How Jon Favreau's The Lion King landed Beyoncé
(EW) The internet collectively bowed down when, in November 2017, Disney confirmed that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter had joined the cast of Jon Favreau’s photo-real virtual-production remake of The Lion King (read everything you want to know about it here). The music icon plays Nala, the childhood friend of Simba (Donald Glover) who re-encounters the exiled prince in adulthood, now as a fully-grown, powerful, unquestionably indomitable lioness.
So, how did Favreau convince a queen to get in formation with this King?
“I’ve got the Beyhive in my house,” chuckles the director, who wasn’t specifically aware that the singer was in play for the role until he reached out to her on a casting whim. “I’ve seen her live and she’s a unique talent, to say the least,” he says. “And when I finally spoke to her after reaching out, although her persona onstage is bigger than life, she’s very down to earth and is very much dedicated to her family and having a life that is human-scale.”
That, Favreau reasons, helps to explain why Knowles-Carter (as she’s being officially credited in the film) agreed to play Nala, which marks her first feature film role since 2013’s animated Epic (and prior to that, 2009’s Obsessed). “I think that part of it is that she’s got young kids, part of it is that it’s a story that feels good for this phase of her life and her career — it’s a very positive story, it’s a classic that a lot of people feel very emotionally invested in — and I think she just really likes the original very much,” says Favreau. “At the end of the day, she’s also an actor and it’s a great bunch of people to work with and a project that I think she felt was going to be special. And then of course, there are these wonderful musical numbers that she can be involved with, and my God… she really lives up to her reputation as far as the beauty of her voice and her talent.”
Both Beyoncé and Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) worked with The Lion King’s reunited original music team in refreshing the film’s soundtrack for modern ears. You’ll no doubt hear the two of them passionately belt “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” the Oscar-winning ballad Nala shares with Simba when the two rekindle their childhood affections as grown adults; Beyoncé is also rumored (though EW cannot officially confirm this) to be working on a new song in addition to the five classics from the 1994 film which will be featured once more.
Of course, Favreau knew he’d brought a music superstar onto the savanna, but he may not have expected to get such an eager hands-on collaborator when it came to the film’s groundbreaking virtual-reality techniques. “Whenever she came by to work on it, she was incredibly curious about the technology, and as I showed her the techniques and materials, she rolled up her sleeves and got into the VR and started to mess around with all the tools,” the director recalls. “I think like most people who are at the pinnacle of their industry, she has a really good sense of how new things can inform other things she’s working on. Lemonade was happening around the time we were just beginning to work together, and you could see how art and filmmaking and fashion and music were all interweaving for her.” He even attempted to interweave the musician’s meticulous concert performances into the animated Nala. “When I would see her stage shows, it gave me ideas. As I’ve been directing the animation for the past couple of years, ideas have cropped up for me seeing what she was doing as a performer and how that could inform the character that she plays.” (Technically speaking, Nala does impel Simba to put a ring on it.)
And of course, Beyoncé’s influence isn’t just felt by the director. It’s safe to say that Us breakout Shahadi Wright-Joseph, who plays a young version of Nala, just couldn’t wait to be queen. “I don’t think that I can ever live up to [her], but this is as close as I’m ever gonna get,” the actress, 13, tells EW. “I think I screamed when I found out that she was going to be in the movie… and then when I found out that she was going to be playing older Nala, I really had to step my game up and think about what Beyoncé would want.”
2 Dead And 6 Injured In Shooting At University Of North Carolina Charlotte Campus. The suspected shooter is 22-year-old Trystan Terrell!
Two people are reported dead and another six are injured, three critically, after a shooting at the University of North Carolina's Charlotte campus on Tuesday.
WCNC reports the suspected shooter is 22-year-old Trystan Terrell, according to officials, who was a History major at UNC Charlotte.
"Scene secure. One in custody. No reason to believe anyone else involved. CMPD and UNCC going room by room on campus to identify any students, faculty or others who may be sheltering in place," the police said.
Campus Police Chief Jeff Baker said police were on the scene quickly enough to find and disarm the suspect in the same room where the shootings happened.
He said two people were found dead at the scene, and three other were hospitalized in critical condition, while the fourth person suffered less serious injuries.
It was not immediately known whether the victims are students, educators or staff.
The campus remained on lockdown for much of Tuesday afternoon and into the evening.
Earlier, tweets by the campus' Office of Emergency Management advised people to "Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately" as "law enforcement is individually sweeping buildings on campus."
The shots were fired near the school's Kennedy building.
Student Laura Olmos told member station WFAE, "I got a call saying don't come back to campus because I was going to comeback to have dinner with my friends. I just went to the Target parking lot and started crying. ... Now we are one of those schools. It's so crazy."
Graduate student Ari Seal said he was in the gym when the alert came, and that lights were shut off, and students were told to huddle together in the center of the gym.
#RHOA: Kandi Burruss Shares New Video of 3-Year-Old Son Learning the Mandarin Language
Kandi Burruss is a high-achieving business woman so it makes sense that her youngest child would be doing the same in school.
Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker have enrolled 3-year-old Ace Wells Tucker into an international school and since last year, he’s been learning Mandarin. On Instagram Thursday, Burruss shared a new video with fans that revealed the progress the pre-schooler has made with his foreign language skills. The star’s followers were left feeling wowed by what they’re seeing.
The clip sees Ace reciting various numbers ranging from 1 to 10 in Mandarin, but he’s answering his Mandarin-speaking teacher in the Chinese language, too.
“My Ace is acing his mandarin school work!” “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star captioned the video. “@acewellstucker has been going to international school for one year & he’s doing great! He’s 3yrs old & Im so proud of him!”
Fans flooded Burruss’ comments section with thousands upon thousands of remarks, which ranged from expressing how impressed they were to lending and asking for advice.
WATCH HERE
“The most amazing part is how well he understands HER 😳 The mind of a child is so capable & brilliant! Great job @kandi & Todd.”
As for any other languages Ace will take on, Burruss said the toddler “will start Spanish when he’s in kindergarten.”
One of the first times the “RHOA” star shared a video of Ace’s Mandarin skills came in June 2018 when he was well on his way to getting his counting skills up.
“Check out my little Ace learning how to count in Mandarin,” Burruss wrote on Instagram of the video. “He goes to an international school & they start teaching the children at age 2. Half the school day is with his teacher that speaks to him in Mandarin & the other half of the day is in English. He loves the school! @acewellstucker.”
Burruss has since explained that her reasoning behind having Ace learn the language is because she sees him becoming a businessman and “a lot of business happens” in China.
#Empire: Season 5 Episode 16; Oh No Andre!
Thought it all, Andre’s been acting weird. He invited Kingsley to the bachelor party and told his brothers to simmer down and accept their oldest bonus brother. He told Kingsley to step into his role as the older brother. (Kingsley tries to offer Hakeem some brotherly advice about Tiana but it doesn’t quite work, even though Kingsley is correct.) The night before the wedding, he gifted Jamal his beloved cufflinks, gifted to him by his grandfather. And then when Cookie joked about Andre getting married and having kids with Teri (Meta Golden) the couple looked down and bashful; yet they didn’t embrace the verbiage.
Well, we found out why at the wedding. Turns out that Teri (holding a glass of champagne as she chats) is pregnant and doesn’t want Cookie to tell Andre. And separately we learn that Andre is cancer free but still dying. He didn’t want to tell his father this on Jamal’s wedding day, but his heart is failing as a result of the medicine that killed the cancer. He could live a month, a few days or a few months. No one knows.
Lucious doesn’t want to accept this fate and begins to cry.
Andre doesn’t want to accept this fate either. He tells Lucious he intends to take his own life and to die on his own terms.
And that’s how the episode ended. Helluva wedding and one helluva an announcement.
See y’all Wednesday!
#MusicNews: Fantasia Teases New Song with Brandy and Jazmine Sullivan
This Friday, Fantasia will premiere her new single “Enough” from her forthcoming album. To celebrate her upcoming single, she hopped on Instagram Live on Monday evening to have a chat with her fans.
During her conversation with Instagram user @Team_Fantasia, Tasia revealed that she has a collaboration with two amazing voices in music: Brandy and Jazmine Sullivan. She said she “had to” join forces with the two vocalists, especially now that she is independent.
“They are both my favorites. I turn into a little groupie when I see Jazmine. I love her and I love Bran,” said Fantasia.
Elaborating more on the soon-to-come triple threat, Fantasia said, “I wanted to kind of reach back and touch some different eras when it came to that girl group. I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be dope if we had a girl group where it was Jazmine, Fantasia, and Brandy?’ Let’s just put it on an album.”
At this time, there is no release date on the collaboration but stay tuned and we will keep you posted!
#HipHopNews: Lil Wayne Teases ‘Funeral’ Album
Lil Wayne is making Funeral arrangements. Three years ago, the Young Money chief announced an album called Funeral to hold fans over while they awaited the release of Tha Carter V, which was still in limbo. Now it looks as though a release could be imminent.
On Tuesday (April 30), Weezy reignited Funeral talks with a post on Instagram Stories where he shared an emoji of a coffin, as HipHop-N-More discovered.
Wayne first announced Funeral during a 2016 interview with “The Nine Club” podcast. “Make sure they know that Funeral is coming soon,” he said. “That’s my music. Get your roses ready. I don’t have a release date, but I have a whole bunch of good news coming soon. If you’re a Wayne fan, I know we’ve been going through a lot of tough times right now, but if you are a Wayne fan, we about to hold our heads high soon.”
In 2017, he also teased the project, along with other releases. “CV. Funeral. D6. Young Money,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
It’s unclear when Funeral will drop, but it would mark Wayne’s first project since the long-awaited release of Tha Carter V in September.
Several Celebs Pay Tribute To Late Director John Singleton: ‘He was One Of The Greatest’!
Several celebrities from across all entertainment fields have paid tribute to late director John Singleton, who passed away at the young age of 51.
The Oscar-nominated director, best known for his 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, died “peacefully” surrounded by his family after he was removed from life support at a hospital in Los Angeles, as reported by the BBC. Singleton had been in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai hospital after suffering a stroke last week.
Stars from the movie and music industry lined up to pay homage to Singleton, with Janet Jackson leading the way by praising him for “all you have done for Black culture, women and young filmmakers.” The two had worked together in the 1993 movie Poetic Justice, which earned Jackson her first Oscar nomination.
“I will miss you John,” she added.
Rapper and actor Ice Cube, who had his first movie role in Singleton’s powerful debut film Boyz n the Hood, also took to Instagram to describe the director as not only his “brother, friend, & mentor,” but also as a “master filmmaker” who “loved [to] bring the black experience to the world.”
Fellow filmmakers Jordan Peele, known for his movies Get Out and Us, and Spike Lee, also reacted to the news of Singleton’s death by sharing touching messages on social media. Peele dubbed him a “brave artist and true inspiration,” while Lee recalled the moment he met his colleague when he was still a film student.
“From Day One, We Have Remained Close Over The Decades, Cheering Each Other On In This Industry That Is Not Set Up For Us To Win.”
Regina King, who just recently won a Best Actress Oscar, worked with Singleton in a series of movies. She took to Instagram to share several old photos of the two of them, expressing her sorrow and admitting to struggling in this moment of grief for her friend and collaborator.
Other A-listers who paid tribute to the late director included actor Samuel L. Jackson, rapper Busta Rhymes, who starred in his remake of the movie Shaft, musician Quincy Jones, and artist Chance the Rapper.
Singleton, who was born in Los Angeles, has often been described as a trailblazer for African-American filmmakers in the 1990s. In 1992, he became the first African-American director to be nominated in the Academy Awards’ Best Director category with his debut film Boyz n the Hood. Apart from that, he was also the youngest ever director to be nominated in that category, as he had just finished college. The movie also received another nod for Best Original Screenplay.
On Monday, the father of seven’s family announced that they had decided to remove him from life support, thanking all the doctors at Cedars-Sinai for their help, and offering thanks Singleton’s colleagues and coworkers, fans, and friends for their support and “outpour of love and prayers.” Later in the day, a spokesperson for the family confirmed that he had passed away surrounded by his loved ones.
Chris Brown and model Indyamarie are dating
Chris Brown has a new love in his life. She is model Indyamarie, 25, are dating. The couple, who were rumored to be an item in 2015 after Karrueche Tran broke up with him, recently rekindled their romance on the set of his music video for his and Eric Bellinger’s song, “Type a Way.”
“[Brown and Marie] were holding hands and laughing on set,” a spy told Page Six, “but they were also spotted at Chris’ after-party, coupled up looking very much an item.”
Brown also recently posted a photo on Instagram of Indyamarie wearing his letterman’s jacket.
“When you are beautiful and dope you get da limited edition ‘INDIGO’ LETTERMAN!” he captioned the photo.
The “Loyal” rapper shares one daughter, Royalty, with Nia Guzman.
Brown’s tumultuous personal life made headlines earlier this year when he sued a woman for defamation after she claimed he raped her in Paris. Brown denies he had “sexual relations of any sort” with the woman.
The Tony Awards Nominations 2019 are Here! 'Hadestown' And 'Ain't Too Proud' Has the Most Nominations!
The 2018-2019 Broadway season hurtled to a close, with 14 plays and musicals opening in March and April, before the Tony Award nominations were announced on Tuesday morning. And some of the late entries into the race were handsomely rewarded.
Hadestown, a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, opened just two weeks ago and took 14 nominations, including one for best musical. Another recent entry, a reworking of the 1980s film comedy Tootsie, took 11 nominations, also including best musical.
Rounding out the best musical category were a jukebox musical, Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, with 12 nominations; an adaptation of the film Beetlejuice, with eight; and an original musical, The Prom, with seven.
Santino Fontana (center) stars in Tootsie, one of the productions up for the Tony Award for best musical. Fontana is also nominated for best leading actor in a musical.
One of the biggest surprises of the season was the sheer number of new plays produced on Broadway: 14. Best play may be the hardest Tony category to predict.
The Ferryman, Jez Butterworth's family drama set in Northern Ireland during the "troubles," led the pack with nine nominations, followed closely by Taylor Mac's idiosyncratic Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, with seven, and Ink, a British import about young Rupert Murdoch, with six.
Rounding out the category were two Broadway debuts: Choir Boy, by Tarell Alvin McCraney — winner of an Academy Award for Moonlight — and What the Constitution Means to Me, a personal memoir written and performed by Heidi Schreck.
Two popular plays also captured several nominations, but not for the top prize. Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, starring Jeff Daniels, received nine nominations, and an adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's Network, starring Bryan Cranston, got five. Both of those lead actors were nominated in the best actor in a play category.
The best play revival field is particularly strong, with The Boys in the Band, The Waverly Gallery, All My Sons, Burn This and Torch Song all up for top honors. And only two musical revivals were eligible for best musical revival: an avant-garde staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, which received eight nominations in total, and a revised version of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, which took four.
In addition to Daniels and Cranston, several big stars were nominated for top awards, including Adam Driver in Lanford Wilson's Burn This, Annette Bening in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery and Kelli O'Hara in Kiss Me, Kate.
Some other stars were left out of their categories, including Glenda Jackson, who won a best actress Tony last year and starred in King Lear this season, and Nathan Lane, who leads Gary.
A complete list of nominations is available at the Tony Awards website.
The Tony Awards will be presented on Sunday, June 9 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The ceremony will be hosted by James Corden at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS.
#Condolences: Toni Braxton’s niece Lauren Braxton has DIED at 24!
Toni Braxton‘s niece Lauren Braxton has passed away at just 24 years old.
Lauren, who was the daughter of Toni’s brother Michael Braxton Jr., died from complications from her heart condition, her father told TMZ.
Paramedics arrived around noon Monday at the Braxtons’ Maryland household, where they found Lauren unresponsive. She was declared dead at the scene.
Michael and Toni are the older siblings of Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar. Michael also works as a singer-songwriter and has appeared on episodes of his sisters’ reality show, “Braxton Family Values.”
“We ask that you please respect the Braxton family’s privacy in this time of sadness and loss,” a rep for the Braxton family told us Tuesday.
Gay BYU student comes out in valedictorian speech
SALT LAKE CITY — A gay student who came out during a valedictorian speech at Mormon-owned Brigham Young University is earning applause and admiration from students and notable figures like actress Kristin Chenoweth.
Matt Easton said Monday he hopes the speech helps ease loneliness felt by other #LGBTQ students at the institution where an honor code forbids dating between members of the same sex.
Stuck on the sidelines: A transgender powerlifter fights for the right to compete
The speech was preapproved by the college.
The 24-year-old political science major says only a few people knew about his sexuality before Friday, when he spoke the words "I am proud to be a gay son of God."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a doctrinal opposition to same-sex marriage and intimacy, but has been trying to stake out a compassionate stance toward LGBTQ members.
Russell Wilson and Ciara Launch Joint Production Company for Film, TV and Digital Content
Ciara and Russell Wilson has just launched Why Not You Productions, a company that will focus on creating film, television and digital content projects — both scripted and unscripted.
The content will include, but not be limited to, “inspiring and aspiring narratives and human interest stories,” per the announcement.
via THR: “When people look at me, I hope they don’t just see a football player. I hope they see a person who is innovative and creative, someone who builds something from nothing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter on a break from making the rounds inside the Wheels Up tailgate event Feb. 2. “We want to be able to impact lives. That’s what we want to do at the end of the day — even from the kids space. We just want to tell stories that connect with the world and to the emotions.”
“While we work in different fields in our day-to-day, we are excited to come together to collaborate and create stories that we hope will touch people’s lives,” said Wilson and Ciara in a joint statement. “We are both storytellers at heart and we want to be able to share stories that uplift people and inspire others to create positive change. That’s ultimately what we want this company to represent.”
In doing so, Wilson and Ciara will expand upon the work they’ve been doing through their joint foundation, the youth empowerment-focused Why Not You Foundation. They will continue to operate that organization along with their respective side businesses. Ciara runs her own entertainment company and record label, Beauty Marks Entertainment (BME), while Wilson heads West2East Empire (W2E), a brand management, creative content and production company. The duo will no doubt get a boost from their reps, CAA, Untitled Entertainment’s Jason Weinberg and chief global brad officer Jordan Dinenberg of W2E. Wilson is additionally repped by sports agent and attorney Mark Rodgers.
Wilson has already been in the headlines this month. Close to two weeks ago, ESPN reported that Wilson had signed a massive four-year, $140 million extension that includes a $65 million signing bonus to make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. The deal will keep Wilson with the Seahawks through the 2023 season. As for Ciara, she continues to stay in the news and will likely do so even more when she takes the stage this week in Las Vegas at the Billboard Music Awards.
Even with their respective busy schedules, Wilson made it clear in Atlanta that their passion for this production company is a primary focus. “For us, we want to be able to create, create, create,” Wilson said. “For West2East, we always say, ‘A+ only.’ That’s our motto.”
Congrats to them!
Nipsey Hussle’s Sister Files for Guardianship of His Daughter
Nipsey Hussle's sister is stepping up to become the legal guardian of her young niece, Emani Asghedom. According to documents obtained by The Blast, Samantha Smith has filed a petition to become the legal guardian of Nipsey’s 7-year-old daughter, who currently lives with her mother, Tanisha.
In court documents, Smith says she has "always been a constant presence in Emani's life and along with the rest of Emani’s paternal family has assisted in her care."
Emani attended the Grammy Awards with her father in February, a month before his tragic murder outside his clothing store in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles.
Samantha, pictured speaking at her brother's funeral, wants to be the girl's legal guardian to ensure that she can make legal custody decisions regarding Emani and "to ensure that she can continue to live with family members with whom she has always had close ties."
Emani's mother goes by the names Tanisha Asghedom and Chyna Hussle. It's unclear why Nipsey's sister wants to remove legal guardianship from Tanisha, who ruthlessly mocked Nipsey's fiancee, Lauren London, on social media.
Tanisha frequently wrote social media posts directed at Lauren, informing her that she still slept with Nipsey.
Kim Kardashian is “100 Percent” On Board With Kanye Starting a Church, But Says She Won’t Be A “Traditional ‘Pastor’s Wife’ Who Organizes Bake Sales”
Last week, Kanye West took to the desert to sing praises to the most high at his Sunday Service set at Coachella. Now, in the wake of the success of the services, West is considering a more permanent option to help promote healing for his family and friends.
In fact, upon West’s Easter morning fellowship, his wife, Kim Kardashian opened up about her husband’s longtime dream to start a church, in an attempt to share his faith on a permanent basis. Though the church will not adopt the traditional format, sources say the socialite is “100 percent on board with” her husband’s idea.
“She’s a Christian, too, and she understands the importance of being spiritual,” a source told PEOPLE, adding that the “Jesus Walks” rapper has been sitting with spiritual advisors and leaders to help him figure out the next steps.
While the details are not set in stone, the source also revealed that Kardashian is expected to have a role in whatever West decides to do. But, whatever it is, the source said her position as a First Lady would stop short of organizing fundraisers and bake sales.
“She wouldn’t be a traditional ‘pastor’s wife’ who organizes bake sales,” the sources said. “But she will support him if he ever starts [a] church. She’ll be there for it.”
West has been holding Sunday Service since the beginning of the year. Are you here for a Yeezy church?
Nia Long Defends Chris Rock 'Tasteless' Whitney Houston Joke
This week comedian Chris Rock was dragged by Whitney Houston fans after using her for the butt of a crack cocaine joke [click here if you missed that].
Actress Nia Long, who was spotted in the comment section laughing at the post, defends Chris Rock from his detractors...
After fans flooded a post on Nia's timeline calling her out she stood firm defending Chris' humor.
DUMB!
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES?
‘PERFECT MATE’
Girl you better hope you don’t find yourself around Big Bird during mating season.
#EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Buddy Bear!
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ENJOY!
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
