Anthony Anderson To Host Special For BET Titled ‘Saving Our Selves: A BET Covid-19 Relief Effort’
Today BET announces comedian and actor Anthony Anderson as the fourth host of the upcoming “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT,” special. Anderson joins stars Kelly Rowland, Terrence J, and Regina Hall as host for the two-hour special broadcast. “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT,” is set to air on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 8 PM EDT.
Performances include Alicia Keys with a special tribute to New York City, and a Gospel moment with Kirk Franklin featuring Fantasia, Jonathan McReynolds, Kelly Price, Tasha Cobbs, Le’Andria Johnson, and Melvin Crispell III. Exclusive performances by John Legend, Usher, Jhene Aiko, Chloe X Halle, CeeLo Green, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Swae Lee, Tyrese Gibson, Buju Banton, DJ D-Nice,SiR, D Smoke, and Charlie Wilson.
Additional celebrity guest appearances will include Tiffany Haddish, Idris Elba, Ciara, Don Cheadle, Mike Epps, Deon Cole, Angela Rye, Dr. Rheeda Walker, Charlamagne Tha God, Symone D. Sanders, DJ Khaled and Chance The Rapper.
Expanding the reach of the telecast, BET will simulcast the special across BET and BET Her domestically, as well as their channels internationally bringing awareness to over 90 million homes. Additionally, BET will join forces with Bounce to help expand the audience to include free, over-the-air broadcast viewers with Bounce simulcasting “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT.”
Addressing the communities around the world, a global check-in segment for “BET SAVING OUR SELVES: COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT” will highlight how various regions around the globe are coping through COVID-19. BET Breaks’ International talent Nomalanga (South Africa), Flora Coquerel (France), and Jourdan Riane (UK) will report on how the pandemic is affecting their countries. British Hip Hop Artists behind the viral “Don’t Rush” social media challenge, Young T andBugsy, and Idris Elba’s wife, Sabrina Elba, will make appearances as well. Internationally, the show will be broadcast on Saturday, April 25 in the UK at 9:00 pm BST, Korea at 9:00 pm KST, Africa at 6:00 pm CAT, and France at 10:30 pm CEDT.
The focus of the initiatives is to combat the racial disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent findings have shown that Black Americans are being disproportionately harmed by the health and financial devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. BET, in partnership with the NAACP, United Way Worldwide, leaders in the African American creative, civil rights and business communities will provide critical financial, educational and community support directly to the African Americans hardest hit by this crisis. Corporate brand donors who have generously contributed to the fund include Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Toyota, Salesforce, McDonald’s, AARP, Pine-Sol®, Morgan Stanley, TJ Maxx, Weight Watchers, and NBA.
You can now donate to the fund online via BET.com or by texting BETGives to 51555. More information on BET’s partnership with UWW and additional extensions of our relief efforts are forthcoming. For further details, please visit BET.com/COVID19.
Cedric The Entertainer To Host Viral Video Special For CBS Titled ‘Homevideos: A Global Phenomenon’
The Neighborhood star Cedric the Entertainer is set to host a CBS special in May called Homevideos: A Global Phenomenon.
A press release said it will feature viral home-video moments created while people are social distancing and sheltering in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This special is a true celebration of the human spirit,” Jodi Roth, senior vice president of specials for CBS, said Friday. “The ingenuity and creativity displayed in these videos is impressive, while also highlighting our spirit and resilience as a community during this unique moment in time.”
Cedric the Entertainer also recently gathered together his comedian friends for an online stand-up show to raise money for essential workers affected by the pandemic last weekend with Def Comedy Jam where he hosted.
Michael Che Of ‘Saturday Night Live’ To Pay Rent For 160 New York Public Housing Residents
“Saturday Night Live” star Michael Che has committed to paying one month’s rent for 160 residents of a New York City public housing building as a tribute to his grandmother, who died last week of coronavirus-related complications.
Che disclosed his decision on Instagram in a post that called on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others to find a solution to the rent crisis that many New Yorkers are facing amid the widespread unemployment caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. Che disclosed the death of his grandmother last week when “SNL” returned to the airwaves with its first-ever remote production. Che will cover the rent for other residents in the building where she lived, to honor her memory and make a statement about the rent crisis in the city.
“It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work,” Che wrote on Instagram. Of his decision to cover rent for residents of his grandmother’s building, Che wrote: “I know that’s just a drop in the bucket. So I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST.”
Che closed his post with a “P.S.” addressed to de Blasio, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and hip hop mogul Sean Combs. “De Blasio! Cuomo! Diddy! Let’s fix this! Page me!”
Che did not specify the building or elaborate on the details of his grandmother’s death. NBC’s “Today” identified Che’s grandmother’s as Martha.
Che is co-anchor with Colin Jost of “SNL’s” “Weekend Update” segment and co-head writer of the show. He’s been a writer for “SNL” since 2013 and on air with the show since 2014. Che and Jost co-hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast in 2018.
Source: Variety
Rashida Jones To Star In New Animated Comedy For Quibi Titled ‘Filthy Animals’
Jones and the team behind Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken have landed an animated comedy project at Quibi.
The short form streamer is developing Filthy Animals, an animated sci-fi comedy that Jones will star in and executive produce (via her Le Train Train). Artists Nikolai and Simon Haas, Carey O’Donnell and Johnny Smith created the show, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, which produces Robot Chicken, is producing.
Jones will voice Sunny Day, a lonely, too-smart-for-her-own-good suburban 12-year-old who befriends Cruz, a selfish, renegade, messy, suave adoptive cat.
The project is the third for Stoopid Buddy at Quibi; the company is also producing the clay-animation series Gloop World, from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, and the stop-motion action series Micro Mayhem.
Jones, meanwhile, is part of the voice cast of Fox’s recently renewed Duncanville and stars with Kenya Barris in Netflix’s #BlackAF, which is set to debut Friday. She and her Le Train Train partner, Will McCormack, are executive producers of TNT’s Claws, TBS’ Angie Tribeca (which also starred Jones) and AMC’s upcoming Kevin Can F**k Himself.
Jones and McCormack are exec producing Filthy Animals with the Haas brothers, Smith and Stoopid Buddy’s Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters.
The mobile-only streaming platform Quibi launched April 6. CEO Meg Whitman said Monday that the service received 1.7 million downloads in its first week, which she said “exceeded our plans and expectations.”
The streamer debuted with some 50 shows, all of which are served in episodes of 10 minutes or less. Content includes scripted and unscripted series and daily news, sports and talk programs. Quibi is offering a 90-day free trial, after which users will pay $5 per month for an ad-supported version of the service or $8 monthly for one with no ads.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg Come Together For New Jersey’s COVID-19 Benefit Broadcast
Some of the biggest and best names in Hollywood are coming together to assist families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey.
In a one-night telecast, titled Jersey 4 Jersey, a star-studded lineup of people that are native to the state of New Jersey will raise funds to combat the medical and economic struggles caused by COVID-19.
Broadcasting from their individual homes, Bruce Springsteen, Chelsea Handler, Halsey, Jon Bon Jovi, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Bennett, Chris Rock, Danny DeVito, Charlie Puth, Kelly Ripa, Jon Stewart, SZA, and Saquon Barkley, will be the featured stars during the virtual event.
Jersey 4 Jersey is set to air April 22 at 7 pm and will support the New Jersey Pandemic, Relief Fund.
“New Jersey is on the front lines of this pandemic, making it more important than ever for us to do what Jersey does best, take care of one another,” Tammy Murphy, the wife of New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement.” That’s why we’re asking everyone in our state to join the NJPRF and some of New Jersey’s finest for some much-needed musical entertainment, levity, and Jersey pride during these unprecedented times,” she continued.
The producer behind Elton John’s iHeart Radio Living Room Concert, Joel Gallen, will be the executive producer of the Jersey 4 Jersey broadcast.
The New Jersey fundraiser comes days after Lady Gaga said that she is curating a musical benefit broadcast titled, One World: Together at Home, that will air on CBS, ABC, and NBC on April 18.
Jersey 4 Jersey can be streamed on multiple streaming services like Apple Music and AppleTV apps; E Street Radio on SiriusXM; local television stations WABC, WPVI, WPIX, News12 and NJTV; and radio outlets including 1010 WINS, WCBS 880, CBS-FM, WFAN, New York’s Country 94.7, Alt 92.3 and Q104.3.
As of Tuesday, the United States has over 599,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with a death toll of over 23,000. The number of confirmed cases in New Jersey has surpassed 64,000, with 2,400 deaths.
Source: BallerAlert.com
Essence Festival Officially Cancels 2020 Event In New Orleans
The 2020 Essence Festival of Culture, a cornerstone of New Orleans’ summertime tourism economy and arguably the pre-eminent predominantly African-American social and entertainment event in the country, has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced Wednesday.
The multi-faceted, multi-day event, which was originally scheduled for its traditional July 4th weekend, was previously postponed until an unspecified date this fall because of the crisis.
Now it is canceled entirely.
The cancellation comes a day after Mayor LaToya Cantrell recommended all large festivals in New Orleans be put on hold for the rest of the year.
The 2020 roster for Essence’s three nights of concerts in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome included Janet Jackson, who has previously performed at the event, and Bruno Mars, who would have made his Essence debut.
Janelle Monae, Patti LaBelle, Ari Lennox, Raphael Saadiq and Estelle were also on the bill.
A statement posted to the festival’s social media accounts Wednesday morning read in part, “New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell bravely recommended yesterday that no large events take place in New Orleans in 2020, and Essence fully supports that decision.
“After continued monitoring of the evolving developments in the COVID-19 global pandemic and remaining in close contact and collaboration with our partners in the City of New Orleans and State of Louisiana, we are confirming today that we will no longer move forward with the 2020 ESSENCE Festival of Culture live experience – and look forward to returning to New Orleans in 2021.”
Tickets purchased through Ticketmaster will be refunded automatically. Tickets for the 2020 event will not be valid for the 2021 Essence.
The 26th edition of the Essence Fest was set to include two extra days of activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary year of Essence magazine, along with the annual evening concert series in the Superdome.
The festival’s free daytime panels, celebrity appearances, political and empowerment discussions and product presentations fill the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. In 2019, the festival added “Essence After Dark,” a series of performances at venues around town.
“Music is an important part of our culture,” Michelle Ebanks, CEO of Essence Communications Inc., said in November, but the Essence Fest is about “music, fashion, beauty, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, civic engagement, spirituality. This is what makes it such a large festival. It’s a family reunion.”
What was originally called the Essence Music Festival — it’s now the Essence Festival of Culture — was intended to be a one-off celebration of Essence Magazine’s 25th anniversary in 1995. The success of that first year convinced Essence co-founder Ed Lewis that the festival should be an annual event.
Attendance for Essence’s paid and free events numbers in the hundreds of thousands, with an annual economic impact estimated in hundreds of millions of dollars.
In November, Essence officials joined Cantrell and Gov. John Bel Edwards at City Hall to announce another five-year contract extension to keep the festival in New Orleans at least through 2024.
The 2019 Essence Fest, the 25th overall, was the last under the previous five-year contract extension.
Essence has featured the likes of Beyoncé, Prince, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Charlie Wilson, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Alicia Keys, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Smokey Robinson, Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and dozens more. In recent years, the Essence team has worked with performers to curate one-of-a-kind, multi-artist performances.
Former first lady Michelle Obama, a rare non-musical headliner, was interviewed by Gayle King on the main Superdome stage during the 2019 festival.
Other cities have made overtures to steal Essence away, but it has remained in New Orleans every July 4th weekend except in 2006. The festival moved to Houston that year because the Superdome was still undergoing renovations after Hurricane Katrina.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 will be the first year in a quarter-century without an Essence Fest.
Source: NOLA.com
WATCH: Netflix Releases Trailer To New Mindy Kaling Comedy Titled ‘Never Have I Ever’
Nerds need love, too — and in Mindy Kaling’s new Netflix series, they need it bad.
The streamer has released an official trailer for Never Have I Ever, a sex-soaked coming-of-age comedy debuting Monday, April 27, with Kaling serving as creator and executive producer. Newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan stars as Devi, an Indian American teen girl who’s got school figured out… but is still fuzzy on the whole “sex” thing. Distracted by steamy dreams of a hunky classmate serving himself up to her (“I’m here to have sex with you”), she suddenly declares herself ready to lose her virginity.
She announces to her friends that they’re “rebranding” in order to score dates with “attainable, yet status-enhancing people.” (Unfortunately, her target proudly tells her the fragrance he’s wearing is “Forever, by Mariah Carey.”) “We’re smart, and idiots are banging all the time!” her friend realizes. “We can do it, too!” Devi just wants to feel like a normal teenager for once, but her mom warns her: “Normal teenagers end up in prison. Or worse, working in Jersey Mike’s.” (Ouch.) At least she has Niecy Nash as her therapist, right?
Source: By Dave Nemetz, TV Line
Romany Malco & Regina Hall In New Film ‘Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison’ Heading To On Demand
Cranked Up Films, the genre-centric label under Good Deed Entertainment, has secured the North American distribution rights to Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison(f.k.a Prison Logic), a comedy written and directed by A Million Little Things star Romany Malco. Set for an OnDemand release on July 10, the pic stars Malco, Regina Hall (Girls Trip, Little) and Tami Roman (Basketball Wives).
Based on a character from Malco’s YouTube channel, the comedy is about a self-proclaimed motivational speaker named Tijuana Jackson, who is newly released from prison and set on fulfilling his dream of becoming a world-renowned Life Coach. Chasing a life-changing opportunity, he violates his parole in the process. Facing more jail time and cut off from the only support system he’s ever had, TJ must master the art of achieving success through serving his community or fail miserably serving time.
Josh Etting and Brian Etting produced the project via their Garlin Pictures label with Will Packer Productions serving as executive producer.
“We are extremely excited to be working with Romany Malco and the entire filmmaking team on this film,” said Scott Donley, CEO of Cranked Up. “This film is a perfect fit for our Cranked Up brand and we cannot wait to share the motivational mind of Tijuana Jackson with audiences everywhere!”
Malco added, “We had to make this movie independently because no one in their right mind would get behind such an outrageously controversial character, and that says a lot about Cranked Up.”
“We believe Romany’s comedic voice is one that is very much needed now more than ever and we can’t wait to share Tijuana Jackson with everyone who is old enough to watch it,” remarked Josh Etting.
The deal was negotiated by Cranked Up’s Kristin Harris, VP of Acquisitions and Distribution, with Josh Etting and Brian Etting of Garlin Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.
Source: Deadline
Kevin Hart, Justin Bieber And Magic Johnson Join The All For COVID-19 Relief challenge
Partner of the Philadelphia 76ers Michael Rubinhas the likes of Kevin Hart, Meek Mill, Justin Bieber and Magic johnsonsupport his amazing plan to raise funds for COVID-19 relief.
Rubin launched the All In Challenge on Tuesday – it’s a huge fundraiser to feed Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic … and it offers unique fan experiences in the hopes of raising tens of millions of dollars.
People who want to donate to a great cause can throw as little as $ 10 to participate in incredible prizes … like a chance to be in Kevin’s next movie or spend a day with Ryan Seacrest. on ALL her jobs !!!
Meanwhile, Meek is auctioning off its 2019 Rolls-Royce Phantom !!! Opening offer … $ 200,000. If you want to be a baller in the NBA – he will be back eventually – owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban gives you a chance to prepare for a match. FOR REAL!!
And, for those big ballers, there’s a bunch of auctions … like an opening bid of $ 50,000 to play H.O.R.S.E. with Magic and sit on the court during a Lakers game. NBD.
Dozens of other actors, athletes, singers, and celebrities, in general, get involved – it’s a challenge, after all, so everyone calls their friends. Kevin is watching you, rock.So look what Yo Gotti, Alex Rodriguez, Todd Gurley, Zachand Julie Ertz, Ben simmonsand many others offer. That’s all allinchallenge.com.
Showtime’s ‘Desus & Mero’ To Feature Presidential Candidate Joe Biden This Thursday
NEW YORK – April 14, 2020 – In the next all-new episode of DESUS & MERO on SHOWTIME, the duo welcomes former Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to the show. The interview will be done via remote video conferencing, as hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero continue to shoot episodes of DESUS & MERO from their respective homes. Tune in this Thursday, April 16 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.
Longtime acquaintances Desus Nice and The Kid Mero reconnected online in the early days of Twitter, where they unleashed their potent personalities and found themselves kindred spirits. That led to stints on Complex and MTV, the Bodega Boys podcast, and a daily late-night show on Viceland, developing a feverish following. The quick-witted duobrings a distinct voice to late night, delivering smart and comedic commentary on any and all topics, that keeps audiences buzzing.Desus and Mero continue to host their Bodega Boys podcast. Produced for SHOWTIME by JAX Media, DESUS & MERO is executive produced by Desus Nice, The Kid Mero, Lilly Burns, Tony Hernandez and Victor Lopez. For more information about DESUS & MERO, visit SHO.com, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and join the conversation using #DESUSandMERO.
