A judge orders R Kelly to use his music residuals to stay current on his child support. The singer/songwriter has been in a money pinch even before his arrest on numerous criminal sexual misconduct charges. He remains in custody awaiting trial. Kelly’s ex Andrea has made it known the singer/songwriter should be forced to keep his payments current. A judge agreed. While Kelly’s immediate financial situation is complicated, all the songs he’s sung, produced and written, especially for other artists, usually come back in some form or fashion of payment from his residual rights. Kelly will still need much of those residuals for his legal team as well.
Comedian Kevin Hart has released video of his road to recovery and confirmed he’s got no plans to sue his friends, one of whom was driving when that car accident happened. This week Hart, who is as popular on social media as he is in movies, TV and appearances, released a video of his hospitalization following that car crash earlier this summer. Hart had to have work done on his spine as a result. The video shows the hospital, the rehab, his walking with assistance and later being stable enough to exercise. The video is almost shot in Rocky fashion with Hart narrating some words of encouragement too. It seems what saved his life was already being in great shape constantly maintaining a health regiment. It’s going to take a full year for Hart to recover, but I’m glad to see “My Nephew” is doing well.
Philly’s own Da’Vine Joy Randolph is making a big splash in the acting game and her Philly roots are all coming full circle. First, she’s starring as Lady Reed along with Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name. Randolph, who is a Temple University alum, is holding her own with fellow castmembers Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, Chris Rock, Tituss Burgess, Keegan-Michael Key, Ron Cephas Jones, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Craig Robinson, Snoop Dogg and, our Bestie, Comedienne/Actress Luenell. Now, Randolph is up in Canada with fellow Philadelphian Lee Daniels. Daniels is filming the bio pic of Billie Holiday. Singer/Actress Andra Day is playing Holiday, and Randolph has joined the cast. The United States Versus Billie Holiday is filming now, and Dolemite Is My Name is currently streaming on Netflix.
Speaking of Dolemite, Eddie Murphy has been on a role with bringing together Black Hollywood’s royalty for Dolemite and Coming To America II, but did he just do an even bigger trick? Murphy is currently filming in Atlanta, and this week he broke the internet. A photo of Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Will Smith and Wesley Snipes hit social media. Murphy and Snipes are filming Coming To America II: Quest, and Lawrence and Smith are filming Bad Boys III: Bad Boys 4 Life. Will they make cameos in each other’s films? Murphy’s known to be supportive of what others may view as his competition. Back in 1990, Bill Cosby and Director Sidney Poitier were filming Cosby’s movie Ghost Dad. At the same time, Murphy was star and director of Harlem Nights with Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. The two sides organized a softball game with Sinbad as referee and gain great publicity. Could Murphy, Snipes, Smith and Lawrence be planning surprises like that? Bad Boys III: Bad Boys 4 Life hits theaters in January 2020, and Coming To America II: Quest is set to be released August 2020. Both movies are currently filming at Tyler Perry’s Atlanta based studios.
In more Tyler Perry news, his studio continues to make history. As Perry spoke about in the rededication ceremony, the studio property he owns was built on a confederate army base. Now, besides all the movies and TV series being worked on there, politics is now front and center. The Fifth Democratic Presidential Debate will be held at Tyler Perry Studios. The debate will take place Sunday, November 20th. Plus, Perry is working on a new show called Bruh. Perry already has a BET series called Sistas, and Bruh might be the sibling series (SMILE) to that show.
Flava Flav you are the daddy!!! The clock carrying member of Public Enemy is a dad for the eighth time with his fourth babymomma. So this gets complicated because at first, the 60-year old rapper and reality star denied being the dad. The DNA test came back and confirmed he’s the father. Who’s the mom? It’s the lady who was managing Flav’s career. Can’t imagine what that relationship is like now. Now Flav is speaking of health issues. Is this a way to get out of child support for this two month old? Hmmmmmmm!
The movie Harriet is the talk of the season but has some controversies to overcome. First, it’s another movie depicting slavery, but I’ve been saying this one is different. It’s the bio of Harriet Tubman who, after escaping slavery for her own freedom, made almost 20 trips back to the south and lead at least 300 slaves to their freedom in the north. She became wanted dead or alive as she became arguably the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, the method which runaway slaves and anti slavery activists helped blacks to freedom. British Actress Cynthia Erivo, who’s also playing Aretha Franklin in a National Geographic TV presentation, is playing Harriet Tubman on the big screen. There’s controversy about why an American actress didn’t get the role. Plus, there are some negative comments about African American women that were attributed to Erivo, and she’s been fighting that. Erivo and Essence magazine got together to see if they can bring some mediation to this. Erivo and her supporters haven’t really addressed it, but in the era of cancel culture that won’t work for long. Many look at Harriet as a certain Oscar contender, but could the negative talk stop things. Harriet, co-starring Philly’s own Leslie Odom, Jr. and Janelle Monae, is in theaters this Friday.
We remember Congressman John Conyers, Jr. Conyers was the longest serving African American in the House of Representatives. Conyers was a civil rights activist before being elected to Congress, which included participating in the infamous October 1963 voter registration drive in Selma, Alabama, known as Freedom Day. Conyers, after serving in the military and being decorated for his service in Korea, became a lawyer and continued to represent working people, unions and civil rights causes. As a congressman, he actually introduced the bill after the assassination of his friend Martin Luther King to make MLK a holiday the year of King’s death. It took nearly 20 years, but the federal holiday became law. Meanwhile, Conyers tangled with the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush administrations in fighting for economic, education and health care equality. Conyers denied the sexual misconduct allegations that eventually saw him resign from office in 2017. John Conyers was 90-years old.
We remember Comedian/Actor John Witherspoon. I spoke with Nephew Tommy from The Steve Harvey Morning Show earlier, and Tommy called him a legend and pointed out that Witherspoon’s decades long career included time as a model. One of Witherspoon’s earliest breaks was being cast in NBC’s The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. The show and Pryor were too hot for NBC and only lasted a season, but Witherspoon was working with Tim Reid, Robin Williams, Marsha Warfield, Sandra Bernhard and Paul Mooney. Witherspoon’s acting went back to the 70’s and through the 2010’s with The Incredible Hulk, WKRP In Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues, 227, Amen, House Party, L.A. Law, Living Single, The Tracy Morgan Show and Black-ish. He’s best remembered for his frequent appearances on his friend David Letterman’s talk show, the movies Boomerang (Eddie Murphy), Friday (Ice Cube) and the TV shows The Wayans Bros. and Boondocks. John Witherspoon was 77.
The Real Housewives Of Atlanta’s season premiere is this Sunday, November 3rd at 8pm on Bravo.
Chadwick Boseman stars in Boseman is 21 Bridges. Partially filmed right here in Philly, Boseman is an NYPD detective in hot pursuit of a cop killer. As a result of the chase, Manhattan’s 21 bridges must be shutdown to catch the criminal. 21 Bridges is due out Friday, November 22nd.
Actress and Supermodel Jodie Turner Smith covers the latest issue of Essence. The November issue’s theme is Wok, a state of consciousness, including profiling 100 Black women advocating for change.
Rihanna is on the cover of the new November issue of Vogue magazine. The 31-year old talks about being in love, presidential politics and her Fenty Official clothing line. The Umbrella singer also says she didn’t participate in the Superbowl because she didn’t want to be of service to the organization she disagrees with so much and didn’t want to be a sellout.
Elle magazine celebrates women in Hollywood with multiple covers including Emmy Winner Lena Waithe, Jodie Turner-Smith and Zendaya.
Oscar Winner Regina King is on the cover of November’s Marie Claire. The actress and director talks about her superhero moment.
Supermodel Jourdan Dunn covers British Vogue.
Check out who’s coming to town:
This Friday, November 1st - Smokey Robinson at the Ocean Casino & Resort in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Tuesday, November 5th – Erykah Badu at the Met Philly, Broad & Poplar Streets. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Friday, November 8th – The O’Jays at the Ocean Casino & Resort in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.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
November 14th – December 8th - The UniverSoul Circus returns to Fairmount Park on the grounds ofThe Mann Center for The Performing Arts, 52nd and Parkside Avenue. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com.
Saturday, November 30th – Run DMC at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Friday, December 6th– Anita Baker: The Farewell Concert Series at The Liacouras Center. For tickets and information log onto liacourascenter.com.
Saturday, December 7th – The All I Want For Christmas show starring Mariah Carey at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto 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.
Saturday, December 21st – The WDAS Holiday Jam starring Kem, Kirk Franklin and Brownstone at the Met Philly, Broad & Poplar Streets. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Saturday, December 28th – Earth, Wind & Fire at the Mark Etess Arena in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Friday, January 3rd – The Femme It Forward Tour starring Monica, Ashanti, Amerie, Lil Mo & Keri Hilson at the Met Philly, Broad & Poplar Streets. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
Friday, February 14th – Boyz II Men’s Valentine’s Day Concert at the Met Philly, Broad & Poplar Streets. For tickets and information log onto ticketmaster.com
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.