Entertainment
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Source: YouTube / Marvel Studios
You just know Sam Wilson (portrayed by Anthony Mackie) is always to be going through it, being the new Black Captain America and all that rocking the Steve Rogers’ vibranium and adamantium blended shield entails. In the teaser trailer for Captain America: Brave New World all his talents are on display; dispatching proper fades, protecting the President and keeping the world together despite clandestine Ops infiltrating the White House.
Source: YouTube / Marvel Studios
Sign us up.
The trailer starts off on a solemn note with the Prez (Thaddeus Ross, portrayed by Han Solo aka Indiana Jones aka Harrison Ford) asking Black Cap to officially be part of the military. But of course, Sam spots the jig, with ish going to hell when OG Black supersoldier Isaiah Bradley (portrayed by Carl Lumbly) (you’re familiar if you watched The Falcon and The Winter Soldier) seemingly tries to assassinate the President Ross.
From there we see glimpses of Dora Milaje, Sam letting you know his Falcon talents still formidable. But the chef’s kiss the end of the trailer where what looks like the Red Hulk snatches Cap’s shield out of the air and slams it to the ground.
Oh, and Giancarlo Esposito is in the flick. Did we already say, Sign us up?
We’ll have to wait until February 14, 2025 (Valentine’s Day is booked, people) to watch Captain America: Brave New World, but we can peep the trailer below.
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Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty
Busta Rhymes was simply not about the mincing of words at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, where he checked the audience for “sitting down at my show” instead of giving the Extinction Level Event rapper the energy he’s used to while delivering the kind of vibrant performances only he can deliver.
But Bus a Bus didn’t stop at cursing out the crowd over its lackluster participation, he also got on audience members for a relatively new thing that has been addressed often recently as it relates to live performances: audience members enjoying the show through their phones instead of being present in the moment.
“Ayo, f*ck them camera phones, too,” Busta Rhymes, born Trevor George Smith Jr., said to the crowd from New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome stage on the festival’s opening night. “Let’s get back to interacting like humans. “Put them weird-ass devices down. I ain’t from that era. Them sh*ts don’t control the soul. F*ck your phone.”
Apparently, some festivalgoers were slow to put their phones away as the former Leaders of the New School member demanded, so Busta emphasized that he was not asking, he was telling them to put the phones away while he was on stage.
“I will point every last one of y’all out until y’all asses is up,” he said, adding that he had “zero tolerance for bullshit energy” curing his first Essence Festival performance.
“Make me feel like we home,” the “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” artist demanded.
In a fiery Instagram post, Busta explained that his outburst over his frustration with the crowd was about “SHOWMANSHIP” and that he wasn’t “CONCERNED WITH THE SH*T TALK AND THE FALSE NARRATIVES” in regards to the backlash floating around social media in response to video clips of him going in on the audience.
Seriously, who doesn’t get hyped during a live Busta Rhymes show? Maybe that lack of energy is just what happens when you’re watching a live show through a small screen.
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Source: WWE / Getty
After professionally wrestling for almost a quarter of a century, WWE superstar John Cena is calling it a career.
According to Deadline, the iconic wrestling superstar plans on hanging it up after 23 years of putting on amazing shows in the squared ring exclusively for the WWE. One of the very few wrestlers to have never left the company he started for, John Cena has spent the last two decades and change giving people reasons to both cheer him and jeer him while never once turning heel after becoming the face of the company. At one point, people began to boo him just because he was such a good guy that he became corny to them. It was hilarious.
Now, it seems like the 13-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion is prepared to move on to bigger and better things (Hollywood) as over the weekend, during a surprise appearance at WWE’s Money in the Bank event in Toronto, Canada, Cena shocked everyone when he announced that after next year’s WrestleMania you won’t see him wrestling in the ring ever again.
Per Deadline:
“Why am I here? Tonight, I officially announce my retirement from the WWE,” he said to shocked gasps from the audience.
Later in his speech, Cena revealed he plans to stay on to take part in Monday Night Raw as it makes the unprecedented move to Netflix in January 2025.
“This farewell, it does not end tonight,” he said. “It is filled with opportunity. Everybody, Raw makes history next year when it moves to Netflix. I’ve never been a part of Raw on Netflix, that is history. That is a first, and I will be there.
“And along with that history making first, we are going to build so many unforgettable lasts. The 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last. The 2025 Elimination Chamber will be my last. And I’m here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 will be the last WrestleMania I compete in,” added Cena.
With John Cena at least outlining what his last year of wrestling will entail, we have to wonder what kind of storyline will lead to his exit. Who will be his last antagonist? Roman Reigns? Solo Sikoa? CM Punk? It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but we just hope he puts on a helluva last run as he’s earned it over the decades.
“Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years,” said Cena. “Thank you so much always for your voice, because it’s really loud, and your honesty, because it’s beautifully brutal. And most of all, thank you so much for allowing me to be with you here tonight to let the whole world know that we are planning something unforgettable, which also involves me returning to Toronto to kick some ass!”
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Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty
Lee Daniels and Lena Waithe were among the attendees at the renowned event held in Los Angeles at the end of Black Music Month.
Last Friday (June 28), the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles, California, was the site of the Innovators and Leaders Awards Brunch, held by the esteemed Culture Creators Foundation. The non-profit group’s premier event was a fundraiser brunch for its mission of being a platform to recognize and salute those making significant contributions to the culture, business and entertainment industries. It was marked by the appearance of some notable figures such as director Lee Daniels and producer and director Lena Waithe, who were on hand to present awards. BET was a main sponsor of the event along with Möet Hennessy, Lexus and Rap Snacks.
Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty
Journalist and NAACP Image Award nominee Gia Peppers served as the host of the expansive event, which began with “The Collective Conversation,” a talk between rapper and actor Joey Bada$$ and political strategist Quentin James about the ways that the community can be more politically informed and engaged with emphasis placed on voting and advocating for more diversity and increases in Black employment. After a performance by Roc Nation’s remarkable R&B band, Infinity Song, actress and singer Teyana Taylor was surprised by Waithe who presented her with the Innovator of the Year Award, providing a heartwarming moment for all attending.
Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty
A similar moment occurred as CAA agent and board member Lorrie Bartlett was honored with the ICON Award by her longtime friend Daniels on stage. “I have had an incredible run and I feel so proud and lucky when I think about all I have accomplished thus far. Here’s the truth: more often than not, you have to make your own luck. The pathway to success is not the same for everybody,” Bartlett said to the audience. Other guests at the brunch included former honoree L.A. Reid, Andra Day, Regina King, Omarion, Debra Lee, YK Osiris, Alex Isley, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Pretty Vee, Trevor Jackson, Elijah Blake, Estelle, Cory Hardrict, designer Karl Kani, Flau’Jae, Jasper Hagen and Jessica Betts.
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
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Source: Ivan Apfel / Getty
Tyler Perry may not have been able to seal the deal during the brief time when Paramount Global was toying around with the possibility of putting BET Media Group up for sale, but the TV and film mogul has struck a multi-year deal with the network that will ensure his content has a home there for the foreseeable future.
According to Variety, the Mea Culpa writer and director’s deal with BET includes the renewal of eight of his shows for BET and its BET+ streamer, including Tyler Perry’s Sistas, which is coming up on its eighth season, as well as Tyler Perry’s The Oval and Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, which are both going into their sixth seasons. Tyler Perry’s House of Payne has also been renewed for its sixth season on BET, which came after the previous six seasons that aired in syndication on TBS.
“Scott Mills and his team at BET have been incredibly supportive throughout our time working together, and I’m excited to continue bringing these stories to the screen. I’m grateful to our loyal audiences for watching week after week and engaging these stories,” Perry said in a statement.
Mills, BET Media Group’s president and CEO, appears to be equally excited about the network’s continued relationship for Perry, and he sang the entertainment mogul’s praises in a statement of his own.
“Tyler Perry is simply without rival as a creator of content that powerfully resonates with audiences across genres, formats and platforms,” he said. “Our programming partnership with Tyler – undoubtedly the largest deal ever in the industry with a Black creator – has been hugely successful; delivering the number one series across all TV among Black audiences and five of the top 10 series on cable among Black viewers. We are thrilled to extend our extraordinary relationship with Tyler and to continue to be the home of the largest and most diverse collection of new Tyler Perry content for years to come.”
So, congratulations to Tyler Perry for, once again, proving himself to be one of the kings of Black entertainment on the big and small screens. Salute!
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Anyone who has seen Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV—a documentary chronicling the abusive, exploitive and egregiously dangerous conditions under which employees and child actors at Nickelodeon worked under the leadership of showrunner Dan Schneider—knows that during a period that began in the late ’90s, Nickelodeon Studios was portrayed as a cesspool of abusive behavior, sexism, child endangerment and child sexualization that allowed multiple convicted pedophiles run wild on and off set.
To say the absolute least, the docuseries served as a cautionary tale to any parents who are thinking of introducing their children to the world of child acting.
Well, accomplished actor and comedian Kenan Thompson, who started in ’90s Nick shows All That and Kenan & Kel, doesn’t appear to think the investigations into what went on at Nickelonean have gone far enough, and he believes authorities should “investigate more” in order to ensure the kids we watch on TV are being kept safe behind the scenes.
“It’s tough. It’s a tough subject, you know?” the Saturday Night Live cast member said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically.”
In the Docuseries, Schneider is accused of deplorable and abusive behavior towards the people who worked under him, especially the female writers, two of whom he’s accused of illegally making share a single-employee salary, and child actors who starred in shows he ran, and whom he was accused portraying in sexually suggestive ways—and somehow, his offenses weren’t nearly the most horrific.
“Dan wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that,” Thomsaon explained while distancing himself from the disgraced producer. “I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds wasn’t really overly overlapping like that outside of All That, necessarily. And then all of that negativity kinda started happening outside of our tenure there, you know what I mean? So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it.”
But regardless of whether or not Thompson was around when Nick Studios ironically proved to be the last place one would want to leave their child unattended, the Good Burger actor said he supports the victims and wants to see more investigating done to ensure their aren’t more out there whose stories have gone ignored.
From EW:
Thompson, who was 15 when All That premiered, also extended sympathy to his fellow former Nickelodeon stars who discussed the toxic work environment they endured in Quiet on Set. “My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized, or their families,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display, stories that need to be told for accountability’s sake. But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place and I have fond memories of my costars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that is really tough.”
Later in the interview, Thompson reiterated his support for the doc. “Investigate more,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is just like, ‘How dare you?’”
Exactly.
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Make room! Yellowstone is getting its own line of Funko Pop! vinyl figures.
It’s no secret that Funko has made a name for itself by crafting the hottest TV shows, movies and even artists into collectible (and adorable) vinyl figurines. Now, you’ll have the opportunity to snag a Funko Pop! collectible of your favorite character from the hit series Yellowstone when they’re released on July 1.
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05/16/2023
How can you get your hands on the collection? The figurines range from $13-$15 each and are available for pre-order from Funko.com, Amazon and the Paramount Shop. No matter which Dutton family member you’re rooting for, you can preorder your favorite or collect them all — including this awesome Rip Wheeler Funko.
The collection features five different characters from the show, including John Dutton (Kevin Costner), Rip (Cole Hauser), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille). While country star Lainey Wilson‘s character may not be a figurine (for now), you can at least stream her chart-topping song from the show while building up your Yellowstone collection with these powerhouse characters.
Pre-order the Yellowstone Funko Pop! vinyl figures, and while you wait for their release, hop on the Yellowstone TikTok trend and binge the series on Peacock to hold you over until new episodes premiere later this year.
Amazon
Funko Pop! TV: Yellowstone – John Dutton
$12.99
Dust off those floating shelves and grab your nearest Pop! protector, John Dutton’s vinyl figure is ready to wrangle the top spot in your collection! Featuring his classic white cowboy hat and ranch-protecting ‘fit, this cowboy stands at around 4.65 inches tall and is ready to kick his boots up and watch the latest season with you.
Amazon
Funko Pop! TV: Yellowstone – Beth Dutton
$12.99
As one of the fiercest Dutton children, it makes sense that Beth’s Funko Pop! is sporting a vibrant, bright blue and Aztec-printed jacket and casual jeans. While her figurine stands 3.9 inches tall, her cutthroat personality, as demonstrated in the show, will only make her appear larger.
Paramount
Funko Pop! TV: Yellowstone – Rip Wheeler
$14.95
You can’t have Beth without her brooding love, Rip. Though his backstory is one of murder and pain, the longtime ranch foreman is a loyal cowboy who will infuse some edginess into your Funko Pop! collection.
Amazon
Funko Pop! TV: Yellowstone – Kayce Dutton
$12.99
Just because he’s the youngest of the Dutton siblings doesn’t mean Kayce’s figurine deserves the last spot on your mantle. His appearance may look casual as he sports a brown and gray hoodie with jeans, but it’s the black cowboy hat that shows he means business — both in his style and ability to swoop in and save the day.
Amazon
Funko Pop! TV: Yellowstone – Monica Dutton
$12.99
Finally, the last of the upcoming releases is Monica’s Pop! figure. True to her character, the figurine sports a colorful outfit with boots. While her relationship with Kayce could be seen as a cowboy version of Romeo and Juliet, it’s Monica’s strength and protection of her family that shines through.