Bad news for fans who attend a Chris Rock show expecting to hear his side of the Oscar controversy in which the “Good Hair” comedian received an unexpected slap from Academy Award winner Will Smith promptly after making a joke onstage about the shaved head of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
During a surprise set at the Comedy Cellar in New York City on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, the 57-year-old entertainer sent a clear message that he would not be addressing the highly publicized incident.
“He literally only addressed it as the crowd was going wild for his surprise appearance,” an alleged audience member told Page Six. “He got on stage and said, ‘Lower your expectations. I’m not going to address that s–t.’ “
The only time Rock has spoken about the Oscar drama publicly was at his first show following the award ceremony, which took place on Sunday, March 27, 2007, in Boston, where he received a standing ovation.
“So, how was your weekend?” the comedian remarked. At the time, he told fans that he was “still processing what happened” but would eventually speak on “that s–t.” Before the show, the venue manager told the outlet in a statement that Rock was “in a great mood” despite still being a trending topic nearly a week later.
Rock’s comment comes as the Academy announced that its board of governors would meet this Friday, April 8, 2022, instead of the previously scheduled April 18 meeting to discuss “possible sanctions” for the “King Richard” star.
“The April 18 date was set in accordance with California law and our Standards of Conduct because our agenda included possible suspension or expulsion of Mr. Smith from membership,” Academy president David Rubin wrote in a signed letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
It continued, “We were required to provide Mr. Smith notice 15 days prior to the board meeting at which such action might be taken, and also give him the opportunity to provide the board a written statement no less than five days prior to that meeting.”
Smith has since resigned from the Academy while ticket sales for Rock’s comedy tour have skyrocketed. He has dates scheduled through Nov. 19, when he is set to return to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where the film awards took place.
Source: Atahabih Germain/Yahoo
Tha Doggfather is bringing out Katt Williams, Mike Epps, and more.
Hip Hop icon Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus Jr. will present a comedy show for Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival. Snoop Dogg booked several notable comedians.
Fans will get to see Katt Williams, Mike Epps, and Sommore at Snoop Dogg’s F*cn Around Comedy Special. One of the latest additions to the Netflix-backed fest will take place on May 5 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
Netflix Is A Joke organizers also announced Bill Burr, Neal Brennan, and others as new editions to the lineup. Billy Eichner will host STAND OUT: An LGBTQ+ Celebration as well.
Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle is a headliner for Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival. Last year, some LGBTQ+ organizations criticized Chappelle’s Netflix special titled The Closer for highlighting the anti-trans movement known as TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist).
Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, and David Letterman will also be at the Netflix Is A Joke Festival. Plus, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Larry David, Marlon Wayans, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogan, and Wanda Sykes are on the lineup.
“We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring and our line-up of comedians can’t wait to bring much-needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix,” stated Robbie Praw, Netflix’s Director of Original Standup Comedy Programming.
Robbie Praw added, “Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new voices in one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival will feature over 250 live shows at over 30 different venues. The shows run from April 28 to May 8. All new tickets for the general public will go on sale Friday, April 8 at netflixisajokefest.com.
Source: AllHipHop.com
A couple of hours ago we reported the incident that happened a couple of days ago whereas new actor, rapper, and now new comedian, Tip “TI” Harris approached comedian Lauren Knight while she was on stage performing. It seems Knight said a joke he didn’t like and things quickly out of hand.
Since the incident, lots of folks have been saying that TI intimidated her, and more, so we got a chance to ask him about the incident and ask him what happened. Here is what he said;
Fans are going wild over a resurfaced story about Marlon Wayans and a “Batman” film he never starred in. According to Cinemablend and a movie fan on Reddit, the actor and comedian received $100,000 for his role as Robin in director Tim Burton‘s 1992 film “Batman Returns.” The part was later passed on to actor Chris O’Donnell.
The 49-year-old producer previously admitted to these findings during a 2018 Gizmodo interview. He said, “I was actually supposed to play Robin in ‘Batman Returns,’ about 15 years ago.
But there was too many characters. I was cast, I was paid, and everything. I still get residual checks. Tim Burton didn’t wind up doing three, [director] Joel Schumacher did it, and he had a different vision for who Robin was. So he hired Chris O’ Donnell.”
As news about a Black Robin made its way to Twitter, fans noted that Wayans was financially compensated for his “trouble.” Still, one person tweeted, “So we were robbed of a Black Robin?
Fans of the many “Batman” stories and comic books such as “Batman and Robin Vol. 4: Requiem for Damian” began requesting Wayan’s deleted scenes to be released.
One person wrote, “So am I the only one that wants [to] see Marlon’s deleted scenes extremely bad? They need [to] release them; I bet he was EVERYTHING! I’ve really been a fan of his since [before] Requiem [for Damian], but Requiem solidified it [for] me. I bet if he was playing a criminal, they [would have] kept every scene.”
However, some “Batman” fans were unaware of the actor’s contribution to “Batman Returns.” While making a point about Wayans’s family and their diverse acting range, one person said, “I didn’t know this, but I’m not surprised at all about his range or anyone in his family’s range. Thank you for sharing!”
Meanwhile, the idea of a Black Robin caused fans to bring up another film the “White Chicks” star has yet to star in. Wayans is among the many actors mentioned as picks to play late comedian Richard Pryor in a biopic helmed by “Empire” creator Lee Daniels.
One person said, “Always wondered what his Richard Pryor project would’ve been like.” In response, one person wrote, “Same here. He’s always had the range for more, and I’m always surprised when people don’t realize what he’s capable of.”
Source: Atlanta Black Star
We knew that someone was going to get caught approaching or charging a comedian while they were on stage because of a joke-especially after what happened at the Oscars when Will Smith infamously charged the stage and slapped Chris Rock, but we didn’t think that person would be new actor, rapper, and now new comedian Tip “TI” Harris!
It seems that when comedian Lauren Knight said a joke about him TI didn’t like the joke that was said. There are about to be a lot of folks upset about this because it was a female comedian, and how it was done. Lauren Knight posted what she claims happened, and you can check that out below.
The question is- was he right to do this because of what she said, or did he violate her space as a comedian?
Check out the exchange below;
“Shotgun Wedding,” a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel, is forgoing a traditional theatrical release and is instead heading to Amazon Prime Video.
Lionsgate, which produced “Shotgun Wedding” and intended to open the movie in theaters, sold U.S. rights to the streamer. Prime Video previously acquired international rights for the amorous action-comedy in several key territories.
“Shotgun Wedding” was scheduled to hit the big screen on June 29, but it’s now unclear when the film will land on Prime Video. Since release plans have not been finalized, sources say there’s a chance the movie will be available in select cinemas on the same day as its digital debut.
Lionsgate’s sale comes at a time when the domestic box office is still attempting to recover from COVID-19. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s jungle-set love story “The Lost City” has managed to sell tickets, but that movie may be more of an anomaly. Earlier this year, Lopez’s musical romantic comedy “Marry Me” collected $49 million at the global box office while playing simultaneously on NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock. According to insiders, Amazon proposed an irresistible offer to get the rights to “Shotgun Wedding” from Lionsgate. With a streaming service release, the company can avoid the scrutiny that comes with box office reporting.
Jason Moore directed “Shotgun Wedding,” in which Lopez and Duhamel play partners who gather their families for a destination wedding. But as the couple begins to get cold feet, the entire wedding party is taken hostage. The cast also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Sonia Braga, Cheech Marin, Selena Tan and Lenny Kravitz.
Armie Hammer was previously set to star opposite Lopez, but he dropped out of the film last year following allegations of sexual abuse and social media controversy.
“Packed with action, comedy, and a dash of romance, ‘Shotgun Wedding’ is one of those rare films with something for everyone,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “With a cast led by Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel, the film is bursting with star power and fantastic performances. We are thrilled to work with the entire filmmaking team to bring this hilarious, multifaceted film to Prime Video audiences around the world.”
In the following interview, we chat with internet sensation Mojo Brooks, who is also an actor and a writer, as he discusses his start in comedy and how he became a star on social media. We ask him about what made him decide he can compete with some veteran comedians and the advice he gives to others starting out.
Check out the interview below;
By now, you have heard about all of the drama from last week’s Oscars between Chris Rock and Will Smith. While Smith came out with an official apology the following day, we heard nothing from Chris Rock, except a fake apology that circulated around for a couple of days. With that apology, everyone was hoping that we would hear from Rock.
Last Wednesday, while in Boston, Chris Rock addressed the incident briefly while on stage and said while he was still processing it, he would address it later.
Well, over the weekend we heard from Tony Rock, (Chris Rock’s brother, who is also a comedian) and he stated that he wanted to address the situation now and he clearly was upset. Check out what he had to say about the incident below;
After not speaking for 13 years, Oscar-winning Precious star Mo’Nique has been set by that film’s director Lee Daniels to replace Octavia Spencer in Demon House, an exorcism film package that Netflix acquired after a brisk auction in January. Spencer had to bow out of the star-studded film because of a scheduling conflict with her Apple TV+ television show Truth Be Told.
Mo’Nique, who last worked with Daniels in the celebrated 2009 film Precious that brought her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, will take over the role of a social worker who helps a family through a series of exorcisms. Demon House reunites Daniels with Oscar-nominated The United States vs. Billie Holiday star Andra Day, who’ll star with Glenn Close, Don’t Look Up‘s Rob Morgan, Stranger Things‘ Caleb McLaughlin and Aunjanue Ellis, latter of whom is fresh from an Oscar nomination for King Richard.
At a moment of heightened acrimony in Hollywood over Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock during the Oscars, it is nice to see the possibility that people can move past differences. Despite the success of Precious and the Oscar won by Mo’Nique for her role as an abusive mother, she accused Daniels, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry of blackballing her because she would not promote the film during awards season. It wasn’t in her contract, she said, and Mo’Nique didn’t want to spend time away from her family. They denied blackballing her, but sources said the actress and the director didn’t speak for 13 years because of the disagreement. Mo’Nique separately filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Demon House-maker Netflix, charging racial and gender discrimination for trying to drastically underpay her for a stand-up special after offering other stars tens of millions of dollars. That included comics like Oscar host Amy Schumer whom the lawsuit said made 26 times the $500,000 she was offered for an hour-long comedy special.
Mo’Nique and Daniels have exorcised their demons and will work together in a very high profile film. When the package got brokered by CAA Media Finance, sources told Deadline that it was worth upward of $65 million, covering the film’s budget and buyouts. Daniels, Tucker Tooley and Pam Williams are producing. Production begins in June.
In a case widely covered at the time, Latoya Ammons and her three children experienced strange incidents in their Gary, IN, home that grew progressively worse, with the children levitating, becoming violent with one another and speaking in growls and deep voices with no recollection afterward. Skeptics abounded, but the Gary Police Department, Department of Child Services and the local church and hospital all became involved, filing reports that took the supernatural occurrences seriously. Officers, doctors and social workers said they witnessed many of the incidents, including one in which her 9-year-old son walked backward up a wall. The Indianapolis Star covered it closely as the Department of Child Services investigated it.
Ammons optioned her rights to Relativity when the story first became public in 2014, but the movie didn’t get made and those rights lapsed several years ago as Relativity plunged into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Producer Tooley, a former Relativity exec, acquired the lapsed rights after that, under his Tooley Entertainment banner. Then came a long development to get it to a film ready to be made. Dave Coggeshall wrote drafts, as did Elijah Bynum. Then Daniels rewrote it himself, and that is the script the buyers read. It uses the case to frame a fictional thriller, as was done with The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, The Conjuring and other franchises purported to be based on or inspired by actual events.
Also producing are Todd Crites and Jackson Nguyen of Turn Left Productions, and Greg Renker and Gregoire Gensollen are EPs.
Source: Deadline
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is set for the female lead opposite Kevin Hart in the Netflix action thriller Lift. Rounding out the cast are Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen, Úrsula Corberó, Yun Jee Kim, Viveik Kalra and Paul Anderson. F. Gary Gray will direct the pic, with Dan Kunka penning the script. Netflix landed the package last year.
Mbatha-Raw beat out a number of actresses for the role that had become one of the more coveted parts for young female stars in recent weeks. She is coming off strong reviews for her role in the hit Marvel series Loki and has Surface bowing this summer on Apple TV+.
The film is produced by Simon Kinberg and Audrey Chon for Genre Pictures, Matt Reeves and Adam Kassan for 6th & Idaho, and Hart and Brian Smiley for HartBeat Productions. 6th & Idaho currently has The Batman in theaters, which has dominated the month of March at the box-office, and Genre’s Invasion just finished it’s first season on Apple TV+.
Gray, Brent O’Connor and Patricia Braga are exec producing.
Hart will play a master thief who is wooed by his ex-girlfriend and the FBI to pull off an impossible heist with his international crew on a 777 flying from London to Zurich.
Lift falls under Hart and HartBeat Productions’ creative partnership with Netflix. They are in production on comedy Me Time, starring Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall.
Mbatha-Raw is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content and Curtis Brown Group. Magnussen is withj UTA, Anonymous Content and Sloane Offer. D’Onofrio is repped by UTA and Silver Lining Entertainment, Kalra is represented by CAA and in the UK by 42. Anderson is repped by CAA and Kim is managed by Chris S. Lee at B&C Content.
Source: Deadline