Entertainment

Three days after the Black Panther: Wankanda Forever premiere in Hollywood, the cast was honored Saturday night at the Ebony Power 100 Gala.

Film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke and Dominique Thorne were onstage to receive the For The Culture Award from Creed III star Jonathan Majors at Milk Studios in Los Angeles, California, according to Billboard. In accepting the honor, Wright, who portrays Shuri commented, “They always said our stories wouldn’t reach … Boy, were they wrong. Thank you for breathing life into us and for your support. As always, Wakanda Forever!”

Issa Rae was presented the People’s Choice Award by Nia Long from The Best Man series. The Insecure creator said, “I create with us in mind. To get an award from the people I have in mind is amazing. [We must] continue to value our stories; that’s the reason I’m here.”

Spike Lee was honored with the Icon Award. Roger Guenveur Smith, who has starred in several of the director’s films, including Do The Right Thing, School Daze and Malcolm X, presented the award to the trailblazing director, saying, “He continues to transform the complexion of American filmmaking.”

In accepting the honor, the Academy Award winner thanked three key women in his life. He saluted his mother for giving him discipline, his grandmother who “put me through Morehouse, NYU grad school and helped with my first films,” and his wife, Tonya Lee Lewis. “She has made it possible for me to do everything; she held it down,” he said of Tonya.

Other 100 Power honorees included Usher, H.E.R., Emmy-award winner Quinta Brunson from Abbott Elementary, and Nigerian artist Tems, co-writer of Rihanna‘s new single, “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Former Saturday Night Live star Chris Redd posted to Instagram that he’s on the mend after being sucker-punched outside a Greenwich Village comedy club last week.

“I’ve been resting up like crazy but thank you thank you thank you for all the messages of love, the jokes, and the concern!” he began the Instagram Story message to his 191,000 followers.

He continued, “For any shows I missed, I’ll be putting back on the schedule so if you bought tickets SIT TIGHT AND I GOT YOU!!,” adding, “I’ll be back up talking some good s*** very soon!!!”

The star also clarified that contrary to some reports, his unidentified attacker didn’t snatch a chain from his neck. “Y’all will write anything,” he wrote.

Redd was hospitalized after the attack last Wednesday night; WABC-TV in New York reported his assailant was dressed as a security guard and charged Redd when he emerged from a car in front of the club at which he was slated to perform. The suspect fled the scene.

The comedian was bleeding heavily from the nose after the attack and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.

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Netflix’s The Witcher is going to look a little different come season four, with the streamer announcing that Liam Hemsworth will be taking over Henry Cavill‘s titular role as Geralt of Rivia.

Taking to Instagram, Cavill, 39, who’s led the series for three seasons, announced, “Some news to share from The Continent.”

“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4,” he wrote, along with an image of the series’ signature sigil. “In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.”

“Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find,” Cavil concluded.

Sharing the same image, Hemsworth, 32, wrote in part that he was “over the moon about the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia. Henry Cavill has been an incredible Geralt, and I’m honoured that he’s handing me the reins and allowing me to take up the White Wolf’s blades for the next chapter of his adventure.”

Cavill didn’t share why he’s stepping away from the role, but he announced a week ago that he’s returning to the role of Superman on the big screen, after last playing him in 2017’s Justice League.

The Witcher season three is expected to hit Netflix in summer 2023.

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Black Adam topped the box office for a second straight week, delivering an estimated $27.7 million for a two-week domestic gross of $111 million. Add that to the superhero film’s international numbers, and its worldwide tally is up to $250 million.

The romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise hung on to second place with an estimated $10 million, bringing its two-week North American total to $33.7 million.

This weekend’s new entry, the horror flick Prey for the Devil, settled for a third-place debut, scaring up an estimated $7 million.

Smile continued an impressive box office run, posting an estimated $5 million and raising its five-week domestic tally to $92.4 million.

The news wasn’t as good for Halloween Ends, which rounded out the top five an estimated $3.8 million. That brings its three-week domestic gross to just $60.3 million. Globally, the horror film has grabbed $94.7 million.

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Disney+ is adding Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl to its platform on December 28. The original special will begin with a special introduction by co-creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as the animated film’s original voice cast, which will reunite at the Hollywood Bowl to perform songs from the film. The stage will be transformed to look like the Madrigal home known as “Casita,” for this show-stopping concert event. Disney is the parent company of ABC News…

Actress Shelley Duvall, best know for her work with filmmakers like Robert Altman, Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick on movies including Nashville, Annie Hall and The Shining, is set to make her first big-screen appearance in 20 years in The Forest Hills, according to Deadline. The horror-thriller, per the outlet, follows “a disturbed man who is tormented by nightmarish visions, after enduring head trauma while camping in the Catskill Mountains.” Duvall will reportedly play the mother of the mentally and emotionally disturbed Rico, played by Chiko Mendez, who serves as his inner voice. Duvall announced her retirement from acting in 2002, later resurfacing on Dr. Phil, where she opened up about battling mental illness…

Variety reports Jeff Goldblum is in final talks to play the Wizard in Jon M. Chu’s two-part feature adaptation of Wicked, alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Wicked, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, tells the story of how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. The Wicked movies are set for release on Christmas in 2024 and 2025…

CBS’ The Real Love Boat is setting sail for the company’s streaming service, Paramount+, according to Deadline. It’s the latest CBS show to move to the streamer, joining SEAL Team and Evil, which made the move last year. The reality dating competition series, patterned after the hit 1970s scripted series that used Princess Cruises ships as its setting, “brings singles together to cruise the Mediterranean on a luxury cruise ship while looking for love,” according to CBS. “Destination dates, challenges and surprise singles…test the couples’ compatibility and chemistry.” The winning couple takes home a cash prize, plus a once-in-a-lifetime Princess Cruise…

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Rapper Jack Harlow pulled double duty as Saturday Night Live‘s host and musical guest, in an episode that also featured the return of Tom Hanks‘ perennial Halloween favorite, David S. Pumkins.

The sketch saw Harlow and SNL castmembers Ego Nwodim and Andrew Dismukes play riders on a scary amusement park attraction that featured classic horror film characters, including Mike Meyers, Annabelle, Pennywise, Freddie Kruger and, to the confusion of the riders, frequent appearances from Pumpkins and his dancing skeleton sidekicks, played by Mikey Day and former SNL star Bobby Moynahan.

Earlier, Harlow used his opening monologue to poke fun at himself, rattling off a number of comments he’d seen on social media, including, “A lot of people have been saying I’m the goat. They don’t mean greatest of all time, they mean that one from Narnia.”

“One guy” the “First Class the singer noted, said “I don’t know why y’all think Jack Harlow is so special. You can find somebody who looks like him at any local gas station.”

“I’ve heard them say, I look like if you tried to draw Justin Timberlake from memory,” he shared, adding, “I think my favorite one might be ‘Jack Harlow looks like the guy who rips the tickets in half at the movie theater.’”

He then attempted to dispel the “strange rumors” he’s five-foot-ten or he was “created by the CIA,” and warned kids dressing like him for Halloween to “cut it out because my culture is not a costume.”

Harlow’s musical performances included a medley of “Lil Secret”/”First Class,” followed later by “State Fair.”

Harlow was the second host this season to double as musical guest this season, following Megan Thee Stallion on October 15.

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If you can’t get enough of the Paramount Network series Yellowstone, Lucky Brand has your number: The clothing company has launched a Yellowstone-themed fashion line.

The merchandising line includes everything from branded “in universe” T-shirts inspired by the show’s Dutton Ranch to tees emblazoned with phrases like “Never Drink and Ride a Buffalo” and “I Only Love Cowboys and Dreamers.” And “branded” is also literal in some cases, as the family’s hooked “Y” cattle brand is featured prominently in many of the offerings.

The line is priced from $50 to $199 and also includes sweatshirts, hoodies, cardigans and jeans.

Might as well giddyup to get yours in time for the season 5 debut of the hit Kevin Costner-led show on November 13.

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On Friday, Prime Video released the trailer and release date for the third season of its thriller series Tom Clancy‘s Jack Ryan.

The streaming service hints that in this season, which kicks off December 21, John Krasinski‘s CIA analyst is a wanted man.

Prime Video notes, “Ryan is working as a CIA case officer in Rome, when he is tipped off that the Sokol Project, a secret plan to restore the Soviet Empire, is being resurrected more than 50 years after it was thought to have been shut down. Jack embarks on a mission to confirm the intelligence, but things quickly go awry, and he is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy.”

The studio continues, “Accused of treason, with a Red Notice out for his arrest, Jack is forced to run from his own government, if he has any hope of uncovering the rogue faction before it’s too late.”

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Actor Dennis Quaid, who portrayed rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire, is mourning the star’s passing Friday.

In a statement via his rep, Quaid noted, “Jerry Lee was a Christian, an American icon and the greatest piano player in the world. People will be listening to ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lot of Shakin” 500 years from now.”

Quaid added, “I will miss him. God bless you Jerry Lee.”

Starring Quaid, as well as Winona Ryder as his cousin and eventual first wife, Myra Gale Brown, and Alec Baldwin as firebrand preacher Jimmy Swaggart, the film followed both Jerry Lee’s rise to fame and the controversies that surrounded him.

Lewis died Friday, October 28, at his home in Mississippi with his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis, by his side. He was 87. His passing was announced in a lengthy statement posted on his official website, but no cause of death was immediately available.

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In a sit-down with Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night, Quentin Tarantino denied Kanye West‘s claims it was he who came up with the idea for Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film Django Unchained.

Ye claimed during a Piers Morgan Uncensored interview last week, “Tarantino can write a movie about slavery where — actually him and Jamie [Foxx], they got the idea from me because the idea for Django, I pitched to Jamie Foxx and Quentin Tarantino as the video for ‘Gold Digger,’ and then Tarantino turned it into a film.”

Like many of West’s claims recently, Tarantino told Jimmy Kimmel that Ye’s side of the story doesn’t hold up. “That didn’t happen,” Quentin insisted.

Tarantino admitted he and West at one point discussed collaborating on a film version of his 2004 album The College Dropout, but that’s where the similarities ended. “He wanted to get big directors to do different tracks from the album … Not videos, nothing as crass as videos,” the Oscar-winning Pulp Fiction screenwriter said, explaining, “They were going to be movies based on each of the different tracks.”

He added, “I do think it was for the ‘Gold Digger’ video that he would be a slave. The whole thing was the slave narrative where he’s a slave and he’s singing ‘Gold Digger.’ And it was very funny. It was a really, really funny idea.”

Jimmy questioned the poor taste of a slave-themed comedy video, to which Tarantino said, “It was meant to be ironic. And it’s like a huge musical. I mean, like no expenses spared with him in this slave rag outfit, doing everything. And then that was also part of the pushback on it. But I wish he had done it. It sounded really cool. Anyway, that’s what he’s referring to [with Django].”

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