Trevor Noah is about to get fancy with the right analog stick.
The “Daily Show” star, who apparently claims to be among the best non-professional FIFA players in the world, has signed on to host a new gaming series at Quibi which will see him try to prove his video game skills.
Titled “Player Vs. Player With Trevor Noah,” the series will feature Noah going head to head with some of the biggest names in the gaming world – from esports pros, to celebrities with a stake in esports teams, to top Twitch streamers — as they battle within different known titles on various consoles. According to Quibi, the show promises “much fun and competitive banter between Noah and his prospective rivals.”
The series is being produced by Noah’s Day Zero Productions, for which he will executive produce alongside Haroon Saleem. Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt, and Sanaz Yamin are all on board to executive produce for Mainstay Entertainment, with Bob Bain exec producing on behalf of his Bob Bain Productions.
“Player Vs. Player With Trevor Noah,” which is being produced by Comedy Central Studios, is the latest gaming offering to come to the short-form content platform. Back in Feb., Quibi announced a pact with top esports team FaZe Clan for a reality-competition show, which will give one lucky subscriber the chance to join the roster. The platform also has a daily gaming news series that hails from Vox Media’s Polygon.
Ari Pearce will be the executive in charge of production for Comedy Central.
News of Noah’s Quibi project comes a few months after his “Daily Show” episodes were expanded to 45 minutes per night amid coronavirus production. Variety recently had Noah chat with fellow late-night relative newcomer Lilly Singh to compare notes about producing a late-night show during the pandemic.
Source: variety
UPDATED: ViacomCBS is ending its long-running relationship with Nick Cannon after he made anti-Semitic comments on his podcast.
In the June 30 episode of “Cannon’s Class,” the actor and TV host interviewed Professor Griff, a rapper who was a part of Public Enemy before leaving the group after making anti-Semitic remarks.
On the podcast, Cannon said Black people are the “true Hebrews” and talked about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family.
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” Cannon said. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
A ViacomCBS spokesperson released a statement to Variety, saying that the company’s relationship with Cannon is now terminated.
“ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism. We have spoken with Nick Cannon about an episode of his podcast ‘Cannon’s Class’ on YouTube, which promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him. We are committed to doing better in our response to incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry. ViacomCBS will have further announcements on our efforts to combat hate of all kinds,” the company said.
On Monday, Cannon said on Twitter and Facebook that he has “no hate in my heart nor malice intentions” and doesn’t condone hate speech. He also said that he holds himself “accountable for this moment” and takes full responsibility for his actions.
Late on Tuesday and well into the early hours of Wednesday, the host began retweeting scores of messages of support from fans, some of whom condemned ViacomCBS for severing ties with Cannon and expressed concern for the future of long-running MTV sketch comedy series “Wild ‘N Out,” which Cannon has hosted since its 2005 debut and recent expansion to sister network VH1.
Cannon also retweeted a number of his critics who called him the N-word.
The host has had a relationship with Viacom since he was an actor on Nickelodeon in the ’90s, and into the 2000s with “Wild ‘N Out.” More recently, he’s been known as the host of “The Masked Singer” on Fox and hosted “America’s Got Talent” on NBC from 2009-2016. He’s also launching a syndicated daytime talk show in September with Debmar-Mercury.
Source: Variety
Comedian D.L. Hughley was hospitalized Friday night after he passed out on stage while performing a stand-up set.
Hughley’s representative confirmed that he was “suffering from exhaustion after all the week’s work and travel” and that he “was kept overnight at the hospital for tests under doctor’s orders.”
However, the comedian is doing better on Saturday morning.
“He is awake and feeling better, and wishes to thank everyone for the very kind prayers and thoughts,” his rep said.
Hughley was performing at the Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville when he passed out. A Twitter video shows him performing a comedy routine when his speech begins to slur. He slumped over on his stool and his manager tried to steady him, but he fell to the ground and appeared unresponsive. Two people carried him off the stage as an announcer told the shocked crowd to stay calm. An ambulance was called to take Hughley to a nearby hospital.
Source: Variety
Kevin Hart is continuing to put his time at home in quarantine to use.
The comedian is set to host and executive produce a virtual special for E! which will see four celebrity couples go head to head in a series of “outrageous at-home challenges.”
Titled “Celebrity Game Face,” the special features Hart and his wife Eniko, along with couples Terry and Rebecca Crews, Sarah Hyland and her fiancé Wells Adams, and Joel and Sarah McHale.
The Harts will lead the teams through a game night packed with fun, ridiculous physical challenges that viewers can play along with at home. Some of the challenges involved the couples showing off their teen dance moves in a “tik talk” challenge, feeding each other a messy meal with a twist, attempting to interpret what their partners are saying while their mouths are full, and racing through their homes to find unexpected items to solve riddles. At the end of the night, the couples will be awarded money for their charity of choice, but only one team will win the coveted “Hart of a Champion” trophy, which is a gold statue of baby Kevin Hart.
“Celebrity Game Face” is produced by Critical Content and Hartbeat Productions with Hart, Jenny Daly, Tom Forman, Jon Beyer, Bryan Smiley, Mike Stein and Michael Canter serving as executive producers.
The special is the latest in a growing number of at-home events, series and episodes. Fox is currently airing a series called “Celebrity Watch Party” which sees celebs watch some of their favorite shows from home, while series like “All Rise,” “Mythic Quest” and even “Parks and Recreation” have all produced quarantine content shot from home.
Source: Variety
All Def Digital and Sky-backed producer Jupiter Entertainment have struck a deal to adapt the hip hop and comedy platform’s digital media series for television.
The two companies have struck a partnership to adapt All Def Digital’s library of content, including music formats The Crate and Bar Exam.
All Def, which was founded by Russell Simmons, was acquired by Culture Genesis, the LA-based digital studio whose investors include rapper T.I, Grand Hustle Records’ founder Jason Geter, NBA star Baron Davis and venture-capital firms Betaworks and Mucker Capital, last year.
Culture Genesis co-founders Shaun Newsum and Cedric J. Rogers (below) will work closely with Jupiter Entertainment President Patrick Reardon, and Vice President of Development Chris Spry on the adaptations. Reardon, in particular, has experience in this space, working on projects such as Time: The Kalief Browder Story and #FreeMeek during his time as head of television and film for Roc Nation.
In addition to The Crate and Bar Exam, projects currently being adapted include comedy series Dad Jokes and the hip hop music format Traffic Jams.
The Crate is a format challenges music producers to create a beat on the spot with the use of random objects. It gained global notoriety when Doritos launched a beat-making competition with Busta Rhymes called Blaze The Beat (see below). Bar Exam challenges hip hop artists to guess the performer of a song based on a few bars of music.
The deal was brought together by independent producer for Jupiter Michael Lappin and Sean Kilbane on behalf of Culture Genesis.
“All Def and Culture Genesis have a history of producing authentic content that promotes Black culture,” said Reardon. “There’s a clear and immediate need for more quality programming that amplifies the voices of diverse creators. Through this partnership we hope to create a wealth of content across all platforms that supports that mission.”
“Having a TV production partner of Jupiter’s caliber is critical to the continued success of our vision of elevating both our amazing talent and our content,” added Newsum. “We couldn’t ask for better partners as we bring our slate of hit shows to TV.”
Source: Deadline
AMC and IFC announced today the renewal of the Critics’ Choice Awards-nominated variety series Sherman’s Showcase for a second season ahead of the show’s one-hour “Black History Month Spectacular” premiering this Friday, June 19th at 10PM ET/PT on AMC and 11PM ET/PT on IFC. Six all-new, 30-minute episodes are slated to air in 2021.
Created by and starring Bashir Salahuddin (Top Gun: Maverick, South Side) and Diallo Riddle (Marlon, South Side), and executive produced by Get Lifted Film Co. (Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered, Rhythm + Flow), and RadicalMedia (What Happened, Miss Simone?, GRANT), the witty, irreverent and wholly original Sherman’s Showcase features sketches, cultural nostalgia, A-list guest stars, and original award-winning songs that, all together, earned the series a 100% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and inclusion on ‘Best of 2019’ lists.
“Sherman McDaniels has been a staple in American culture for almost 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down…or aging at all,” said creators and stars Salahuddin and Riddle. “We’re thrilled to return to the uniquely nerdy, quirky, silkily soulful and musical world of Sherman’s Showcase. It’s all our favorite things and now it’s on AMC and IFC. Season 2’s so big, it needs two networks.”
Said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios, “It’s rare today for a show to develop a highly passionate fanbase, get raves from critics and infiltrate popular culture. Sherman’s Showcase has done all three and we’re thrilled to put it in front of AMC audiences alongside IFC’s devoted fans. Bashir and Diallo are fantastically talented, we are all waiting with baited breath to collectively witness the continued evolution of Sherman McDaniels, American icon.”
Sherman’s Showcase will roll out its “Black History Month Spectacular” this Friday, by honoring historic African-American icons both past and present, alongside superheroes, period dramas, vampires, and a very special re-imagining of the cult film The Last Dragon. The New York Times says: “It’s one of the rare comedies capable of surprising its viewers.”
Guest stars in the “Black History Month Spectacular” include (in alphabetical order) rapper Phonte Coleman, Michael Ealy (Stumptown, Westworld), journalist Jemele Hill, Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Rel), actor and TV host Terrence J, series executive producer and Emmy®-, GRAMMY®-, Oscar®– and Tony®-winner John Legend, rapper and activist Vic Mensa, Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz, GRAMMY® winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, GRAMMY® winner Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Tyrin Turner (Menace II Society), Mario Van Peebles (Heartbreak Ridge), Bresha Webb (Marlon, The Last O.G.) and more.
Sherman’s Showcase has been called “the best variety series of the summer” says Complex, “side-splitting” says Salon, “a glittering heap of invention” says Vulture and “a trippy, chill satire of a ‘Soul Train’-ish variety show that doubles as a love letter to black pop culture, a science-fiction experiment, and a good party,” says The New Yorker. Season one is currently available to watch on Hulu, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and XBOX.
Full-length versions of the songs from the series are available via digital release and vinyl from Mad Decent, the Los Angeles-based record label founded by Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo. The “Black History Month Spectacular” album was released this week and is available here.
Creators and stars Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin serve as executive producers on the series, along with John Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorious through their Get Lifted Film Co. (La La Land, Underground, Jesus Christ Superstar). Pete Aronson serves as executive producer, and Frank Scherma and Jim Bouvet of RadicalMedia also executive produce.
D.L. Hughley has announced his latest book SURRENDER, WHITE PEOPLE! Our Unconditional Terms for Peace, which is set for release on June 30.
Arriving in the middle of high racial tensions, countless acts of police brutality and a dedicated push of the Black Lives Matter movement, SURRENDER, WHITE PEOPLE! is the text that states the identity of America is getting browner and Black and brown people are standing up to unjust privilege.
The book will take Hughley’s trademark sense of humor to the transition of America as a majority-minority nation. Using the art of satire, SURRENDER, WHITE PEOPLE! is a guide of accountability toward America’s wrongs and offers satirical terms for reparations and reconciliation.
The book is broken into seven articles or terms:
Article I: White People Shall Consider Reparations
Article II: History Books Shall Be Aligned
Article III: We Shall Endeavor To Understand One Another
Article IV: We Shall Deal with the White Supremacy Problem
Article V: We Shall Be Un-Oppressed
Article VI: We Are Part of America
“Peace and reconciliation will only happen, I believe, when white people surrender their unjust privileges and their delusions of ‘supremacy,’” Hughley says of the book. “Look your history in the face, put aside all your visions of superiority, open up your institutions so they benefit everyone in this nation, and join the rest of us as equals. That’s what I mean by surrender.”
By Shawn Grant/The Source
It’s been a cruel spring for sports fans as the coronavirus pandemic sidelined teams, players and leagues around the world. Kevin Hart feels that pain too, and he premiered a new five-episode homebound season of his iced-down web series Cold as Balls.
The first episode of Cold as Balls: Cold Calls, featuring NFL star Richard Sherman, debuted several days ago on Hart’s and Lionsgate’s digital network Laugh Out Loud.
Hart usually interviews his Cold as Balls guests from the icy realm of the cold tub. Cold Calls takes the talk to the couch via video call — with each guest calling into the show without the host knowing who’s on the other line.
In the trailer’s intro, series host & EP Hart is quoted as saying: “I hope to bring a light to fans who have been yearning to connect with the athletes and sports they love. We found a way for the show to go on, because the world needs laughter. Laughter heals, love unites and hate divides. Let’s laugh together.”
The new season of the sports talk series, which won the 2018 Streamy Award for Sports, also will feature NFL stars Russell Wilson and Derrick Henry, retired NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and NBA All-Star Paul George. Cold as Balls boasts 1.1 billion YouTube views since its 2018 launch.
OBB’s Michael D. Ratner and Sean Thomas Spencer created the series with Ratner serving as executive producer alongside Hart, Laugh Out Loud President Jeff Clanagan, Dave Becky and OBB’s Scott Ratner, Kfir Goldberg, and Eric D. Cohen.
Source: Deadline
The team behind Netflix’s Astronomy Club are moving onward and upward following the cancellation of their sketch comedy show and have partnered with The Problem With Apu producer Cowboy Bear Ninja on a new project.
The comedy troupe are developing Sherlock Homies, a comedy series that they describe as Curb Your Enthusiasm-meets-Reno 911 about Harlem’s first all-black detective agency.
The series is the brainchild of Shawtane Bowen, who is one of eight members of Astronomy Club, which also includes Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar.
Bowen said that the show was informed by living in Harlem for eight years. “I had a lot of interactions with the cops,” he told Deadline. “I thought it’d be interesting to do a show on Harlem’s first and last all black detective agency.”
Cowboy Bear Ninja partner Michael Melamedoff, who exec produces Black Women OWN The Conversation for Oprah Winfrey’s cable network, added that the show, which they are taking out to broadcasters and streaming platforms this week, is strongly structured with outlines. “The way that the format is set up is that it’s designed so that we have an outline that the ‘Homies’ are solving and that mystery, while we know the beginning and the end of it, the scenes and action open up for the team to improve along the way,” he added.
Jerah Milligan said that they wanted to make a show that was funny and silly. “Everything seems very timely; a lot of these things on black sketch shows seem to be ahead of their time but it’s the reality we’ve always lived in and the world has caught up with us,” he said. “We’re in a time where black people, in particular, are getting a chance to venture out and not just do the same thing that we’ve been forced to do like playing a thug or a drug dealer so with Sherlock Homies we’ve got the opportunity to create a heightened world like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Reno 911.”
Historical black figures will pop up in each episodes, including the likes of Marie Van Brittan Brown, the inventor of first home security system. “We’ve got a chance to show people our history. A lot of people didn’t know about Tulsa, Oklahoma until Watchmen came out so we have an opportunity with this show to go beyond what the normal civil rights activist people know, we can bring up everything from our heritage and put it on display in a fun way,” added Milligan.
Bowen added, “Like Reno 911, it allows all eight of us to play different characters each week and there’s an opportunity for us to bring in lots of guest stars and up and coming and established black comedians and actors.”
On Milligan’s dream list for guest stars is This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown. “He will be in a comedy. I don’t know what he’s going to do but he’s hilarious.”
This comes after Netflix cancelled Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show in February. The show, which featured sketches that explore an array of topics ranging from pop culture and social issues to the Black experience, was exec produced by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, showrunner Daniel Powell and Khalabo Ink Society’s Anni Weisband.
The troupe are hopeful that they can find another home for the series, or at least another broadcaster willing to set up a sketch show with them, but they are incredibly proud of the series.
Caroline Martin told Deadline, “It was hard, it was a dream job, writing, acting and producing with your close friends. It’s not the end of Astronomy Club, we’ll find something else to do.”
“We got a show on Netflix, the biggest streaming platform in the world, at the end of the day that is an accomplishment,” added Milligan. “Of course we wanted to be renewed for season two, but hey, we wrote it our self, we produced, I directed, we starred in it and it was funny. We did it as black people, that’s hard.”
Source: Deadline