Nick Cannon will temporarily sub for an ailing Wendy Williams on her talk show.
“The Wendy Williams Show” announced Tuesday on their official Instagram account that Cannon will guest-host for part of next week.
“Friend to the show and host of Fox’s The Masked Singer and MTV’s Wild n’ Out, @nickcannon will be guest hosting The Wendy Williams Show on Monday, February 4th, Tuesday, February 5th & Wednesday, February 6th,” the post read. “The new hour long episodes will include Wendy’s staple Hot Topics segment, ‘Ask Wendy,’ celebrity interviews and more!”
Williams shared last year that she was struggles with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid. She took a break from her show last February as a result.
Williams continues to deal with medical challenges related to her condition and is also recovering from a fractured shoulder, according to her show team.
James Ingram, Grammy-Winning & Chart-Topping R&B Singer, Dies At 66
R&B singer James Ingram, who collected two Grammy Awards and a pair of No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits over his decades-long career, has died at age 66. The news was shared via Twitter by Ingram’s friend and creative partner Debbie Allen on Tuesday (Jan. 29).
There are no details yet about when or how Ingram died.
“I have lost my dearest friend and creative partner James Ingram to the Celestial Choir,” Allen tweeted. “He will always be cherished, loved and remembered for his genius, his love of family and his humanity. I am blessed to have been so close. We will forever speak his name.”
The singer collected two Grammys during his career: His song “One Hundred Ways” won best male R&B performance in 1981 and his duet with Michael McDonald on “Yah Mo B There” won best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals in 1984. He was also nominated for back-to-back best original song Oscars in 1993 and 1994, for co-writing “The Day I Fall in Love” from Beethoven’s 2nd and “Look What Love Has Done” from Junior.
Ingram charted nine hits on the Hot 100, including a pair of No. 1s: “Baby Come to Me,” with Patti Austin, in 1983, and “I Don’t Have the Heart” in 1990. Other top 20-charting Hot 100 hits included “Just Once” (No. 17 in 1981, Quincy Jones featuring Ingram), “Yah Mo Be There” (No. 19 in 1984, with Michael McDonald) and “Somewhere Out There” (No. 2 in 1987, with Linda Ronstadt). He also logged 19 hits on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart and 18 entries on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
He also tallied hits as a songwriter, co-penning Michael Jackson’s top 10 Hot 100 hit “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” from the Thriller album, as well as songs recorded by Pointer Sisters, George Benson, Ray Charles, Shalamar and others.
Source: Billboard
‘Empire’ Actor Jussie Smollett Alleges Homophobic Attack In Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — A cast member on the hit television show “Empire” alleged he was physically attacked by men in Chicago who shouted racial and homophobic slurs, police said Tuesday.
Police did not release the actor’s name but a statement from Fox, which airs “Empire,” identified him as Jussie Smollett, 36. Authorities said they are investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime. Smollett is black and openly gay.
According to a police statement, the actor was walking near the Chicago River downtown around 2 a.m. Tuesday when he was approached by two men who shouted at him, struck him in the face and poured an “unknown substance” on him before one of them wrapped a rope around his neck.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that when officers first came in contact with Smollett, he still had a rope around his neck. While being interviewed by detectives, Guglielmi said Smollett told them that the attackers yelled he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan that some critics of the president have decried as racist and discriminatory.
The police spokesman added that the two men were wearing masks. Investigators have not found any surveillance video or witnesses from which they can put together a description of the offenders, he said.
Smollett was able to take himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was last reported in good condition.
Guglielmi also said the FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent to the Fox studio in Chicago last week.
The hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Jamal Lyon, Smollett’s character, is the gay, middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.
Twentieth Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a statement Tuesday in support of Smollett. “The entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence,” the statement read.
“Empire” co-creator Lee Daniels also voiced his support for Smollett in an Instagram video.
“You didn’t deserve, nor anybody deserves, to have a noose put around your neck,” Daniels said. “You are better than that, we are better than that, America is better than that.”
California Sen. Kamala Harris, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, knows Smollett personally and called the attack “outrageous” and “awful.”
“He is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I’ve ever met,” Harris said Tuesday, adding that she’s still learning more details about the incident.
Smollett has been active in LBGTQ issues and he released his debut album, “Sum of My Music,” last year.
“Empire” is shot in Chicago and a Fox spokeswoman said the program is currently in production.
Kyrie Irving To Star In And Produce Horror Film About A Hotel So Haunted, NBA Players Avoid It
Kyrie Irving debuted as a new Hollywood star in the family comedy Uncle Drew, and now he’s moving onto horror.
The NBA player will star in horror movie about a haunted Oklahoma hotel, according to Variety. The film, currently sans a title, will also be executive produced by Irving along with Imagine Entertainment. Sanjay Sharma and The Players Tribune will also have executive producer credits with Irving. Bobby Cohen and Imagine chairman Brain Grazer will produce.
The film will combine satire and social commentary with scares based on an article optioned by Imagine from The Players’ Tribune. The article details the oral histories of NBA players who have stayed at Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel. According to the article, several players will not stay at the hotel because of the hotel’s haunted legacy.
As Trip Savvy reports, a ghost nicknamed “Effie” is supposedly the spirit of a maid who had an affair with the original owner of the hotel, William Skirvin. According to the legend, Skirvin locked a pregnant Effie in a room on the 10th floor, the highest floor before its remodeling, in order to escape scandal. She wasn’t allowed to leave her room even after having her child and she allegedly jumped with her child from the window.
Guests have reported that Effie has made them lose sleep due to the sound of a crying child and a nude Effie has been known to appear in male guests’ showers, propositioning them. There have also been reports from the staff of things moving on their own and creepy noises.
“I’d heard rumors about the Skirvin before, but once we realized that by coupling the deliciously eerie with the fascinatingly relevant, we were on to something big with this one,” said Cohen according to Variety. “Kyrie is an ideal collaborator and this is a great movie to make with Imagine.”
Irving is following the path many basketball stars have taken since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death. The current crop of NBA stars making moves in Hollywood include Stephen Curry and LeBron James. In fact, Space Jam 2, starring James, will be produced by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and directed by Random Acts of Flyness‘ Terrence Nance. It is speculated that the film will be out sometime in 2021.
Source: Shadow&Act
Vanessa Williams To Star In ABC’s Family Comedy Pilot Titled ‘Happy Accident’
Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty alumna Vanessa Williams has been tapped for a lead role opposite Matt Walsh and JoAnna Garcia Swisher in Happy Accident, ABC’s single-camera family comedy pilot from Modern Family writers Abraham Higginbotham and Jon Pollack, 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios.
Written and executive produced by Higginbotham and Pollack, Happy Accident revolves around two Pittsburgh families, a father (Walsh) with three adult daughters (Swisher as Eleanor), and a hotel lounge singer (Williams) with her med student son, are forced together after a decades-old secret is revealed.
Williams, who received three Emmy nominations for playing Wilhelmina Slater on ABC’s Ugly Betty, co-starred in the final two seasons of Desperate Housewives and also headlined ABC’s 666 Park Avenue and VH1’s Daytime Divas. She’s repped by UTA, Geordie E. Frey and Ziffren Brittenham.
Source: Deadline
Rosario Dawson Set To Co-Star In Sony’s Comedic Sequel To ‘Zombieland’
Rosario Dawson is set to join Zombieland 2, the next installment of the Sony Pictures post-apocalyptic zombie comedy that will feature original stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Ruben Fleischer returns to direct the sequel fresh off of the blockbuster success of Venom.
Written by original Zombieland scribes Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the sequel centers on the comic mayhem that stretches from the White House and through the heartland. The zombie slayers must face off against the many new kinds of zombies that have evolved since the first movie, as well as some new human survivors. Most of all, they have to face the growing pains of their own snarky, makeshift family.
Dawson joins franchise newcomers Zoey Deutch and Avan Jogia with filming slated to begin this week. Gavin Polone will produce, while Reese and Warnick are executive producers.
Zombieland 2 hits theaters October 11.
Dawson can be seen as Claire Temple in five of the Netflix Marvel series: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Defenders and Iron Fist. Up next, she toplines the USA Network crime anthology series Briarpatch from exec producer Sam Esmail.
Source: Deadline
‘God Friended Me’ Renewed For Season 2 At CBS
CBS is continuing to hand out early renewals.
The network on Tuesday picked up its Greg Berlanti-produced freshman dramedy God Friended Me for a second season. The order arrives mere days after CBS renewed fellow rookies FBI, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood for the 2019-2020 broadcast season.
“We’re thrilled with how God Friended Me has performed on Sundays. It’s one of the top three new series on television, has improved its time period significantly, and continues a long tradition of prestige dramas for CBS on the night,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said in a statement announcing the news Tuesday.
Added Thom Sherman, senior exec vp programming: “Our amazing cast and producers have done a wonderful job of bringing this series to life each week with humorous and inspirational storylines. Viewers have clearly embraced our characters and the positive message the show delivers.”
From Warner Bros. Television, God Friended Me ranks as CBS’ second most-watched new series and the most-watched scripted series Sunday with an average of 10 million total viewers. The series, which stars Brandon Micheal Hall as a guy who talks to God via social media, is the fourth rookie series to earn a sophomore order so far this season.
With the renewal, Berlanti — who exec produces alongside showrunners Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt — continues his assault on the TV record books. The super-producer has a TV record of 15 scripted series currently on television and three pilots (so far) in the works for next season as he looks to add to that haul. Berlanti also has midseason drama The Red Line up next for the network. His current roster includes The CW’s All American, Arrow, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Riverdale and Supergirl; NBC’s Blindspot; Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Lifetime transplant You; and DC Universe’s Stargirl, Titans and Doom Patrol.
For producers Warner Bros. TV, God Friended Me is one of five scripted series the studio has at the network — with flagship The Big Bang Theory wrapping its run this season.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Eric Andre-Lil Rel Howery’s New Prank Comedy Film Titled ‘Bad Trip’ To Be Released In October
Orion Pictures has set an Oct. 25 domestic release for the hidden-camera prank comedy “Bad Trip,” from “Jackass” producer Jeff Tremaine with Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery starring.
Orion noted that “Bad Trip” is the first hidden-camera narrative film released in theaters since Paramount debuted “Bad Grandpa” in 2013. “Bad Grandpa,” which starred Johnny Knoxville, was made for $15 million and grossed $151 million worldwide.
“Bad Trip” follows two best friends on a cross-country road trip full of pranks, pulling its real-life audience into the action. The film is directed by Kitao Sakurai (Adult Swim’s “The Eric Andre Show”) and produced by David Bernad (“The Mule”), Andre, Ruben Fleischer (“Venom”), and Tremaine.
“Eric and Rel’s hilarious performances combined with spectacular, groundbreaking pranks will make ‘Bad Trip’ the defining prank movie for a new generation. We’re incredibly proud to debut the next in line to ‘Borat’ and ‘Bad Grandpa,’” Bernad and Fleischer said in a joint statement.
Orion was re-launched in 2017 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer as a standalone U.S. theatrical marketing and distribution company. It’s releasing Nicholas McCarthy’s supernatural horror thriller “The Prodigy, starring Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott, and Colm Feore, on Feb. 8, and the reimagining of “Child’s Play,” starring Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and Gabriel Bateman, on June 21.
Source: Variety
HBO Orders Robin Thede’s ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ To Be Produced By Issa Rae
HBO has given a series order to A Black Lady Sketch Show, a half-hour sketch comedy starring and executive produced by Robin Thede (The Rundown with Robin Thede) and executive produced by Insecure‘s Issa Rae.
Created, written by and starring Thede, A Black Lady Sketch Show will be breaking new ground in sketch comedy TV. It will feature narrative sketches performed by a core cast of black women, including Thede, as well as celebrity guests. The show also will be written and directed by an array of black women.
Lauren Ashley Smith, who was head writer on Thede’s BET! late-night show The Rundown with Robin Thede, will serve in the same capacity on A Black Lady Sketch Show. She also will co-executive produce.
Thede executive produces with Rae via her Issa Rae Productions, Dave Becky and Jonathan Berry for 3 Arts Entertainment as well as Tony Hernandez and Brooke Posch for JAX Media, which produced The Rundown. Deniese Davis, Montrel McKay produce for Issa Rae Productions and John Skidmore produces for JAX Media.
The project falls under Rae’s overall deal with HBO.
Comedian and writer Thede created, executive produced and hosted The Rundown with Robin Thede, which aired on BET for one season. Prior, she was the head writer & a correspondent for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central and head writer for the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner, making her the first African-American woman head writer in late night and for the WHCD. She has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies, including Difficult People, Key & Peele, A Haunted House, Goodwin Games, among others. She is also currently developing an untitled comedy for ABC.
Rae has received a lead comedy actress Emmy nomination for her HBO series Insecure. Rae’s web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, was the recipient of the Shorty Award for Best Web Show and her first book, a collection of essays, is a New York Times bestseller. Rae made her film debut in The Hate U Give, and will also star in Universal’s upcoming Little.
A longtime writer and producer, Smith has previously worked on comedy/variety programs, including Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo), Fashion Queens (Bravo), and Best Week Ever (VH1).
Thede is repped by WME and Del Shaw Rae is represented by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and attorney John v. Meigs Jr.
Source: Deadline
‘The Neighborhood’ Renewed At CBS With ‘FBI’ And ‘Magnum P.I.’
CBS is beginning to solidify its 2019-2020 scripted roster.
The network on Friday handed out second-season renewals to the freshman dramas FBI and Magnum P.I. and the comedy The Neighborhood. They represent the first round of renewals at the network and join the previously announced 15th and final season of Criminal Minds.
“Each of these distinctive shows has made their mark in a variety of ways,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said in making the pickups. “Our goals this season were to introduce new series that audiences are passionate about, add more strength to a winning schedule and create more inclusive programming.”
Added Thom Sherman, senior executive vp programming: “We’re thrilled by the creative direction and performance of these three shows as they continue to grow in popularity and resonate with the network’s viewers.”
FBI, from Law & Order mastermind Dick Wolf, is CBS’ No. 1 new series and is averaging 13 million viewers per week. The Universal Television and CBS TV Studios co-production got off to a rocky start with multiple showrunner changes. The drama is now on its third showrunner. Greg Plageman was brought in to right the FBI ship following Craig Turk’s departure in late July. Turk, who wrote the pilot, stepped down after creative differences on the procedural, which also underwent some recasting after the pilot. Person of Interest‘s Plageman returned to CBS to get the series back on track and exited to focus on development. Chicago showrunners Rick Eid and Derek Haas replaced Plageman as co-showrunners on FBI in addition to running NBC’s Wolf-produced Chicago PD and Chicago Fire, respectively. Haas has now departed FBI and will focus only on Chicago Fire. Executive producers include Terry Miller, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski.
Magnum P.I., a reboot of the Tom Selleck procedural starring Jay Hernandez, has helped CBS improve its Monday at 9 p.m. slot by 32 percent. The series is produced in-house at CBS TV Studios, where showrunner Peter M. Lenkov is under a rich overall deal. Should CBS renew Hawaii Five-0 and MacGyver, Lenkov would continue to have three series on the network next season. Eric Guggenheim, Justin Lin, John Davis, John Fox and Danielle Woodrow exec produce the co-production between CBS TV Studios and Universal TV, which owns the rights to the original.
The Neighborhood, meanwhile, averages nearly 8 million total viewers on Mondays. Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold star opposite Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs in the fish-out-of-water family comedy. The series is produced in-house at CBS TV Studios and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. Jim Reynolds serves as showrunner and exec produces alongside Dana Honor, Wendi Trilling, Cedric and Eric Rhone.
The renewals arrive as CBS is heading full steam into pilot season as David Nevins, who expanded his oversight to include both the broadcast network and Showtime, is weighing in on scripts and the overall direction of the network after CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves was ousted. The network has multiple drama pilots and a pair of comedies currently in the works for 2019-2020.
All told, FBI, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood represent the first series from the 2018-2019 freshman class to be picked up for a second season. All three received additional episode orders (nine for FBI and The Neighborhood and seven for Magnum). Still to be determined are the fates of fellow rookies The Code, Fam, God Friended Me, Happy Together and The Red Line. The freshmen series Happy Together and Murphy Brown also remain in contention, though neither received additional episode orders after launching in the fall.
