Comedian Michael Che almost got caught up in the Metoo movement, but not for behavior it was something he said. The Saturday Night Live (SNL) Co-head writer and Co-news anchor recently was asked about Comedian Louie CK. Louie recently made a brief, unannounced return to the stand up stage. Reaction was divided sharply, but among those who gave the OK was Michael Che. Che tweeted that Louie had a right to speak and to make living. Che got so many negative comments and reaction that he deleted the social media he wrote and stopped talking about it. Many activist say Louie CK hasn’t scratched the surface of retribution for his admitted sexual misconduct and were surprised he’d attempt mounting a comeback after a few short months of silence. Che and his SNL Co-anchor Colin Jost are both known for making fun of Hollywood and its many personalities. Che and Jost will host The 2018 Emmy Awards Monday, September 17th on NBC.
Cicely Tyson will receive an honorary Oscar at next year’s Academy Awards. Tyson, who was nominated for Oscar’s Best Actress for the 1972 movie Sounder, is now 93 and still making award nominated appearances on TV. She’s also up for an Emmy this month for her guest shot on How To Get Away With Murder. Tyson’s movie work stretches back to her 1956 film debut in Carib Gold. Her other films includes Bustin’ Loose (with Richard Pryor), The Comedians, A Man Called Adam, The River Niger, Fried Green Tomatoes, Idlewild, Diary Of A Mad Black Woman and Madea’s Family Reunion. Tyson also made headlines for speaking at Aretha Franklin’s funeral with a church hat that almost topped the Queen Of Soul herself at President Obama’s inauguration. The 91st Annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 24th on ABC.
Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross will return as host of 2018 The American Music Awards (AMA’s). Last year, Ross killed it as host and even presented her legendary mom Diana Ross with a Lifetime Achievement Award and introduced Miss Ross’ show stopping performance as the AMA finale. Tracee Ellis Ross will also be co-executive producer of the 2018 AMA’s. It’s a good time for Ross. She’s also up for a Best Actress Emmy this month for Black-ish. AMA nominations will be announced Wednesday, September 12th, and Ross hosts The 2018 AMA’s on Tuesday, October 9th at 8pm on ABC. The season premiere of Blackish is Tuesday, October 16th at 9pm on ABC.
Speaking of Black-ish, good news for Emmy nominated Anthony Anderson. The L.A. County District Attorney has declined to charge Anderson in a sexual assault investigation. Anderson was accused by a woman of assaulting her while meeting to discuss a business opportunity. His reps denied all wrongdoing and stated it was sad that anyone could make a police report whether true or false. The D.A. stated that the complaining party declined to be interviewed by authorities, and therefore the office couldn’t move forward and won’t press charges. Anderson was once before accused of sexual misconduct in 2004 on the set of the movie Hustle & Flow. When the case went to court, the judge dismissed it citing there was no probable cause to move forward. Anderson is back to work on the set of Black-ish. He’s up for an Emmy on Monday, September 17th on NBC, and Black-ish season premiere will air Tuesday, October 16th at 9pm on ABC.
The divorce between Tisha Martin-Campbell (Martin; My Wife & Kids) and Duane Martin (Real Husbands Of Hollywood) has taken a rough turn. Tisha has filed legal paper work claiming Duane is hiding money. She says her assets are worth $1.5 million, but she has no steady income. Tisha says her expenses are $33,000 a month, and Duane takes in $62,000 a month. Tisha says Duane has 500 $1,500 a piece designer dress shirts, and she knows this because Duane made a video bragging about it. No response yet from Duane’s camp. After 20-years of marriage, Tisha filed for divorce in February.
Aretha Franklin’s homegoing was an eight hour event with controversy to go with it. Heartfelt moments, of course, were the biggest part. President Bill Clinton, Stevie Wonder, Shirley Caesar, Pastor TD Jakes, Reverend Al Sharpton with a letter from President Obama, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Jessie Jackson and Smokey Robinson were all in attendance. Plus, Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren spoke in the pulpit for their grandmother. Then came the problems: Ariana Grande in a super short skirt singing Natural Woman in tribute to Franklin. Even Smokey mentioned her camp should have reminded her it was a funeral, but he loves her anyway. That changed quickly to Bishop Charles Ellison. He issued apologies not only for making fun of Grande’s name to her and the Latino community even though she Italian, but he was accused of groping her. Social media turned the Bishop into a Metoo church movement when the pictures and video of his hand on the singer went viral. Then there was Aretha Franklin’s family who said they were disappointed in the inappropriate eulogy from Reverend Jasper Williams. Why? Because Rev. Williams compared single motherhood to an abortion after birth and Black Lives Don’t Matter until Blacks stop killing Blacks. Finally, Gladys Knight had to squash a rumor right away. She was reported to have said she and Aretha had the same disease. Not true. Knight is cancer free today, but at one time was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. Franklin died of pancreatic cancer. Knight is cancer free today because of early detection. The Queen Of Soul’s homegoing is one for the history books.
TV One’s UnSung Hollywood is back. Wayne Brady will be one of the subjects. Everything kicks off the movie The Best Man. UnSung Hollywood returns to TV One Sunday, October 7th at 9pm.
The Predator film franchise is back. This is the fourth installment in the series of the alien lethal hunters who come to earth and must be stopped by ex-soldiers and a science teacher. The 1987 movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 1990 version starred Danny Glover. This time around Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Olivia Munn (Ride Along 2), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele) and Sterling K. Brown (All Of Us) head the cast. Predator opens Friday, September 14th.
The Bobby Brown Story was a wild ride for BET. There was the all that sex scenes between Bobby and Janet Jackson (no word from Janet on this yet); Bobby having Whitney and another woman pregnant at the same time. Then there was Whitney cheating on Bobby! Bobby suffering a seizure after a drug binge. Bobby and BET warned this story would be raw, and the team did not disappoint.
Janet Jackson, Naomi Campbell and Mary J. Blige will all be honored at The 2018 Black Girls Rock that also features a special tribute to The Queen Of Soul by Stephanie Mills and Fantasia. The show was already recorded and Fantasia is winning praise for her tribute in the wake of Madonna’s disastrous attempt at The MTV Video Music Awards. Black Girls Rock honors women and girls striving for and achieving excellence in all walks of life. Queen Latifah will host The 2018 Black Girls Rock on this Sunday, September 9th at 8pm on BET.
Speaking of Queen Latifah, she has been announced as this year’s recipient of The Marian Anderson Award. As a pioneering hip hop performer and groundbreaking female MC, Latifah evolved her career to also include $100 million blockbuster movies (Bringing Down The House; Girls Trip), television (Living Single; The Queen Latifah Show) and production (co-founder of Flava Unit Entertainment). The Marion Anderson Awards will take place at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets, for its 20th anniversary Gala and Concert. Latifah joins past recipients Harry Belafonte, Jon Bon Jovi, Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, Patti LaBelle and Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. The festivities will take place November 20th and you can log on to KimmelCenter.org for tickets and information.
Naomi Campbell is on the cover of Essence magazine’s Fall Fashion And Beauty issue for the September edition. Essence announced their new issue with the statement This Is Not A Test, Giving Black Women Covers Since 1970.
Emmy nominated Actress/Writer/Producer Issa Rae of HBO’ Insecure covers this month Ebony magazine’s fashion issue. Part of Rae’s personal mantra is behind the cover and accompanying photo shoot inside. The 33-year old says she wants to continue to form platforms where young girls who look, think and feel like she does can see themselves. Meanwhile, Insecure airs on HBO Sundays at 10:30pm right after Ballers with Dwayne The Rock Johnson at 10pm.
Next up is Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong’o on the cover of Porter magazine for their desire issue. The 35-year old Oscar winner talks of self acceptance and the success of Black Panther, now only the third movie in history to make $700 million of its 1.3 billion gross in the United States box office alone.
Zendaya covers Marie Claire for their fall fashion issue. The soon to be 22-year old says she’s on a mission to rewrite the Hollywood narrative and show how much beauty there is in the wide spectrum of the African American community.
Queen Bey is on the cover of Vogue magazine. Beyonce speaks candidly about her marriage surviving cheating and the difficult birth of her twins, which resulted in her having a c-section. Bey not only had creative control over the cover and accompanying photo layout, but she had it done by African American photographer, 23-year old Tyler Mitchell. Mitchell shooting a Vogue cover is the first time an African American has ever done this in Vogue’s 126-year history.
Rihanna graces the cover of British Vogue for their September themed the big fashion issue. Rih Rih’s movie Ocean’s 8, the female cast-caper/heist movie, has taken in over $137 million at the summer box office.
Tiffany Haddish graces the cover of the September issue of Glamour magazine. Up next, Haddish co-stars with fellow Comedian Kevin Hart in Night School coming to theaters September 28th. After that, Haddish joins Tika Sumpter (The Haves & The Have Nots), Amber Riley (Glee), Omari Hardwick (Power) and Whoopi Goldberg for Nobody’s Fool, written and directed by Tyler Perry hitting theaters November 2nd.
Sanaa Lathan’s pet project, Nappily Ever After, is coming to Netflix. Lathan, who dons a shaved head for the role, plays Violet Jones, whose accident in a hair salon makes her realize she’s not living her life to the fullest. The romantic comedy also stars Ernie Hudson, Ricky Whittle and Lynn Whitfield. Nappily Ever After, based on the Tina Gordon Chism novel, begins streaming Friday, September 21st on Netflix.
Check out who’s coming to town:
Saturday, September 15th – The Aubrey and The Three Amigos Tour starring Drake and Migos at the Wells Fargo Center. Log onto wellsfargocenterphilly.com for ticket information.
Wednesday & Thursday, September 19th and 20th – Bruno Mars on The 24K Magic North American Concert Tour at the Wells Fargo Center with Special Guests Boyz II Men. For tickets and information log onto wellsfargocenterphilly.com.
Thursday, September 20th – Chrisette Michele in concert at the Keswick Theatre. For tickets and information log onto keswicktheatre.com
Saturday, September 22nd – The LIT AF Tour Hosted by Martin Lawrence featuring Deray Davis/ Deon Cole/ Adele Givens/ Benji Brown at the Liacouras Center, Broad & Montgomery. For more information log onto liacourascenter.com/events
Sunday, September 23rd– RBRM, a.k.a. Ricky/Bobby/Ronnie & Mike, a.k.a. Ricky Bell/Bobby Brown/Ronnie DeVoe/Michael Bivins at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Log onto hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com/event for ticket information.
Saturday, September 29th – Maxwell at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Log onto hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com/event for ticket information.
Tuesday, October 2nd – Janet Jackson and her State Of The Nation Tour at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Log onto ticketmaster.com for ticket information.
Saturday, October 6th & Sunday, October 7th- Mike Epps, Bruce Bruce, Jay Pharoah, Sheryl Underwood, Tony Rock and Gary Owen and more over the two days of The Atlantic City Comedy Festival on Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto boardwalkhall.com/events.
Friday, November 16th – Hall & Oates at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Log onto hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com/event for ticket information.
Tuesday, November 20th - The 20th Annual Marion Anderson Awards, Gala & Concert honoring Queen Latifah at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets, For more tickets and information log onto KimmelCenter.org.
Saturday, November 24th - The Irresponsible Tour starring Kevin Hart at the Wells Fargo Center. For tickets and information log onto wellsfargocenterphilly.com.
Saturday, December 8th – Maxwell at the Tower Theater on 69th Street in Upper Darby. Log onto ticketmaster.com for tickets and information.
If you would like more info please email me at PattyJackson@iHeartMedia.com or check me out with my midday reports at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm during the day.