by Chris Morris | Variety Singer, actor, producer and activist Harry Belafonte, who spawned a calypso craze in the U.S. with his music and blazed new trails for African American performers, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home. He was 96. An...
Monique Jones | Shadow and Act Billy Porter is taking on critics who feel he won’t be able to accurately portray writer and activist James Baldwin. While as a guest on Tamron Hall, Hall asked the Pose and Broadway actor about his opinion on people who are questioning...
Zayna Allen | WBLS The National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress chooses a list of recordings every year to preserve. The list of 25 recordings showcases the range and diversity of American recorded sound. Currently, there are 600 works/titles on the...
By Anthony D'Alessandro, Rosy Cordero | Deadline The industry is still reeling from the sudden passing of Lance Reddick. However, his eloquent presence will continue on in several upcoming film and TV projects which the prolific actor had completed before his death at...
By Manori Ravindran | Variety “Luther” star Idris Elba and media mogul Mo Abudu are joining forces to empower talent from Africa and the diaspora through their respective production companies, Green Door Pictures and EbonyLife Media. The new partnership aims to...
by Peter White | Deadline Reginald Hudlin and Byron Phillips have struck a first-look deal with Original Productions after teaming up on Amazon documentary series Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy. The Fremantle-backed production company has signed the deal...
by Ted Johnson | Deadline Roy Wood Jr. will be this year’s featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner on April 29. The Daily Show correspondent has a standup special, Imperfect Messenger, streaming on Paramount+. The gig is a...
By Michael Schneider | Variety Eddie Murphy will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Variety has confirmed. Murphy, a previous Globes winner and six-time nominee, will be on hand to accept the award at this year’s ceremony, set...
by EJ Panaligan | Variety Angela Bassett will be honored with the Montecito Award at the 38th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She will receive the award on Thursday, Feb. 9 during an in-person conversation about her career leading up to her...
by Clayton Davis | Variety Gabrielle Union is receiving the best reviews of her career in A24’s “The Inspection” — showing it’s never too late to make your mark on Hollywood. “I thought it was late for me,” she tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I’m being...
Adam B. Vary | Variety As its title implies, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” further explores how the African nation at the sequel’s heart relates to the rest of the world — and it’s far from the last time audiences will get the opportunity to do so, either. In an...
Addie Morfoot | Variety The company behind “Hoop Dreams” and Academy Award-nominated “Minding the Gap” has named Amir George its new artistic director. George takes over on Nov. 1 at Kartemquin Films, the non-profit, Chicago-based documentary production collective. He...