The QUEEN Lady Cicely Tyson covers TIME Magazine!
Cicely Tyson celebrated her recent cover on Time magazine by thanking Ava DuVernay, who guest-edited the special issue. Their Twitter exchange brought joy to many readers.
The 94-year-old acting legend tweeted to the acclaimed “Selma” director on Saturday, sharing her appreciation for the opportunity to grace the cover of Time. It’s the magazine’s second annual “Optimism” issue, which went on sale Friday.
“I have been asked multiple times what it feels like to be on the cover of @TIME?” Tyson wrote. “My humblest answer is, had u not been guest editor, I would probably never know. For that I am truly grateful and thankful that God put u in my life. I hope the cover inspires many more.”
DuVernay responded, “It was my true honor, Your Majesty.”
Tyson, who was notably nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role in the 1970s film “Sounder,” has also been recognized for her years of activism. The Emmy Award-winning actress currently plays Ophelia Harkness in Shondaland’s hit series “How to Get Away With Murder” and received an honorary Oscar this past November.
In a letter to readers, DuVernay wrote that the “Art of Optimism” issue intends to “present the idea of optimism, hopeful progress and radical change through the appreciation of art.”
The special edition features two covers; the other one has an original painting by 36-year-old South African artist Nelson Makamo.
DuVernay also thanked Tyson for her decades of contributions to society in another tweet Saturday.
“I love you, Ms. Tyson,” she wrote. “Thank you for all that you are, and for all that you continue to give us. This is the least of what you deserve, Your Majesty.”
Debra Lee, former BET Networks chairman and CEO, joined in on the celebration of powerful women on Twitter.
“Congratulations @IAmCicelyTyson!” she wrote. “So well deserved. And you look gorgeous!! Thank you @ava for shining a light on our queen!!”
The Grammys 2019: Check Out the Complete Winners List!
The Recording Academy is announcing the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Hosted by Alicia Keys, the show is broadcast live on CBS starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Here’s the complete winners List! Winners are in RED!
RECORD OF THE YEAR
“I Like It,” Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
“The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
“This Is America,” Childish Gambino
“God’s Plan,” Drake
“Shallow,” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“All The Stars,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Rockstar,” Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B
By The Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
Scorpion, Drake
H.E.R., H.E.R.
Beerbongs & Bentleys, Post Malone
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
Black Panther: The Album, Music From And Inspired By, Various Artists
SONG OF THE YEAR
“All The Stars,” Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
“Boo’d Up,” Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai)
“God’s Plan,” Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
“In My Blood,” Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes & Geoffrey Warburton, songwriters (Shawn Mendes)
“The Joke,” Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
“The Middle,” Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski, songwriters (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)
“Shallow,” Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
“This Is America,” Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
BEST NEW ARTIST
Chloe x Halle
Luke Combs
Greta Van Fleet
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa
Margo Price
Bebe Rexha
Jorja Smith
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Colors,” Beck
“Havana (Live),” Camila Cabello
“God Is A Woman,” Ariana Grande
“Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?),” Lady Gaga
“Better Now,” Post Malone
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
“Fall in Line,” Christina Aguilera featuring Demi Lovato
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” Backstreet Boys
“‘S Wonderful,” Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
“Shallow,” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B
“Say Something,” Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton
“The Middle,” Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
Love Is Here To Stay, Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
My Way, Willie Nelson
Nat “King” Cole & Me, Gregory Porter
Standards (Deluxe), Seal
The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!, Barbra Streisand
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
Camila, Camila Cabello
Meaning Of Life, Kelly Clarkson
Sweetener, Ariana Grande
Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes
Beautiful Trauma, P!nk
Reputation, Taylor Swift
BEST DANCE RECORDING
“Northern Soul,” Above & Beyond featuring Richard Beford
“Ultimatum,” Disclosure featuring Fatoumate Diawara
“Losing It,” Fisher
“Electricity,” Silk City (Diplo & Mark Ronson) & Dua Lipa
“Ghost Voices,” Virtual Self
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
“Four Out of Five,” Arctic Monkeys
“When Bad Goes Good,” Chris Cornell
“Made an America,”FEVER 333
“Highway Tune,” Greta Van Fleet
“Uncomfortable,” Halestorm
BEST ROCK SONG
“Black Smoke Rising,” Greta Van Fleet
“Jumpsuit,” Twenty One Pilots
“Mantra,” Bring Me the Horizon
“Masseduction,” St. Vincent
“Rats,” Ghost
BEST ROCK ALBUM
Rainier Fog, Alice in Chains
Mania, Fall Out Boy
Prequelle, Ghost
From the Fires, Greta Van Fleet
Pacific Daydream, Weezer
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, Arctic Monkeys
Colors, Beck
Utopia, Björk
American Utopia, David Byrne
Masseduction, St. Vincent
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
“Long As I Live,” Toni Braxton
“Summer,” The Carters
“Y O Y,” Lalah Hathaway
“Best Part,” H.E.R. featuring Daniel Caesar
“First Began,” PJ Morton
BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE (TIE)
“Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand,” Leon Bridges
“Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight,” Bettye LaVette
“Honest,” Major
“How Deep Is Your Love,” PJ Morton Featuring Yebba
“Made For Love,” Charlie Wilson featuring Lalah Hathaway
BEST R&B SONG
“Boo’d Up,” Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai)
“Come Through And Chill,” Jermaine Cole, Miguel Pimentel & Salaam Remi, songwriters (Miguel Featuring J. Cole & Salaam Remi)
“Feels Like Summer,” Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
“Focus,” Darhyl Camper Jr, H.E.R. & Justin Love, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Long As I Live,” Paul Boutin, Toni Braxton & Antonio Dixon, songwriters (Toni Braxton)
BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
Everything Is Love, The Carters
The Kids Are Alright, Chloe x Halle
Chris Dave And The Drumhedz, Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
War & Leisure, Miguel
Ventriloquism, Meshell Ndegeocello
BEST R&B ALBUM
Sex & Cigarettes, Toni Braxton
Good Thing, Leon Bridges
Honestly, Lalah Hathaway
H.E.R., H.E.R.
Gumbo Unplugged (Live), PJ Morton
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE (TIE)
“Be Careful,” Cardi B
“Nice for What,” Drake
“King’s Dead,” Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake
“Bubblin,” Anderson .Paak
“Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott, Drake, (Big Hawk) & Swae Lee
BEST RAP/SUNG PERFORMANCE
“Like I Do,” Christina Aguilera featuring Goldlink
“Pretty Little Fears,” 6lack featuring J. Cole
“This Is America,” Childish Gambino
“All The Stars,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Rockstar,” Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
BEST RAP SONG
“God’s Plan,” Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
“King’s Dead,” Kendrick Duckworth, Samuel Gloade, James Litherland, Johnny McKinzie, Mark Spears, Travis Walton, Nayvadius Wilburn & Michael Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake)
“Lucky You,” R. Fraser, G. Lucas, M. Mathers, M. Samuels & J. Sweet, songwriters (Eminem Featuring Joyner Lucas)
“Sicko Mode,” Khalif Brown, Rogét Chahayed, BryTavious Chambers, Mike Dean, Mirsad Dervic, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, Aubrey Graham, John Edward Hawkins, Chauncey Hollis, Jacques Webster, Ozan Yildirim & Cydel Young, songwriters (Travis Scott, Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee)
“Win,” K. Duckworth, A. Hernandez, J. McKinzie, M. Samuels & C. Thompson, songwriters (Jay Rock)
BEST RAP ALBUM
Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B
Swimming, Mac Miller
Victory Lap, Nipsey Hussle
Daytona, Pusha T
Astroworld, Travis Scott
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Wouldn’t It Be Great?” Loretta Lynn
“Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters,” Maren Morris
“Butterflies,” Kacey Musgraves
“Millionaire,” Chris Stapleton
“Parallel Line,” Keith Urban
BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
“Shoot Me Straight,” Brothers Osborne
“Tequila,” Dan + Shay
“When Someone Stops Loving You,” Little Big Town
“Dear Hate,” Maren Morris featuring Vince Gill
“Meant to Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
BEST COUNTRY SONG
“Break Up In The End,” Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill & Jon Nite, songwriters (Cole Swindell)
“Dear Hate,” Tom Douglas, David Hodges & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris Featuring Vince Gill)
“I Lived It,” Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley & Ben Hayslip, songwriters (Blake Shelton)
“Space Cowboy,” Luke Laird, Shane McAnally & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“Tequila,” Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds & Dan Smyers, songwriters (Dan + Shay)
“When Someone Stops Loving You,” Hillary Lindsey, Chase McGill & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Little Big Town)
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Unapologetically, Kelsea Ballerini
Port Saint Joe, Brothers Osborne
Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
From A Room: Volume 2, Chris Stapleton
BEST GOSPEL PERFORMANCE/SONG
“You Will Win,” Jekalyn Carr
“Won’t He Do It,” Koryn Hawthorne
“Never Alone,” Tori Kelly featuring Kirk Franklin
“Cycles,” Jonathan McReynolds featuring DOE
“A Great Work,” Brian Courtney Wilson
BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE/SONG
“Reckless Love,” Cory Asbury
“You Say,” Lauren Daigle
“Joy.,” for KING & COUNTRY
“Grace Got You,” MercyMe featuring John Reuben
“Known,” Tauren Wells
BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
One Nation Under God, Jekalyn Carr
Hiding Place, Tori Kelly
Make Room, Jonathan McReynolds
The Other Side, The Walls Group
A Great Work, Brian Courtney Wilson
BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ALBUM
Look Up Child, Lauren Daigle
Hallelujah Here Below, Elevation Worship
Living with a Fire, Jesus Culture
Surrounded, Michael W. Smith
Survivor: Live from Harding Prison, Zach Williams
BEST LATIN POP ALBUM
Prometo, Pablo Alboran
Sincera, Claudia Brant
Musas (Un Homenaje al Folclore LatinoAmericano en Manos De Los Macorinos), Vol. 2, Natalia Lafourcade
2:00 AM, Raquel SofÃa
Vives, Carlos Vives
BEST AMERICAN ROOTS PERFORMANCE
Kick Rocks, Sean Ardoin
Saint James Infirmary Blues, Jon Batiste
The Joke, Brandi Carlile
All on My Mind, Anderson East
Last Man Standing, Willie Nelson
BEST AMERICAN ROOTS SONG
“All the Trouble,” Lee Ann Womack
“Build a Bridge,” Mavis Staples
“The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
“Knockin’ on Your Screen Door,” Josh Prine
“Summer’s End,” Josh Prine
BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
By the Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
Things Have Changed, Bettye LaVette
The Tree of Forgiveness, John Prine
The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone, Lee Ann Womack
One Drop of Truth, The Wood Brothers
BEST REGGAE ALBUM
As the World Turns, Black Uhru
Reggae Forever, Etana
Rebellion Rises, Ziggy Marley
A Matter of Time, Protoje
44/876, Sting & Shaggy
BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM
Accessory to War (Neil Degrasse Tyson & Avis Lange), Courtney B. Vance
Calypso, David Sedaris
Creative Quest, Questlove
Faith – A Journey for All, Jimmy Carter
The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish
BEST COMEDY ALBUM
Annihilation, Patton Oswalt
Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, Dave Chappelle
Noble Ape, Jim Gaffigan
Standup for Drummers, Fred Armisen
Tamborine, Chris Rock
BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM
The Band’s Visit (Original Broadway Cast)
Carousel (2018 Broadway Cast)
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (Original Television Cast)
My Fair Lady (2018 Broadway Cast)
Once on This Island (New Broadway Cast)
BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
Call Me By Your Name, Various Artists
Deadpool 2, Various Artists
The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman & Various Artists
Lady Bird, Various Artists
Stranger Things, Various Artists
BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
“All The Stars (from Black Panther),” Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
“Mystery of Love (from Call Me By Your Name),” Sufjan Stevens, songwriter (Sufjan Stevens)
“Remember Me (from Coco),” Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Miguel Featuring Natalia Lafourcade)
“Shallow (from A Star Is Born),” Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
“This Is Me (from The Greatest Showman),” Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL
Boi-1da
Larry Klein
Linda Perry
Kanye West
Pharrell Williams
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
“Apes—,” (The Carters) Ricky Saiz, video director; Mélodie Buchris, Natan Schottenfels & Erinn Williams, video producers
“This Is America,” (Childish Gambino) Hiro Murai, video director; Ibra Ake, Jason Cole & Fam Rothstein, video producers
“I’m Not Racist,” (Joyner Lucas) Joyner Lucas & Ben Proulx, video directors; Joyner Lucas, video producer
“Pynk,” (Janelle Monáe) Emma Westenberg, video director; Justin Benoliel & Whitney Jackson, video producers
“Mumbo Jumbo,” (Tierra Whack) Marco Prestini, video director; Sara Nassim, video producer
BEST MUSIC FILM
Life In 12 Bars, (Eric Clapton) Lili Fini Zanuck, video director; John Battsek, Scooter Weintraub, Larry Yelen & Lili Fini Zanuck, video producers
Whitney, (Whitney Houston) Kevin Macdonald, video director; Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn & Lisa Erspamer, video producers
Quincy, (Quincy Jones) Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, video directors; Paula DuPré Pesmen, video producer
Itzhak, (Itzhak Perlman) Alison Chernick, video director; Alison Chernick, video producer
The King, (Elvis Presley) Eugene Jarecki, video director; Christopher Frierson, Georgina Hill, David Kuhn & Christopher St. John, video producers
Congrats to all the winners!
#RHoA: OH WOW! NeNe Leakes Takes A Swing At Marlo Hampton In Wild New Trailer — Watch
NeNe Leakes
NeNe Leakes and Marlo Hampton totally go at in a scene from the midseason ‘RHOA’ trailer. NeNe completely loses it and starts pushing her cameraman.
NeNe Leakes is super pissed off in the new midseason trailer for Real Housewives of Atlanta that dropped on Feb. 7 and things get physical. She even ended up pushing and shoving the camera crew filming inside her home. It erupted during a scene where she got into it with co-star Marlo Hampton as the cast was filming at NeNe’s home and she had an absolute meltdown. “NeNe completely lost it that day,” a source tells Radar Online. “She was so mad and so out of control that she dragged the camera crew out of her house. NeNe made the whole crew leave, the camera guys and the producers. She threw them out.”
What led up to the drama was a fight between NeNe and Marlo that stemmed from the stress the 51-year-old has been under as her husband Gregg Leakes, 63, has been battling cancer. The cast is seen sitting around NeNe’s dining room table at her home when she emotionally asks “Do you know what I’m going through?” Marlo, 43, isn’t having any of her pity party, telling NeNe, “You’re not the only person hurting. Gregg’s hurting, (son) Brentt‘s hurting, his friends are hurting” as NeNe gives her the mother of all eye rolls.
NeNe breaks down in tears, putting her hand over her eyes and then things go completely off the rails. Marlo is seen heading towards the door but turning back to yell at NeNe, who gets out of her chair and comes at her! Someone is heard saying “You got a bathroom in here?” and NeNe physically grabs a camerman by his shirt and drags him away from the person he was filming, who is presumably Marlo.
Then things get really crazy as NeNe is pictured crying and running towards the cameraman again, fighting to get past him and to whoever she is trying to take down. She’s seen yelling “Let’s be clear, bitch, I’m going to f–k you up,” while Porsha Williams says in a confessional “That came out of nowhere. I don’t know what’s going on.” We don’t either, but we can’t wait to watch and see the drama go down. At the very end NeNe is seen collapsed on the floor in tears as several of her co-stars gather around her and one is heard saying “Let her breathe, let her breathe.” Oh man! It must have been right after that meltdown that she reportedly kicked everyone — including the crew and producers — out of her house.
#Empire: YESSSSSS! We have Season 5 Return Date and watch Cookie and Lucious Go to War With Kingsley in First Promo
Welcome back to the Lyons’ den. Fox has set the midseason return date for the fifth season of “Empire” and released a promo for the upcoming batch of episodes, which shows Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Lucious (Terrence Howard) going to war with Jeff Kingsley (A.Z. Kelsey) — who we all now know to be Lucious’ fourth son.
And when we say all we do mean all, after that very awkward family meeting in front of everyone at the end of the winter finale, in which Kingsley revealed the paternity news to Cookie, Andre (Trai Byers), Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) in front of a giant crowd at Lyon Family Management’s big event.
In the 45-second teaser, we see things will pick up pretty much right where they left off, with Cookie and Lucious ready to take down Kingsley — as the current CEO of Empire was definitely looking for a fight when he told the Lyons who he really was on the previous episode.
“We’ve done bad things, Lucious,” Cookie says in the short promo. “And it’s come back to collect with a living, breathing, furious man who calls you daddy.”
There’s also yet another chilling shot of Lucious looking at that freakin’ casket in a flash-forward and Kingsley threatening, “I took the thing that you valued most, and I toyed with it for my own entertainment.”
Uh, in case you forgot, the last episode ended on a cliffhanger with another flash-forward, this one showing Andre flatline in the hospital in front of his mother and father. So, yeah.
WATCH IT HERE
“Empire” Season 5 returns March 13 at 8/7c on Fox.
#MusicNews: Next Single up for Mariah Carey will be ‘A No No’!
Mariah Carey has announced “A No No” as her next radio single from the Caution era.
As reported by Billboard, the kiss-off track is expected to impact urban and rhythmic crossover radio formats on March 4. Along with the official radio release, an alleged remix featuring Missy Elliott and Lil’ Kim is expected to follow, according to hints from Jermaine Dupri’s social media.
Carey and her team are making strategic moves with the release of “A No No.” The single’s impact date corresponds perfectly with her Caution World Tour, which kicks off on February 27, in Dallas.
LISTEN HERE
In other MC-related news, the songbird supreme just scored her 23rd top 10 single on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Airplay chart for “With You.” The recent chart move logs Carey’s first top 10 entry since her “All I Want For Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!)” duet with Justin Bieber (No. 3) in 2011. The chart victory marks Mimi’s first top 10 single as a lead performer since “Oh Santa” (No. 1) in 2010. “With You” also makes Carey’s first non-festive single since 2005’s “We Belong Together” (No. 3) to achieve this feat.
In December 2018, the DJ Mustard-produced ballad dotted her first top 10 single in decade on the Adult R&B Songs Airplay chart. Since then, the beautiful recording has made it to No. 3 on the airplay chart.
#NewHipHop from Migos “Position To Win”
Migos haven't wasted any time in delivering new music in 2019. After dropping "Pure Water" with Mustard, Quavo, Offset and Takeoff return with their new song "Position to Win." The uplifting, bass-filled banger delivers motivational messages over a vibrant beat created by DJ Durel, Quavo and Tommee Profitt.
At the top of the song, Quavo jumps into some flexing while laying out his willingness to take a chance to be great. "Steppin' up, always take the risk/Livin' life, go hard and don't quit/Drip, splash like the ice on the wrist/That's a call I can't miss," Huncho spits.
LISTEN HERE
"Position to Win" made its debut in Mountain Dew's "Let's Do" commercial. The ad, which aired a few weeks before the 2019 Super Bowl, features Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff rapping the hook while UFC star Holly Holm, NBA All-Star Joel Embiid and skateboarders Sean Malto and Mariah Duran all get active and they what they do best: win. Now we get to hear the CDQ version of the song in full.
Extra’ Suspends A.J. Calloway Amid Sexual Misconduct Investigation
“Extra” has suspended host A.J. Calloway after several women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.
Warner Bros. released the following statement: Upon becoming aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against AJ Calloway, we began an internal review to determine whether there had been any misconduct by Mr. Calloway on Extra and whether any employee of the show had been the victim of any such misconduct. To date, we have found nothing to suggest that Mr. Calloway has ever engaged in workplace misconduct.
In light of additional allegations brought to our attention, we are expanding our ongoing inquiries, and Mr. Calloway has been suspended pending further review. We take such allegations very seriously and are committed to doing everything we can to ensure a safe and inclusive workplace for all of our employees.
A.J. Calloway has denied the allegations against him.
His attorney Lisa E. Davis, said in a statement: Mr. Calloway maintains that these unsubstantiated allegations are patently false. He vehemently denies that he ever assaulted anyone and looks forward to clearing his name.
WOW!
Brad Pitt Shows Up to Jen Aniston’s 50th Birthday Party
Brad Pitt just arrived at Jennifer Aniston‘s birthday party … this is not a drill.
The former husband and wife reunited Saturday night at the Sunset Tower Hotel for Aniston’s star-studded birthday bash.
Pitt arrived solo in a black Escalade and quickly made his way inside, trying to dodge the photogs who were already buzzing about the big event.
The stars, who were married from 2000 – 2005, have been back on speaking terms for quite some time. As we reported, they sparked a friendship back up as Pitt was splitting from Angelina Jolie, but nothing romantic had developed between the ex-lovers.
The “Friends” star has been very open in discussing her marriage to Pitt, recently describing the relationship as “successful,” despite a divorce.
Pitt and Aniston won’t be partying alone, as many of her Hollywood friends have also arrived, including Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Meyer, Reese Witherspoon and Ellen DeGeneres. Orlando and Perry arrived via motorcycle … so cool.
#BoxOfficeNews: The LEGO Movie 2 came in at #1 with 34 Million and Taraji’s What Men Want is #2 with 19 Million!
The weekend didn't turn out to be quite as big as expected, thanks mostly due to a severe underperformance from Warner Bros.'s The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, which debuted approximately $20 million below expectations as franchise fatigue seems to have settled in rather quickly. Otherwise, the rest of the weekend's new releases fell, for the most part, within expectations with What Men Want finishing in the runner-up position followed by Lionsgate's release of Summit's Cold Pursuit while Orion's The Prodigy fell just a bit outside industry expectations.
At the top of the box office, Warner Bros.'s The LEGO Movie 2 brought in an estimated $34.4 million, falling well short of the anticipated $50-55 million the studio was anticipating heading into the weekend. The performance is also well below the $69 million the first film opened with back in February 2014 as well as below the $53 million opening for The LEGO Batman Movie in February 2017. That same year WB debuted a second LEGO feature in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which opened with a franchise low, $20.4 million in September 2017. The dwindling returns for the films in this franchise suggests the studio jumped the gun with so many spin-offs before actually establishing the overall series.
That said, critics have given three of the four films (Ninjago excluded) top marks, with those three declared "Certified Fresh" on RottenTomatoes and the same going for audience response on those same three films. Audiences gave LEGO 2 an "A-" CinemaScore, matching the same score for LEGO Batman, though the films have been trending increasingly male with LEGO 2 playing to an audience that was 57% male, the largest gender discrepancy among all four films so far. Overall, however, ancillaries should most likely remain high with LEGO 2 suggesting this is far from the end of the franchise, and WB may simply need to change tact looking ahead.
Internationally, LEGO 2 brought in an estimated $18.1 million from 63 overseas markets. Comparatively, the first LEGO Movie brought in $18.4 million in its first weekend from ~30 fewer markets. As for the sequel's performance, the UK led the way with $5.3 million followed by Russia ($1.7m), Poland ($1.3m), Germany ($1.1m), Spain ($830k), Brazil ($707k), the Netherlands ($622k) and South Korea ($500k). The film will open in Mexico on February 14 followed by openings in France (Feb 20), Italy (Feb 21) and Australia (Mar 21).
Paramount's What Women Want came in smack dab in the middle of studio expectations, debuting with an estimated $19 million from 2,912 locations. The film entered the weekend with relatively weak reviews — 47% on RottenTomatoes and 51 on Metacritic — and audiences seem to have agreed based on a 49% audience score at RottenTomatoes and a very weak, 3.6/10 on IMDb. That said, the film's CinemaScore was still an "A-", matching the likes of Night School, which pulled off a 2.83x multiplier, which would mean a $53 million run for What Men Want on a reported $20 million budget should it enjoy a similar run.
Lionsgate's release of Summit's Cold Pursuit slightly exceeded expectations with an $10.8 million opening from 2,630 locations. The film played to an opening weekend crowd that was 58% male with 79% of the overall audience coming in aged 25 or older, playing to similar demographics to that of star Liam Neeson's The Commuter, which opened last January with $13.7 million and went on to gross over $36 million. A similar run for Cold Pursuit would have it ending its run just shy of $30 million domestic. The film received a "B-" CinemaScore.
In fourth is STXFilms's The Upside, continuing its strong week-over-week performance, this time dipping just -17% compared to last weekend with an estimated $7.2 million and a domestic cume that now stands at $85.8 million, well on its way to a $100 million domestic run. The film has also brought in $8.9 million internationally so far, boosting its worldwide cume to $94.7 million.
Rounding out the top five is Universal's Glass with an estimated $5.8 million for a domestic cume that now totals $98.4 million. The film also added $6.6 million internationally this weekend for an overseas cume that now totals $123 million, pushing its global cume over $221 million.
Finishing outside the top five is Orion's release of the horror thriller The Prodigy, which debuted in 2,530 locations with an estimated $6 million. The performance is short of the $7-9 million the studio was anticipating heading into the weekend, but with a $6 million budget the film should break even easily enough, though weak reviews and a relatively poor audience response means it won't be sticking around too long. Overall, the film played to an audience that was 54% male with 61% of the crowd coming in aged 25 or older. The film received a "C+" CinemaScore.
Danai Gurira is leaving The Walking dead after seven seasons
Danai Gurira is leaving The Walking Dead. The actor joined the show in season three as Michonne but, according to The Hollywood Reporter, has now signed a deal to make season 10 her final appearance.
Even then, she will return in a limited capacity, appearing a handful of episodes interspersed across the season.
Much like her co-star Andrew Lincoln, who played Rick Grimes on the show and who left in the first half of season nine, Gurira will then likely form a part of the three Walking Dead movies that network AMC currently has planned. Both characters are integral to the show’s source comic, created by Robert Kirkman.
AMC’s programming president David Madden had already hinted at Gurira’s departure, noting that the actor is now in far higher demand, thanks to her role as Okoye in Marvel blockbuster Black Panther and her stage work. Her 2012 play The Convert, starring Black Panther co-star Letitia Wright, has just ended a London run.
Is Wendy Williams “Hiatus” Really Due To Allegedly Abusive Husband?
For months television viewers have watched the slow decline in Wendy Williams’ physical health on her top-rated daytime talk show “The Wendy Williams Show.”
In October of 2017, Wendy experienced a scary fainting spell during a Halloween show and then this past December she appeared to be slurring her words and repeating herself.
Viewers speculated that something was wrong and Wendy finally revealed that due to numerous health complications including a fractured shoulder and Graves’ disease, she would need to take some time off to recover.
However reports cited a different story, one that included alleged long term physical and emotional abuse from her husband and manager Kevin Hunter, who is also accused of carrying on over a decade long affair with a woman named Sharina Hudson-that Wendy is aware of.
Page Six is reporting that sources close to the host are beginning to spill Wendy’s tea, with claims that her erratic behavior on set has been going on for the last few years and only severely worsened during the last few months of her show.
A frequent guest told the NY Post that producers encouraged them to “carry the segment” during their appearance- implying that Wendy couldn’t do it on her own.
Now, as Wendy is receiving long term care in South Florida and her show is being guest hosted by an array of celebrities, current, and former employees are starting to talk.
Insiders claim that employees of her TV show have been worried about Wendy’s behavior and incoherence on set since as far back as the 2014/2015 season.
One former producer talked about how nervous and worried the crew would be on Thursdays in particular when the show would tape two shows; one live and the other one set to air the next day.
“Sometimes Wendy would be in her dressing room, doing whatever she does between shows, and her behavior for the second show would seem erratic. It started happening more and more frequently…trailing off mid-sentence, not finishing her thoughts.”
Wendy’s inability to focus seemed to be due to more than over exhaustion. And while Wendy’s been quite honest about her past addictions to cocaine and alcohol, she’s claimed to be sober for a very long time. So could her current struggles be in part to a much deeper issue?
Wendy has been relatively silent on the rumors of abuse and allegations of cheating that have surfaced against her husband. Even while many who have worked closely with Williams throughout the years of both her TV and former radio show have come forward with tales of witnessing physical abuse, verbal berating of Wendy and her staffers and cruel intimidation tactics used frequently by her husband.
According to sources from the radio show days, Wendy feared her husband’s wrath.
“She would hide in the bathroom and tell me to knock on the door when he left the office so she wouldn’t have to see him.”
The intern also claimed to have witnessed Hunter pull his wife into private rooms while at the radio station and staffers could hear them fighting from behind closed doors.
“They’re not your typical couple,” said a former radio show employee. “They’re not a couple where you think there is love there. It’s very toxic.”
Hunter’s explosive temper has been directed at employees on many occasions. As an executive producer of “The Wendy Williams Show,” despite any previous television experience, he’s known as a tyrant on the set of her talk show, who smokes weed all day in his office and even walks around on set carrying a bottle of tequila.
According to a former TV show staffer, Hunter tried to keep Wendy isolated from staff, making sure that she did not form close friendships with anyone. When she did become tight with a wardrobe stylist, Williams made sure to keep her friendship a secret from her husband. Hunter did eventually find out, and the stylist was terminated from her position soon thereafter.
Hunter was sued in June of 2008 by a woman who worked for “The Wendy Williams Experience” after she made allegations about his abusive behavior.
In her complaint, Nicole Spence claimed that Hunter sexually harassed her and created a “hostile work environment” where she allegedly witnessed Hunter physically assault his wife, choking her and pinning her against a wall. The case was settled on October 22, 2008.
Wendy -to her credit, continues to seem relatively unfazed, despite the many negative reports surrounding him. And has even shot down any rumors about his alleged relationship with Sharina Hudson, stating on air in September of 2017: “I stand by my guy.”
Fear Of God Founder Jerry Lorenzo No Excuse, Gucci ...BLACKFACE IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Fear of God Founder Jerry Lorenzo Blasts Gucci Over Blackface Sweater
Fashion designer Jerry Lorenzo says Gucci's got a serious problem -- either the brand's too dumb to realize it's promoting hateful imagery ... or it's doing it on purpose.
We got the founder of streetwear label Fear of God outside Delilah in Weho Friday night, who compares the Italian fashion house's recent blackface sweater blunder to a popular scene in the 1995 film "Casino" ... and it's pretty great. Jerry's take is Gucci's at fault no matter how you slice it, because it's either not socially conscious of how an item like this would be perceived ... or it's flat-out being racist intentionally.
And, it's a bad look regardless.
Lorenzo thinks Gucci will recover, though -- despite calls for a boycott by Spike Lee and T.I. -- because that's just the nature of the news cycle these days.
BTW -- Fear of God's got a huge following, with celeb fans like Cardi B and Justin Bieber
Angela Bassett Joins Smokey Robinson & Dionne Warwick at Clive Davis' Pre-Grammys Party
The 60-year-old American Horror Story actress was joined inside the event by husband Courtney B. Vance.
Other stars stepping out for the event included musical icons Smokey Robinson and wife Frances Glandney, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick and host Clive Davis, and David Foster.
Other stars at the event included LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan.
OH MY! B Smith’s Husband’s live-in girlfriend Alex Lerner allegedly HIT B SMITH!
TV personality, style expert and entrepreneur Paul Wharton is one of B. Smith’s oldest friends, which is why his recent claims that he saw Alex Lerner physically scold Smith while in his presence, has many fans of the former model/restaurateur in an uproar. During a recent appearance on Good Morning Washington, the topic shifted to all the drama surrounding Smith, Gasby and Lerner. Wharton, having known Smith for several years, gave his own account of the situation and his claims are shocking to say the least.
Wharton began telling his prospective of things by showing video proof and recalling when he first realized that Gasby and Lerner were a couple, while they were all vacationing in the Hamptons. He stated that Lerner asked him, “do you know Dan?” leading Wharton to ask, “do you know Dan?” Clearly Wharton and Gasby had known each other for years prior, so he was puzzled by her question. The accompanying video also shows the couple making out in the pool while others socialize around them.
However, that was just the beginning. The most shocking part of Wharton’s retelling is when he revealed that while out with Gasby, Lerner and Smith, he saw Lerner hit Smith on her hand and chastise her because she was reaching for something on the table. Wharton said he immediately told her that it’s not okay to hit Smith. He also disputed the claims from the couple that she is completely childlike, he says she still a grown woman who should be treated with respect.
Wharton said: “Dan and Alex, you know they were saying ‘she’s like a child,’ but I said she’s not, but she’s not, she’s an adult. And there was a moment where Alex did chastise B. a bit. She was reaching for something on the table and she smacked her hand. And I grabbed Alex’s hand and I said, ‘Alex you really can’t do that.’”
Continuing, Wharton also discussed seeing Lerner slap Gasby across the face when he was complimenting Smith, saying that she was the kindest woman he had ever met:
“Dan was at the table and he was saying to me, ‘you know B. is the kindest, sweetest woman I’ve ever met.’ And I’m gonna share and I didn’t want to for a long time. Alex reached over a smacked the heck outta his arm and she said, ‘I’m sitting here and you’re saying that B. is the kindest, sweetest woman you’ve ever met?’ And I said Alex, that’s his wife.”
Additionally, Wharton doesn’t think that Gasby and Lerner should be Smith’s primary caregivers:
“They have great resources. And I feel like she should be supported more in terms of her caregiving. It’s just my opinion. Alex coming into this relationship, although her intentions are good, is still a woman in a relationship with a man that wants to be loved.”
What do you think of this?
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘DOING NOING’
It makes my brain hurt so much that it’s actually borderline profound.
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet OH'BEHR
Meet Mr Oh'Behr! So you know what to do to see more. Just GO HERE TO SEE THE PICS and remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN NOR ALTER any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
You’re Welcome!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD ALL!
EFREM
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