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Source: Starz / BMF
Season 4 of BMF teases more shenanigans for the Flenory brothers and the return of two characters.
The first trailer for season 4 of BMF has finally arrived, and it is full of big reveals that set up what could be the most explosive season yet for the hit crime drama loosely based on Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry Lee Flenory’s lives.

One of the big reveals is that Emmy Award-winning actor Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Fantastic Four) has joined the cast and will appear this season as DEA Agent Taylor, who will assist in trying to take down BMF.
Source: Starz / BMF

Returning this season will be Lamar  (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), the Flenory brothers’ arch-nemesis, who became a drug addict at the end of season 2, alongside Donnell Rawlings, who played his hilarious comedic cousin, Alvin.
B-Mickie (Myles Truitt) is also back this season and wants back in on the action.
As for what’s going on this season, the Flenory brothers’ next hustle is starting their music label in Atlanta, expanding their drug empire into national territories during the 1990s, following whatever happened to them in Mexico. Of course, things go wrong thanks to the return of an old foe, the police breathing down their necks, leading to them being unable to trust anyone, including each other, setting up a sibling rivalry that could drive them apart.

Russell Hornsby as Charles Flenory, Michole Briana White as Lucille Flenory, La La Anthony as Markisha, and Steve Harris as Detective Bryant are also returning in season 4.
Real Life Drama Around BMF 
The show’s return has been fueled by real-life drama involving star Lil Meech, his father Big Meech, and the show’s executive producer, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
The G-Unit general has been trolling the star and his dad for dealing with his longtime nemesis, Rick Ross.
BMF returns on June 6. Hit the gallery below for more photos.

1. BMF

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3. BMF Season 4

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Lionsgate / 50 Cent Action Channel

50 Cent has another accomplishment to add to his ever-growing list. His action channel nabbed the number one spot on Roku and LG Channels.

Lionsgate announced that 50 Cent Action, the FAST channel curated by the Hip-Hop mogul, is the #1 action channel on both The Roku Channel and LG Channels and could find the same success on Sling TV’s Sling Freestream, which was just launched. 

The channel features 50 Cent’s favorite premium films and television series, especially those in which he starred, such as Den of Thieves, The Expendables, and, of course, his hit crime drama Power, which has gone on to spawn a whole drug-dealing television universe, known as the Power Universe.

The Queens rapper, born Curtis Jackson, will be on hand at LG Ad Solution’s NewFronts presentation on Monday, May 5th, where he will participate in a live Q&A with the company’s CEO, Michael Hudes. During the session, he will discuss the success of his FAST channel and its future.

“This is the future of entertainment,” said Jackson. “It’s about making real connections. I’m hands on with everything and collaborating closely with Lionsgate – which has been a great partner – to give fans free, direct access to the best action movies and shows out there, all in one place. Fans can step into my world every time they turn on the channel.”

“50 Cent is a cultural icon with an unmatched connection to his audience,” said Jim Packer, Lionsgate’s President of Worldwide Television Distribution. “We’ve seen incredible momentum on the channel since launch, and our goal is to make 50 Cent Action one of the leading action destinations for fans and advertisers in the FAST Space.”

 50 Cent continues to rack up the wins. 

Earlier this year,  Univision Networks Group president Ignacio Meyer‘s role was expanded to include oversight of the Hispanic media giant’s portfolio of 35 owned-and-operated radio stations, nearly 300 affiliates, its Uforia streaming app, live-events business and networks group. The promotion empowered Meyer to fully execute his longheld vision for a streaming-era business strategy. In the wake of Univision’s $4.8 billion 2022 merger with Televisa, his division would operate as part of a global, vertically integrated multimedia company where content created by different units can move freely between countries and platforms, including VIX, the company’s growing streaming enterprise.

That content includes music, and Meyer says he’s focused on fortifying its strength as one of the “pillars”— in addition to drama and sports — of the TelevisaUnivision brand.

For the company’s consumers, “Calling music a passion point is an understatement,” the dapper, Madrid-born executive says. As a result, “The entire company is behind it.”

Meyer, who is known for booking music artists himself on Univision shows and sending personal thank-you notes afterward, is well-loved by the industry, and his office is decked out with signed gold records, awards and other memorabilia. His walls will inevitably become more crowded, given his plans to return Univision to the music business. In the early 2000s, Univision Music Group operated as a label, which was sold to Universal in 2008 (before Meyer joined the company). And in 2016, Univision’s Fusion Media Group division signed a multiyear, multiplatform deal with former Calle 13 member Residente, which is no longer active.

Meyer spoke to Billboard about those plans, as well as his strategy for harnessing the power of music to Univision’s advantage.

How has your job changed since your promotion?

The big difference is we’ve become a platform-agnostic, content- and audience-first company. We’re fortunate enough that, over the years, our ownership has invested in all the platforms. We have TV stations, local and national networks, radio stations, top digital destinations — whether it’s web- or social media-based — and now we have a dedicated streaming platform, VIX. This year, for the first time, we deployed a global content investment strategy and looked at every content investment for profitability and distribution purposes, regardless of platform or country. That’s new and different because we realize that the strategy of having the consumer at the forefront is not about pulling them to a particular platform. It’s about making sure we are everywhere they are and that they can flow freely.

How does music play into that?

Music is a passion point for U.S. Hispanics. We feel strongly that Latin music is mainstream today, and we need to follow that mainstream consumer everywhere they are. So we’ve made structural changes to allow music to travel more seamlessly throughout our ecosystem.

If you look at the history of Univision, there are isolated pockets of success with music. What was missing is the connective tissue. We’re eliminating the barriers between calling something a “radio product” or an “audio product” or a “national” product or a “local” product. It’s intellectual property. It’s music, it’s a song, it’s a brand, it’s an artist.

Can you give me an example?

This year, we treated Premio Lo Nuestro [an annual awards ceremony that recognizes achievements in Latin music] as a platform-agnostic event. It was simulcast on streaming and we had events [tied to] fashion and social with some brands. We decided to light up YouTube and social media before we aired the show, so we did our version of off-air awards and the pretelecast on digital networks. And it was all supported by audio-first talent that represented different genres. For example, we featured talent from our [Mexican musicfocused] radio show, El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo. Just as we lean into our [TV] consumer brands, we’re going to lean into our radio show brands and elevate those shows. And we’re crosspollinating. TV host Alejandra Espinoza, for example, is now also part of our Los Angeles morning radio show.

Awards show viewership in general has declined. How do you make yours profitable?

We found a way to make money because we studied the ecosystem. It’s not just a TV show. We’re communicating, we’re editorializing, we’re telling a story, and we’re using music to do so — across all of our platforms. It creates more inventory for brands to get more deeply involved. Ratings define and validate the commercial side of ad sales, but it’s not the only measure of success. Total impressions, total reach, influence — that is success.

How else are you expanding Univision’s music presence?

We are looking at entering the music business again through strategic alliances. That is new. I don’t have the format a hundred percent. I don’t know if it’s a record label, but by virtue of this vertical, content-first approach, I am going to be getting back in touch with the industry. We want to be a more regular part of the music ecosystem. It could be a strategic alliance with a particular artist, a distribution deal with an artist, a management company, a publishing company or the distribution and promotion of music. I will generate content with you. I will generate social currency. We will make money by participating in a revenue share or license fee of the actual revenue streams we generate.

Some companies are not as convinced about the viability of music as a revenue driver.

We are. We demonstrate it day in and day out with our properties, and we know we could do more with it. So that’s where the investment comes in. Could we have done it as a company 10 years ago? I think the answer is no. Structurally, we probably weren’t set up for it. The power of music is it travels with no borders. Now we have the platforms. You can consume via audio, video, streaming.

Does Univision have any music-driven shows  in the pipeline?

There will be announcements made, likely at the upfronts [in May]. But our approach is holistic. For example, you’re going to see a lot more radio shows like El Flow and El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo — which are also podcasts — on TV or on VIX. We are no longer taking a TV-centric approach to business. We will have music properties, but it’s not going be a one-show-fixes-all. Scripted is still a huge vehicle for music, for example. And we have a publishing business with over 100,000 copyrights here that I’m also managing.

What really drives fans to tune in to music-adjacent programming?

Storytelling and pop culture. Music has become a synonym for lifestyle. And it has a lot to do with social media and the way artists interact with their fans. Permanence in any kind of show all year is the most important. Also, there is a lot more being done in scripted than we are getting credit for as a music industry. There are so many storylines, documentaries, entertainment shows that are in and around music. How do we get people to engage? The most successful reality shows on television today have more hours of digital content than they do of [regularly scheduled] linear content. Because there are multiple platforms, they are “always on.” The Latin market is diverse, and we are more than a media company. We are a cultural representation of the Latins who live in the U.S. and of the way we live in the U.S.

This story appears in the April 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Kesha is celebrating being a “free f–king woman.” The singer sat on the couch on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Tuesday (April 22) for a chat about her upcoming album and her new(ish) status as the owner of the independent label Kesha Records. “My first release is . [Period],” Kesha, 38, said of her upcoming […]

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Source: @fatjoe / Instagram

Fat Joe’s memoir is set to come to television. Kenya Barris and Dominic Colón are developing a Starz series based on the rapper’s life.

Deadline is reporting that Fat Joe’s autobiography The Book Of Jose is getting picked up for a scripted series. The project will follow the Terror Squad MC’s life from growing up in the South Bronx to becoming a global personality. Kenya Barris (We The People Black-ish) will be penning the pilot with support from Dominic Colón (The Corps). Jessy Terrero, of Freelancers fame, is slotted to direct the pilot. The project was originally announced back in 2022 and was set to be on Showtime. According to reports the Showtime opportunity stalled forcing Kenya Barris to take it to Starz.

Released in 2022, The Book Of Jose is an honest look at Fat Joe’s life. In it he tells how he grew up poor and turned to selling drugs as his escape from poverty. He also details pivoting away from the streets to music only to find out that the entertainment industry is just as cutthroat drug trade. During an interview with The Breakfast Club Fat Joe explained why you don’t have to be a fan of Rap to relate to his memoir. “[This] is a transparency book. If you’re going through a dark time in your life; if you read this book you’re going to be able to smile.”

At this time there is no premiere date for the forthcoming series.

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Source: Liane Hentscher/HBO / The Last of Us / Pedro Pascal
Gamers have already experienced this controversial moment in video game history. Still, watching it unfold in HBO’s hit television adaptation of the iconic video game, The Last of Us, has hit even harder, leaving fans stunned.

Like watching the Titanic barrel towards a massive iceberg, fans of The Last of Us video game knew this day was coming and eagerly anticipated seeing how casual viewers would handle this moment that sparked plenty of discourse in the video game world when The Last of Us Part II was released in 2020.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Okay, if you moved past the spoiler warning, you no longer care about what is about to be said.
How Joel’s Time Came To An End In The Last of Us Season 2

At the end of season 1, we saw Pedro Pascal’s Joel slaughter a bunch of members of the Fireflies and including doctors who were about perform a fatal surgery on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in hopes of turning her immunity to the fungal plague into a cure to end the Cordyceps brain infection that ravaged the entire globe, basically bringing civilization to a crashing halt.
Joel’s decision to save his surrogate daughter comes back to haunt him in season 2 with the introduction of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who just happens to be the daughter of the head surgeon he killed in season 1, and yes, she wants revenge, and she gets it brutally.
After Joel saves her from a horde of infected, she quickly realizes he is the man she has been searching for. She shoots in the knee with a shotgun before brutally beating Joel with a golf club, delivering the fatal blow in front of Ellie for a gutwrenching scene as she screams for surrogate dad to get up, before dragging herself over to his lifeless body.
We knew it was coming, but man, it still hit like a ton of bricks.
Showrunners Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann Didn’t Want To Torment Fans
The Last of Us television show is a rare gem, as it has rich source material to draw from in the game; for the most part, it perfectly mirrors the game with some slight changes made to the story.
Like in this season, Abby is not muscular like she is in the game, much to the chagrin of some purists, but Dever still plays the role with the same anger, and Joel’s death in the show was more brutal than it was in the game, and this was done on purpose.

In an interview with Variety, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explained why they wasted no time when handling Joel’s death in the show.
They admitted they had thought of every possible scenario. Still, Druckmann explained from a storytelling perspective that Joel’s death happening early made sense “because this is the inciting incident for this story.”
Mazin and Druckmann also wanted to address the elephant in the room, Joel’s death, because it has been looming over the show since season 1, and they felt they had an obligation to spare fans from any more torment.
“There’s a danger of tormenting people,” Mazin told Variety. “It’s not what we want to do. If people know it’s coming, they will start to feel tormented. And people who don’t know it’s coming are going to find out it’s coming because people are going to talk about the fact that it hasn’t shown up yet.
“Our instinct was to make sure that when we did it, that it felt natural in the story and was not some meta-function of us wanting to upset people.”
Social Media Reactions To The Last of Season 2’s Heartbreaking Moment
As expected, the reactions to Joel’s gruesome death were those of shock, and mostly people who knew it was coming were still left reeling after watching Pedro Pascal take a golf club and plenty of punches to the face.

We’re not sure if those people who were tuning in to watch Pedro Pascal will stick around, but if this one post on X, formerly Twitter, is an indicator, HBO and The Last of Us might be in trouble.

But we don’t think last night’s episode will be the last time we see Pascal’s Joel. Remember, we got a whole five years of time we need to catch up on.
Damn Joel, we hate it had to be you.
You can see more reactons to the episode in the gallery below.

1. If you hate her, that means she’s doing a phenomenal job

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Getty Images / Ryan Coogle / Gillian Anderson / The X-Files

Ryan Coogler has set the world ablaze with his phenomenal vampire flick Sinners, and is now looking forward to his reboot of The X-Files, in which he hopes will feature one of the OGs from the original show.

Speaking on a recent episode of The Last Podcast on the Left, the Black Panther director discussed what’s next on his plate and revealed that it was the X-Files reboot.

“I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it,” Coogler said about his “X-Files” reboot. “Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f—ing scary. We’re gonna try to make something really great, bro, and really be something for the real ‘X-Files’ fans, and maybe find some new ones.”

To get folks even more excited about his take on the iconic Fox show, he revealed that he’s “spoken to the great Gillian Anderson,” adding, “She’s incredible. Fingers crossed there.”

In the show, Anderson plays FBI Agent Dana Scully, who is initially very skeptical of her partner, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), but eventually becomes a believer in his conspiracies after experiencing them firsthand. At one point, she is abducted and offered to aliens.

Gillian Anderson Already Expressed Optimism That She Wants To Return

Speaking on the Today show, Anderson expressed optimism about returning for the reboot. “It’s so funny because for most of my life, since I have finished ‘The X-Files‘, every interview I do, people have asked and the answer has always been, ‘Nope, not going to happen, not going to happen,’” Anderson said. “Now, Ryan Coogler, who is the director of ‘Black Panther’ — brilliant, brilliant director — has approached Chris Carter to say that he wants to do a take on it, and I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen.”

She continued, “Whether I am involved in it is a whole other thing. I’m not saying no. I think he’s really cool and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well. And maybe I’ll pop in for a little something something.”

Now, if Coogler can both Anderson and Duchovny back, he’s got another hit on his hands.

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Martin fans were treated to a heartwarming reunion last year and proved that the popular 1990s sitcom still has its fair share of fans in the 21st Century. Now, it’s being announced that Tommy Davidson will reprise a beloved character in a Martin spinoff series, Varnell Hill, which will be coming to BET+.

Deadline reports that BET+ has ordered Varnell Hill to the service with Martin Lawrence serving as an executive producer, along with Bentley Evans in the shared role. Jesse Collins is also named as one of the executive producers for the series. The outlet adds that while Lawrence hasn’t been announced to be a part of the show, it’s believed he’ll show up for some cameos.

The series will feature eight episodes and will examine the behind-the-scenes happenings at The Varnell Hill Show, the late-night talk show helmed by Davidson’s character. The series is promising celebrity cameos and will examine Hill’s attempts to keep his show going and some of the pitfalls that come along with running the shop.

“Did you miss me? Well, now you don’t have to! I’m excited and honored to be a part of such a creative project with the brilliant mind of Martin Lawrence, over 30 years in the making,” Davidson said about Varnell Hill. “Fans have requested it, and now it’s coming to BET+.”

Congratulations to Tommy Davidson!

Photo: Michael S. Schwartz / Getty

Speaking to Howard Stern on Tuesday morning (April 8) just two days after the controversial season three finale of his hit HBO series The White Lotus, Mike White said he doesn’t really know what the beef over the the show’s soundtrack was all about. Last week, show composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer told the New York Times that he was permanently checking out of the gig after what he said were years of creative disputes with White over the Chilean musician’s unconventional musical style.

“Oh man… I honestly don’t know what happened, except now I’m reading his interviews because he decided to do some P.R. campaign about him leaving the show,” White nervously laughed while speaking to Stern on his SiriusXM morning radio show. “In reading the interviews I just realized he… I just don’t think he respected me. I think he basically, he wants people to know he’s edgy and dark and I’m… I watch reality TV,” added White, who, has, in fact, joyfully competed on both The Amazing Race (twice) and Survivor: David Vs. Goliath.

Trending on Billboard

In his chat with the Times, Tapia de Veer compared his collaboration with White as being akin to the kind of rock bands he’s been in before where, “the guitar player doesn’t understand the singer at all.” In fact, the composer who has won three Emmys for his work on the show said he’d had creative conflicts with White since the very first season of the show. He noted that he thought the show runner’s script for the first go-round was very “well-written,” but that he felt the comedic, “reality TV kind of vibe” did not fit with his “super dark and edgy” musical leanings.

“But when we had the talk with Mike, I just told him in a joke that I thought we could do some kind of ‘Hawaiian Hitchcock,’ and he really grabbed on that and he started laughing,” Tapia de Veer said, while also dinging White’s original temporary score as “nice background music” with a “chill, sexy” Ibiza club vibe but “literally no edge to it.”

Tapia de Veer also noted that after his divisive soundtrack for the just-concluded season received push-back from fans who missed the beloved melodies from the first two seasons, he planned to slyly bring back the “ool-loo-loo-loo” vocalizations they desired, but that White “wasn’t happy about that.”

White seemed perplexed by the apparent animus, telling Stern “we never even really fought… he said we feuded. I don’t think I ever had a fight with him, except maybe some emails. But it was just basically, like, me giving him notes. I don’t think he liked having to go through the process of getting notes from me or wanting revisions or ever. I guess he just didn’t respect me.”

In fact, White told Stern that he’s “never kissed somebody’s ass so hard” just to get them to be on board as he did with Tapia de Veer.

The show creator added that he knew Tapia de Veer was “not a team player and that he wanted to do it his way,” but that he was thrown that the musician would go to the Times to “s–t on me and the show three days before the finale. That was kind of a b–ch move.” Stern shot back that as the show’s writer and creator, White should have had the power to weigh in on the musical choices on the series that is his sole vision.

“Anyone that you hire, they gotta go with your vision, that’s it!” Stern suggested.

“Well that’s honestly why it did work the first couple seasons, because we did go through the process,” White explained. “But by the time the third season came around he’d won Emmys and had his song go viral, so he just did not want to go through the process anymore. He didn’t want to get notes from me… he always had this contemptuous smirk on his face whenever he was dealing with me. I think he thought I was just a chimp or something. I don’t know.”

In the end, White said he was confused by the ire over what he said was a pretty typical “creative difference” with the composer he readily praised as “really talented.”

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Source: Lynn Goldsmith / Getty

Could it really be happening? A new generation may soon be back in class at Hillman College. 

In a rare move reported by Deadline, streaming giant Netflix has ordered a pilot of a sequel to the classic television show to be filmed this spring. 

As reported last year, the sequel will center on the life of Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley’s (Jasmine Guy) daughter’s time at a fictional HBCU–however, Deadline has not confirmed that the show will return to Hillman. The pilot is reportedly being headed up by writer Felicia Pride. 

Pride, who has worked on Bel-Air and Grey’s Anatomy, will join fellow executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood. The iconic series helped launch the careers of Hardison and Guy as well as fellow cast members Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, and Cree Summer.

Also, the author of The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs, Pride’s production company Honey Chile Entertainment is executive producing and writing the Lifetime original movie Black Magick and developing the series Livelihood, based on her spec, for Netflix, and Seven Days in June for Amazon.

According to Deadline, casting is now underway for Deborah Wayne, Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter, and several other cast members ages 18-20. Shooting is expected to take place in June in Atlanta. 

A Different World ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993. The “Will They or Won’t They” plot line between Dwayne and Whiltey became a focal point in the latter years of the series. 

Social media users seem enthusiastic about the possibility of the upcoming sequel. One post on X (formerly Twitter) is gaining traction as a fan posts her dream cast. 

One blog poster known simply as “Jas” shared that the sequel could provide a much needed counterbalance to the current political landscape, writing on Medium, “In a country that continues to repress Black media, eliminate DEI initiatives, ban books that inform us about Black history, and deny us a seat at the table, we need a show like this to give us a warm and cozy safe space more than ever.”