Actors
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Apparently, actor Will Smith has a flatulence problem that is so bad his farts will slap you in the face. (I should have apologized in advance for making that inevitable joke. Please do not unsubscribe.)
According to Variety, Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld made a recent appearance on the Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa podcast, where he recalled an incident that happened during the filming of the 1997 action comedy staring Smith and renowned actor Tommy Lee Jones in which the former let one rip that smelled so bad and was so strong the entire set had to be evacuated “for about three hours.”
From Variety:
According to Sonnenfeld, the incident occurred during the scene in which Smith and Jones are in a transforming car that travels at hyper speeds and flips over. In order to film the sequence, the two actors had to be “hermetically sealed” in the pod that was being used for the car.
“There are locks to prevent it from opening and falling,” Sonnenfeld said. “I say, ‘Roll camera.’ And I hear Will Smith go, ‘Oh Jesus, so sorry. Tommy, so sorry. Baz, get the ladder.’ And you hear Tommy saying, ‘That’s fine, Will. No worries, Will. Don’t worry, Will.’ Anyway, I don’t know what’s gone on, right?”
“So we race the ladder over. Yeah, Tommy reaches his leg out as the ladder is coming over, races down the stairs. And what happened was, Will Smith is a farter,” the director continued. “It’s just some people are. And you really don’t want to be inside a very small hermetically sealed space with a Will Smith fart. You don’t even want to be sitting next to him at the Disney ranch.”
Sonnenfeld concluded, “We evacuated the stage for about three hours. And that’s incredible. No, he’s, you know, a lovely guy. Just, he farts. Some do, some don’t.”
Obviously, we should all be disappointed in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor. I mean, come on. All of the drama and turmoil that resulted from Smith slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage in 2022 over a joke Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith — and you’re telling me it could all have been avoided if he simply marched up to Chris and farted in his face?
Guys, that would have been comedy GOLD!
Then again, if Smith’s farts are as bad as Sonnenfeld says they are, maybe Rock should count himself lucky.
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It’s been nearly 20 years since Seinfeld star Michael Richards went on a career-upending racist tirade at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles in 2006. Since then, he has apologized for his outburst and claimed he isn’t really racist despite the explicitly racist words that poured loudly and passionately out of his mouth.
Now, he’s on his apology tour once again ahead of the release of his memoir that nobody asked for, Entrances and Exits.
“I was immediately sorry the moment I said it onstage,” Richards told People magazine of the infamous moment in which he repeatedly called at least one Black audience member the n-word for reportedly heckling him. “I’m not looking for a comeback.” (Well, maybe not, but he’s promoting a memoir, which makes his little two-decade-late mea culpa just as self-serving as it would if he was trying to make a comeback.)
“My anger was all over the place and it came through hard and fast,” he continued. “Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Rather than run from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It hasn’t been easy. Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was inside of me.”
After pretending he wasn’t making lame excuses by citing his “anger” as the reason for his violently racist remarks, the guy who played Kramer said he spent years doing a “deep analysis,” trying to “figure out where all the anger was coming from,” which he determined was his insecurities as an artist, which he later said “fame magnified.”
Yeah, OK—or maybe he’s just racist.
“I’m not racist,” Richards maintained. “I have nothing against Black people. The man who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I’d been saying to myself for a while. I felt put down. I wanted to put him down.”
For the record: Michael Richards called “the man” the n-word multiple times and implied that he should be lynched because that’s what happened to Black people “50 years ago.” (If you’re unfamiliar with the scandal, you can see it for yourself.) One doesn’t just come up with something like that on the fly because their anger got the best of them—they already had those words in their heart.
Richards can keep his apology.
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The rumors have been swirling around for months, but this week Common and Jennifer Hudson confirmed that they are dating.
The rapper is set to appear on The Jennifer Hudson Show today (Jan. 22).
In a teaser preview, Hudson, 42, introduces the Chicago rapper with a rap freestyle saying, “Now y’all know I’m a singer, but I’ve been around this hip-hop thing a little bit.” When he emerges, Common, 51, presents her with a large floral bouquet.
“Now, we gotta get down to business, Mr. Common. I’m a host and so I have to ask you this question ’cause everybody always wanna know this — are you dating anyone?” Hudson asks in the clip.
“I’m in a relationship that is with one of the most beautiful people I ever met in life,” he said coyly. “She’s smart, she loves God, she has something real down-to-earth about her, she’s talented.”
“But I set my standard kind of high because she had to have an EGOT,” he continued. “She had to win an Oscar on her first movie. I set my stand high. She had to get her own talk show.”
In the clip, Hudson blushes at his response.
They then reverse the performance with him asking her if she is seeing anyone and she responds that she is “very happy” in her current relationship.
Common adds, “This relationship is a happy place for me,” he shared. “Seeing her happy actually makes me really happy. So, I’m very grateful. I thank God each and every day, and I’m just letting God guide this relationship.”
The couple are both Chicago natives and rumors have been swirling that they were dating for nearly a year after they were seen out and about together in both Philadelphia and their hometown.
In November, Hudson sat down for an interview with Gayle King where she also confirmed that she was “very happy.”
“Word on the street is you’re very happy,” co-host Gayle King asked, according to BET. “I am very happy, yes ma’am,” the singer replied, though she stopped short of name-dropping who the person is.
“In a very nice relationship with someone who shall remain nameless,” King added.
It looks like that special “someone” is no longer nameless.
Check out the full clip below.
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Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson is opening up about the struggles of being a Black actor.
The star became visibly emotional as she shared that she has considered quitting acting after regularly being underpaid.
In an interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM, and The Color Purple co-star Danielle Brooks and the film’s director, Blitz Bazawule, Henson addressed a report that she thought about ending her illustrious career as she struggled financially despite her fame.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, being paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said, according to The Huffington Post. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”
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The actor became visibly emotional as she detailed the financial expense of managing her career.
“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing,” she said. “Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
According to Complex, Henson shared in another recent interview that she replaced her entire team after they failed to capitalize on the success of her role as Cookie Lyon on Empire.
In response to being asked what her best decision was as an actor, Henson replied, “Firing everybody after Cookie. Everybody had to fucking go. Where is my deal? Where is my commercial? Cookie was top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? What did you have set up for after this?”
Despite Oscar nominations and critical acclaim, Henson notes that she feels underpaid compared to her white counterparts.
“It seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again, like I never did what I just did,” she told King. “And I’m just tired. It wears on you, you know?”
This Christmas, Henson will star alongside Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and an all-star Black cast in the reimagining of the beloved film, The Color Purple. Henson plays the iconic Shug Avery in the Oprah Winfrey-backed release.
Henson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where she starred alongside Brad Pitt. She has previously said that despite asking for “half a million” in pay for the role, she was ultimately paid only $150,000. The film went on to earn $127.5 million domestically and $208.3 million in foreign markets, with a total gross of $335.8 million, according to IMDB.
“Listen, I’ve been doing this for two decades and sometimes I get tired of fighting because I know what I do is bigger than me. I know that the legacy I leave will affect somebody coming up behind me,” Henson recently told The Hollywood Reporter. She added that she is advocating for other Black actors. “My prayer is that I don’t want these Black girls to have the same fights that me and Viola [Davis], Octavia [Spencer], we out here thugging it out.”
Henson received support from Gabrielle Union who wrote on X (former Twitter) “Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie. We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above.”
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The iconic Ramova Theatre is set to reopen in Chicago with the help of Quincy Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Chance The Rapper. The three natives of the city are now part of an ownership group that has reclaimed the theater which first opened in 1929.
The Ramova was a popular movie theater in the Bridgeport neighborhood of South Side Chicago until it shut down in 1985, according to Blavity.
“I believe the cultural divides in our communities will always be bridged and uplifted by music and the arts,” the 90-year-old Jones said in a statement. “With Ramova, I see a future where the rich cultural heritage of Chicago shines even brighter alongside the country’s most talented artists, which will inspire future generations to come and bring glory to America’s Second City.”
In her statement, Hudson referenced her late mother, Darnell Donnerson who was killed in the city in 2008. “My mother always taught us to take care of home first, so to support the rehabilitation of this extraordinary theater with such a rich history in Chicago means more to me than one could imagine,” Hudson said. “I am honored and thrilled to help build this new home for artists and highlight this special community in new ways that will reach far beyond the neighborhoods we call home.”
The Ramova Theater features an iconic sign and spanish-inspired architecture, it became the jewel of the neighborhood — a place for people to gather and communities to come together, according to the official website.
It will now be reimagined as a 1500+ person live concert hall, independent craft brewery, beer garden and grill.
“We’re doing a complete rehabilitation to this pillar in the community, bringing back its historic grill, creating a world-class entertainment space, adding a brewery where we hope people will meet their new best friends. We’re working closely alongside locals who have kept this space standing to allow us this opportunity to do something special for Bridgeport and Chicago,” developer Tyler Nevius wrote.
The Ramova Theater, which is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, will also amplify educational programs and workshops, as well as community initiatives from local non-profits.
“Chicago will always be part of who I am,” Chance The Rapper said in his statement. “I joined the team at Ramova to give back to the city that’s given me so much and to provide a stage to showcase the incredible talent Chicago has to offer. This is our moment to revitalize Chicago neighborhoods through one of the most beautiful ways possible — the arts.”
The space is set to open in Fall 2023.
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In a move we’re sure no one asked for, veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss defended the use of blackface and revealed his true feelings on diversity and the Oscars.
While appearing as a guest on PBS’ The Firing Line, the new criteria by the Academy Awards for eligibility for Best Picture come 2024 came up for discussion by the host, Margaret Hoover. Nominated films are required to meet four benchmarks: 30% of the cast and 30% of the crew must be from an under-represented group are two of the criteria needed. Dreyfuss stated, “They make me vomit.”
When asked why, the Jaws actor replied: “This is an art form. It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art. No one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is.” He then went on to add: “And what are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. And you have to let life be life.”
Dreyfuss then praised Sir Laurence Olivier’s portrayal of the tragic Shakespearean hero Othello – while in blackface – in the 1965 film adaptation of the play. “He played a Black man brilliantly,” the 75-year-old told Hoover. “Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man? Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice?”
Hoover responded with a query: “Do you think there’s a difference between the question of…who is allowed to represent other groups…and the case of blackface explicitly in this country given the history of slavery and the sensitivities around Black racism?” To that, Dreyfuss replied, “There shouldn’t be…. Because it’s patronizing. Because it says we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt. We have to anticipate having our feelings hurt, our children’s feelings hurt. We don’t know how to stand up and bop the bully in the face.”
Dreyfuss’ defense of blackface seems on-brand given his previous role in the 1986 film Moon over Parador. The interview follows another moment of questionable thinking for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind actor where he slipped off a chair while being interviewed in April by late-night host Bill Maher for his Club Random podcast. Watch the full interview below.
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The sixth and final season of Snowfall will return to FX on February 22 at 10 p.m. But, before Franklin Saint returns to the small screen–actor Damson Idris has broken the internet with pictures that seem to confirm that he is dating socialite and beauty entrepreneur–Lori Harvey.
The photos were featured in the actor’s Instagram story and show one of the two cuddling with Idris kissing Harvey who is smiling. A second photo is of Harvey on what appears to be the set of Snowfall–according to Bossip.
The photos coincide with Harvey’s 26th birthday, January 13th. She also shared the same photos in her IG story.
Harvey, who was recently featured on the cover of Essence Magazine, is the Founder and CEO of SKN by LH–a skincare line that features a five-step beauty regimen. Harvey had previously been linked to actor Michael B. Jordan. The hot couple dated for over a year before calling it quits.
In her Essence feature, she shared, “I know my worth, and I know my value. I’m not going to compromise that, or settle, or accept anything less than what I know I deserve,” she shared of her self-worth and not settling in a relationship. “That’s where I’m at in my life right now. I’m not compromising my peace and happiness for anything or anybody.”
The release of the new photos of Harvey and Idris have elicited mixed responses on social media.
The comments weren’t all great. There was definitely some shade, even by some celebs who were quickly reminded of their past comments.
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