FINALLY-CNN To Launch ‘The Van Jones Show’ In January
Van Jones, the civil rights advocate and former Obama administration advisor, will get a regular bimonthly slot on CNN’s primetime schedule with “The Van Jones Show,” the Time Warner-owned cable-news outlet said Monday.
The one-hour program will launch in January, CNN said, and Jones will also host a new original documentary series that will examine on instances of “reconciliation, hope and redemption within the criminal justice system.” Citizen Jones, a production company, will collaborate with CNN on that program.
In “The Van Jones Show,” the host will offer his take on “the forces that elected Donald Trump, the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ movement and the future of both major parties,” CNN said. Jones has been an intermittent part of CNN’s lineup in recent months, hosting a series of town halls under the rubric “The Messy Truth,” during which he seeks answers on various policy and culture issues from voters across the nation.
“The Van Jones Show” will feature a live studio audience. Jones has been eager to get different factions to come together and discuss issues in a substantive way. “I just want to mix it up a little bit,” the author and activist told Variety earlier this year. “I really understand how dad-gum smart people in the middle of the country are. I also understand how the coastal, cosmopolitan crowd can really come off as holier than thou and snotty, but of course, I really embrace those strong liberal values you find in the blue states,” he explained. “I really think that gives me something to bring to the national conversation.”
Jones has worked as a CNN contributor since the end of 2013, and worked alongside Newt Gingirch, Stephanie Cutter and S.E. Cupp on a re-boot of the CNN perennial “Crossfire.” The show was canceled in the fall of 2014, but Jones has continued to enjoy a CNN presence, most notably, perhaps, during the 2016 presidential election.
Source: Variety
Chris Tucker Opted Out of ‘Next Friday’ Because Ice Cube Didn’t Pay for ‘Friday’
For years, Ice Cube has been teasing another installment in his ‘Friday’ series, with rumors of the next movie including all the original cast members including Chris Tucker. Despite the reports, when asked about the film, Cube would always note that he could not get Tucker on-board for the project.
Now, it seems that Tucker has revealed his reasoning behind staying away from the project during a standup bit he recently performed. While on-stage, Tucker said he passed on “Next Friday” because Ice Cube failed to pay him for the first one. The comedian joked “Cube got mad cuz I didn’t wanna do part two. I told I ain’t doing it; I said no. He got mad. I told ‘You ain’t pay me for the first one, s**t.’ He gon’ give me some CDs and some weed. Hell nah. You better give me some money!”
He went on to say that they made ‘Friday’ in 20 days and that he was just happy not to be touring, which made him do the movie. Was there any seriousness in this stand up? You tell us. Watch above.
Source:Vlad TV
‘Walking Dead’ Favorite Lennie James To Join Spinoff ‘Fear The Walking Dead’
AMC’s The Walking Dead is set to see one series regular jump to spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead.Fan favorite Lennie James is officially moving from the flagship to the prequel, in which he will continue to play Morgan Jones. The announcement was made Sunday when James was a surprise guest on Talking Dead.”Morgan’s arc in The Walking Dead season eight positioned him for the story on Fear the Walking Dead,” Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple said via a statement read by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. “It was also important to see Fear‘s world and characters through new, yet familiar eyes.”
For his part, James said he begins filming Fear on Monday, with his scenes to be streamed live via the show’s social media accounts. The actor, who was the first person Rick (Andrew Lincoln) encountered after waking up from his coma in the show’s pilot, wrapped production on the Atlanta-set Walking Dead days ago and appeared on Talking Dead via satellite from Austin, Texas, where the show is moving its production.
“From the very first moment the whole suggestion of Morgan going over to Fear the Walking dead, the hardest part of that, from beginning to now, has been leaving The Walking Dead,” James said. “Leaving that cast, leaving that crew. I’ve said my goodbyes to the cast and I’ve said my goodbyes to the crew… That show stands or falls on the back of that crew. And I’m going to miss them very much.”
James move to Fear the Walking Dead also confirms news that THR previously reported — that the prequel seriesis moving its filming location to Texas — a shift that was set up in the finale’s narrative as a new villain (Ray McKinnon) set sail for “what’s left of Houston” with Alicia (co-star Alycia Debnam-Carey).
James’ addition to Fear comes as the lesser-rated series is amid a major reset for its upcoming fourth season. Showrunner Dave Erickson, who developed the series with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, exited the show after the season-three finale. Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (Once Upon a Time) will take over as showrunners for season four, with Walking Dead boss Gimple also joining the spinoff as an executive producer. Fear has also bolstered its cast, with stars Garret Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman boarding as series regulars. Details on their characters are being kept under wraps.
That James would move to Fear comes as the character continues to struggle with his role in the new world. Morgan guest-starred in seasons one and three before recurring in season five and being promoted to series regular in season six. When he was introduced, Morgan was grieving the loss of his wife, Jenny, and son, Duane, who were both killed in the outbreak. He has struggled with his sanity — and whether or not he needed to kill other survivors — during the most recent seasons.
The decision to move him to the spinoff comes as the flagship series in its current eighth season has also explored Negan’s backstory (that was featured in a one-shot called “Here’s Negan”). That both shows are now crossing over comes after Erickson’s early Fear script (then called Cobalt) originally featured a scene in which Dr. Candace Jenner — aka Test Subject 19 and played by Claire Bronson on the flagship — was introduced. The character previously worked with Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) at the CDC before being infected and ultimately killed. That idea didn’t last long with Kirkman and the storyline was nixed as producers at the time insisted Fear would not be crossing over with the flagship.
Fear the Walking Dead, while not a breakout hit like the flagship series, still performs well for AMC. The drama, which hit a string of series lows in its third season, is one of the top shows on cable (and AMC’s No. 2 overall), with an average of 5.3 million total viewers and 3 million among adults 18-49 with three days of delayed viewing.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Comedic Actress Sherri Shepherd To Star In ‘Brian Banks’ With Aldis Hodge!
NEW YORK, November 21, 2017 — Actress and Emmy-Award winning former co-host of ABC’s “The View” Sherri Shepherd has joined Aldis Hodge (Underground) and Greg Kinnear to co-star in biopic Brian Banks, directed by Tom Shadyac (Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Evan Almighty) for producers Shivani Rawat’s ShivHans Pictures and Amy Baer’s Gidden Media. The biopic tells the story of Banks (Hodge), an All-American high school football player committed to USC by his junior year whose life was upended in 2002 when he was falsely accused of rape. Despite maintaining his innocence, Banks was railroaded through the system and sentenced to a decade of prison and parole.
With the help of the California Innocence Project, spearheaded by Justin Brooks (Kinnear), the criminal defense attorney and CIP co-founder, Banks’ conviction was overturned in 2012. He briefly played with the Atlanta Falcons in the 2013 preseason. Shepherd will portray Banks’ mother, Leomia, who was the glue that kept Banks together during his trial.
The script was written by Doug Atchison who wrote and directed the critically acclaimed Akeelah and the Bee.
The production takes place in Memphis, where Shadyac lives. He will bring in local film students to shadow and learn while he shoots the film.
The project was originally developed through Baer’s development fund Gidden Media. She will produce alongside Shivani Rawat and Monica Levinson (ShivHans Pictures) who also financed. Banks, Brooks, Derrick Tseng and Neil Strum are executive producers.
Shepherd’s film credits include co-starring with Katherine Heigl in “One for the Money” and with Chris Rock in “Top Five.” Additionally, she has co-starred in such movies as the award-winning “Precious,” “Woodlawn,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” “Guess Who,” “Who’s Your Caddy,” “Beauty Shop” and “Ride Along 2,” starring Kevin Hart.
Shepherd will begin shooting the second season of NBC sitcom “Trial and Error,” starring John Lithgow in March 2018 where she will reprise her co-starring role as legal secretary “Anne Hatch.”
Shepherd is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment.
Russell Simmons Says Keri Claussen Khalighi ‘Never Accused Me Of What She Has Said Publicly’
In response to allegations of sexual misconduct, music mogul Russell Simmons said a 1991 encounter with then-17-year-old model Keri Claussen Khalighi was “consensual.”
Khalighi told The Times that Simmons made aggressive sexual advances toward her in 1991 at his apartment and tried to force her to have intercourse. Simmons eventually relented and coerced her to perform oral sex as his protege at the time, Brett Ratner, “just sat there and watched,” Khalighi alleged to The Times.
Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, said in a letter published Wednesday in the Hollywood Reporter that Khalighi, in subsequent conversations and in a meeting many years later, “never accused me of what she has said publicly.”
“She insisted I was not violent,” he said in the letter. “She did tell me her boyfriend and many others found out about our long weekend together and she said she was ashamed by that discovery. I am sorry for the embarrassment she recounted to me.”
Simmons previously disputed Khalighi’s account in a statement released to The Times, saying, “Everything that occurred between Keri and me occurred with her full consent and participation.”
Simmons said in the Wednesday letter that three witnesses, including his then-assistant Anthony McNair and two anonymous individuals, have signed statements that “our experiences that weekend with Keri Claussen Khalighi 26 years ago were consensual.”
“My longtime loathing of any form of violence and abuse has been woven into all of my personal interactions, as most who know me will attest,” Simmons says in the letter. “I would never knowingly cause fear or harm to anyone.”
“He actually apologized,” she said in the interview. “Part of what’s so confusing and retraumatizing is what he’s speaking about privately with me is completely different than what has come out publicly.”
Source: Los Angeles Times
HBO Plans To Air ”All Def Comedy’ Despite New Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations
HBO is still planning to air the upcoming Def Comedy Jam reboot titled, All Def Comedy, despite the sexual assault allegations against Russel Simmons.
Simmons was recently accused by Keri Claussen Khalighi of sexually assaulting her in 1991 and says Brett Ratner watched and didn’t intervene. Simmons and Ratner have denied that the encounter was non-consensual.
The network said in a statement: “We do plan to air (‘All Def Comedy’) beginning next week. The show is a platform for promising new artists, and we want them to have the opportunity to showcase their talent to a national audience.”
The show will be hosted by Tony Rock and feature stand-up performances in a variety of styles, spotlighting up-and-coming comics discovered at All Def Digital’s live weekly comedy showcase and special, and its online video platform to discover the best emerging comics, as well as “Def Comedy” veterans.
Def Comedy Jam helped launch the careers of Bernie Mac, Dave Chappelle, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart, Cedric the Entertainer, Katt Williams, J.B. Smoove, Bill Bellamy and many more.
Source: Shadow & Act
On This Day In Comedy… In 1955 Comedian, Actress And Host Whoopi Goldberg Was Born!
On this day in comedy on November 13, 1955, Comedienne, Actress, Producer, Caryn Elaine Johnson, later known as Whoopi Goldberg was born in Manhattan
Goldberg burst upon the scene in a one-woman show she created entitled “The Spook Show”. Famed director, Mike Nichols took it to Broadway and the artist who could do so many funny characters stole the town. This accomplished, she was then cast as Celie in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” for Steven Spielberg and in 1985 became a household name. From there Whoopi was making plenty. Besides film, Goldberg had her own NBC sitcom, a late-night talk show, co-produced the veteran game show, “The Hollywood Squares”, wrote books, produced plays on Broadway, did voice-overs in classic cartoons (“Lion King”, “Toy Story”), co-founded Comic Relief, was the first black female to host the Academy Awards and co-hosted the morning gabfest, “The View”. By the way did I mention she won an Oscar (for “Ghost”), making her the 1st African-American stand-up comedienne to receive the award?
Goldberg understood the business she was in and how to manipulate it to her benefit, all the way down to her name change. Whoopi was a nickname associated with her for her ability to release pressure from an individual (with laughter) similar to whoopee cushions. However, she adopted the name “Goldberg’ because her mother told her “Johnson” wasn’t Jewish enough to make her a star. And not only did she become that, one year she was recognized as the highest paid actress of all time. Her output was tremendous by any measure. After winning the Academy Award in 1990 for “Ghost” Goldberg has appeared in no less than three films a year, every year with a high count of seven motion pictures in 1998. She did this for 20 straight years. Talk about a role model.
Race and gender were minor obstacles in her approach. From the very beginning Goldberg set her sights on what was normally not considered traditional black casting. This sprung from one of her first experiences seeing this practice. While watching “Star Trek” as a youth she called out to her mother that there was a black woman on TV that was not a maid. Nichelle Nichols portrayal of Uhura on the Starship Enterprise sparked in Goldberg the desire to be all she could be. She even auditioned for the lead in the film, “The Princess Bride”, a role that requested a blond haired, blue eyed single white female. She didn’t get the part, but not due to lack of trying. When she couldn’t win parts meant for men she played men in parts (“The Associate” – 1996). And a white man at that.
Goldberg was also no stranger to controversy. Often criticized by the African-American community for dating out of her race, Goldberg married director of photography, David Claessen and divorced soon after the failure of one of her contracted films, “The Telephone”. That was her 2nd marriage. Her 1st lasted 6 years, her 3rd held on for one. In 1995 she convinced boyfriend Ted Danson to don blackface at a Friar’s Club event that got publicized and scrutinized and in 2004 she lost her SlimFast endorsement after telling an off-color joke about sitting president, George W Bush. She’s been a vocal proponent of whatever she chose to be vocal about as co-host of “The View” and never lost sight of her power in the medium. She knew she was there to entertain; to be Whoopi – and she was all that.
Whoopi took on comedic celebrities. After comedienne Kathy Griffin called Senator Scott Brown‘s daughters “prostitutes”, Goldberg said that if anyone insulted her daughter like that “I would beat their ass.” Don’t look so shocked. You hired Whoopi Goldberg. As a veteran comedienne, she knew who she was and who was going to be to that audience. As one of the few entertainers to have an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy, she knew her power and where things stood historically. The woman knew the score and how to keep it.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1874 Comedian And Performer Bert Williams Was Born!
On this day in comedy on November 12, 1874, Comedian, Actor, Recording Artist, Bert Williams was born in Nassau, The Bahamas
Williams became known as the greatest comedian of the first half of the 20th Century. Fellow Vaudevillian W. C. Fields said of Williams that he was “the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest man I ever knew.” Williams arrived at this perceived melancholy mainly due to the times in which he lived. Williams was an educated, cultured man who was not born with American values; meaning he didn’t have a baggage of racial injustice pumped into him from an early age. So, any undeserved slight or poor treatment was more of an affront compared to Blacks raised in the States who knew it was nothing personal. It was because you were Black.
Williams defied barriers. While working with various minstrel shows on the West Coast he met his future partner, George Walker and they made history. Billed as “Two Real Coons” (so they weren’t confused with many of the white minstrels billing themselves as real coons), their routine consisted of skits, funny dialogue and song-and-dance numbers. In 1896 they popularized the dance craze, The Cake Walk and simultaneously they were criticized for not being better role models. After all their stage personas were that of a slick dandy (Walker) and a dimwitted coon (Williams). This knocking of the duo was despite the fact they were always dressed immaculately and used exquisite manners when in public and in photos. Few seemed to notice their mockery of the very blackface they employed with pointed satirical jabs at the process. No matter. They were derided, whereas the truth was they became the first to move away from the broad style of minstrelsy and portray a more naturalistic, human brand of comedy. They even touched upon the divisions of class in the Black community.
Then came the turn of the century. After Walker was beaten by a mob in New York following a performance (he was mistaken for a ‘darkie’ who’d shot a cop), the duo had a string of major stage successes, most notably Son of Sam and In Dahomey (the first Black production to open on Broadway). The latter production did a command performance at Buckingham Palace in London and Williams and Walker were initiated into the Edinburgh Lodge of the Freemasons, because the Scottish weren’t into discriminating racially as the Masons were in the USA. The twosome recorded hit songs in 1901 (Williams had the hit, Nobody). They did Bandanna Land where Williams introduced his signature routine, The Card Game. He pantomimed an entire poker game alone.
When Walker contracted syphilis in 1909, suffered a stroke and later died, Williams was forced to become a solo act. His first production was met with resistance from an organization known as “The White Rats’, who intimidated theater owners who were sympathetic to hiring Black acts. Thus, Bert Williams did not gain the support needed to mount a successful run. He flopped and went back to vaudeville. The White Rats went right with him to protest his working. Regardless, he was too good not to hire, but the theater owners put him as secondary to a lesser headliner even though they put Williams name in larger letters to draw a crowd and lend legitimacy to their show.
Despite the persistent interference of the White Rats Williams was hired to perform in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1910. Many of the white performers threatened to quit. Owner, Flo Ziegfeld told them they’d be missed. Williams was a huge success and became the top paid act in the Follies. He recorded four songs under his new contract with Columbia Records and they were hits. He was paired with white entertainer, Leon Errol for a hilarious 20-minute routine and they became the first black and white comedy teaming. However, Williams was also featured in 1913 in the all-Black revue, The Frogs, giving his Black fans who couldn’t make the Follies a chance to see him.
By 1914 things were slowing down at the Follies for Bert Williams. The focus was more on the parade of beautiful girls the show featured than on comedy routines and Williams got less and less stage time. In 1918 Williams worked in Ziegfeld’s secondary production known as “Midnight Frolic” and thrived in this setting because it allowed him longer stretches on stage. During that same period, he was being touted as one of the three top recording artists in the world (along with Al Jolson and Nora Bayes) shipping out 180,000 copies at a time when 10,000 was considered a major feat.
Massive success aside, Bert Williams still faced racial prejudice. Once while attempting to buy a drink at the bar of the Hotel Astor, the bartender threatened to throw him out if he couldn’t pay $50 for the glass of liquid. Williams pulled out a wad of $100 bills, slapped them on the bar and demanded drinks for everyone in the establishment. Such disrespect continued all the way up to his death in 1922 from pneumonia. He had stubbornly performed while ill to save a dying show and collapsed on stage, only to say in his dressing room, “That’s a nice way to die. They was laughing when I made my last exit.”
Bert Williams had a World War II battleship named in his honor and was inducted posthumously into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1996.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1956 The Comedian Known As Sinbad Was Born!
On this day in comedy, on November 10, 1956, Comedian, Actor, David Adkins (“Sinbad”) was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan
Most young men want to be athletes. Adkins had a basketball scholarship at the University of Denver and lettered for two seasons, but he didn’t want to be an athlete. He wanted to be a comedian. So, he went into the military (the perfect place to start a comedy career) and went AWOL all the time because he’d sneak off to do comedy shows. When he was finally discharged he went to Hollywood to make it big. Sinbad was almost 30 years old and living the standard life of a struggling comedian. He resided in a seedy part of town in an even seedier hotel. When he went on the road he did so on a Greyhound Bus. It was a route he strung together himself and dubbed it “The Poverty Tour”. It turned out to be the number one comedy tour of that summer.
Sinbad made the conscious decision to work clean, so his parents could come to his shows and be proud. He boosted their pride level when he became a finalist on CBS’s hit talent showcase, Star Search. He was cast for the short-lived Redd Foxx Show on ABC, but got more lasting exposure when he landed a role in the NBC hit sitcom, A Different World. He spent four seasons on the show (1987-1991).
Naturally, the star comedian got the star comedian deal – his own show. The Sinbad Show debuted on Fox in 1993 and was gone in 1994. Featuring T. K. Carter, Sinbad admitted he never wanted a TV in the first place and gave his self-titled sitcom very little of his efforts or talent. He wanted to do movies, but had to fulfill the television obligation of the star comedian package. Then he did films. House Guest with Phil Hartman (1994), First Kid (1996), the Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday vehicle, Jingle All the Way (1996) and Necessary Roughness were all successful.
Sinbad expanded his fan base with music. He hosted HBO’s annual music specials. Acts like Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Smokey Robinson, Chaka Khan and the Stylistics were the norm. There were music festivals and Sinbad shared the stage with other prominent comedians of the day. For a brief time, he hosted the Quincy Jones produced, late night talk show, Vibe until its foreseen cancellation. Sinbad has done cartoon voice overs, wrote a book and had his own reality show Sinbad: it’s Just Family, but mainly he continued to tour as a top drawing stand-up comedian.
Sinbad was ranked #78 on Comedy Central’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time list.
WATCH: Chance The Rapper Tackles Sketches On ‘Saturday Night Live’!
Chance the Rapper made the most of his opportunity to host Saturday Night Live last night, a solid, confident turn for his first time at the gig. The show itself was, well, here’s hoping the Thanksgiving break provides cast and crew a chance to regroup and refresh.
Despite a few highlights – a missing-you love ballad to Barack Obama, Pete Davidson’s Weekend Update riff on his rift with Staten Island – this Thanksgiving episode left a lot on the table.
Let’s start with the tastiest. “Come Back, Barack” was a music video starring Chance, Kenan Thompson and first-year cast member Chris Redd as smooth ballad crooners De-Von-Tré. What begins as just another broken-hearted plea for a lover’s return soon reveals the true object of all that longing. (Watch it above.)
Weekend Update was, once again, left holding the sexual harassment bag (right-wing conspiracies aside, the show clearly hasn’t figured a way to turn groping and rape allegations into sketch comedy gold, and let’s be thankful it hasn’t tried).
So the harasser-mocking has been left to the Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost, the latter having this week’s best punchline on the subject: “More than a dozen women have now accused actor Jeremy Piven of sexual assault spanning more than 30 years. The allegations were revealed in the shocking documentary Entourage.”
Watch that clip below, but first take a look at the week’s best Update performance, this one coming yet again from a newly revitalized Pete Davidson, whose self-deprecating, confessional laments have given him a profile lacking in his early stoner phase.
Here he is talking about his very real feud with the home borough he shares with Jost, and why Staten Island understandably favors one native son:
Upending the usual host pattern – strong monologue, weak sketch work – Chance the Rapper did some fine comic acting last night. He even passed the teleprompter test, a pitfall that’s undone hosts with far more experience.
Here’s Chance as a basketball announcer with no use for – or even familiarity with – his latest assignment, ice hockey:
Chance, Thompson and Redd re-teamed as another musical trio in Rap History, with the very old school Soul Crush Crew showing their age. Familiar territory for SNL, but nicely done:
A few Thanksgiving-themed bits were featured last night, though none are likely to show up on any of those Holiday specials in years to come. Best of the lot was “Wayne Thanksgiving,” in which millionaire Bruce Wayne (Beck Bennett) holds his annual holiday gathering for the less fortunate, only to get an earful from residents of a minority neighborhood (Chance, Thompson, Redd, Leslie Jones) about the Bat brutality plaguing the community.
The show’s host also appeared in “Family Feud: Harvey Family Thanksgiving,” a one-joke bit that Thompson’s overused Steve Harvey routine couldn’t save.
Not much better was “Career Day,” with Chance and Mikey Day as high schoolers way too excited by their dads’ career day presentation (maybe they should have gone the embarrassment route).
And no amount of enthusiasm could turn Chance’s opening musical ode to Thanksgiving into a holiday classic, try as the host might.
Still, it was better than “Porn Pizza Delivery,” the dregs of the evening. Less said the better. Happy Thanksgiving.
