Entertainment
Queen Latifah on Returning to Host This Year’s NAACP Image Awards: ‘I Want to Deliver Something to My People’
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 03: Queen Latifah speaks on stage throughout the thirty eighth Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center on November 3, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Kane/Getty Images for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Queen Latifah returns to host the NAACP Image Awards for the second yr in a row and admits she feels the pressure.
“I put a certain amount of pressure on myself with every project and everything I do because I want everything to go well and be good,” she tells ESSENCE from her makeup chair between rehearsals for a movie show. “I really just want to serve my people.”
Broadcasting live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 16, the fifty fifth NAACP Image Awards will culminate a week-long celebration of Black excellence in entertainment. Distinguished honors will go to Usher, who’s the 2024 President’s Award recipient, poet Amanda Gorman, who will receive the President’s Award, and stylist June Ambrose, who will receive the Vanguard Award.
Not only can Latifah take the stage because the evening’s host, but she’s also an NAACP Image Award winner, as she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her starring role within the film, which she also executive produces. , a brief film produced by The Queen Collective – a Proctor & Gamble and Latifah-owned Flavor Unit Entertainment company that goals to expand opportunities for female and non-binary filmmakers of color – was also nominated for Best Short Film.
“I’m one among those individuals who appears like each time I try to make a movie, I’m doing all the pieces I can to share my vision and make it universally appealing to everyone. It’s nice to have such a prestigious organization that your parents find out about and everybody looks at your project and feels it deserves an award,” says Jenn Shaw, director of the film, which tells the story of a prepubescent girl torn between keeping a gap between her teeth. and the pursuit of a “perfect” smile. All vital measures.
“I’m incredibly impressed,” Shaw adds of the nomination, “but I also think it’s just the start of something for me as a filmmaker. I would like to earn more, I would like to develop and I would like to receive more opportunities.
Latifah is hopeful about Shaw’s future as a filmmaker and other Black creators, despite renewed conversations concerning the forms of Black stories studios proceed to allow to be told in light of the recent cancellation of popular TV series like “Issa Rae” and
“For us in the arts, I think we still have a lot to offer that no one else can do,” Latifah says. “I feel like if we stay on our path and keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep building things like the Queen Collective and other collectives, supporting each other, we’ll start to see these projects progress because there’s nothing different like them.”
He adds that awards shows also play a giant role on this effort. “When one of us wins, we win in a different way. We tend to win, and so does Cord [Jefferson] winning the Oscars in a way that our speeches are designed to promote each other, not just self-promotion or maintaining the status quo.”
This selflessness made it a no brainer for the Queen to return to host the NAACP Image Awards this yr. “It wasn’t a big deal to agree to it,” he says. “It was just a matter of whether I could make it happen within my schedule and, beyond that, whether we could make it well done, properly produced and with a large number of people involved. I’m more than happy to be on this show.”
Shaw is happy concerning the nomination and potential win, but like many viewers, she will be able to’t wait to see what Latifah will wear on the large night. Although the host didn’t reveal any details about her upcoming wardrobe, she did promise that she would dress in front of the audience.
“We’re going to bring it, and I know everyone at home will bring it,” Latifah says. “I like award shows and seeing what everyone wears and the way different they give the impression of being from one edition to the subsequent. I like all this melaninated beauty and I can not wait.
The fifty fifth NAACP Image Awards will air live on Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS.
Entertainment
The Cavaliers maintain the prospect of becoming the first team since 2015 to start the season 13-0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Amid the chuckles and talk of history that filled the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room, Donovan Mitchell tried to add some perspective on the team’s 13-0 start to the NBA season.
“We’re being chased, but it’s also November,” the Cleveland star said after scoring 23 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the game The Cavaliers won 114-106 against Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. “Let’s relax. You know, I say it’s November and we’re not winning the championship right now. But these are good tests for us.”
Cleveland became the first team since Golden State in 2015–16 to win 13 straight games to start the season. The Warriors team holds the record for many wins, having began the season with 24 straight wins.
The Cavaliers are only the sixth team in NBA/BAA history to start a game 13-0. Four of the previous five teams reached the championship round. In doing so, he tied Cleveland’s franchise record of 13 consecutive wins, set 3 times previously – in 2009, 2010 and 2017 – all with LeBron James.
“It’s an 82-game season and we only have 13 left,” said guard Darius Garland, who led Cleveland with 25 points in the last win. “We have to clean up so much of things. But it’s good that we also can achieve such victories. We have a superb balance now because we all know we are able to get a lot better regardless that we’re still undefeated.
Part of the Cavaliers’ success was based on ball movement and scoring. Six Cleveland players – Mitchell, Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Caris LaVert and Ty Jerome – entered Wednesday night’s game averaging double-digit points.
“We’ve all played a lot of games and you can get tired mentally and physically,” Mitchell said. “But you’ve to have the ability to still do little things for one another. That’s what an evening like tonight will take (to win).
“You have to be a team that does the little things for each other in those moments and still makes the right plays.”
Wednesday night turned out to be tighter than expected against a short-handed Philadelphia lineup that was missing Joel Embiid (left knee contusion), Paul George (left knee contusion), Tyrese Maxey (right hamstring strain) and center reserve Andre. Drummond (illness).
It also showed how much of a burden Cleveland was carrying due to its winning streak.
“If you were the Sixers coming in, you’d be thinking, ‘We could end this streak,’” first-year Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It all the time motivates players and coaches, knowing you possibly can throw someone off. I do know our players feel it and have talked about it.
First-round rookie Jared McCain scored a career-high 34 points to lead Philadelphia to victory with just over three minutes left.
“He came out and showed he could play,” Garland said. – He can be searching for a spot on this team. It was good, it was a superb performance for all of us.
That’s when Mitchell got hot, ending with 11 points in the final three minutes and nearly missing his first profession triple-double.
“He made a big step back three,” Atkinson said. “We will forgive him (for missing the triple-double).”
After a break day on Thursday, Cleveland will host Chicago on Friday and Charlotte on Sunday before the final litmus test – Tuesday’s game against defending NBA champion Boston.
“We have a mature and consistent group that is neither too high nor too low,” Atkinson said. “It’s a modest group. I don’t know if they read the media quotes and I don’t think anyone is beating the drum and saying how great we are. Donovan always says we haven’t done anything yet, so they understand what we need to do and what the next step is. And they keep that chip on their shoulder.”
Entertainment
Marlon Wayans debuts an incredible transformation that’s making fans do a double take
Marlon Wayans changes his appearance, aand the fans go crazy.
On November 11, the 52-year-old comedian shared a photo on Instagram of himself looking dapper in a black tuxedo and sunglasses while sitting on a red chair. Looking away from the camera, Marlon also held a brandy glass containing what seemed to be a generous shot of the amber liquor.
The post, which garnered over 10,000 likes in the primary 24 hours, sparked a storm among the many actor’s Instagram followers. Many fans talked about how attractive the “Scary Movie” star looked within the photos. One person said: “Oh shit. I almost dropped my latest iPhone. Marlon, you higher wirkkk.
However, others were shocked by how different Marlon was, and plenty of were stunned by how much he resembled his older brother Shawn Wayans.
“Wait until you tell me it’s Marlon and not Shawn,” one person wrote, followed by one other: “No, because why do you look like skinny Shawn Wayans, though @marlonwayans.”
A 3rd person said: “lol wait what is happening here? Will Marlon play Shawn in the brand new movie?
“Wait, it’s not Marlon…it’s Shawn on Ozempic,” said one other.
Some fans even suggested that Marlon resembled all of his brothers directly.
“He looks like every Wayans brother here,” a fan commented.
Another fan lumped the Wayans brothers into one, joking, “It’s Shawlon Damkeen Wayans.”
What confused fans essentially the most was Marlon’s latest hairstyle. He not admired his latest bald hairstyle. In this photo, he had tightly curled hair that, from a distance, resembled starting curls.
It’s the identical hairstyle that his brother Shawn wore for nearly his entire profession.
Marlon, however, had no problem experimenting together with his hair. When he was younger, he also had short, clean and curled hair, resembling his brother. He also developed this style to where it evolved into spots on the skin. In his older years, fans have seen him sporting a short mohawk, and he’s also gone bald a few times, once in 2018, a second time in 2020, after which shaved his head again last 12 months – this time ditching the beard as well.
During the press tour for his role within the film “Air”, based on Michael Jordan’s history with Nike, Marlon expressed his appreciation to Jordan for making the bald head look great.
Sitting next to Matt Damon, he said: “Other than the sneakers, do you know Michael Jordan… the fact that he shaved his head bald, do you know how many men have shaved their heads now? Women would be grateful because if it weren’t for Jordan, there would be a lot of men who looked like Homie The Clown with weird hair. So God bless Jordan.”
Entertainment
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett share awkward separation rumors that fuel rumors months after photos of the actress with a new man Surface
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith still have something in common, but social media users have not been in a position to pinpoint exactly what it is perhaps.
Now that the two stars have been photographed together for the first time since May, the Internet is abuzz with discourse about the nature of the couple’s “very strange” and “dysfunctional family.”
The actress was last seen publicly with Will on the red carpet at the “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” premiere in Los Angeles, along with their children, Jaden and Willow, and Will’s son, Trey, whom the actor shares with first wife Sheree Zampino.
The “Ali” stars returned to photos taken in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas, where they dined with good pal and celebrity life coach Jay Shetty.
The couple, each 26, were captured in a hip-to-hip hug as they stood outside Crossroads Kitchen.
The emotional moment captured by paparazzi comes after Jada’s recent backlash over the past few years, revealing that she had an “entanglement” with singer August Alsina and that she and the movie star have been separated since 2016.
Criticism of Smith’s non-traditional marriage intensified in 2022 after Will punched Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars for joking about his wife’s shaved head. The “Low Down Dirty Shame” actress later revealed that the controversial incident reopened a new chapter in her relationship with Will. Despite this, the recent dinner was met with an unfavorable response.
One person he claimed“They are fake.” Another critic wrote that they were “a thoroughly unsympathetic couple who had two spoiled and unsympathetic children.”
Elsewhere, Instagram users across the web couldn’t resist trying to research the A-lister’s chemistry. “Goodbye, it was nice to catch up,” said one of the individuals who didn’t notice a hint of romance between the actors. Someone else commented“It’s the friend zone, hug AF.”
Another asked: “@jayshetty helping them with their problems!?”
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith step out for dinner of their first public outing together in 6 months https://t.co/QspliNWrWh pic.twitter.com/YvGRPFy4PV
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 10, 2024
Both Jada and Will have stated that divorce was never an option despite their split. After receiving massive digital attacks from former fans, Jada took a break from social media. On September 1, she returned to her private Instagram account with a cryptic post: “My heart was blooming… Can’t wait to share it.”
Whatever intention was behind the post was somewhat derailed when followers noticed that the carousel of photos and videos featured an unidentified man accompanying her on a jet ski.
Rumors of their continued separation were fueled after they decided to not post birthday wishes to one another. The actual status of their relationship stays unconfirmed, but fans have already change into convinced that their love is just platonic.
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