What’s Happening In Hip-Pop: Kelly Osbourne Quits “Fashion Police,” Malik Yoba Talks Gay “Empire” Actor, & MORE!

First Look: Whitney Houston Played By America’s Next Top Model Star YaYa Dacosta

MOBO- FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 12:09 PM GMT

Former America’s Next Top Model star Yaya DaCosta will play Whitney Houston, in a biopic about the singer’s life, it has been revealed. Lifetime’s early-2015 biopic Whitney Houston (working title)—directed by the singer’s Waiting to Exhale costar Angela Bassett- has just began shooting. Even though Yaya does not have the same vocal range as the late R&B diva, she has the look down to perfection, as the first promotional photo demonstrates, with its striking resemblance to the pop star’s original 1987 Whitney album cover. As for how she prepared for the shoot, she said: “I just looked at the picture and did the pose!”

The biopic will focus on Whitney’s relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown and will not address her death in 2012, which is something Bassett told TMZ she did not want to highlight.

“We’re not interested in dragging her life again through, you know, the muck. She had to play out her choices, and the consequences of them, in a very hot, glaring spotlight, but we’re not interested in dragging that through again.”

Are you excited for the Whitney biopic? Tweet us your thoughts @MOBOAwards

Author: Adenike Gboyega

RED CARPET RECAP: JHud Brings The LBD Heat, While Zendaya Plays It Sweet For “Black Nativity” (PHOTOS)

Oprah Joins Hollywood’s Elite In The Fight For More Black Films

By JAKE COYLE 11/06/13 10:29 AM ET EST

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey has heard this story before.

A wave of high-profile films about black people receives accolades. A heart-warming trend of greater on-screen equality is declared. Hollywood basks in its multiculturalism — and then returns to business as usual.

From the slavery odyssey “12 Years a Slave” to the day-in-a-life drama “Fruitvale Station,” this fall has been a banner season for films of racial struggle told without white protagonists and largely by black directors. As one of the stars of the Civil Rights history “Lee Daniels‘ The Butler,” Winfrey is a proud player in a rare moment for African-Americans at the movies. But she and many others have tired of celebrating occasional aberrations of what should be Hollywood’s regular output.

“We’ve been through this before,” says Winfrey. “I don’t want it to be, ‘Oh, gee, we had the 10 films and now it’s another five years before you see another one.'”  2013 is a historical high-point for black-themed films, a culmination of Obama-era cinema. But the filmmakers and actors who made this confluence happen are resolutely against being resigned to a mere trend story, soon to be followed by another lull in diversity.

Read on Oprah Joins Hollywood Elite-More Black Films

Plus Size Model Graces Elle’s Cover-Welcome Back Tara!

@HuffPostStyle

Welcome back to Elle, Tara Lynn!

The plus-size model graces the November cover of the glossy’s Spanish edition, reminding us it’s been too long since we’ve seen her there.

Tara is no stranger to magazine covers… across international waters, that is. While the H&M “Big Is Beautiful” swimsuit model has graced Elle France and Vogue Italia covers in the past, we have yet to see the Seattle-born beauty land a front page on a major American fashion magazine.

Watch the behind-the-scenes video of the shoot above and check out the final product below. Note that Elle Spain dubs her a “Mujer Real” — a real woman, indeed. Here’s hoping we see more covers in Tara’s future!

article by Huff Post Style

Tell the Tea Party to Take a Seat! | Russell Simmons – Mr. President, we got your back!

Author: Russell SImmons

For the first time in seventeen years, the United States government has shut down. Hundreds of thousands of families across this nation will be hurt by the inaction of a few politicians who have successfully hijacked their own party. The Tea Party Republicans, led by Senator Ted Cruz, were able to close the doors of Congress, over their disagreement with the Affordable Care Act; a law that will provide health care for millions of Americans who have been living their lives in fear of getting sick. When the history books are written, this law will prove to be a turning point that pointed our nation towards a more compassionate America, a country that no longer only took care of the privileged, but rather took care of all of its people. Republican or Democrat, if you’re American, you should want to take care of your brother and your sister.

It has been painstakingly obvious that there are some members of Congress that are severely threatened by President Obama’s success. No matter what he does, they don’t like it. They are not working for the betterment of the people, they are working for the betterment of themselves, and often times, the betterment of their puppet master’s wallet.

Barack Obama has shown time and time again that he will stand up for the American people. He has shown that he will risk his own political career, like speaking directly with the Iranian President, because he knows it’s the right thing to do. He will call on a distant friend in Russia and ask them to help resolve a conflict with one of their close friends, Syria, so our nation can avoid war at all costs. He will challenge the mighty powerful gun lobby because he can no longer bare the pain on the faces of mothers and fathers who have buried their children before they could say goodbye. He is a man of dialogue. He is a man who believes in exhausting all of his resources before making a decision. He is a man who will constantly take the higher moral ground. To not work with him is a mistake that could and should cost the Republican Party the majority in the House when the mid-term election occurs next year. If they shut down the government, we will open the ballot box.

While many members of the other side would rather close down the government and hurt the American people, Barack Obama is willing to do the work that will continue to grow our economy, create more jobs, engage in international peace talks and tackle tough issues like health care, immigration and the environment. He is a negotiator, someone who is willing to work through the tough problems our nation faces. It was inspiring to seem him begin direct negotiations with the new Iranian president and work with Vladimir Putin to solve the Syrian problem. But I am proud that he will not negotiate with the minority party in this country with a gun to his head. If the Republicans, specifically the members of the Tea Party, want to play games with our economy, he shouldn’t give them an inch. Tell the Tea Party that they can’t hijack our government and to take a seat. Stand strong, Mr. President, we got your back.

 Follow Russell Simmons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unclerush

Ifill, Woodruff blaze a new trail for women on TV – The Washington Post

By Paul Farhi, Published: September 8. washingtonpost.com/lifestyle

Robert Severi/AP – This image, provided by PBS, shows co-anchors Judy Woodruff, left, and Gwen Ifill in the newsroom of “PBS Newshour.” Ifill and Woodruff are the first women to co-anchor a national daily news program on television.

National TV newscasts have tried just about every kind of anchor configuration over the past six decades: A lone male anchor. A lone female. Two men. A man and a woman. Even three men.    However, Woodruff and Ifill have anchored “Newshour” before, alone or in combination with each other (they handled the political conventions and election night last year together). Still, their installation as regular co-anchors is a small cultural milestone for American TV news.  More… Ifill, Woodruff blaze a new trail for women on TV – The Washington Post.

 

30 Cool Facts You Didn’t Know About ‘Billie Jean’

Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean‘ turns 30 today. Not only is it one of the highest selling singles of all time and the catapult that shot Jacko to the zenith of pop, it also changed the entertainment world. First, it was the video that drew attention to MTV and kickstarted its significance in popular culture. Second, it finally broke the grip of the racists in charge who refused to play videos featuring black performers. Here are 30 other facts you might not know by Lucy Jones @NME.

Find out the 30 Cool facts you didn’t know about Billie Jean.  I certainly did not know that the UPC barcode on the album that had the single ‘Billie Jean’ was rumored to be Michael Jackson’s phone number? If I only knew… http://wp.me/pvbny-2h

Video Of The Year VMA: Justin Timberlake Wins Moonman At 2013 Video Music Awards

Timberlake beat Macklemore, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Robin Thicke for the Video of the Year Moonman trophy.

Video Of The Year VMA: Justin Timberlake Wins Moonman At 2013 Video Music Awards.

Sexism In Hollywood: Female Screenwriters Far Less Likely To Sell Speculative Screenplays Than Men

Thelma and Louise— Female Empowerment!

Article by Julie Zeilinger

It’s hardly a secret that women are underrepresented in many parts of the entertainment industry — and according to new research, female screenwriters aren’t immune to this gender gap.

Researcher Susana Orozoco found that women screenwriters’ scripts currently make up a smaller percentage of speculative script sales than any time in the last two decades. Spec scripts — scripts written without compensation based on the hope of selling the final product on the open market — are currently on the decline across the board in Hollywood. A March 2013 Vanity Fair article pointed to recent industry changes, such as the collapse of home-video sales (which once compensated for low box-office returns) and studios’ increasing interest in film franchises like “Harry Potter,” “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games” as some of the sources of waning interest in spec scripts.

But these industry changes hardly explain the gender imbalance amongst screenwriters of spec scripts that are picked up and, as Orozoco’s research demonstrates, female screenwriters are being hit especially hard. Orzoco found that between 1991 and 2000, women wrote 14 percent of spec scripts sold and only 9 percent between 2010 and 2012.

This decline in female-written spec scripts doesn’t just mean fewer professional opportunities for women hoping to break into the film industry, but also indicates that films which authentically depict women’s lives may be even harder to come by than they already are. “Thelma & Louise,” an iconic film about female empowerment, was written by female screenwriter Callie Khouri on spec. More recently, “Hope Springs,” a film that dared to openly delve into the topic of post-50 female sexuality, was also written by a female spec screenwriter, Vanessa Taylor.

The entertainment industry is notorious for it’s pathetic representation of women in all realms. For example, the Women’s Media Center found that in 2012, women comprised only 18 percent of key behind -the-scenes roles in films — a figure that has risen a mere 1 percent since 1998. These new statistics are disheartening, but they’re also a great reminder to support the female screenwriters whose scripts are produced when it counts: at the box office on opening weekend.

Sexism In Hollywood: Female Screenwriters Far Less Likely To Sell Speculative Screenplays Than Men.