An Emmy and Oscar Winner will play our Forever First Lady. Viola Davis will produce and star in First Ladies, and play Michelle Obama. The one hour drama is set to air on Showtime and will examine U.S. presidencies from the perspectives of the First Ladies. In the first season, Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt will be the focus. Davis, who’s currently filming the last season of her hit ABC drama How To Get Away With Murder, is the co-executive producer of the series with her husband Julius Tennon. No premiere date set yet for First Ladies on Showtime, but How To Get Away With Murder returns to ABC Thursday, September 26th at 10pm.
Comedy Legend Paul Mooney stands accused. Richard Pryor’s former bodyguard, Rashon Khan, says Pryor put a hit out on Mooney for a million dollars. Why? According to Khan, who has a tell-all book coming out, Mooney,78, had sex with Pryor’s then underage son Richard, Jr. Pryor’s ex-wife Jennifer Lee, who remarried him before the comedian died in 2005, says Jr. confirmed this sexual encounter with Mooney. Jr., who is gay, was seen out and about recently and claims he was the victim of a sexual encounter as a teenager but didn’t name names. Mooney’s reps deny these accusations and point to pictures of the two comedians at various events together long after the alleged hit would have been put out. At press time, Mooney hasn’t spoken publicly since the allegations were made and cancelled a recent comedy appearance. His reps say he cancelled because the allegations have seriously stressed him out and he’s taking time off. Mooney and Pryor had known each other for decades beginning when Pryor hired Mooney to write for him. They also wrote together for Pryor’s self-titled variety show, Sanford & Son and Saturday Night Live, when Pryor hosted. Mooney has also acted and has been enjoying a near five decade stand up career. A few years ago, it was Mooney who said that Bill Cosby got his N-word Wake Up Call after the Cosby sexual assault allegations came to light. Now with this Pryor, Jr. allegation, where could this lead for Mooney?
The Sound of Philadelphia will be well represented this October as the Philadelphia Music Alliance inducts its latest members to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. Included in this year’s class are Philly’s own Evelyn “Champagne” King, The Hooters, The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Mighty, Mighty O’Jays. The O’Jays and the Philly Orchestra go back a long ways. When The O’Jays were signed to Philadelphia International Records, their music was performed by the Gamble & Huff Orchestra MFSB, most of whom also played for the Philly Orchestra. They also played on many of Evelyn “Champagne” King’s hits as well. The induction ceremony will take place on the Avenue of The Arts in Center City and the gala later that evening at the Bellevue Philadelphia on Tuesday, October 22nd. For Tickets and information log onto https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-philadelphia-music-alliance-gala-tickets-68159249149
Rapper Future wants his babymommas to be quiet. Why?A Florida based model has sued the rapper in a paternity case. This same woman reportedly chronicled her pregnancy, and noted that Future wanted her to get an abortion and wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. To keep even more details of this relations from coming out, the rapper asked a judge for a gag order to protect his name. At press time, no ruling from the judge. Now the problem is Future has seven babymommas and has been down this contentious road before, most famously with Singer Ciara! Ciara moved on with Russell Wilson and is happily married today. Future’s latest case with the Florida woman, who filed as indigent and with no lawyer, could be in for a lot of twists and turns. See what happens when you don’t wrap it up!
Dave Chappelle is back and he’s bringing the controversy with him. His new Netflix special is called Sticks And Stones and the streets are talking. Why? For starters, Chappelle talked about the Michael Jackson accusers from the Leaving Neverland documentary by saying I Just Don’t Believe Those M**** F******! Chappelle defended Louis CK, a comedian with sexual misconduct allegations. Chappelle said he knows the transgender community hates him because he can’t stop writing jokes about them. He talked about the Kevin Hart Oscar controversy and how Hart had to cancel the gig because its celebrity hunting season. Dave Chappelle’s Sticks And Stones is now streaming on Netflix.
Speaking of Kevin Hart, he’s filming his new movie Fatherhood, which is set to hit theaters in April. The movie is actually a drama and co-stars Alfre Woodard, Comedian Lil Rel Howery, Anthony Carrigan, Paul Reiser, Deborah Ayorinde and Frankie Faison. Hart plays a man who must raise his newborn daughter alone after his wife dies during child birth. Hart will not be leaving comedy behind because he’s set to remake Uptown Saturday Night. This is a reboot of the 1974 film that was directed by Sidney Poitier and kicked off a trilogy successful 1970’s films that starred Poitier and Bill Cosby. Will Smith and Denzel Washington had been eyeing remaking Uptown, A Piece Of The Action or Let’s Do It Again, but it didn’t work out. No release date announced yet on Hart’s Uptown Saturday Night, but the screenplay is from Kenya Barris (Black-ish; Girls Trip; Shaft) and directed by Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood; Brown Sugar).
Kandi Burruss went to a cash app. to pay for her daughter’s party?! The singer/songwriter/reality star is catching heat. Why is she asking her fans for money? Remember between the vibrators she’s selling, the Real Housewives, the occasional tours with Xscape, Burruss should not be hurting. I didn’t even mention the songwriting of some huge hits for Destiny’s Child (Bills, Bills, Bills), TLC (No Scrubs), Pink (There You Go) and ‘N Sync (It Makes Me Ill). The 43-year old did get some fan support though but WOW!
Singer Ashanti….she’s been accused of sexually assaulting a man she brought on stage? What?! The singer likes to bring a man up on stage and play to the audience. We’ve seen that before and the male performers do it all the time with female fans from the audience. So for this case Ashanti brings a man up on stage. The man’s girlfriend was in the audience and didn’t like what she saw. Unfortunately, the singer has an unconfirmed reputation of liking other women’s men. Is this really a #Metoo situation?
Judge Greg Mathis speaks out after a parking valet claims the judge spat on him after an argument ensued when the valet returned the judge’s car. Reportedly outside a Detroit restaurant, the valet went to retrieve another car but in his pocket he still had the judge’s car keys. That meant the judge had to wait. When the valet returned, the argument happened. The valet’s lawyer says the judge spat in his client’s face and on his shirt, bragged about doing it to onlookers and the valet’s shirt is being tested for DNA to prove it. The judge disputes this. Judge Mathis says he was kept waiting 40 minutes and the valet began to apologize but told the judge he went to the store or something ridiculous. The judge says that’s when words were exchanged but there was no spitting and the restaurant owner’s son and six witnesses were there. The popular TV star says it sounds like a money grab to him.
Leslie Jones is leaving Saturday Night Live, but she’s gearing up for an amazing 2020. Let’s start with Supermarket Sweep. It’s the game show she’s signed to host, and the rebooted show is currently being shopped to the networks. There’s a Netflix comedy special Jones has coming out as well. And of course, she’s joining Eddie Murphy in Coming To America II. Jones is the one night stand turned babymomma to Murphy’s Prince Akeem character. Now, who will Saturday Night Live reach out to for Jones’ replacement? SNL has never been strong on inclusion and that’s their loss because now Jones is spreading her wings. Meanwhile after 35 years, Jones co-star, Eddie Murphy, will return and host SNL. Murphy last hosted the SNL Christmas show in 1984 and this time he’ll host the 2019 Christmas show for SNL on December 21st. Will Murphy bring Jones back for a return?
Wendy Williams is set to return September 16th for the 11th season of The Wendy Williams Show on FOX29 at 10am.
Serena Williams covers the new edition of Essence magazine. She’s talking all about the September debut of her fashion line S by Serena. Williams is also taking her stance socially as well on the topics of freedom and speaking up.
Ebony Magazine is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Among its special features, the 2018-2019 HBCU Campus Queens’ photo shoot in Pensacola.
Alicia Keys is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. She’ll be performing at magazine’s ICONS party with Christina Aguilera, The Weeknd and Kanye West on September 6th.
Missy Elliot is on the cover of the August edition of Marie Claire with the feature story The Legend Returns.
Check out who’s coming to town:
Hip Hop’s Billionaire, Jay-Z, is presenting Made In America 2019 in Philly. Cardi B and Travis Scott are headlining. Also on the bill are Freddie Gibbs, Grace Carter, Kodak Black and Anderson.Paak. The festivities take place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Labor Day Weekend: Saturday, August 31st through Sunday, September 1st. Tickets and information can be found at madeinamericafest.com.
This Monday, September 2nd – Patty Jackson’s Annual Party In The Park starring Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Whodini and Big Daddy Kane at The Dell Music Center, 33rd and Ridge Avenue. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com or log onto mydelleast.com
Saturday, September 7th - The Royalty Tour starring Mary J. Blige & Nas at The Liacouras Center. For tickets and information log onto liacourascenter.com.
Saturday, September 14th - The Atlantic City Jazz Fest starring Boney James/Najee/Pieces Of A Dream/Norman Brown/Joe Bataan at the Mark Etess Arena in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com or acjazzfest.com
Saturday, September 28th – Snoop Dogg & Friends at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, NJ. Log onto ticketmaster.com for tickets and information.
Saturday, October 26th- The Sketchbook Tour starring Fantasia, Robin Thicke, Tank and Bonfyre at The Liacouras Center. For tickets and information log onto liacourascenter.com.
Saturday, November 9th – The Gentlemen of Soul starring Jeffrey Osborne & Peabo Bryson at The Tropicana in Atlantic City. Tickets and information at ticketmaster.com
Thursday, December 12th – Sinbad in concert at The Parx Casino Xcite Centerin Bensalem, PA City.Log onto tickets.parxcasino.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.