Kardashian says ``intuition'' led her to pull the plug on her 72-day-old marriage.Kardashian told the hosts of Australia's ``Sunrise'' program on Thursday that she followed her heart and felt there was no right or wrong way to handle the demise of her brief marriage

Nov. 3, 2011

It maybe inevitable that public broadcaster MBC becomes a commercial channel due to stiff competition for advertising from new channels run by major newspapers which begin operation next month, former BBC chief Greg Dyke said Tuesday.Dyke, who was director-general of the BBC from 2000 to 2004, is most famous for standing up against Tony Blair’s Labor government after a 2003 BBC news report on how the government had “sexed up” the military capabilities of Iraq to justify going to war. The intelli

Nov. 1, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Just 10 weeks after their lavish, made-for-TV wedding and less than a month after the wedding special aired, reality starlet Kim Kardashian is canceling her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.Kim Kardashian (AP)The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star filed for divorce Monday

Nov. 1, 2011

Korean broadcaster MBC said it has agreed with Google to provide its TV drama and entertainment programs through YouTube, the world’s largest online video sharing site operated by Google.MBC and Google Korea heads signed the agreement at a hotel in Seoul on Friday.Under the agreement, MBC will provide 10,000 hours of dramas and entertainment shows aired before 2005 for YouTube, which will be distributed around the world starting next year, the broadcaster said.It is the first time a Korean broad

Oct. 23, 2011