3/25/15

The Daily Buzz For March 26



Brandy Set To Make Broadway Debut In ‘Chicago
Grammy Award-winning singer, Brandy, is set to make her Broadway debut. She will be stepping into the role of Roxie Hart in the revival of Chicago.
In addition to Brandy taking to Instagram with the gorgeous above pic, to announce the news to fans, Broadway.com reports that she will begin performances at the Ambassador Theatre on April 28, playing an eight-week engagement through June 21. She will be taking over for Paige Davis, who will assume the role on March 30.

Brandy, who has currently been starring as Chardonnay Pitts on BET’s The Game, has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Congrats!


‘Empire’ Scores Highest-Rated Season 1 Finale In Nearly A Decade
Empire had viewers tuned in to FOX faithfully every Wednesday throughout its first season, and drew in 21.1 million viewers during its Mar. 18th season finale — making it the highest-rated freshman finale since Grey’s Anatomy‘s on May 22, 2005.

According to Deadline: Comparing time slot to time slot, the 9 PM hour of Empire‘s finale was up 82% in the key demo over its premiere episode and up 19% from its March 11 show among the 18-49s. It is also the best any regular scheduled drama has done on the Big 4 since the 7.2/17 that CSI pulled in on October 9, 2008. The finale took Fox to the height of the best night any of the nets have done with regularly scheduled programming since the American Idol premiere on January 18, 2012.

Additionally, the hit show made its mark with music fans with its soundtrack debuting at No. 1; beating Madonna for the top slot in the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday. The soundtrack moved 130,000 units, ahead of 121,000 units for Madonna’s 13th studio album, Rebel Heart.

Congrats to the cast and crew of Empire!


Are ‘Empire’s’ Trai Byers & Grace Gealey Dating? 
The EMPIRE’S nest keeps up watching even when they’re not on air! Hollywood just might have a new it couple.
There are new reports claiming that Trai Byers aka Andre Lyon and Grace Gealey aka Boo Boo Kitty might be more than just co-stars.
TMZ first broke the story, the duo recently attended a wedding together and according to guests, the pair were pretty affectionate. Sources say however, the duo was still aware that people were looking.
In a video obtained by the news outlet, Gealey, who was gorgeous in a black dress can be seen at what appears to be the desert bar while Byers stands close by. In another clip, the co-stars are sitting down at a table enjoying some food.


Trai’s rep tells us he does “not comment on clients’ personal lives.”


Queen Latifah and Jeanette Jenkins Unloading Love Nest
Back in 2010 Queen Latifah and her personal trainer Jeanette Jenkins bought a house for $1.32 million 
Now that the couple are no longer 'working out together' the house is up for sale…
According to Variety Queen Latifah quietly listed the 2,026 square ft 3 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow in the Hollywood Hills late last year for $1.93 million. After receiving no takers the house is back on the market for $1.8 million. 
Property records show both Queen Latifah and Jeanette Jenkins names are on the deed.


The MISEDUCATION of Bullying TAMAR BRAXTON!
We’ve all seen the social media beef between K. Michelle and Tamar Braxton play out in public for quite some time now. But, it seems as though Braxton has reached her breaking point.

In an emotionally charged conversation with her co-host on “The Real”, Tamar opened up about her experiences being cyber-bullied. And while she didn’t say K. Michelle’s name, it was implied when she revealed that “someone” called her a Muppet and it really affected the way she looked at herself. The Braxton Family Values star broke down in tears when Jeannie Mai asked her what advice would she give her son Logan about being bullied. “I don’t have any advice to give my son,” Tamar said while choking back tears. “Because she’s still dealing with it,” Tamera chimed in to help her emotional co-host.

WATCH HERE

But, the baby Braxton sister wasn’t only one on the panel who had to deal with bullying, Tamera, Loni and Jeannie all shared the experiences and advice for handling the mean folks


Transgender Teen Commits Suicide Year After Winning Homecoming King
A transgender teen, whose active campaign against injustice got him local attention, has reportedly taken his own life, leaving the North Carolina community he called home, saddened and stunned.
Reports NYDailyNews:
Blake Brockington, the 18-year-old graduate of East Mecklenburg High School turned activist against racial injustice, died late Monday of suicide, according to Charlotte’s Time Out Youth Center, where he sought help with his transition from female.
He confided in the Charlotte Observer to experiencing years of depression and suicidal thoughts stemming from his struggle with gender identity.
The teen moved in with a foster family before beginning his transition to living as a man while a high school sophmore, according to QNotes.
His family celebrated him as a female, especially with the onset of menstruation, though he always “felt like a boy.”
“My family feels like this is a decision I made,” Brockington told the Observer. “They think, ‘You’re already black, why would you want to draw more attention to yourself?’ But it’s not a decision. It is who I am. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”

It’s not clear how Brockington, a native of Charleston, died. Calls by the Daily News to the Time Out Youth Center were not immediately returned.
According to a survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality, nearly half of transgender people in the United States have attempted suicide during their lifetimes, making them the most like to take their own life among other sexually oriented groups.
Rest in power, Blake Brockington.


Beyonce Teams Up With Giuseppe Zanotti For New Shoe Collaboration
Beyonce has teamed up with Italian designer Giuseppe Zanotti for a new collaboration, which is scheduled for release within one or two weeks.

“I’m doing a shoe with Beyoncé right now,” Giuseppe revealed to Forbes while showing an image of a sketch from his phone, during an interview.
While they were unable to see exactly how the final product will turn out, going by the sketch they said, “Beyoncé has a thing for ultra thick platform stilettos.”
“Beyoncé has very clear ideas – she knows exactly what she wants, the designer continued. “The thing which she then also has over other celebrities, is that she has an amazing voice. She’s incredibly talented and she’s an amazing dancer – she’s complete. Few are like Beyoncé.”
He also stated that he is working on finalizing the shoe with her stylist right now, and after that Beyoncé will then say what she likes and what she doesn’t. “It will be one shoe only.”


“Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice” Releases Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor Headshot!
With an impressive array of roles to his credit, Jesse Eisenberg is up to the challenge of taking on Lex Luthor in the forthcoming “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” flick.
The “Social Network” stud looks convincing thanks to an intimidating glare and of course a completely-shaven cranium, and director Zack Snyder is thrilled with the way things are turning out.

Snyder gushes, “He’s not any of the Lexes that you’ve seen, that’s for sure. Other than him being a captain of industry and one person to the world and another person to himself. And bald, of course….Our Lex is disarming and he’s not fake. He says what he believes and he says what’s on his mind. If you can unravel the string and decipher what he means, it’s all there.”


Shonda Rhimes, Ava Duvernay Blasts Deadline Over “Ethnic Castings” Post
Deadline TV writer Nellie Andreeva might have made an epic infraction when she wrote a piece discussing the uptick in minority casting in television pilots in 2015. Twitter naturally gave Andreeva the business Tuesday night (Mar. 24), which was further boosted by comments from Shonda Rhimes and Ava DuVernay.
As reported by TheGrio, Andreeva’s article, “Pilots 2015: The Year Of Ethnic Castings – About Time Or Too Much Of A Good Thing?” was already doomed from the start by way of its titling. The piece itself examined television studios mandating a minority role on both the major and minor level, and how certain characters intended to be one race were altered in favor of another.
Andreeva also noted that the success of Rhimes’ How To Get Away With Murder, ABC’s Black-ish, and FOX’s Empire might bring forth more “ethnic castings.”
More from TheGrio.com:
Needless to say, the response on social media to Andreeva’s article was fast and furious, with many outraged by her poorly articulated essay about a breakout era in TV.
“1st Reaction:: HELL NO. Lemme take off my earrings, somebody hold my purse! 2nd Reaction: Article is so ignorant I can’t even be bothered,” Shonda Rhimes wrote on Twitter.
Rhimes’, who has several successful properties including Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, was supported by DuVernay with a simple retweet with the comment “PREACH.”
Although both women essentially took the high road in addressing Andreeva’s article, it does raise the question of what exactly the writer was intended to get across to readers with the piece.


LeToya Luckett has a NEW MAN in her life!
"Single Ladies" star LeToya Luckett's boyfriend isn't new afterall.  But he is somewhat new to the public.  Why?  Because the she decided to keep him and their relationship under wraps.  For two years!

We first uncovered the cutesy couple when LeToya and producer Joseph Macklin (known as Jo Blaque) were coupled up on a couple's vacation with Ludacris and Eudoxie, Monica and Shannon Brown and more a few months ago.  The twosome had us raising our eyebrows and wondering who he was....since they popped up as a couple seemingly out of the blue.

In a recent talk with Joi Marie McKenzie over at ABC Radio, LeToya revealed she was hesitant to unveil their relationship due to possible scrutiny from the online community. She wanted to first focus on building an amazing foundation as a couple.  And we can't fault her for that.
Here's the highlights:

On Waiting Two Years to Reveal She Was Taken:
"I wanted to make sure that I built a foundation before just putting it out there. You know what I mean? I wanted to make sure that this is something real, that this is something that's true and honest and not just to have a picture to post on Instagram. I think now it's one of those things of, OK, this is something real. It's honest. It's not perfect. It's two people that truly, truly, truly love each other but are friends."

Why She's Still Hesitant to Be Open About Relationship:
"I'm still even very careful when I do decide to share those moments. And you do get anxiety because there is always the 'what if' and...you know how you might go about doing things if things go wrong, but then you don't know if somebody else is going to act a fool. It's hard. You can't think about that. You can't always dwell on the negative or you'll never let the positive in."

Why She Thinks Blogs Criticized Her for Being Private:
"[I'd be] logging onto blogs and they were like,'Yo, she never talks about her personal life, what's wrong with her?' And it was kind of like, 'Why does there have to be something wrong with me for me to want to just step back and really find out what it is that I truly want and take my time with that?' I don't like rushing into stuff and that's why I'm not in a huge rush to just throw something out there, because that's my heart."

LeToya is getting a little more open about her love for her boo, posting a few us-ies here and there and calling Joe her Valentine:
Awww. Congrats to them!


Fox confirms: The X-Files is returning as a miniseries with Anderson & Duchovny
There have been rumors and stories about an X-Files remake for years. I never thought anything would come to fruition because the show overstayed its expiration date when it was on the air, plus there were two movies that were frankly pretty bad. (A dismembered head was the villain in the second movie.) I loved the X-Files for the first few years that it was on, but when Mulder left (or maybe when he had a baby with Scully – it’s unclear if they actually had sex) it jumped the shark.

Regardless of some bumps in the road, the show remains one of the most beloved cult shows ever. As confirmation of that, Fox just announced that they’ve ordered six new episodes. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny will reprise their roles and X-Files creator Chris Carter will be the showrunner. It’s unknown when the reboot will air, but production is set to begin this summer. Here’s more, thanks to Variety:

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter said. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

The “X-Files” revival follows last spring’s return of “24” as a 13-episode limited series. NBC has joined the mania for resurrecting series with built-in audience awareness with its plans for the “Heroes Reborn” miniseries next season.

“X-Files” is a natural, as the show about FBI sleuths investigating instances of paranormal activity is tailor-made for social-media obsession — even if it hails from an earlier TV era. “X-Files” had a nine-season run on Fox from 1993-2002. It spawned two feature films, 1998’s “The X-Files: Fight the Future” and 2008’s “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”

Fox Television Group chairs Gary Newman and Dana Walden shepherded the show on the studio side during its network run. The pair have made no secret of their interest in bringing it back. The new episodes may well spark renewed interest in the show from SVOD platforms, just as the “24: Live Another Day” episodes spurred Fox to cut a rich pact for the entire series library with Amazon Prime.

[From Variety]

Both Anderson and Duchovny remain busy in recurring roles in other television shows and each published their first books recently. Anderson co-wrote a science fiction novel called A Vision of Fire while Duchovny published a humorous fable about a cow heroine (really) called Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale. It must have been tricky to find a time when the two of them were both free to film the new show.

I’m so excited for this remake. I hope they’re able to move on from the whole Scully and Mulder are in love storyline, but I guess the last movie already solved that. I barely remember it.
Duchovny instagrammed and tweeted this picture confirming the news. 
I loved Scully’s fashion so much. She had that iconic late 90s business style. It really doesn’t seem that long ago


Rihanna, and other Celebs come out for The "HOME" LA Debut!
Rihanna headed to the West Coast premiere of "HOME" at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, 
We've spotted Rihanna rocking some of this season's most fabulous garments for the HOME press tour, and she selected Dior.  Gorgeous! 
Rihanna walked the mauve carpet with a few special guests, including her bestie Melissa Forde.  They made a few funny poses. 

And looked who arrived in her own HOME -inspired vehicle!  It's Rihanna's adorable little cousin Majesty.  
Rihanna's co-star Jennifer Lopez "stopped the press" in a Zuhair Murad Fall 2015 Long Sleeve Blue Illusion dress.
And look at the twins! Max and Emme are styled to perfection!
We don't see Viola Davis, the star of the hit series "HTGAWM" out with her daughter Genesis at many Hollywood events; but, the HOME premiere was an exception. 
And little Genesis looked so cute in her pink dress.
FAB TIMES!



AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘NEON YELLOW’
Your butt looks like it should be working on the highway at night with that bright ass vest it has on!



HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM

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