Names and faces
■ A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Prince’s family members was dismissed in recent months, suggesting family members have reached settlements with defendants including the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he died. The dismissals largely close one legal chapter in the superstar’s legacy, even as efforts drag on to value and dispose of his estate once pegged at $200 million. Prince was 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, without leaving a will. No one was criminally charged in his death and the source of the counterfeit pills that killed him remains unknown. Prince’s heirs filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a slew of defendants in April 2018, alleging they had the duty and opportunity to diagnose and treat Prince’s addiction and prevent his death. An autopsy found Prince overdosed on fentanyl. Authorities said it was likely Prince didn’t know he was taking the synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin.
■ Robert De Niro received the Screen Actors Guild lifetime achievement award Sunday to praise for his illustrious career and thunderous applause from his fellow performers but spent much of his acceptance speech on politics. “There’s right and there’s wrong. And there’s common sense, and there’s abuse of power,” said De Niro, who received a standing ovation that lasted nearly a minute after Leonardo DiCaprio presented him with the award. About half of the room stood and applauded when De Niro said it was his responsibility to speak about politics and seemingly took aim at President Donald Trump, whose name he didn’t mention. “As a citizen, I have as much right as anybody — an actor, an athlete, anybody else — to voice my opinion,” De Niro said. “And if I have a bigger voice because of my situation, I’m going to use it whenever I see a blatant abuse of power.” De Niro became the 56th recipient of the guild’s highest honor during the ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The actor has been a frequent, and occasionally profane, critic of Trump but kept his criticism Sunday G-rated. He ended the politics portion of his speech by saying, “That’s all I’m going to say.” DiCaprio praised the actor for his authenticity during his introduction, saying he’s been watching De Niro since the age of 13.