Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

MTV’s VMAs to honor coronavirus shutdown music

Pop stars Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga led a girl power list of nominations on Thursday for the MTV Video Music Awards, which added two new categories to reflect how musicians are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Grande and Gaga got nine nominations each, mostly from their dancey collaboration “Rain on Me” whose nods included best video, song and collaboration of the year.

A space exploration fan, jazz artist Gregory Porter to sing for NASA launch

Jazz artist Gregory Porter, whose new single “Concorde” is an ode to space exploration, is set to perform on Thursday as part of a ceremony marking the launch of NASA’s next generation rover that will search for signs of habitable conditions on Mars. The Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter is scheduled to sing the Ray Charles version of “America The Beautiful” during the U.S. space agency’s broadcast of the countdown to the launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

UK sets up $647 million emergency insurance fund for film and TV

Britain has announced a 500 million-pound ($647 million) fund to help television and film companies restart productions after companies complained they were unable to get insurance because of the coronavirus pandemic. Shoots shut down abruptly in March as the novel coronavirus spread and the government imposed a lockdown. As filmmakers try to get back to work, they are finding some insurers have stopped providing the COVID-19 coverage they need to secure financing.

Rapper Wiley says ‘I’m not racist’ after anti-Semitic posts

British rap artist Wiley apologised on Wednesday and said he is not racist after posting a string of anti-Semitic comments on his social media accounts. The rapper’s Twitter account, which had half a million followers, published a series of tweets last week asserting that Jews systematically exploited Black artists in the music industry, continuing a pattern of exploitation dating back to the slave trade.

Emmy nominations, from ‘Succession’ to ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ put premium on diversity

HBO’s dystopian superhero drama “Watchmen” and the 1960s comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Tuesday led an Emmy nominations list dominated by Netflix and what Variety said was a record number of Black actors. “Watchmen” scored 26 nods, including best limited series, while Amazon Studio’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” got 20.

Pajamas anyone? Emmy awards show to go virtual

The Emmy Awards show in September is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, and that may mean some celebrities appearing in pajamas or from their bedrooms. Hollywood trade publication Variety on Wednesday said that host Jimmy Kimmel and producers of the Sept. 20 telecast have written to Emmy nominees confirming there will not be a traditional gathering in Los Angeles to celebrate television.