Names and faces
■ Beyonce has revealed the title and release date for her next studio album, with the 16-track “Renaissance” set to drop July 29. The superstar began listing the music and products on her website Thursday; several streaming services, including Tidal and Spotify, also announced the release. Beyonce tipped off fans that something important was coming when she removed her profile photos across her social media platforms last week. “Renaissance” is the follow-up to 2016’s “Lemonade,” but the artist has nevertheless been hard at work of late, featured on rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s remix of “Savage” and opening the 2022 Academy Awards with a performance of her song “Be Alive” from the film “King Richard.” In 2019, she curated and produced the soundtrack album “The Lion King: The Gift” for the remake of “The Lion King.” The song “Black Parade” from the soundtrack won a Grammy in 2021 for best R&B performance, Beyonce’s 28th Grammy.
■ Kevin Spacey “strenuously denies” allegations of sexual assault, his attorney said Thursday, as the Oscar-winning actor appeared in a London court to face five charges of offenses against three men. Photographers and television camera crews thronged Spacey, 62, as he arrived at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court for the preliminary hearing. Spacey sat in the glass-fronted dock during the half-hour hearing, standing to give his full name — Kevin Spacey Fowler — as well as his birthdate and a London address. He was not asked to enter a formal plea, but lawyer Patrick Gibbs said: “Mr. Spacey strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case.” Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram granted Spacey unconditional bail until his next appearance, a plea hearing scheduled for July 14. The former “House of Cards” star is accused of four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The alleged victims are now in their 30s and 40s. In a statement issued last month, Spacey has said he is confident he will “prove my innocence.” He was questioned by British police in 2019 about claims by several men that he had assaulted them. The two-time Academy Award winner ran London’s Old Vic theater between 2004 and 2015. He won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.” But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegation.