VH1’s can’t-miss-hit series “Basketball Wives: LA” and newly crowned flagship “Basketball Wives: Orlando” – are set to return with back-to-back premieres on Monday, October 9 starting at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1.
“Basketball Wives” returns for its 11th season with new and returning cast members. After a season hiatus, original cast member Evelyn Lozada returns to the court, rejoining the all-star lineup of MVPs Jackie Christie, Jennifer Williams, and Brooke Bailey, along with a guest appearance from executive producer Shaunie Henderson. New to the roster are Brittany Renner, Vanessa Rider, Jac’Eil Duckworth and Clayanna Warthen.
As successful businesswomen, philanthropists, and moms, the “Basketball Wives: LA” cast continues to evolve and face challenges head-on as they journey through sisterhood, growth, and adversity. Tensions run high as the veterans take the newbies under their wings – but will they throw them a lifeline or shade? With the fate of the sisterhood hanging in the balance, the new ladies are out to prove that they’re not to be underestimated. Get ready to be on the edge of your seat as friendships are tested, tea is spilled, and lines are crossed on the 11th season of “Basketball Wives: LA.”
The ladies of the new “Basketball Wives: Orlando” are playing the game their way. The new starting lineup includes Ashley Snell, Danielle Miller, Lyndzie Marble, Mackenzie Hyatt, Mehgan James, Morgan Bledsoe, Mulan Hernandez, Nique Brown, and Nikki Nicole. These young, ambitious entrepreneurs, socialites, entertainers, and philanthropists are here to make a name for themselves by any means necessary. From lavish lifestyles to personal triumphs and tribulations, “Basketball Wives: Orlando” will give viewers an unfiltered and compelling glimpse into the extraordinary lives of nine resilient women as they confront love, rivalry, and the ever-present spotlight.
The “Basketball Wives” season warms up on Monday, October 2 at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1 with the “Basketball Wives: All-Star Moments” special! Join OG hosts Shaunie Henderson and Evelyn Lozada as they take a trip down memory lane, highlighting the most fun, dramatic, laugh-out-loud, and unforgettable moments throughout the series. Together, they’ll guide viewers through the series’ most talked-about and fan-favorite moments of seasons past while also giving their own personal reflections, insights, and even some new, never-before-heard tea!
“We’re excited to renew Basketball Wives for its 11th season with an all-star cast while expanding the franchise with the new dynamic ladies of Basketball Wives: Orlando for its debut season,” said Tiffany Lea Williams, Executive Vice President of BET Unscripted Programming, BET Media Group. “We are thrilled to partner with Truly Original, Shed Media and This Way Out Media on what will for sure be an unforgettable season and showcase diverse women as they evolve and traverse through their personal and professional journeys. We can’t wait to share these special moments with our loyal Basketball Wives fans and new viewers.”
“This show was created to establish a platform for self-expression and freedom across every choice that life presents,” said Executive Producer Shaunie Henderson. “Life is a constant state of change and evolution, and I am excited for viewers to reconnect with the cast members as they continue to journey and evolve through life.”
“Basketball Wives” is produced by Truly Original and Shed Media. Shaunie Henderson also serves as an executive producer. From Truly Original, the executive producers are Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh, Lauren Eskelin, Julie “Bob” Lombardi, Ronica Wydner, Jamail Shelton, and Katie Sole. For VH1, Tiffany Lea Williams, Angela Aguilera, and Mimi Blanchard serve as executive producers.
“Basketball Wives: Orlando” is produced by This Way Out Media and Shed Media. Shaunie Henderson also serves as an executive producer. From This Way Out Media, the Executive Producers are Mark Seliga, Sean Rankine, Yessica Garcia, and Melanie Collier Lodge. For VH1, Tiffany Lea Williams, Angela Aguilera, and Mimi Blanchard serve as Executive Producers.
Join the conversation using #BasketballWives and #BasketballWivesOrlando. Follow the official “Basketball Wives” accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Catch up on the previous seasons of VH1’s “Basketball Wives” on Paramount+, Pluto TV, the official series page, and the VH1 App.
BET, a unit of Paramount Global is set to launch its new judge series, “MS. PAT SETTLES IT,” with back-to-back half-hour episodes premiering on Wednesday, October 18 at 10 pm ET/PT. Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams (comedian, author, radio host, and star of Emmy-nominated series “The Ms. Pat Show”), renowned for her sharp wit on the stand-up stage, takes “center bench” as the boldest, funniest, and most genuine judge in any courtroom! “MS. PAT SETTLES IT” is the first unscripted project originating from Ms. Pat’s overall deal with BET.
On “MS. PAT SETTLES IT,” Ms. Pat assembles a jury comprised of her closest friends, family members, and guest stars to tackle real cases where genuine relationships hang in the balance. While she may not boast a legal degree, Ms. Pat possesses a unique ability to deliver candid, humorous, and heartfelt judgments every time.
In her courtroom, each case revolves around family and relationship dynamics. Viewers will witness everyday people grappling with real-life problems who willingly accept Ms. Pat’s verdict as binding. Each case traverses the fine line between intense drama and uproarious comedy, mirroring Ms. Pat’s own life experiences. The “Jury of Her Peers” will preside over a wide array of cases, encompassing financial disputes, romantic entanglements, roommate quarrels, neighborly conflicts, and a myriad of other issues. Ms. Pat and her jury are on a mission to set things right. Although real cash settlements are at stake, the core of every case is an underlying issue that has driven the litigants to their breaking points.
The show boasts a lineup of celebrity guest jurors, including Ray J, DeRay Davis, Carmen Barton, Jordan E. Cooper, Jasmine Luv, and more.
“MS. PAT SETTLES IT” is executive produced by Ms. Pat. Sallyann Salsano, Dave Hamilton, Ebony McClain, and Frank Miccolis also serve as executive producers for 495 Productions. Tiffany Lea Williams, Angela Aguilera, Kelly Gould and Ashley Taylor serve as executives for BET.
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for take-off because Luenell goes all in for her first-ever Netflix stand-up special, Chappelle’s Home Team – Luenell: Town Business. Commanding the stage from her hometown in Oakland, California, Luenell exposes all of the absurdities of air travel, the importance of keeping the window shade up, and why she has appointed herself the unofficial air marshal of the skies. Town Business is executive produced by Dave Chappelle and will premiere globally on Netflix September 26th.
Watch the trailer above.
Leslie Jones says that her friend Chris Rock sought counseling after being slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars.
“That shit was humiliating,” she told People. “It really affected him. People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters.” (Rock shares two adult daughters — Lola, 21, and Zahra, 19 — with ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock.)
Jones, who was watching the show from home that night, said she was “infuriated” upon seeing the incident take place on live television.
“You don’t know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there,” she said. “I was so fucking mad on so many levels.”
She added that Smith, who won a best actor Oscar for his role in King Richard only moments later, should have tried to make amends with Rock when he accepted his award. While Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees in his acceptance speech, he stopped short of saying he was sorry directly to Rock.
The shocking moment at the March 2022 Oscars ceremony came after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, before presenting the award for best documentary feature. Rock suggested Pinkett Smith was getting ready to film a sequel to G.I. Jane — which was seemingly a reference to the actress’ shaved head. (Pinkett Smith has been open about her hair loss due to alopecia.)
Smith took the stage and slapped Rock. Returning to his seat, he yelled at Rock: “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!”
A day later, he apologized directly to Rock in an Instagram post. He offered a second apology via video message in July of 2022.
“There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he said.
After the incident, Smith announced he was resigning from the Academy and has been banned from appearing at Academy events for 10 years. He is still, however, eligible for future Oscar nominations and wins, and will retain the Oscar that he won during the 2022 ceremony.
Jones said she believes that Smith could have “fixed” the situation that night when accepting his Oscar. She suggests that he could have said something along the lines of: “I shouldn’t have did that. Bring Chris out. I can not accept the Oscar right now because that was fucking wrong.”
For his part, Rock slammed Smith earlier this year in his live Netflix special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage!
“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock told the audience. “Outrage because everybody knows what the fuck happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that shit. I didn’t have any entanglements.”
He continued, “His wife was fucking her son’s friend. OK, now, I normally would not talk about this shit, but for some reason, these n—-s put that shit on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lowdown. What the fuck? And we’ve all been cheated on. Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.
“She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a bitch. I tried to call the motherfucker, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me … Everybody called him a bitch, and who did he hit? Me — a n—a he knows he could beat. That is some bitch-ass shit.”
Rock wrote the forward to Jones’ new memoir, titled Leslie F*cking Jones. The two comedians met in the mid-1990s and have been friends ever since.
“He’s like my brother,” Jones said of Rock, who also convinced her to (successfully) audition for Saturday Night Live. She added: “He’s just always there to give me the perfect advice when I need it.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Outlaw Johnny Black is a nice, simple, silly, and funny comedy that has been missing on the big screen for a while. While it seems like all the recent comedies now are too deep or adult, Outlaw Johnny Black is light-hearted with plenty of action and silliness that everyone can enjoy.
Written, produced, directed by, and starring Michael Jai White, Outlaw Johnny Black is a Western parody that opens with Johnny Black (MJW) on his mission to kill Bret Clayton (Chris Browning) the man who killed Black’s father, a pastor who preached forgiveness when he finds himself arrested and thrown in jail. He escapes and is now a wanted man. He ends up passed out in the desert when Reverend Percival Fairman, played by the movie’s co-writer Byron Minns, finds him on his way to the little town of Hope Springs to meet his pen-pal love Bessie Lee (Erica Ash). After Black and Fairman are ambushed by Indians, Fairman is captured while Black takes his identity and goes to Hope Springs as the reverend. While there he learns that the town is threatened by an evil land baron, Thomas Sealy (Barry Bostwick). The town’s leader Jessie Lee (Anika Noni Rose) is on a mission to stop him. Black falls for Jessie Lee, who happens to also be Bessie Lee’s sister, and after the real Reverend Percival Fairman makes his way into town, Black is now committed to helping the townspeople love him and gets the reverend to go along with his plan. Meanwhile, Sealy has already called on Brett Clayton and his notorious gang to burn down and level Hope Springs for not turning over their land. In the end, Black who’s now a changed man, finally kills Clayton.
The beginning starts off a little slow with just a few laughs until Johnny Black meets the reverend. From there, the rest of the movie will have you laughing out loud. Bessie Lee and the real Reverend Fairman really brought out most of the laughs. While Black and Jessie Lee carried out more of the situational humor and took on the more serious roles to keep the plot moving. The exaggerated aspects of the old, original Westerns were very obvious and I thought that made it even more funny. Johnny Black, a rugged outlaw on the run gets his man in the end and falls for the sweet, kind-hearted Jessie Lee even down to the settlers versus the Indians who were played by everybody but Native Americans (Russell Peters plays the chief).
It’s been 14 years since Michael Jai White’s Black Dynamite and it’s definitely in White’s own style that we saw before but very different in content. It’s not a sequel. It doesn’t seem like a version of blaxploitation more so than a parody. It puts me in the mind of all the Black comedies that were released in the early to mid 00’s, where it’s not so deep or explicit, it’s just a funny movie. It even vaguely reminds me of The Fighting Temptations and First Sunday where there are some provocative parts but also has the spiritual aspect and a PG-13 rating. Outlaw Johnny Black also features virtually an all-Black cast with quite a few recognizable faces including Tommy Davidson, Kim Whitley, Gary Anthony Williams, Tony Baker, and Jill Scott.
The movie premiered in theaters September 15, 2023.
By McKenna Fuller
Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning team up again almost 20 years since Man on Fire for the action thriller The Equalizer 3. The Equalizer 3 is a great movie, a must see for action fans, and a reminder of why Washington is a legend and the Equalizer movies are so successful.
The third and final chapter in The Equalizer trilogy, Washington is back as retired US Marine and former DIA officer turned vigilante, Robert McCall, to deliver harsh justice to protect the people of a small town in Italy. Regardless, if action thrillers are your type of movies, the movie gets right into it and keeps you on your seat the whole way through and shows us that Karma hits hard. While traveling to Italy to take down a crime ring based out of a vineyard that is responsible for trafficking drugs and terrorism in Sicily, he is injured and finds himself in the small coastal town of Altamonte in the care of the beloved local doctor Enzo. During his recovery, he connects with the people of the town and discovers that the good people are being plagued by the brutality of the mafia organization Camorra. He anonymously tips off CIA agent Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) about the Sicilian vineyard, and she and other CIA agents journey there to deal with that situation. While there she tracks “Roberto” down and locates him but he continues to keep his identity private. (It is revealed at the end that she is the daughter of Robert’s friends Brian and Susan who were murdered in The Equalizer 2). In the meantime, Vincent Quaranda (Andrea Scarduzio) and his mafia members terrorize and kill people in villages on the Almafi Coast for commercialization. He uses his younger brother, Marco Quaranda (Andrea Dodero) and his gang members to crack down and terrorize those in Altamonte for his purposes. Roberto gets better and gets involved and single handedly takes down the Camorra starting with Marco and it’s violent leader Vincent in an equally brutal way.
I’ll mention that for those like me who haven’t seen the first two Equalizers, you will be able to follow the whole way through without getting lost because the storyline can stand alone. The movie doesn’t hold back with a lot of action packed scenes that were hard to watch if you’re like me and typically don’t watch a lot of graphic, bloody violence but even if it’s not your thing you can’t look away. Also, like the other Equalizer movies the bad guys are based on real life things around the world including ruthlessly pushing people out of their communities, drugs, and terrorist organizations and those like Vincent and the Camorra who hurt and kill innocent people without conscience for greed and power. It’s hard to feel anything but satisfaction when the Equalizer comes through and takes everything from them. Karma hits hard.
The Equalizer 3 directed by Antoine Fuqua released in theaters September 1, 2023.
By McKenna Fuller
Directed by Reginald Hudlin
Written by Kelly Younger
Produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy, Karen Lunder, Charisse Hewitt-Webster
Executive produced by Doug Merrifield
Starring Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd, Genneya Walton, Madison Thomas, D.C. Young Fly, Riki Lindhome,
Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Lombardo Boyar, Danielle Pinnock, Timothy Simons.
Eddie Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris (Eddie Murphy) inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life, and wreaks havoc on the whole town. At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters, and save Christmas for everyone.
It seems a disaster was averted for Chris Rock as he was at The Burning Man over the weekend, but was able to get out by hitching a ride on the back of a fan’s pickup truck. Rock was able to escape with the DJ known as Diplo.
“I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out cuz I have a show in dc tonight and didnt want to let yall down. Also shoutout to this guy for making the smart purchase of a truck not knowing it was for this exact moment,” reads the caption of Diplo’s Instagram post.
The video features a handful of people walking through a muddy field, and then that same handful of people, plus Chris Rock, sitting in the back of a moving pickup truck.
“All Chris could think about was a f**king cold brew,” Diplo wrote over the shot of Rock perched on the edge of the truck bed in a blue windbreaker.
Rock, for his part, documented the chaos on his Instagram stories. They’ve all since expired, but he shared updates about the plumbing situation: “Because of the flooding, the port-o-potties reportedly can’t be emptied. And because the gates are closed, people can’t get in to fill generators or deliver supplies.” He also posted one about the very mud that he and Diplo trudged through in their quest for rescue, which was apparently ankle-deep in some places, making it impossible to get around.
The Burning Man powers that be posted a sober warning late Saturday night saying that all travel in and out of Black Rock City was halted, and “no driving is permitted on playa except for emergency vehicles.” And, as Diplo pointed out, that one very enterprising young man who had the good sense to purchase a truck!
Don’t worry, Rock posted a story from the Renaissance tour last night, so he made it out okay. And hopefully got that cold brew.
By Emma Chance
Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx star in this rousing David and Goliath courtroom drama about one family’s struggle to hold onto their mom-and-pop funeral home in the face of heartless corporate exploitation.
Based on true events, this rousing David and Goliath courtroom drama stars Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones (also at the Festival in Finestkind) and Jamie Foxx as two unlikely allies united by a shared desire for justice. Directed by Maggie Betts (TIFF ’17’s Novitiate), The Burial generates suspense and laughter as it chronicles one family’s struggle to hold onto their funeral home in the face of heartless corporate exploitation.
As he turns 75, Biloxi, Mississippi funeral director Jeremiah O’Keefe (Jones) feels blessed by his wife and children and the legacy he’s proud to leave to them. But debts force Jeremiah to sell parts of his business to a corporation rapidly buying up funeral homes, cemeteries, and insurance companies to profit from what its CEO, Ray Loewen (Bill Camp), refers to as “the golden age of death.”
When Jeremiah’s contract with Ray is in dispute, he solicits the services of Willie E. Gary (Foxx), a flamboyant personal-injury lawyer who hasn’t lost a case in 12 years — but who doesn’t know a thing about contract law. After Ray hires a hotshot defence team, it becomes clear the odds are stacked against Jeremiah and Willie. But despite their different backgrounds, they recognize qualities in each other they feel certain will see them through: faith, integrity, and a tireless fighting spirit.
The Burial takes a probing look into a multibillion-dollar death-care industry poised to take advantage of people during the most vulnerable moments in their lives. It is also wildly entertaining, capitalizing on Jones’ magnetic decency and Foxx’s singular ability to balance showmanship with heart. The way these men join forces will have you cheering.
Pictured above-Filmmakers Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz
Today, it was announced that Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, will be available to stream on Prime Video beginning November 17 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz directed the documentary under the Bekele Films banner, and Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story becomes the latest addition to the Prime membership.
Writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head, and media titan, Tyler Perry, is America’s consummate multihyphenate. But underneath this entertainment behemoth is a man working humbly to heal his childhood trauma by transforming his pain into promise. Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, a nod to his mother’s love, is a tender and intimate portrait of visionary and innovator Tyler Perry: his harrowing but faithful road to the top of an industry that didn’t always include him. Nearly a decade in the making, with unfettered access, directors Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz lead us into the inner-world of a man, whose story has never fully been told, as he becomes a father and a media mogul with a mission to pave his own road to the top. The product is a profound lesson on remembering where you came from to know where you want to go.
Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story is produced by Gelila Bekele, Jasmine K. White, and Asante White.
Armani Ortiz is represented by WME.