Chris Rock Calls Out Jussie Smollett At NAACP Image Awards
“You don’t get no respect from me,” the comedian said of the controversial actor while presenting at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday.
Jussie Smollett may not have attended the 50th NAACP Image Awards, but Chris Rock made sure to address the controversy surrounding the Empire star upon taking the stage.
Rock first joked that he was told not to talk about the controversial actor while he presented the award for outstanding comedy series. “They said no Jussie Smollett jokes,” the comedian began. “I know. What a waste of light skin. You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here. Fucking running Hollywood.”
“What the hell was he thinking?” Rock continued. “You’re ‘Jessie’ from now on. You don’t even get the ‘U’ no more. That ‘U’ was respect. You don’t get no respect from me.”
Smollett was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series, but lost out to Grey’s Anatomy‘s Jesse Williams.
While Rock lit into the Empire actor, Black-ish star Yara Shahidi expressed her support for Smollett upon accepting the outstanding comedy series award alongside the ABC comedy series’ cast. “I stand with Jussie,” she simply said while accepting the honor.
Smollett has been in the news since late January, when he claimed that two Donald Trump supporters beat him because he is an African-American gay man. After many Hollywood figures spoke out in support of the actor, he was charged with disorderly conduct via a class 4 felony false report allegation and later indicted on 16 felony counts for allegedly lying to authorities about the attack.
All charges against Smollett were recently dropped. “All criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him,” his lawyers said Tuesday in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgment.”
Following the news that the charges had been dropped, the actor addressed the media in front of a Chicago courthouse. “This has been an incredibly difficult time. Honestly one of the worst of my entire life. But I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history and I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn’t,” Smollett said. “Now I’d like nothing more than to get back to work and move on with my life. But make no mistake, I will always continue to fight for the justice, equality and betterment of marginalized people everywhere.”
The 2019 NAACP Image Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The show was broadcast on TV One and was hosted by Anthony Anderson.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Humor Mill TV Pilot
Here is the pilot of the Humor Mill, the new syndicated program. Check out the video!
‘Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out’ Gets 90-Episode Renewal On MTV
Ahead of Wild ‘N Out’s 13th-season premiere this summer, MTV has ordered 90 additional episodes of the Nick Cannon-hosted comedy improv competition series to take it through Season 16.
The multi-season pickup is a recognition of Wild ‘N Out’s role in MTV’s continuing ratings upswing as the Viacom cable network is pacing for its record seventh consecutive quarter of growth in adults 18-34 and adults 18-49 (Live+3) after launching 5 of the top 10 highest-rated new unscripted cable series of 2018. When in cycle, Wild ‘N Out contributed to 10% of MTV’s schedule as well as 10% of the net’s total ratings.
The most recent full season of Wild ‘N Out in summer 2018 was the No. 1 cable series on Friday nights with men 12-24 and men 18-24.
In addition to linear success, Wild ‘No Out has shown strong growth in the digital arena, specifically on YouTube.
Wild ‘N Out is the No. 1 hip-hop entertainment channel on YouTube with 4.2 million subscribers, more than 2.3 billion minutes watched and over 92M views in February, according to MTV. Wild ‘N Out’s Instagram account has grown from 60,000 followers in April 2017 to 3.2M to date. The brand will be undergoing an expansion with merchandise, tours, restaurants and an official Wild ‘N Out podcast.
Cannon created, produced and hosted the original Wild’ N Out on MTV from 2005-2007. He returned to the air in 2013 with the new version, Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out, in which Cannon and celebrity guests lead a team of improv comedians as they go head-to-head in competition.
The series is set to hit its 200th-episode milestone this summer.
Source: Deadline
New Tiffany Haddish Stand-Up Series To Land At Netflix
Tiffany Haddish is teaming with Netflix to bring up-and-coming comedic voices to the world.
The breakout star of Girls Trip and Night School is executive producing a series of stand-up specials for the streamer. Titled Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, the series will feature six of Haddish’s favorite comics in half-hour specials.
Fellow comedian Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz, whose Push It Productions was behind the 2014 revival of Last Comic Standing on NBC, will also executive produce. The title of the series is a callback to Haddish’s 2017 Showtime special She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood, which came on the heels of Girls Trip.
The comedians featured in the series are Chaunté Wayans, April Macie, Tracey Ashley, Aida Rodriguez, Flame Monroe and Marlo Williams. Haddish has a history with all six, having worked with them in comedy clubs or on TV, and They Ready aims to bring more women, people of color and LGBTQ performers into the spotlight.
“I am introducing six of my favorite comedians,” said Haddish. “In my eyes, they are superstars — the epitome of They Ready.”
Push It Productions is also producing stand-up specials from Haddish and Sykes for Netflix. The company also produces Talk Show the Game Show for TruTV and stand-up series Unprotected Sets for Epix.
They Ready is the latest addition to Netflix’s large and ever-growing slate of stand-up series and specials. The streaming giant has titled the market for stand-up comics with huge deals for the likes of Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle, and series like The Standups and The Comedy Lineup have given platforms to lesser-known comedians.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
WATCH: New Trailer For ‘John Wick Chapter 3’!
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – In theaters May 17, 2019. Starring Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Boban Marjanovic, with Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.
Watch the trailer above.
‘I Am Richard Pryor’- The SXSW Film Review
Set to air March 15 on the Paramount Network after its SXSW world premiere, “I Am Richard Pryor” is a largely satisfying if thoroughly conventional portrait of the immensely gifted and deeply troubled entertainer whose richly deserved reputation as a comic genius stems at least partially from his frequent and fearless willingness to make himself the target of his take-no-prisoners humor.
Director Jesse James Miller has entwined film clips, archival material and talking-heads interviews to fashion what occasionally feels like an officially sanctioned biography — an impression only reinforced by the billing of Jennifer Lee Pryor, the subject’s widow and a recurrent interviewee in the film, as an executive producer. Still, the story that emerges is undeniably fascinating, and may prove especially intriguing for viewers who have only recently discovered the late legend through his scripted features and comedy-concert films.
Even longtime fans of Pryor might be surprised by those sections of the documentary that illustrate highlights of his early career, during a time when the only way a black comic could hope to achieve mainstream success was to come across as safe and unthreatening as Bill Cosby did. (Miller is savvy enough to just place that factoid squarely on the table without any side orders of shade or snark.) At one point, we see a snippet from a 1966 episode of “Kraft Summer Music Hall” in which Pryor appears alongside a well-groomed George Carlin and a squeaky-clean John Davidson — and all three men look like they’re ready to join an Up With People singalong.
Pryor couldn’t play that game very long, however. After literally walking away from a high-paying Las Vegas gig (which, the documentary pointedly observes, called for him to perform for mostly Caucasian audiences), he blazed a path to stardom on his own terms with much edgier, more personal, and unapologetically foul-mouthed stand-up material. Tiffany Haddish, a contemporary comic performer who credits Pryor as an influence, sounds at once admiring and astonished as she marvels at how, as early as the 1970s, Pryor was offering savagely satirical commentary on, among other issues, police shootings of African-American men.
Miller’s narrative proceeds on parallel tracks that often intersect, showing how Pryor’s vertiginous mood swings and ever-increasing reliance on drugs failed to impede — for a while, at least — his string of successes as a live performer, on comedy records (his 1975 Grammy Award-winning “That Nigger’s Crazy” is duly noted as a groundbreaking career highlight) and, of course, in movies.
There’s a case to be made that “I Am Richard Pryor” could have benefitted from a wider range of scenes from Pryor’s cinematic oeuvre. It would have been amusing, and revealing, to see a very young Pryor — cast as a cop! — making his movie debut, and holding his own opposite Sid Caesar, in William Castle’s “The Busy Body” (1967). And it might have been downright gobsmacking to see Pryor and Bill Cosby actually together at long last in the 1978 film of Neil Simon’s “California Suite.”
On the other hand, the movies that are excerpted here (including the underrated “Greased Lightnin’”) are adequately representative of his starring performances — and the clips from his classic 1977 “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert” are so uproariously funny, they may well cause a sizable spike in Netflix streaming.
Seeing Pryor at his most hilarious makes it all the more painful to follow “I Am Richard Pryor” as the documentary charts his decline and fall. Naturally, the film pays an appropriate amount of attention to the night in 1980 when Pryor nearly burned himself to death while freebasing. But long before that, Miller makes it clear, early and often, that Pryor was psychologically scarred by his harsh childhood in Peoria, Ill. His mother was a prostitute, his father was a pimp and his grandmother was a madam — facts he carefully scrubbed from his biography during his salad days in showbiz, but never, ever forgot.
Jennifer Lee Pryor, along with other intimates and admirers, describe with equal measures of affection and clear-eyed explicitness a brilliant but undisciplined artist who could never fully control his demons. And while his rages sometimes were justified — such as when he battled nervous network censors of his short-lived NBC variety show — he made impossible demands on the people who cared about him most, and caused collateral damage with his self-destructive impulses. “I Am Richard Pryor” celebrates its subject. But, to its credit, it stops short of entirely excusing him.
SXSW Film Review: ‘I Am Richard Pryor’
Reviewed at SXSW Film Festival (Documentary Spotlight), March 12, 2019. Running time: 92 MIN.
PRODUCTION: (Documentary) A Paramount Network presentation of a Network Entertainment production in association with Tarnished Angel. Producer: Derik Murray. Executive producers: Paul Gertz, Kent Wingerak, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Frank Anderson, Steve Kotlowitz, Greg Zeschuk, Jhod Cardinal, Jaimee Kosanke, Jon Slusser, Kevin Kay, David Reeder, Robert Pirooz, Peter Scarth.
CREW: Director, writer: Jesse James Miller. Camera (color): Shaun Lawless. Editor: Graham Kew. Music: Schaun Tozer.
WITH: Lily Tomlin, Tiffany Haddish, Howie Mandel, Sandra Bernhard, Mike Epps, Jimmie Walker, Henry Jaglom, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Ron De Biasio, Rocco Urbisci.
By Joe Leydon
OWN Announces New Series For Anthology Drama Titled ‘CHERISH THE DAY’ Created By Ava DuVernay
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today that Ava DuVernay, award-winning filmmaker and creative force behind the network’s critically acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar,” is bringing her next series to OWN.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay will create and executive produce “Cherish the Day,” an original anthology series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio. Oprah Winfrey will executive produce alongside DuVernay for a winter 2020 premiere on OWN.
Additionally, DuVernay has set acclaimed filmmaker Tanya Hamilton (“Queen Sugar,” “Night Catches Us”) as executive producer/showrunner. Hamilton will direct the series premiere. DuVernay’s longtime producing partner Paul Garnes (“Queen Sugar,” “Selma”) will also executive produce the series.
Each season, the anthology series chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
“OWN is home. I’m honored to create television for a network headed by an artist with spectacular vision and unbridled passion for the stories that we want to tell,” said DuVernay.
“Ava is a visionary storyteller. She brings so much care, so much heart, so much love to the art she creates,” said Winfrey. “I’m excited to continue collaborating together with our very first anthology series for OWN.”
“Cherish the Day” will join OWN’s programming slate of popular dramas including “Queen Sugar,” “Greenleaf,” “The Haves and the Have Nots” and “If Loving You is Wrong” – four of the top 12 original scripted series on ad-supported cable in 2018 for women 25-54 and the top four original scripted series on ad-supported cable for African American women and total viewers. In addition, OWN will premiere two new anticipated drama series in 2019 – “Ambitions” from box office hit-maker Will Packer and “David Makes Man” from Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”).
“Cherish the Day” is produced for OWN by Forward Movement and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes, Tanya Hamilton and Oprah Winfrey are executive producers.
Netflix Orders New Comedy Series From Mindy Kaling Based On Her Childhood
Netflix has ordered a coming-of-age comedy series inspired by the life of Mindy Kaling.
The untitled series, which has received a 10-episode order, was co-created by Kaling and Lang Fisher, with the latter also set to serve as showrunner. The series will follow the complicated life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl.
Both Kaling and Fisher will executive produce along with Howard Klein and David Miner. The series was set up under Kaling’s overall deal at Universal Television, with Universal set to produce the new series. Kaling recently exited that deal for a rich new pact with Warner Bros. Television.
In a previous interview with Variety, Kaling described how the series came to be. “Netflix approached me about doing a series on young Mindy,” she said. “I wasn’t as interested in telling a period piece about an Indian girl growing up in the ’80s, but I told them I’d love to do a show about a 15 year old Indian girl now.”
Kaling previously created, executive produced, and starred in “The Mindy Project” which ran for six seasons–three on Fox and then three on Hulu. Prior to that, she was a writer and executive producer on “The Office” at NBC in addition to appearing onscreen. She is also currently working on a series adaptation of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” which will debut on Hulu and is also a Universal project. She also wrote, executive produced, and starred in the film “Late Night.” The film, which stars Emma Thompson, debuted to considerable acclaim at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Amazon Studios for $13 million. She has also published two comedic memoirs to date–“Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” and “Why Not Me.”
Source: Variety
Comedy Central Announces New Show ‘The New Negroes With Baron Vaughn And Open Mike Eagle’
Comedy Central today announced the premiere date and stacked talent list for The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle, debuting on Friday, April 19 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central with a simulcast on BET. The full schedule and talent list is below. Each episode will include stand-up performances from three different comedians and will conclude with an original music video featuring Open Mike Eagle and a guest recording artist, with some guest-actor appearances.
The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle is a socially aware stand-up and music series showcasing a collection of new and established comedians and musicians. According to Vaughn and Eagle, the pair took inspiration for the series and title from the term “New Negro” as popularized during the Harlem Renaissance, referring to Black Americans speaking up, telling their own stories, and affirming their various identities to dismantle outdated assumptions and beliefs.
“Our series gets its title and its mission from a book named ‘The New Negro’ by Alain Locke,” said Vaughn and Eagle. “That book was a collection of essays, poetry, fiction, and music from a generation of emerging artists credited with launching the Harlem Renaissance. In other words, it was a place where black people shared their lives, their perspectives, and their ideals. It was a place where black people could define themselves instead of being defined by others. Our show aspires to do the same with stand-up comedy, music, and music videos. We’re paying homage to that original movement by inviting comedians and musicians to do what they do best: speak.”
The newly launched ComedyCentral Stand-Up YouTube channel, Comedy Central Stand-Up social-media accounts, and the CC App will feature clips and exclusive extended stand-up sets from each episode. Full episodes of The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle will be available the day after premiere on the Comedy Central App, cc.com, on-demand, and download-to-own platforms. Fans can follow the social conversation about the series on Twitter via @StandUp and Instagram via @ccstandup.
Recently, Vaughn and Eagle brought the live version of The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle to SXSW 2019 for a show featuring Sam Jay, Josh Johnson, Dulcé Sloan, Phonte, with a special appearance by Hannibal Buress. Vaughn and Eagle also recorded exclusive Comedy Central digital content on site to be released closer to premiere.
Eagle, Vaughn, Rob Anderson, Lance Bangs, Funny Or Die’s Mike Farah, and Gary Sanchez Productions’ Betsy Koch are Executive Producers for The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle. Anne Harris and Kellyn Parker are executives in charge for Comedy Central.
Featuring an expertly curated line-up of series and specials, Comedy Central is the epicenter of stand-up. From its Friday Night Stand-Up anchor on television to its social platforms, from 24/7 access on Comedy Central Radio and the Comedy Central App to home assistants, fans of Comedy Central stand-up consumed over 10 billion minutes of stand-up content in 2018. The recently launched Comedy Central Stand-Up channel on YouTube is a gold mine of both original material and exclusive clips for fans looking to revisit a classic special from a legendary comedian or discovering a new favorite performance. Available on-air, online and on-the-go via the Comedy Central App, Comedy Central (www.cc.com) is the #1 brand in comedy and is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Comedy Central’s press site at press.cc.com and follow us on Twitter @ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
Comedian James Yon Launches New Late Night Talker On Afro TV Titled ‘The Lowdown’!
In case you haven’t been paying attention to all of the late night noise, there seems to be a battle for the late night audience brewing; it looks like DL Hughley launched a show on TV One this past Monday, while comedian James Yon has launched his new late-night talker on the new Afro TV.
While not in the ranks of DL Hughley with a syndicated radio show on daily, Yon intends to help kick off the brand new network launched on Comcast with his new show titled The Lowdownwhere the discussion covers everything from the topics of today to interviews with guests discussing hot topics.
Yon is putting his comedic stamp on the network as he also has had a show on titled Viral Breakdown, and we here there are more things in store on the channel from this Florida native.
Yon, is no stranger to comedy as he has graced the stage with some of America’s top talent including, Joe Torry, Jimmy J.J Walker, Tom Rhodes and Michael Winslow. He was a finalist for NBC’s stand up for Diversity and appeared on the FOX.
He was the 2011 and 2012 winner of the Orlando Improv’s Clash of the Comics.
AFRO is the first independently owned and operated African American television network. Visit www.afros.tv for more information on content and programming. The channel aims to appeal to the sensibilities of African-American/Black families by producing and broadcasting an aura of refreshing and blooming polycultural Black content from a wide array of genres.
