Kevin Hart Shares Emotional Video About Car Accident
Kevin Hart has opened up about the September car crash that left him hospitalized with a severe back injury.
The comedian took to Instagram late Tuesday evening, Oct. 29, with a touching video to share his journey from tragedy to triumph.
The video opens up with a black screen that reads, “September 1, 2019, I was in a car accident.” There is audio playing behind the video with Hart’s voice as he says, “Basically what you realize is that you’re not in control. No matter how much you think you’re in control. you’re not in control. And at the end of the day, it can all be over.”
In the nearly two-minute video, Hart gives people an inside look into his daily experience from his near-death car accident, to his road to recovery.
He continued his voiceover message saying, “You know when God talks, you got to listen. I swear life is funny cause some of the craziest things that happen to you end up being the things that you needed most.”
Hart shows visuals of the news reports from the car accident, being in the hospital, being under the care of chiropractors, physical therapy and more.
In the rest of the video the multitalented actor reflected on the lessons he has learned from the tragedy, while giving thanks to his family, friends and his overall support system.
Watch the emotional video in its entirety below.
John Witherspoon, Comedian And Actor In ‘Friday,’ ‘Tracy Morgan Show,’ Dies At 77
In a TV and film career that spanned five decades, the comedian also starred in popular TV series ‘The Wayan Bros.’ and ‘The Boondocks’ as well as movies such as ‘Bulworth,’ ‘Vampire in Brooklyn’ and ‘Dr. Doolittle 2.’
John Witherspoon, the prolific comic actor who starred in the cult Friday franchise as well as his long stint on The Wayan Bros. and The Tracy Morgan Show, has died. He was 77.
A statement from Witherspoon’s family posted on his official Twitter account confirmed that the comedian had died. “It is with deep sadness we have to tweet this, but our husband & father John Witherspoon has passed away. He was a Legend in the entertainment industry, and a father figure to all who watched him over the years. We love you “POPS” always & forever.”
In a long film and TV career that spanned five decades, Witherspoon also had major roles in cult animated show The Boondocks (voicing the role of Gramps) and roles in cult films such as House Party and Meteor Man as well as Hollywood movies like Vampire in Brooklyn, Bulworth and Dr. Doolittle 2.
But on the big screen, Witherspoon is most immediately associated with his hilarious role as Ice Cube’s dog-catcher father in F. Gary Gray’s Friday (1995) and its two sequels Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next (2002). Witherspoon was set to reprise his role in Last Friday, but the project was in preproduction and had yet to start filming.
On TV, Witherspoon played the memorable role of John “Pops” Williams on The Wayan Bros. show that aired on The WB from 1995 to 1999.
Born in Detroit, Witherspoon first broke into stand-up comedy in the 1960s and 1970s and was a contemporary of the likes of Robin Williams and Richard Pryor. He transitioned into TV roles with parts in the The Richard Pryor Show, The Incredible Hulk and Good Times.
Witherspoon was a prolific worker and had major roles deep into his seventies. He recently starred in Adult Swim’s Black Jesus, and the Obama-inspired sitcom The First Family.
He is survived by his wife Angela, and his sons JD and Alexander.
Eddie Murphy Reveals He’s Leaning Towards Quitting Acting
Eddie Murphy Plans To Revisit Old ‘Saturday Night Live’ Characters
This week, Chance the Rapper is the host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” Kristen Stewart hosts on Nov. 2 with musical guest Coldplay, and Harry Styles hosts and sings on Nov. 16.
But, since the show returned for its 45th season last month, the buzz has been all about Eddie Murphy. The former cast member (1980-84), whose career was launched on the show, is returning to host on Dec. 21.
Promoting his new Netflix movie, “Dolemite Is My Name,” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Thursday night, Murphy said he hopes to bring back some of his 1980s characters to “SNL.” Mr. Robinson, Gumby, and Buckwheat are on his to-do list, he said, and “I’m trying to figure out some reason to do Velvet Jones.”
UMC’s ‘A House Divided’ Renewed With LisaRaye McCoy & Parker McKenna Posey Added To Cast
Following the announcement of its new docuseries “Behind Her Faith,” UMC (Urban Movie Channel) – the first streaming service for Black TV and film from AMC Networks – recently announced that it will continue its original series, “A House Divided” for a second season. The multi-generational family saga, which debuted with six episodes on the streaming network earlier this year in July, follows the members of a wealthy, prominent family in the Los Angeles community who deal with the loss of the family’s matriarch while uncovering and facing a variety of secrets and scandals.
Starring Demetria McKinney (Freeform’s “Motherland,” Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”), Paula Jai Parker (“Ray Donovan,” “True Blood”), Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (“The Jacksons: An American Dream”), and Brad James (Syfy’s “Superstition,” Tyler Perry’s “For Better or Worse”); the second season will also feature LisaRaye McCoy (“All of Us,” “Single Ladies”) and Parker McKenna Posey (“My Wife and Kids,” “Games People Play”) in new recurring roles.
“The first season of ‘A House Divided’ performed incredibly well on UMC,” said Nikki Love, VP of Development & Production for UMC. “The response we’ve seen from viewers and our subscribers has shown us that this series has developed a very dedicated and passionate audience and they are more than ready for another season of the Sanders family’s antics. We look forward to delivering more juicy storylines and can’t wait to showcase the new dynamic LisaRaye and Parker will bring to the show.”
“A House Divided” comes from Dan Garcia, the creator of UMC’s Daytime Emmy nominated series, “Bronx SIU.” Currently in production, Season 2 of the series is slated to return in the spring of next year.
Dave Chappelle Receives The Mark Twain Prize For American Humor At Star Studded Event
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Comedian Dave Chappelle was presented with the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for
American Humor Sunday night following a barrage of heartfelt tributes praising his courage, his spontaneity and his genius at drawing laughter from sobering racial commentary.
The Twain event, now in its 22nd year, was a non-stop love fest as a parade of admiring entertainers saluted Chappelle before a packed house at the center’s Concert Hall. It began with a tribute from Lorne Michaels about Chappelle’s hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live” immediately following the 2016 presidential election, and ended with comedian Jon Stewart’s reflections about his former Comedy Central colleague and recent traveling companion on the road.
Slotted in between were Sarah Silverman, Common, Bradley Cooper, Morgan Freeman, Tiffany Haddish, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, rapper Q-Tip and others. It was accompanied by a decidedly mellow band led by music director Adam Blackstone, joined by singer Erykah Badu, harmonica virtuoso Frederic Yonnet, and Legend.
An animated Chappelle, sitting with family and friends in a box near the stage, took it all in with enthusiasm.
Highlights included a riotous testimonial by comedian/writer/producer Neal Brennan, a longtime collaborator and co-writer of “Chappelle’s Show.”
“He gave me my career,” said Brennan, who reminisced at length about projects including the ill-fated 1998 film “Half Baked.” He also discussed how the success of his groundbreaking Comedy Central sketch comedy series “Chappelle’s Show” came to a sudden halt when Chappelle left the show for a lengthy visit to Africa, a dark period in the comic’s life.
A trio of “SNL” regulars – Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost and Michael Che – jointly delivered accolades about Chappelle’s genius displayed on the SNL set and other venues. Silverman recalled that she met Chappelle in a D.C. comedy club when she was 19 and he was 17. “Dave is always funny and constantly growing. His critical thinking is his true art,” she insisted.
Selected use of video clips began with 19-year-old Chappelle’s appearance on “Star Search” hosted by Ed McMahon. Other clips included the riotous “Chappelle’s Show” segment “Clayton Bigsby, Part 1” and another with Cooper, who worked with Chappelle on last year’s “A Star is Born.”
Upon accepting the Twain Prize from KenCen Chairman David Rubenstein, Chappelle reflected about the “incredibly American genre” of standup comedy.
“No other country can produce this many comedians,” he said, while surmising that “there isn’t an opinion that exists in this country that is not represented in a comedy club by somebody,” including racists opinions. But comics can generally talk out their differences, he said, unlike others.
“The First Amendment is first for a reason,” he told the audience. “The Second Amendment is just in case the first doesn’t work out.”
The format of the Twain event, and the 90-minute TV show produced for PBS, continues to evolve in the second year under producing partner Done + Dusted. The team succeeded producers Bob and Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz, and John Schreiber, who co-founded the Mark Train Prize with the Center and creator Cappy McGarr. The program was directed by Chris Robinson.
D+D trimmed the show’s overuse of video highlights of the recipient’s comedic career with last year’s honoree, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The use of unrelated schtick from assembled comics has also been nixed in favor of relevant testimonials. Generally omitted from this year’s version was reliance on soft political targets such as President Donald Trump.
Both trends were visible this year in the tribute for Chappelle, who grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, attended the local Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and began his stand-up career at
local venues during high school.
Changes are also in store for the TV audience when the Twain program airs on PBS stations Jan. 7. Instead of the standard replay of the event, viewers will see a more nuanced production that blends the awards show’s highlights with moments captured during Chappelle’s busy weekend revisiting his childhood haunts.
“We will present a more engaging product that highlights Dave’s celebration as one of D.C.’s own,” promised Matthew Winer, the Kennedy Center’s director of special programming in comedy. He said the format changes accompany the center’s efforts to elevate comedy programming in general and broaden the Twain event’s image as the nation’s premier award for comedic achievement. A $3 million grant from Capital One supports the initiative and the Twain event.
Source: Variety
The 2019 American Music Awards Nominations Announced
As the kick-off to this year’s highly anticipated “2019 American Music Awards,” chart-topping artist and AMA nominee Ella Mai today announced the “2019 American Music Awards” nominees in four categories LIVE on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” followed by additional nominees announced via the AMAs social media accounts. Rounding out the morning, Mai also announced nominees via Billboard Magazine’s social media platforms. The “2019 American Music Awards” will broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 24, at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.
Two-time AMA winner Post Malone is the most nominated artist this year with seven total nominations, including Artist of the Year, Collaboration of the Year and Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock. Three-time AMA winner Ariana Grande and first-time AMA nominee Billie Eilish each received six nods, including Favorite Music Video, Favorite Social Artist, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock. Lil Nas X and Taylor Swift are tied with five nominations each, followed by Billy Ray Cyrus, Khalid and Ella Mai with four each.
Nominees for the coveted Artist of the Year category are Drake, Ariana Grande, Halsey, Post Malone and Taylor Swift. Swift is the current record holder in this category with four wins. Swift could also go on to surpass Michael Jackson’s record for most AMA wins of all time, 24, should she win in two of the five categories which she is nominated. Swift and Alabama are currently tied with 23 all-time AMA wins.
The American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted awards show, is where music enthusiasts watch their favorite artists and pop culture icons come together to honor idols, newcomers and record-breakers in the contemporary music scene. From Pop and Rock to Country, Hip Hop and beyond, this year’s show will celebrate some of the best moments in music with appearances by today’s brightest stars and live performances from the biggest names in the industry.
American Music Awards nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on Billboard.com, including streaming, album and digital song sales, radio airplay, social activity, and touring. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound, and reflect the time period of Sept. 28, 2018, through Sept. 26, 2019. The American Music Awards winners are voted entirely by fans.
Voting is now open for all AMA categories. Fans can access the official voting ballot for the AMAs directly by visiting goo.gle/AMAsVote or by going to Google.com and using the search terms “AMAs Vote” or “[Nominee Name] AMAs Vote.” Fans can submit up to 30 votes per category, per day, per Google account while voting is open. Voting will close on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, at 11:59:59 p.m. PST.
“2019 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS” TOP NOMINATED ARTISTS CHART FACTS:
- Post Malone
- Two-time American Music Award winner Post Malone comes into the 2019 AMAs with a field-leading seven nominations—and it’s no wonder, as he’s chalked up what could be considered his biggest year yet in music. 2019 started off with his third No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” with Swae Lee, and he followed it up with four more top 10s. Further, his third album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” stormed in atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving the artist his second No. 1. Concurrent with the album’s bow at No. 1, all 17 of the set’s songs debuted on the Hot 100 chart.
- Ariana Grande
- Ariana Grande, a current six-time American Music Award nominee, wasted no time in the past year. The pop superstar’s “thank u, next” album debuted at No. 1 less than six months after her last album, “Sweetener,” started at No. 1—the shortest gap between new No. 1 albums by a female artist since 1975. Further, when “thank u, next”charged in at No. 1, it broke the record for the largest streaming week ever earned for a pop album, according to Nielsen Music. The three-time AMA winner collected her first two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the title track to“thank u, next” and its follow-up hit, “7 Rings.”
- Billie Eilish
- It was a big year on the charts for six-time “2019 American Music Award” nominee Billie Eilish. The 17-year-old singer-songwriter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” and logged a smash No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with the set’s breakout hit “Bad Guy.” “When We All Fall Asleep” has collected more than 2 billion on-demand audio streams for its songs in the U.S., including a half-billion alone for “Bad Guy.” Also impressive, when “Bad Guy” hit No. 1 on the Alternative Songs airplay chart, it followed her previous No. 1, “Bury a Friend,” which made Eilish only the third woman to score multiple No. 1s in the 30-plus year history of the chart.
- Lil Nas X
- Five-time American Music Award nominee Lil Nas X re-wrote the chart history books in 2019, as his ubiquitous single “Old Town Road” broke the long-standing record for the most weeks at No. 1 in the 60-plus-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fueled by the runaway popularity of the song’s remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, the song spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the tally, surpassing the previous record-holders, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” each with 16 weeks at No. 1. But Lil Nas X didn’t stop there—he followed “Old Town” with another top 10 hit, “Panini,” and a debut EP, 7, which opened at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
- Taylor Swift
- 23-time American Music Award winner Taylor Swift had another super-sized year on the charts, thanks to the 2019 five-time nominee’s massive album “Lover” and its singles. The set blasted in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, securing the superstar her sixth No. 1 on the list. Further, when it launched at No. 1, it did so with the biggest week earned by an album since her own last release, “reputation,” in 2017. The “Lover” era kicked off with its first single, “ME!” featuring Brendon Urie, notching Swift her 23rd top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. She then followed it up with two more top 10s so far, her 24th and 25th total, “You Need to Calm Down” and the album’s title track.
- Billy Ray Cyrus
- Two-time American Music Award winner Billy Ray Cyrus returned to the top of the Billboard charts in a major way in 2019, thanks to an unlikely collaboration: his teaming with Lil Nas X on a remix of the enormous hit “Old Town Road.” The tune spent a record 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and brought 2019 four-time AMA nominee Cyrus back to the chart’s top 10 for the first time since 1992 when his debut hit, “Achy Breaky Heart,” reached No. 4.
- Ella Mai
- Four-time American Music Award nominee Ella Mai broke through in mid-2018 with her chart-dominating hit “Boo’d Up,” which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. The singer-songwriter followed it up with a string of further hits on the list, including “Trip” (No. 1 for 14 weeks) and “Shot Clock” (No. 3). Plus, her self-titled full-length album arrived and spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums chart, while also hitting No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
- Khalid
- Khalid made waves on the charts in 2019 as the American Music Award-winner landed his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with “Free Spirit,” and his highest-charting single as a lead artist on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Talk” (peaking at No. 3). With “Free Spirit,” the singer-songwriter also logged the first R&B album to top the Billboard 200 in nearly a year, and scored one of the largest streaming weeks ever for an R&B album, according to Nielsen Music. “Talk” also spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot R&B Songs chart—one of over a dozen top 20-charting hits in 2019 for the current four-time AMA nominee.
The complete list of nominations for the “2019 American Music Awards” is below.
The “2019 American Music Awards” are sponsored by T-Mobile.
The “2019 American Music Awards” is produced by dick clark productions. Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Executive Producers. Larry Klein is Producer.
For the latest American Music Awards news, exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the AMAs on social and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #AMAs.
Facebook: @AMAs
Twitter: @AMAs
Instagram: @AMAs
Snapchat: TheAMAs
YouTube: YouTube.com/TheAMAs
Tickets are now on sale at www.axs.com.
“2019 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS” NOMINEES
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Drake
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Post Malone
Taylor Swift
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Ella Mai
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “Shallow”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Marshmello & Bastille “Happier”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
TOUR OF THE YEAR
BTS
Ariana Grande
Elton John
P!nk
Ed Sheeran
FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Ariana Grande “7 rings”
Halsey “Without Me”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Taylor Swift “You Need to Calm Down”
FAVORITE SOCIAL ARTIST
BTS
Billie Eilish
EXO
Ariana Grande
Shawn Mendes
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Drake
Khalid
Post Malone
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
BTS
Jonas Brothers
Panic! At The Disco
FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Billie Eilish “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
Ariana Grande “thank u, next”
Taylor Swift “Lover”
FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Halsey “Without Me”
Jonas Brothers “Sucker”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Panic! At The Disco “High Hopes”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood
FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion
FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Kane Brown “Experiment”
Dan + Shay “Dan + Shay”
Carrie Underwood “Cry Pretty”
FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
Luke Combs “Beautiful Crazy”
Dan + Shay “Speechless”
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”
FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B
Drake
Post Malone
FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Meek Mill “Championships”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
Travis Scott “Astroworld”
FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Post Malone “Wow.”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
Khalid
Bruno Mars
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé
Lizzo
Ella Mai
FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown “Indigo”
Khalid “Free Spirit”
Ella Mai “Ella Mai”
FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Khalid “Talk”
Lizzo “Juice”
Ella Mai “Trip”
FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Billie Eilish
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco
FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Maroon 5
P!nk
Taylor Swift
FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna
FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
for KING & COUNTRY
MercyMe
FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Avicii
Marshmello
The Chainsmokers
FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
“A Star is Born” by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
Comedy Central Teams Up With All Things Comedy To Produce Patrice O’Neal Documentary
Comedy Central announced today a collaboration with All Things Comedy to produce a documentary about Patrice O’Neal. Set to begin filming this fall, the untitled documentary is a deep-dive portrait of O’Neal who passed away at 41 in 2011. The film, directed by Bonfiglio (Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh) will recount O’Neal’s life story and explore the hilarious and controversial material he left behind. Utilizing a vast archive including never-before-seen personal materials and featuring O’Neal’s family and friends, the film will include a who’s who of comedy — the comics who knew, were influenced and were affected by O’Neal — placing his work into the context of the time as well as today.
“Patrice was a tour de force in comedy who left an indelible stamp on the stand-up community and beyond,” said Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, Co-Heads of Original Content, Comedy Central. “Comedy Central had the incredible opportunity to work with him throughout his career from Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, to the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen and to his last stand-up special Elephant in the Room. Patrice was a fearless and fierce comedian and we’re honored to be able to shine a light on his life and career with this documentary.”
“I am very excited and proud to have gotten this project in the hands of Comedy Central, and now with Bill Burr and All Things Comedy aboard, as well as, our director Michael Bonfiglio,” said Decarlo. “This makes for an absolute dream team to help his mother and I bring Patrice’s story to the masses, and solidify his legacy for generations to come.”
“So happy that Mike Bonfiglio and Comedy Central are going to make this happen,” said Burr. “Patrice was the best that I ever saw.“
Patrice O’Neal was born in New York City, and 22 years later, he began his comedy career in Boston, Massachusetts where he grew up since he was one year old.
After conquering the Boston comedy circuit in just under six years, O’Neal took his comedic gifts to New York City. Once there, Hollywood soon called. O’Neal’s first of many television appearances was on The Apollo Comedy Hour where he performed his now-famous Malcolm XXL bit. From there, he moved on to prestigious appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, Friday Night Videos, and a brief stint as a writer for the WWE. O’Neal had a string of TV guest star appearances on MTV’s Apt 2F, Assy McGee, Ed, Z Rock, Yes Dear, Arrested Development, Chappelle’s Show and The Office. O’Neal was a regular on the FOX series The Jury, and he starred in the Comedy Central animated series Shorties Watching Shorties, along with Nick DiPaolo. He supplied the voice of Harold Jenkins on Noggin’s animated show O’Grady High and was featured as Jesus in Denis Leary’s Contest Searchlight.
O’Neal made his Def Comedy Jam debut in 2007, but had three prior half hour comedy specials with Showtime, Comedy Central, and HBO. He made several appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But, of all the many television appearances to date, his self-proclaimed favorite was Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. In addition, O’Neal’s movie appearances include Head of State, In the Cut, 25th Hour, Furry Vengeance, and deleted scenes from Scary Movie 4 and When in Rome. In 2011, O’Neal released his first one-hour stand-up special Elephant in the Room on Comedy Central and delivered blistering burns as a roastee on the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.
The Patrice O’Neal documentary is executive produced by Bill Burr, Al Madrigal and Michael Bertolina of All Things Comedy, Von Decarlo and Michael Bonfiglio who also serves as director (May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, Doc & Darryl, an ESPN 30 for 30 film). Christian McLaughlin, Anne Harris and Gabriella Yacyk are the Executives in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.
Why Eriq La Salle Is One Of The Few Actors Not Returning For ‘Coming 2 America’
The majority of the original cast of Coming to America is on board for the sequel, Coming 2 America. However, there is one person who isn’t coming back–Eriq La Salle, who played Soul Glo heir Darryl Jenks.
According to The Grio, La Salle told a group of journalists at NBC’s annual Chicago press day that he is focusing on executive producing and directing. “No. I’ve already given you an answer. No,” he said.
As he told the journalists in attendance, “No. Straight to the point. I knew where you were going with it. I’m a little busy right now …with this show [Chicago P.D.] .”
Even though La Salle won’t make a return, the film is already padded to the rafters with stars who made the original film a success, including Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, James Earl Jones, Garcelle Beauvais, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Shari Headley and Louie Anderson.
The film is scheduled to come to theaters on August 7, 2020.
Source: The Grio, Shadow & Act
Netflix Is Scaling Back On Stand-Up Comedy Specials
Netflix has had its fair share of comedy specials, including the likes of Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Kevin Hart and, soon to debut, Arsenio Hall. However, it appears that the streaming giant is decreasing its slate of specials at the moment.
According to Bloomberg, the streaming giant will be releasing fewer stand-up specials this year than it did in 2017 and 2018. Netflix has streamed about 30 such shows so far this year, compared with more than 50 at this point last year.
“Netflix built the world’s best library of stand-up comedy in just four years,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, CEO of comedy distributor Comedy Dynamics.
As reported by Bloomberg, instead of more comedy specials, Netflix will curate more sketch comedy content and specials from comedians who are up-and-coming.
Source: Shadow & Act, Bloomberg
