#MAGFAB: Vanity Fair’s 2022 Hollywood Issue
For the 28th annual Hollywood Issue, Vanity Fair turns the spotlight on eight shining stars who are breaking boundaries, thrilling audiences, and inventing the movieland they want to live in.
NICOLE KIDMAN, ANDREW GARFIELD, IDRIS ELBA, KRISTEN STEWART, SIMU LIU, BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ, and PENÉLOPE CRUZ—all at play in fantastical habitats created by the artist-photographers MAURIZIO CATTELAN and PIERPAOLO FERRARI. The dream team assembled here also sits down with our writers and talks frankly about how they’ve survived—personally and professionally—in an industry that has faced twists and turns beyond anything they could have imagined.
Get more HERE!
#RHOA: Simon Guobadia Hints At Wanting More Kids With Porsha Williams
Simon Guobadia may want more kids with Porsha Williams. The businessman recently hinted at family expansion in an Instagram post.
Simon shared a throwback candid of his daughter, Ximena, with his social media fans. “I recall Ximena at this age,” Simon told his supporters. “I’m ready for another one. Where are you @porsha4real,” the businessman asked.
It was just a few days ago that Simon and Porsha celebrated Valentine’s Day in Anguilla. “Our first celebration of Valentines (sic) together as a couple and it turned out epic,” Simon said of his and Porsha’s trip. “@porsha4real surprised me with a trip to Anguilla – my first trip ever to this Caribbean nation,” Guobadia told his social media fans.
“Last year, she showed out for my birthday celebration as well,” the businessman said of his fiancee. “Now, she has pushed the bar even higher with the choice she made for our Valentine’s celebration. I’m thankful and speechless all at the same d*mn time,” Simon told his supporters. “You got me on this one,” the entrepreneur told his soon-to-be wife. “I plan on retaliating … soon.”
“Our relationship began a month ago—yes we are crazy in love,” Porsha told her social media fans. “I know it’s fast but we are living life each day to its fullest,” the celebrity said. “I choose happiness every morning and every night,” Porsha revealed. “Tuning out all negative energy and only focused on positive wishes. He makes me so happy and to me, that is what matters most.”
Some criticized Porsha for engaging in romantic relations with a married man. Both Simon and Porsha, however, brought clarity to the situation by revealing that he filed to divorce his wife, Falynn Pina, before pursuing a relationship with his then-girlfriend.
“I had nothing to do with their divorce filing,” Porsha told her social media fans. “That’s between the two of them,” the celebrity said.
Porsha and Simon are planning to wed in the coming months. Pilar celebrates her third birthday next month.
#MusicNews: Janet Jackson, Charlie Wilson, Anthony Hamilton, Tank & More To Perform At The Return Of The Cincinnati Music Festival In July
Another day, another music festival announcement! Returning for 2022 is the Cincinnati Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio from Thursday, July 21st through Saturday, July 23rd. Presented by P&G and now in its 58th year, the Cincinnati Music Festival promises that its comeback after a two-year, coronavirus pandemic-induced hiatus will be bigger and better than ever. With a lineup that includes headliners Janet Jackson and Charlie Wilson, they may just be right.
The 2022 Cincinnati Music Festival kicks off with BJ The Chicago Kid who will be performing on Thursday, July 21st at the brand new Andrew J. Brady Music Center. BJTCK will set the tone for an exciting and soulful weekend of music ahead.
The festival festivities will get kicked up a few notches when everything moves to Paul Brown Stadium on Friday, July 22nd. That is the day when Uncle Charlie Wilson headlines a solid lineup that includes soul man Anthony Hamilton, legendary R&B trio Tony! Toni! Toné! and South African jazz fusion great Jonathan Butler.
The third and final day of the festival on Saturday, July 23rd will end with an icon. Performing for the first time at the Cincinnati Music Festival will be superstar Janet Jackson who’ll headline that day’s show with a performance that is guaranteed to be epic. She’ll be joined by living legends The O’Jays, the R&B general Tank, tantalizing trio After 7 and saxophonist extraordinaire Kirk Whalum.
Janet, Charlie and many of the artists on this year’s roster were originally scheduled to perform at the 2020 Cincinnati Music Festival before it got canceled. It’s great that artists were able to reschedule and, most importantly, that they’re healthy and still here with us.
Make plans now to see all these beloved artists command the stage at the 2022 Cincinnati Music Festival in July. Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster. Visit the Cincinnati Music Festival website for additional information.
#HipHopNews: Pusha T Confirms Jay-Z Feature On New Album
Pusha T has another collaboration with JAY-Z in the bag. While speaking with the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast, the “Diet Coke” rapper revealed that Hov will be featured on his upcoming album.
“What’s the three songs you got with Hov?” asked the host, to which Pusha responded, “Something for my new album. I don’t even know if I was supposed to say that.”
When asked how Hov’s verse compared to their past two collaborations, including “Drug Dealers Anonymous” and “So Appalled,” Pusha said, “Oh, he got busy.”
After the interview aired, Pusha’s manager Steven Victor shared a snippet of JAY-Z’s verse on Instagram.
Earlier this month, Pusha teased the JAY-Z feature on Twitter. “You do know on the new album I have a record with…nvm,” he tweeted.
The follow-up to 2018’s Daytona was produced entirely by Kanye West and The Neptunes. “Nobody makes better music with those two entities than me,” Pusha told Complex. “I want people to stop working with them, because it sort of cheapens what I do.”
And’s he’s confident about his upcoming body of work. “There’s no album that’s better than mine this year,” he declared.
Additionally, Pusha revealed that he’s buried his beef with Drake. “I’ve already looked past that,” he said. “I don’t look towards that anymore. … Bygones are bygones, as far as I see.”
Guilty Verdicts In Federal Hate Crimes Trial In Ahmaud Arbery's Death!
A federal jury in Georgia on Tuesday found the three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery guilty of hate crime charges.
After a day of deliberation, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said Tuesday morning that the jury — made up of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person — had come to a conclusion and would read its verdict shortly.
The jury found father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan guilty of all charges.
McMichaels and Bryan chased Arbery, 25, through their coastal Georgia neighborhood in trucks. The three men spotted Arbery running by their homes in February 2020, and cornered him and Travis McMichael fatally shot him with a shotgun.
The McMichaels and Bryan were free for several weeks after the shooting. They were arrested only after the video that Bryan recorded was released and the case was taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
They were convicted of murder and given life sentences in the state trial. The federal hate crime trial centered on the history of the three men and their racial bias, a motive that prosecutors in the state case largely avoided.
The prosecution spent a week working to establish that Arbery's murder was driven by the three men's racial bias and their animus toward Black people.
Witnesses called included an FBI analyst who had combed through the three men's social media and messaging history, where she found messages, videos and memes that appeared to show that the three men held strong prejudices against Black people.
The defense said the messages and social media posts added to evidence were taken out of context.
Friday was the final day and perhaps the most jarring for the jury, as prosecutors called neighbors and former co-workers of the McMichaels, who all testified that the father and son made troubling racist jokes, rants and statements and were open about their negative feelings toward Black people.
Russian pipeline to Germany put on ice after Putin sends troops to Ukraine
Throughout the case, the defense maintained that the three men may not be likable, may have said troubling things in the past and did not dispute the essential facts of the case. But they insisted that they were not driven by prejudice to kill Arbery.
On Monday, the jury heard closing arguments in which prosecutor Christopher Perras said that the three men were driven by their "pent-up racial anger" and that Travis McMichael "was just looking for a reason" to harm a Black person.
The prosecution also focused on the McMichaels' operating as vigilantes and their view that they were above the law. At one point in the closing statement, Perras noted that Greg McMichaels did not call police when Arbery ran by; he called his son and picked up his gun.
“There’s a big difference between being vigilant and being a vigilante,” said Perras, later adding: “It’s important for you to understand the full depth of the defendants’ racial hatred.”
The defense asked the jury to keep emotion out of the case.
The McMichaels attempted to plead guilty to the hate crime charges prior to the trial, but the plea agreement was rescinded after Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, protested that the men would be able serve their time in a federal prison instead of a state one, calling the deal "disrespectful.
“Ahmaud didn’t get the option of a plea,” Cooper-Jones said.
Wendy Williams Producers Begged Her To Address Fans On Social Media: She Went Behind Their Back & Set Up Her Own IG Account Because She Doesn’t Trust Anyone On The Show
With the recent news that The Wendy Williams Show is allegedly coming to an end, it looks like behind the scenes information is starting to surface!
According to Radar, producers of the talk show had encouraged Wendy Williams to reach out to her fans on social media, but she allegedly wouldn’t return their phone calls. Sources say,
“Producers had been begging Wendy for months to address her fans on social media to explain ‘in her own words’ what was going on. They were willing to send a team of social media professionals from the show down to Florida to film and edit a short video that could be posted over all the Wendy show accounts, but Wendy wouldn’t return their calls. Now instead, behind their backs she has set up her own, independent account because she doesn’t trust anyone that works at her show anymore.”
Love B Scott exclusively reported that The Wendy Williams Show is coming to an end this June. By fall 2022, guest host Sherri Shepherd, 54, will fill the slot with her own talk show. Sources close to production told the website:
“The producers informed everyone that the [Wendy Show] was being canceled at the end of June. Then in the next breath they hired everyone to work on the new Sherri show.”
Further distancing herself from her self-titled show, the 57-year-old talk show host created a brand new Instagram account last week with the name, ‘the real wendy williams online’. With only 2 posts and 27,000 followers, Wendy Williams is slowly building her new page, marking the end of her role as the “Wendy Show” page manager.
As previously reported, over the past few months, there have been multiple reports that the legendary talk show host is quietly battling mental health issues. More recently, there have been reports that the 57-year-old’s funds were frozen at Wells Fargo bank. According to sources, Wendy has been seeing flying back and forth from New York to Florida and even checked into a wellness center down in Miami.
It’s unclear what’s next for Wendy, who hasn’t hosted her self-titled talk show since she fell ill in July 2021.
Britney Spears set to pen tell-all book in bombshell $15M deal
It’s Britney’s book, bitch, Britney Spears has sealed a bombshell book deal said to be worth as much as $15 million.
Publishing insiders say Spears, 40, has reached a landmark deal with publishing house Simon & Schuster for her tell-all memoir about her career, her “Toxic” life and her family.
The deal comes after a bidding war from multiple publishers over her book, according to one insider, who claimed, “the deal is one of the biggest of all time, behind the Obamas.”
The rights for Barack and Michelle Obama’s books sold in 2017, with the sum reportedly surpassing $60 million, the largest ever known figure for nonfiction books. Bill Clinton landed a $15 million deal for his post-presidential book “My Life” in 2001.
Spears has been gunning to pen a memoir after she was left fuming over the claims made in her younger sister Jamie Lynn’s scathing tome, “Things I Should Have Said,” released in January this year.
Britney wrote on Instagram at the time, “Congrats best seller…..The nerve of you to sell a book now and talk s—t but your f—king lying…..I wish you would take a lie detector test so all these masses of people see you’re lying through your teeth about me !!!! I wish the almighty, Lord would could come down and show this whole world that you’re lying and making money off of me !!!! You are scum, Jamie Lynn.”
Britney’s lawyer Mathew Rosengart issued a strongly worded cease-and-desist to the actress, asserting that Britney will “no longer be bullied” by her family.
“Although Britney has not read and does not intend to read your book, she and millions of her fans were shocked to see how you have exploited her for monetary gain. She will not tolerate it, nor should she,” the letter read.
And she also posted on Instagram that she was sitting on a vault of stories about relatives who sat by as she endured the grueling conditions of a 13-year conservatorship. “Lord have mercy on my family’s souls if I ever do an interview.”
Since the singer’s notorious conservatorship was ended after 13 years in November, Britney has been the subject of a number of documentaries that have focused on her legal battles and bids for freedom, many of which she has criticized.
And she has been recently hinting she’s ready to start writing her book. Sharing a photo of an old-school typewriter, she wrote in early January, “Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???”
And earlier this month, teased that she is working on her first music project in five years after being freed from her conservatorship. Sharing a video of herself dancing, she wrote on Instagram, “This is a tease of what’s to come !!!!”
Reps for Spears didn’t comment and Simon & Schuster didn’t get back to us.
‘The Blind Side’ Star Quinton Aaron Shows Off Almost 100-Pound Weight Loss
Feeling good! Quinton Aaron revealed his nearly 100-pound weight loss after focusing on his health to start the new year.
via: Page Six
The 37-year-old told TMZ he dropped from 559 pounds to 462 pounds, after gaining weight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He told the outlet that he would begin each day in lockdown by eating two jumbo-sized Kit Kat bars and two packs of Reese’s.
He also chalked the weight gain up to eating a lot of bread, and always ordering dessert when dining out.
“I used the new year as a way to get a new me,” he told the outlet.
Aaron, who famously portrayed NFL star Michael Oher in the 2009 Oscar-nominated film, is now eating Cobb salads for lunch and sticking to a keto diet.
He also revealed he started walking and stretching as exercise and hopes to drop another 64 pounds by May 10 to honor his late mom on her birthday.
Aaron has also appeared in films like “Be Kind Rewind,” “The Ministers,” “1982,” and “The Appearing,” along with episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and “One Tree Hill.”
The real life Michael Oher, whose tale of life in foster care and eventual rise to the NFL is chronicled in “The Blind Side,” admitted back in 2015 that the film hurt his career.
“People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am,” he told ESPN.
The now-retired player, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013, also wrote in his 2011 book, “I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond,” that the film misrepresented how much Bullock’s character helped him to understand football.
“I watched those scenes thinking, ‘No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying — really studying — the game since I was a kid!’ That was my main hang-up with the film.”
Dave Chappelle to Produce 4 Comedy Specials for Netflix
*Dave Chappelle’s relationship with Netflix is still going strong following the fallout surrounding his “The Closer” comedy special, which criticized the transgender community.
Chappelle will host and executive produce four upcoming comedy specials for the streaming giant, collectively titled “Chappelle’s Home Team,” PEOPLE reports. The stand-alone shows will each feature a different comic introduced by Chappelle, according to a Netflix press release.
Per Variety, “Titled “Earthquake: Legendary,” the first special features Earthquake discussing health as wealth, prostate exams and disciplining kids. The second special, with premiere date yet to be announced, features Donnell Rawlings, another comic from Washington.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time and comedians like Quake and Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career,” Chappelle said. “Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue. I am proud to be a part of this moment.”
Along with Chappelle, executive producers include Earthquake, Rikki Hughes, Jermaine Smith and Stan Lathan, who also serves as director.
“Earthquake: Legendary” will premiere on the platform on Feb. 28. Rawlings’ special has yet to receive a release date.
In “The Closer,” Chappelle targets transgender people and caught so much heat from doing so that the LGBT’s worked overtime to cancel the comic — but failed miserably.
Back in October Chappelle posted a clip to his official Instagram page in which he responded to the controversy over “The Closer.”
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me,” the comedian says in the five-minute clip. “I am not bending to anyone’s demands,” he said.
In the clip, Chappelle slammed reports that he was invited to meet with transgender employees at Netflix but refused.
“It was said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix and I refused. That is not true,” he said in a video taken during a stand-up comedy show late last year.
“If they invited me, I would have accepted it, although I’m confused about what we’re speaking about,” he continued. “I said what I said. And, boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. Well, it seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”
Chappelle then joked that he has several conditions they must meet before he meets with the trans community.
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands,” he said. “And if you want to meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have some conditions. First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing. And thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
Gadsby, an Australian comedian, and star of Netflix’s “Nannette,” slammed Chappelle on October 15 and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos for defending “The Closer.”
Arthur Series Finale Reveals the Characters' Full-Circle Futures
Monday marked the last wonderful kind of day for the citizens of Elwood City, with PBS Kids’ Arthur coming to an end after 25 seasons.
Whether you’ve been a faithful Arthur devotee since 1996, a casual purveyor of the fans’ twisted memes, or didn’t even realize that the show was still airing until you heard about Mr. Ratburn’s gay rat wedding a few years ago, we can all agree that this marks the end of an era.
The show’s final segment, appropriately titled “All Grown Up,” offered a glimpse at what the future holds for Arthur the aardvark, Buster the bunny, and… you know, whatever everyone else is. Here’s what we learned about where they’ll all end up:
* Thanks to an instructional drawing book he wasn’t even supposed to get from the library, Arthur grows up to become a graphic novelist. The episode ends with Arthur, who’s rocking some very 20-years-later facial hair, reading the first chapter of his first book to his old friends. And wouldn’t you know, his book series is literally just Arthur all over again.
* Muffy is running for mayor of Elwood, with new Sugar Bowl owner George eager to see her defeat Mayor Hirsch.
* Francine, whose new haircut deserves its own spinoff, is happily working for a company that makes sneakers.
* D.W. is now a traffic cop, and not even the flirty advances of Bud Compson can keep her from giving a ticket where a ticket is due.
* And Buster is working as a teacher. It’s unclear whether he enjoys his new life, but he certainly has the wardrobe for it.
Of course, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Marc Brown’s anthropomorphic animal creations. PBS is already developing multiple digital extensions of the popular kids’ franchise, including games, a podcast and educational video shorts.
Michigan Basketball's Juwan Howard Suspended The Rest Of Regular Season; Two Players Banned One Game
Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard won't be on the sidelines for a while.
Howard has been suspended for the rest of the regular season, two sources confirmed the Free Press on Monday night.
Minutes after the news broke, the Big Ten announced that Howard's suspension was addressed by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and that the conference "reached alignment" with the discipline.
The conference also announced that Howard has been fined $40,000.
“Big Ten Conference coaches and student-athletes are expected to display the highest level of sportsmanship conduct,” conference commissioner Kevin Warren said in the released statement. “I am grateful for the partnership with Michigan Athletics Director, Warde Manuel and Wisconsin Athletics Director, Chris McIntosh. Our expectation is that the incident yesterday will provide our coaches and student-athletes with the opportunity to reflect, learn and move forward in a manner that demonstrates decorum and leadership on and off of the court.”
This would not include the Big Ten tournament or any other postseason games.
The conference also announced that Michigan forwards Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams II would be suspended one game.
Howard struck Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the face after Howard and head coach Greg Gard exchanged words in the postgame handshake on Sunday. The Wolverines lost, 77-63, and Howard was unhappy that Gard called timeout with 15 seconds remaining, but the Wisconsin head coach said he did so to ready his reserves for Howard's pressure defense the Wolverines were still employing.
He did not apologize for his actions, in his postgame news conference.
The Big Ten released a statement around 7 p.m. Monday, stating that Howard was in "clear violation of the Big Ten Conference's Sportsmanship Policy," and that Gard was "in violation" of the policy.
Gard was also fined $10,000 and Wisconsin guard Jahcobi Neath has been suspended one game.
[ Tom Izzo 'bothered' by Juwan Howard incident; 'reminded me of Malice in the Palace' ]
Howard had a heated exchange with then-Maryland coach Mark Turgeon during last season's Big Ten tournament in the second half of the quarterfinal win.
Michigan (14-11, 8-7 Big Ten) has five regular season games remaining, four at home, then the Big Ten tournament as the team fights for its sixth straight NCAA tournament bid.
The Wolverines host Rutgers on Wednesday and Illinois on Sunday.
Tasha K Says She’s Not Paying Cardi B $4M In Defamation Lawsuit: ‘I Ain’t Got It’
Yikes! After being ordered to pay nearly $4M in her Cardi B defamation lawsuit, YouTuber Tasha K confirms she’s filing an appeal and that she’s not paying a cent. She claims, “I ain’t got it.”
In a recent interview with ALLBLK’s ‘‘Social Society,’ Tasha is asked if she’s even worth $4M+ to pay the Bronx rapper. Tasha exclaims, “I ain’t got it. Listen, I ain’t got it. Don’t ask me for no money.” She goes on to explain, “We have business things in place to takes care of things like this. The Appellate Court and Supreme Court is in process right now.” Confirming she’s going to appeal the decision, she says, “That’s what Appellate Court is for. Who’s trying to pay $4 million?”
As we previously reported, Cardi B won her defamation suit against Tasha, and the judge ordered the YouTuber to pay Cardi nearly $4 million after spreading “malicious rumors” about her. Following the decision, we learned that Tasha looked to file an appeal, and now it’s been confirmed.
Sam Hunt’s pregnant wife files for divorce, citing adultery
Sam Hunt’s wife, Hannah Lee Fowler, filed for divorce in Tennessee Friday after nearly five years of marriage.
The Alabama-born nurse, who revealed in court documents obtained by TMZ Monday that she is pregnant, is accusing the country superstar of cheating on her. She is due in May and it was not publicly known that the former couple were expecting their first child.
Fowler alleged that Hunt, 37, is “guilty of inappropriate marital conduct” and “guilty of adultery.”
The court documents also state, “The husband is guilty of such cruel and inhuman treatment or conduct toward the spouse as renders cohabitation unsafe or improper.”
Hunt’s reps did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Fowler is seeking child support and primary custody of their unborn child, their “respective separate property” and three different kinds of alimony, including “transitional alimony, rehabilitative alimony, and alimony in future,” per the documents.
Fowler, who has been married to Hunt for four years, is not active on Instagram.
WireImage
The last time the “Body Like a Back Road” singer posted about his now-estranged wife on Instagram was in April 2021 for their fourth wedding anniversary.
He captioned a slideshow that featured a throwback pic of Fowler kissing him and a more current picture of the pair laughing, saying, “How it started. How its going. Happy Anniversary!”
In July, Hunt told a Miami radio station that he and Fowler were considering having kids “sooner than later.”
“[We’ve] really started to think about it seriously here these past few months, so that’s on the agenda right now,” the “Hard to Forget” singer said. “I’m hoping we’ll have some good news sooner than later.”
Hunt and Fowler were married in 2017. They met in Alabama, when the “Take Your Time” singer was a linebacker for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Wack 100 Believes Kodak Black Was Shot Over Years Old Comments About Lauren London
Kodak Black was shot at a Justin Beiber party in Los Angeles during Super Bowl weekend. Last week, rumors surfaced claiming Toronto rapper Pressa’s team was behind the shooting. However, in a recent Clubhouse chat, Wack 100 believes that an LA-based gang was responsible for the shooting. Wack 100 also believes that the shooting was over comments Kodak Black made about Lauren London following the death of Nipsey Hussle.
“Lauren London that’s baby, though,” said Kodak in April 2019. “She ’bout to be out here single. She fittin’ to be a whole widow out here. I’ll be the best man I can be for her. I’ll give her a whole year. She might need a whole year to be crying and sh*t for [Nipsey].”
Wack believes that someone still harbored resentment towards Kodak for three years because of what he said and waited until the Florida rapper was in LA to attack him.
“N***as out here trippin’ on Kodak, man. On some clout chasing sh*t,” Wack said. “Talkin’ ’bout, ‘What’s that sh*t you said about Lauren London?’ Man, get the f*ck out of here. But Kodak got off!”
LeBron James Confirms How He Will Retire - ‘My Last Year Will Be Played With My Son’
The first father-son NBA duo is officially in the works. LeBron James confirmed he will leave the Los Angeles Lakers to play with his firstborn, Bronny James, when he enters the NBA. Once the deal is locked in, the father-son duo will make NBA history.
While making his rounds at All-Star Weekend in his hometown of Cleveland, LeBron took a moment to chop it up with The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd about his retirement plans.
While a specific date hasn’t been set, what we do know is King James has one last feat he wants to accomplish before he retires from the court. The 37-year-old NBA star wants to play at least on year with his firstborn son, Bronny James. And it doesn’t matter which team.
“My last year will be played with my son,” King James said. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
There has never been a father-son duo actively playing together at the same time. The closest may have been Kobe Bryant and his father Joe Bryant. Fours years after Joe retired, Kobe was drafted into the league.
Right now, Bronny is in his junior at Sierra Canyon School in California. If Bronny goes the traditional one-and-done prospect path, the earliest he can play in the NBA is at the start of the 2024-25 season. In 2019, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he plans on eliminating the one-and-done rule in the future and that the change was years away.
Would LeBron - who is a free agent after next season - return to Cleveland for a third stint?
“The door’s not closed on that,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”
Well, there you have it.
'Promised Land' Creator Assures Fans the Show is NOT Cancelled its moving to Hulu
Matt Lopez, the creator of the new ABC series Promised Land, is assuring fans that the show has not been cancelled amid the impending move to Hulu.
Last Night’s new episode, which is the fifth episode of the season, will be the final one to air on ABC as the network has pulled the show from its schedule.
The remaining five episodes in season one will air on Tuesdays on Hulu and there’s still a possibility that the show will get a second season.
In an Instagram comment that was shared by actor John Ortiz, Matt explained what’s happening to the show.
“Hi everyone! It’s Matt Lopez – I’m the creator and showrunner of Promised Land. It’s so gratifying to hear all this love and passion for the show. Believe me, that love is shared by the entire cast and crew! Please know that your voices are being heard and we are NOT cancelled,” he said. “After this Monday’s episode – which I have to say, is EPIC – we make the move to Hulu. If you believe, like we do, that representation matters, keep watching, keep spreading the good word, and let’s make season 2 happen! Con mucho orgullo y much armor. M.”
Spike Lee Festival Brings Together The Director's Most Incendiary And Accessible Work
From February 24 through 26, WUD Film is hosting five films in the Marquee Theater in addition to a panel on Black representation after their first screening of "Bamboozled."
Header Collage: A photo of WUD Film's promotional poster for the festival on the left. On the top right, a still from "Bamboozled," where Manray or Mantan (Savion Glover), performs on stage in exaggerated blackface. Below him, a promotional shot of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) and Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) of "BlacKkKlansman" confidently raising Black Power fists to the camera.
While attending NYU Film School in the early 1980s, Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee shocked his professors and inflamed the first of many audiences with The Answer, a 20-minute black-and-white short film about a young Black screenwriter hired to direct a multimillion-dollar Hollywood remake of D.W. Griffith's The Birth Of A Nation (1915). Ever since then, this uncompromising and visionary filmmaker has been committed to radically changing the face of the American film industry by any means necessary.
Throughout an illustrious career that spans more than 35 years, Spike Lee has become a prolific, internationally acclaimed auteur, a cultural icon, a tenured professor of film, a powerful entrepreneur, and a catalyst for Black cinema. His bold, brutally honest films entertain viewers as much as they provoke controversy, promote difficult dialogues, and penetrate the social and psychological complexities of race relations in the United States. As the late actor (and Spike Lee regular) Ossie Davis once said, "Spike is one of those few people who could have sat at the same table as Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jack Warner, and all those guys who invented Hollywood."
In celebration of Black History Month, WUD Film has organized a five-film Spike Lee Festival at the Marquee Theater in Union South that showcases some of his most influential works, including Bamboozled (2000) on Thursday, February 24 at 6 p.m., BlacKkKlansman (2018) and School Daze (1988) on Friday, February 25 at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively, and finally Clockers (1995) and He Got Game (1998) on Saturday, February 26 at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. "Melanin in Media," a panel of speakers discussing the representation of Black culture in film, will follow Thursday’s screening of Bamboozled at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Arguably Lee's most groundbreaking, confrontational, and misunderstood movie, Bamboozled has long been dismissed as little more than a mid-career curiosity in the director's filmography. A bizarre, caustic, multifaceted satire of American television, this timelessly important piece of experimental filmmaking examines the complex relationship between race and popular culture.
Bamboozled centers on the rise and fall of Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), a pretentious, Harvard-educated, and upwardly mobile Black executive for a struggling television network. His ideas for aspirational Black middle-class sitcoms are continually rejected, so he decides to get himself fired. Thus, he creates the most outrageous and offensive spectacle he can think of—a grotesque vaudeville show in which Black actors wear exaggerated blackface makeup while singing, tap dancing, chattering nonsensically, telling crude jokes, and pilfering chickens. Pierre naively believes his project, The New Millennium Minstrel Show, with its flagrant racial excesses and distortions, will expose the racism of the white writers and producers. To his bewilderment, the program becomes an instant smash hit and launches a national craze for wearing blackface.
Lee's absurdist black comedy brings to light harsh historical truths that many people either are ignorant of or would prefer to conveniently forget. At the same time, his film demonstrates that racial stereotypes from that supposedly bygone era are still deeply embedded in mainstream media, even if actual blackface minstrelsy does not persist. In a 2001 interview with Cineaste editors Gary Crowdus and Dan Georgakas titled "Thinking about the Power of Images," Lee explains that he wanted to show that "from their birth these two great mediums, film and television, have promoted negative racial images." He contends that "racism is woven into the very fabric of American society, and it just makes sense that it’s going to be reflected in sports, in movies, in television, in business, and so on."
A jagged, challenging picture shot primarily on digital video that exempts no one from criticism in the perpetuation of dehumanizing stereotypes, Bamboozled was naturally met with critical and commercial indifference upon its release. At the turn of the century, many critics completely missed the point of the movie and suggested that Lee had needlessly reopened old wounds. Roger Ebert found Bamboozled to be "perplexing" and predicted that "viewers will leave the theater thinking Lee has misused" Black images. Ugly in both form and content, Lee's film confused Black and white audiences alike, grossing only $2.5 million on a budget of $10 million.
Nevertheless, the ensuing years have seen Bamboozled earn the belated respect it deserves. Criterion Collection released a new 2K director-approved digital restoration in 2020. This flawed, incendiary, and altogether fascinating masterpiece has proven not only vital to understanding the Black minstrel tradition in mass entertainment, but also alarmingly prescient. Ashley Clark, author of the 2015 book Facing Blackness: Media And Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's Bamboozled, observes, "In a fraught contemporary climate where the mediation of the [B]lack image in American society is at a crucial juncture, Bamboozled’s trenchant commentary on the importance, complexity and lasting effects of media representation could hardly feel more urgent." Indeed, Lee's lurid satire has become increasingly relevant with each passing year.
Screening the following day, February 25, BlacKkKlansman (2018) dramatizes the improbably true story of Ron Stallworth, the first Black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department. Based on Stallworth's 2014 memoir Black Klansman: Race, Hate, And The Undercover Investigation Of A Lifetime, the movie mostly takes place in the early 1970s against a backdrop of momentous social upheaval as the struggle for civil rights continues. Determined to make a name for himself and a difference in his community, Stallworth (John David Washington) fearlessly embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and expose the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.
This vibrant, striking, and darkly comic re-enactment of Stallworth's strange journey finds the director at the top of his game. Lee deftly weaves the factual details of his tale and the real-life horrors of racism into a thrilling cinematic experience with layers of intrigue and suspense, while integrating black humor, political polemics, and various cultural references. Although he takes some liberties and embellishes Stallworth's account, Lee draws direct parallels between the detective's experiences and contemporary racial issues to reveal deep truths about American life.
The climax of BlacKkKlansman involves a screening of The Birth Of A Nation, the controversial silent epic film that at once inspired the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan and essentially invented the modern language of cinema. Here, Lee comes full circle to his first student effort as he brilliantly shows us that the art of film has always been inextricably intertwined with the legacy of racism.
After Bamboozled and BlacKkKlansman, check out Lee’s other three films in the festival, such as his second feature School Daze, based in large part on his experiences as a student at the historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1970s. On Saturday, catch Clockers, a gritty crime drama adapted from the 1992 novel by Richard Price that addresses the "war on drugs." Lastly, see He Got Game, which examines poverty and professional basketball.
Drew Barrymore to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of E.T. with Steven Spielberg and Her Daughters
Drew Barrymore is planning on celebrating the upcoming 40th anniversary of E.T. in a personal way with the help of the film's famous director and her two daughters.
"I've actually been speaking with Steven Spielberg about it," says Barrymore, who is mom to daughters Frankie, 7, and Olive, 9. "He calls my girls who he held when they were babies, and he's known them throughout their lives. I do want to revel in this moment with them and include them and celebrate with Steven. He's a big father figure to me."
The film, which came out on June 11, 1982, features a 7-year-old Barrymore as Gertie. Her brother in the film, Elliot, played by Henry Thomas, befriends the extraterrestrial E.T. whom they quietly move into the family's suburban California home. Things become adventurous for the kids when the government catches onto them and wants to take the alien away.
The anniversary is especially meaningful for the 46-year-old talk show host because her daughters are around the same age as she was when the film first came out. Spielberg pointed out the coincidence to the actress, who admits she still has trouble believing how synchronistic this all is.
"So he's like, 'We're not missing this moment with your kids,' she explains. "I'm like, 'Okay. You're right. We can't. You're right.' This is very emotional and full circle. My kids are very close to the age that I was when E.T. came out. Frankie actually is at the age. She is 7, and she will just be turning 8, and Olive is 9. She'll be turning 10. This is where I'm at, and they love Steven."
Barrymore met Spielberg while filming the movie and has spoken candidly of their father-daughter type of relationship, even crediting him for putting her on the map.
"I got lucky," she told Dax Shepherd on his Armchair Expert podcast in Sept. 2021. "He single-handedly changed my life. He was also someone who I didn't realize until I was older was also very fatherly. He calls me his first kid. He was appalled by me wearing red lipstick or when I did Playboy. He sent me a note, 'Cover up!' "
With the big anniversary on the horizon, it's special for Barrymore to see Spielberg treat her daughters with the same protective nature he did her all these years ago.
"He had me wait until I was 10-years-old to have my ears pierced," Barrymore explains. "They're so excited because Olive is about to turn 10. So she knows she gets to have her ears pierced."
"They love him, and they love his movies, and they love that he's so important to me, and really was there to give me energy, and protection, and opportunity, and care the way your family is supposed to. And when that was missing, he really stepped in," she continues. "Now that I'm a mom and my girls are those ages. It's so full circle and so meaningful."
"When he said we need to celebrate the 40th anniversary with the girls, I cried my eyes out and it's such a life moment and I'm so proud of where we're all at. It just feels like such a blessing that everyone is happy, and whole, and healthy right now," she adds. "This is so cool. This is life. What? How?"
People In England Will No Longer Have To Self Isolate If They Test Positive
Living With Coronavirus: People In England Will No Longer Have To Self Isolate If They Test Positive
England is taking a ‘live with it’ approach when it comes to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and those who test positive for the virus will no longer have to self-isolate.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that we need to ‘live with the virus.’
“COVID will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.”
“We’ve built up strong protections against this virus over the past two years through the vaccine rollouts, tests, new treatments, and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.
“Thanks to our successful vaccination program and the sheer magnitude of people who have come forward to be jabbed we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with COVID,” he added.
Sky News reports that the current restrictions would end on March 24 and it means that people can go to work if they have COVID, however, the Prime Minister did add that “there would be guidance, that would not be what we are recommending”.
Trump’s Social Media App Gets a Glitchy Debut (and Maybe Legal Trouble)
Former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social app got its official debut on Apple’s App Store but it appears most people who wanted to experience what has been widely described as a Twitter knockoff were met with frustration and a long waitlist. It seems the technical difficulties began pretty much as soon as the app had its debut late Sunday night. By Monday morning the app had experienced a “partial outage” for almost 8 hours, according to Insider.
According to the app’s official website there was an “overwhelming demand at launch” that caused there to be a delay in allowing new accounts to be created. That seems to be what pretty much everyone experienced as anyone who tried to sign up was put on a waitlist. But even getting to that stage seemed a bit challenging. Insider, for example, said it got a series of error messages and was only able to input the information needed to create an account on the fifth attempt. And then the reporter was placed on a wait-list of around 157,000 users because there was “massive demand” for the app. That part seems to be true because despite all the technical errors, the app was No. 1 in the App Store’s top charts early Monday morning.
The glitches shouldn’t be all that surprising considering that Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes, who is a former Republican congressman, told Fox News on Sunday that the goal was for the app to be fully operational in the United States by the end of March. But something that may have been a bit more unexpected is that there was controversy over the app’s logo from the first day. Social media users pointed out that Truth Social’s logo was strikingly similar to one used since at least 2019 by Trailar, a British green energy company. “Based on recent news brought to our attention by various media outlets, showcasing the similarities between our own Trailar logo and the Truth Social logo, we are now seeking legal advice to understand next steps and options available to protect our brand,” Matthew Summers, head of marketing at Trailar, said in a statement.
Trailar publicly referenced the similarity in a tweet. “Great to see Donald Trump supporting a growing sustainability business! Maybe ask next time?” the company tweeted.
The app looks a lot like Twitter, but instead of tweets and retweets there are “truths” and “retruths.” Truth Social’s launch in the app store came a year after Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
SLEEP MY CHILD
Weird that the pet monkeys are being treated better at Walmart than some of the children.
HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!
EFREM
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