Read on to know more about the news and fresh happenings from the world of Hollywood.

This year has been one of the best of my career: Ariana Grande

Singer Ariana Grande says this year has been one of the best of her career and the worst in her life.

The No Tears Left to Cry singer, 25, was honoured at Thursday night's Billboard's Women in Music event, where she was presented with the prestigious Woman of the Year award, reports of media.

During her acceptance speech, Grande struggled to hold back tears as she touched upon her very tumultuous year, which included the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and her failed whirlwind romance with Pete Davidson.

"I want to say that I find it interesting that this has been one of the best years of my career and the worst of my life," she said.

Added the singer, "I'm not saying that for sympathy, I'm just saying that because I think a lot of people would look at someone in my position right now…and think, ‘She's really got her s- together,' Ya know? Like, ‘She's really on it.' Like, ‘She's got it all.' "

"I do, but as far as my personal life goes, I really have no idea what the f- I'm doing so yeah, it's been a very conflicting one."

Grande and Miller, 26, dated for two years before officially calling it quits in May. Shortly after the two ended things, Grande and Davidson, 25, began dating. They were engaged less than two months later.

But Grande's newfound relationship bliss was short-lived when Miller was found dead in September after an accidental overdose.

As she struggled to cope with the loss of her ex, her whirlwind romance with Davidson also ended, with the pair calling off their engagement in October.

Finishing her speech, Grande opened up about her plans for 2019 and revealed what she's has learned throughout her difficult year including a new approach to love and relationships.

Homophobia is not positivity: Jamie Lee Curtis

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis slammed actor-comedian Kevin Hart's response to his resurfaced homophobic tweets.

On Thursday, just hours after Hart, 39, offered a response to his past homophobic tweets, which resurfaced following the news that he was hosting the 91s Academy Awards, Curtis, 60, took a jab at the comedian on Twitter, reports of leading publication.

"Homophobia is not positivity," the Halloween star wrote in reference to Hart's statement, in which he said, "All I do is spread positivity."

Actor and comedian Billy Eichner also took aim at Hart, but with a little bit of humour, tweeting, "I'm beginning to think I may not be in Night School 2."

"A simple, authentic apology showing any bit of understanding or remorse would have been so simple. Like I tweeted a few weeks ago, Hollywood still has a real problem with gay men. On the surface it may not look like it. Underneath, it's far more complicated," the Billy on the Street host tweeted on a more serious note.

"Wow. Just...wow. Does he realise he signed up to host the Oscars? You wanna tweet "jokes" about gay bashing your own son I guess that's your choice but at the very least, know your audience!"

Their comments came after Hart shared a video of himself lying in bed on Instagram, addressing the since-deleted tweets.

"I swear man our world is becoming beyond crazy," Hart said in the clip. "I'm not going to let the craziness frustrate me or anger me especially when I worked hard to get to the mental space that I am at now."

Hart continued, "My team calls me, ‘Oh my God, Kevin, the world is upset about tweets you did years ago.' Oh my God. Guys, I'm almost 40 years old. If you don't believe that people grow, change, evolve as they get older, I don't know what to tell you."

"If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past - then do you," he added. "I'm the wrong guy, man. I'm in a great place, a great mature place where all I do is spread positivity. If you're not doing that, you're not on my page."

In a follow-up post, Hart explained he was asked to apologise by the Academy, but decided to pass at the time - ultimately risking his hosting gig.

"I chose to pass, I passed on the apology. Reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I've addressed it. I've spoken on it. I've said where the rights and wrongs were. I've said who I am now versus who I was then. I've done it. I've done it," Hart continued.

"The same energy that went into finding those old tweets could be the same energy put into finding the responses to the questions that have been asked years after years. We're feeding the internet trolls and we reward them. I'm not going to do it man. I'm going to be me and stand my ground," Hart said.

In the hours after that post, the comedian finally revealed that he would be stepping aside from the prestigious gig and delivered an apology.

"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscars. This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past," he tweeted, reports of media.

"I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."

Eichner applauded the decision and praised Hart of stepping up and saying sorry.

Songs in live action 'Aladdin' will be empowering

The new live action adaptation of Aladdin will have songs that will be empowering for women, says actor Mena Massoud.

Massoud, who plays the titular character, teased that while the 2019 movie would offer plenty of classic Aladdin tune revivals, two new songs would also be added to the mix, reports of leading publication.

Talking at the GQ Men of the Year party, Massoud first described what it was like to work with Will Smith, who is playing a real life genie.

"It was amazing. (Will's) one of the most generous, grounded people in the industry... I'm just so lucky, megastar that he is," Massoud says.

As for the new sounds that Disney is adding to the world of Agrabah, he said, "We've got all the original music in there, plus a couple of new songs. They're really empowering. I got to say one is very empowering for women, I think people are going to really, really dig it."

"The other one is awesome as well. We got the same guys who did ‘La La Land' and ‘The Greatest Showman,' we're in good hands."

But the biggest change could simply be the fact that this cast is made of flesh and bone and not line animation.

"It's live action. So you get to look into people's eyes and see what they're feeling and feel connected to them. And Will's playing the Genie so that's a little different too," Massoud said.

Kevin Hart refuses to apologise for past anti-gay comments

Comedian Kevin Hart has refused to apologise for his earlier anti-gay comments despite Academy Awards' ultimatum.

In a new Instagram video, Hart, who was tapped to emcee the ceremony earlier this week, says the Academy called him issuing an ultimatum if things were going to proceed as planned, reports by media.

"I just got a call from the Academy and that call basically said, ‘Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old or we are going to have to move on and find another host'. I'm talking about the tweets from 2009 and 2010," the 39-year-old comedian said.

"I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I have addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I have addressed it. I have spoken on it. I have said where the rights and wrongs were.

"I have said who I am now versus who I was then. I have done it. I am not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I have moved on and I am in a completely different place in my life."

In a previous Instagram video, Hart addressed escalating concerns over a long history of hate speech and derogatory jokes about the LGBTQ community on social media, resurfaced in national news after he was named host of the Oscars on Thursday.

Alessia Cara shares cleansing tips among fans

Singer Alessia Cara has shared her daily skin routine among fans saying she always "double cleanses" her skin before going to bed.

In an interview to Harper's Bazaar US, Cara said, "So the first step in my night time routine is cleansing, I just started using an oil cleanser before my water cleanser, I really, really like it and I primarily focus on my eyes because I feel like eye make-up is really hard to take off."

The 22-year-old Canadian Grammy Award winner also confessed that she gets a lot of skincare tips from YouTube and she learned it was important to moisturise her neck from the video sharing site, reports of media.

"I watch a lot of YouTube videos on skincare and the one thing I learned is every moisturiser you put on your face, you put on your neck as well. I think it helps with aging and stuff, I'll come back in 40 years and tell you," added the Growing Pains hitmaker.

Jada Pinkett Smith resented her father

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has opened up about the "resentment" she had for her drug addict father when she was growing up.

Speaking with her half-brother, Caleeb Pinkett, and her Red Table Talk co-stars, her daughter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones, Smith said, "We had a lot of resentment.

"We had that feeling like we had to be responsible for him (father), but he never had to be responsible for us, and that was a hard pill for me to swallow. He told me at seven, 'I can't be your father. I'm a criminal, I'm an addict and that's just what it is."

The 47-year-old actress only learned over the phone from her brother that Rob (father) had died from an overdose shortly after she had had a "horrendous" argument with him, reports leading publication.

She said, "The most difficult part of him dying like that is because he and I had had a horrendous fight when I found out that he relapsed. I was like, 'I don't owe you nothing. You didn't do s**t for me, you didn't do s**t for Caleeb. I don't owe you nothing.' It was one of those."

Ed Sheeran responds to angry comments over dressing less

After Ed Sheeran sent the internet in an uproar for being wildly undressed during his duet with Beyonce Knowles, the Grammy winner had a funny response to it.

In a nod to the backlash, Sheeran reposted an article on his Instagram story titled, "People are angry Ed Sheeran wore a shirt while Beyonce wore couture during their Global Citizen performance."

While performing together for the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday, fans were quick to criticise Sheeran's choice to pair a black t-shirt and sneakers on stage, while Beyonce, 37, opted for an extravagant pink gown with ruffles, reports of media.

"Swipe up to ‘get the look," he wrote alongside the cheeky hashtag, #dresstoimpress.

As he acknowledged the clashing looks, he joked about where to find more of his "amazing fashion choices".

The controversy sparked hilarious memes of the pair during the performance and a real conversation about male privilege.

"Ed Sheeran is a 27-year-old man the fact we've enabled him to feel it's ok to dress like this at all, let alone next to Beyonce really boils my piss," wrote one Twitter user.

Another pointed to the disparity of gender expectations in the music industry saying, "This photo is representative of what we expect from men and women at the top of their game, isn't it?"

As Twitter debated his wardrobe choice, many Sheeran fans pointed to the fact that he regularly performs in similar looks on stage.

While Sheeran seems to be taking the controversy lightly, he has been targeted by online bullies in the past.

(Source : IANS)