Names and faces
■ A Florida animal shelter sent out a desperate plea on Facebook after someone had abandoned two pit bulls. But volunteers never expected the post would catch the attention of Guardians of the Galaxy actor Dave Bautista. The 6-year-old pit bulls, Maggie and Ollie, were handed over to the county after their owner had a baby. Volunteers from Rescue Me Tampa wrote a post seeking someone who would take both dogs, writing they’d been together their whole life. That was last month. A week later, the group posted a picture of the star hugging the two pups and a caption announcing that he had adopted them. The rescuers said Bautista is spoiling the rescue dogs with Tempur-Pedic dog beds, a large gated property and doggy doors everywhere.
■ Robert De Niro will receive the Life Achievement Award at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced that De Niro will be the 56th recipient of its highest honor during the televised awards show on Jan. 19. The guild cited De Niro’s extraordinary accomplishments in film and television, including two Academy Awards, a Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous other honors. It also noted his co-founding and championing of New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival. De Niro’s latest film is The Irishman, which is playing in theaters in limited release before arriving on Netflix at the end of the month. The actor said in a statement that he’s honored to receive the award from a union that he’s been a part of for more than 50 years.
■ Authorities in French Polynesia have handed preliminary drug charges to the founder of world-renowned circus Cirque du Soleil. State broadcaster Polynesie 1 showed Guy Laliberte released from custody Wednesday after appearing before a judge in the South Pacific territory’s capital Papeete on the island of Tahiti. His lawyer Yves Piriou told Polynesie 1 that Laliberte did nothing wrong and that the case was overblown because of his client’s fame. Lune Rouge, a Montreal-based company headed by Laliberte, says he uses cannabis for medical reasons but categorically denies any drug violations. It says Laliberte was questioned about cannabis grown for personal use on his private island of Nukutepipi. Marijuana cultivation is currently illegal under French law, but parliament last month approved a two-year trial of medical cannabis use starting next year.