Names and faces
■ Actress Meryl Streep on Friday received Spain's prestigious Princess of Asturias Arts Award at a ceremony presided over by the Spanish royal family in Oviedo. During her acceptance speech, Streep spoke about the empathy actors must feel for their characters and which people in cinemas and theaters feel for people on screen or stage that look — or sound — different to themselves, as something that could be useful in everyday life too. “Empathy may be a radical form of outreach and diplomacy useful in other theaters of endeavor,” she said. “In our world, in our increasingly hostile, volatile world, I hope we might take to heart another rule every actor is taught, that is: it is all about listening.” The prize was one of eight awarded this year in areas covering the arts, literature, science and international cooperation among others. The prizes, for which the winners receive $53,000 and a sculpture by Spanish Catalan artist Joan Miro, were formally presented by Crown Princess Leonor after whom the prize foundation is named.
■ Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans claims he is being unfairly prosecuted for disturbing the peace over a dispute with an airline employee who he alleges targeted him because of his race. Attorneys for Wayans, who is Black, made the allegations in a court filing Thursday that asked for dismissal of the case stemming from a luggage dispute at Denver's airport. Wayans was cited for disturbing the peace, a municipal violation, in June, police said. According to the court filing, a United Airlines gate agent told him he could not get on a flight to Kansas City with three bags. The gate agent apparently tried to physically block Wayans from getting on the flight after he consolidated his luggage into two bags to conform with airline policy, the filing said. He boarded anyway and was later asked to get off the plane before it departed. While Wayans worked to rearrange his luggage, the gate agent kept allowing white passengers with three bags to board the flight, according to the court filing. About 140 people boarded the flight, it said, many with three bags and oversized bags which violated the airline's policy. Denver City Attorney Kerry Tipper said her office does not comment on pending cases. United did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.