Celebrity Coverage
EXCLUSIVE: Lee Daniels on Harnessing Power Majeure and Collaborating with Mo’Nique Again for ‘The Deliverance’

Deliverance. Athony B. Jenkins as Andre in “Deliverance”. Cr. © 2024 Aaron Ricketts/Netflix.
Lee Daniels returns to the director’s chair and tells a story unlike anything he’s ever done before.
His latest film is a supernatural thriller with an all-star solid that diverts attention from the standard, memorable story. It’s a story told with a mix of religion, horror and trauma – a departure from the director best known for creating drama.
finds Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) battling demons, each figuratively and literally, as she grapples with the echoes of pain from her own childhood while attempting to coexist with her mother (Glenn Close) and raise three children of her own (Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton and Anthony B. Jenkins).

Loosely based on the real-life 2012 case of LaToya Ammons and her family, the story is something Daniels looked into shortly after his 2009 success. Although he was desperate to challenge himself and create a “throwback to old-school horror” within the sort of or , the director was hesitant to take it on on the time.
“I didn’t want to make this movie 15 years ago,” Daniels tells ESSENCE exclusively. “I was just upset about it all.”
“Then, over time, I realized that I wasn’t really telling a horror story,” he says. Instead, Daniels realized he could use this true story of darkness to guide viewers to the sunshine. “I think we live in dark times and we need to find our higher power, at least Buddha, Jesus, Allah, someone.”
“Everything I did, whether as a producer or director, I felt was on point. I don’t look at it as a horror film, but rather as a film about trying to find your higher self-worth. power and how I am trying to find my higher power. Can I grow closer to Jesus through this process?”

In creating this path to greater closeness with the Lord, Daniels also found himself reconciled and working again with an old friend.
Mo’Nique won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her last project with Daniels. Famously, there was a long-running dispute between them that was reflected within the press for over a decade. However, after their miraculous reconciliation in 2022, the duo immediately returned to the set to create much more movie magic.
“Unreal, unbelievable, magical feeling, joy, everything. It was perfect,” Daniels said about reconnecting with the actress and comedian. “Listen, we made the decision right away. It was as if our 15 years of fighting had never happened. We just got back to the rhythm of her jumping into character and it’s a tour de force. The two of us together are crazy. We create magic.”

Daniels’ full solid was magical, including three other Oscar-nominated actresses, including eight-time nominee Glenn Close and 2022 Best Supporting Actress nominee Aunjanue Ellis. In the highlight is Andra Day, who earned a nomination during her last project with Daniels. Day gives a transformative performance as Ebony Jackson, a mother of three struggling to beat alcoholism and trauma-induced poverty, yet still on the brink of a very powerful battle of her life.
“I love working with women, especially black women. Love it. We’re becoming one,” Daniels said of Day’s recasting in the lead role. “That’s why I just want to work with her over and over again. She is like a muse to me and she just trusts me.”
“As a director, you possibly can’t expect people to perform if there isn’t any trust. Andra and Monique, Aunjanue and Glenn…It’s rare. My dream is for the director to seek out an artist who will do anything, doesn’t query it, just does it, just blindly jumps into the abyss with you. When we’re in situation and you trust, it’s a strong thing and it shows on the screen.
will hit select theaters on August 16 and shall be available to stream on Netflix from August 30.
Celebrity Coverage
Latocha Scott sings through pain – essence

(Photo Umbrella Griffin/Getty Images)
Latocha Scott allows music to talk for her. The singer Xscape has just dropped the emotional form of Freestyle to Chris Brown, turning the viral #residualschallenge into confession. In an Instagram clip, all that is established-her 30-12 months-old marriage with Rocky Bivens has passed, rumors about his infidelity are associated and the pain cuts deeply.
“I read comments, I say he has a child on the way,” he sings. Fans quickly approached the severity, implied betrayal, regret loss of affection that was once unwavering.
But it isn’t nearly Rocky. Scott also extends his hand – in public – to repair the fences along with his sister and member of XScape, Tamika Scott. They have each been alienated for years, and their once current bond crashed after Tamika accused Latocha and Rocky of theft $ 30,000 in tantments from her.
Fallout played in real time, the Reality Bravo 2023 series, which after two legendary R&B groups tried to mix again on a joint concert tour. In one of the explosive moments of the Tamika series with tears, she confronted with Latocha, claiming that she had receipts proveing that the missing license checks were deposited on Rocky’s account. Latocha, surprised, denied the allegations, but her refusal to directly take care of claims meant that fans questioned the reality.
The situation increased from family dispute to full madness, and the Tamika doubled interviews and posts in social media, claiming that she was forced to silence to guard the group’s image. Meanwhile, Latocha maintained her innocence, but gave up farther from Xscape, transferring her concentration to a solo profession.

After her freestyle, Latocha also claimed that she was thrown out of Xscape – the statement that it was Kandi Burruses, a member of the group, closed quickly. While the group continues to be going forward as a trio, although at first it’s 4, Burruss explained that Latocha was never faraway from the group, but reasonably decided to go away due to continuous tensions.
Tamika Scott also weighed, calling for sharing their thoughts concerning the song. Although she admitted that Freestyle Latocha’s style was well made, she questioned her honesty, suggesting that it was a “brilliant marketing strategy for her new music,” said Tamika, leaving a spot to debate about whether the general public request was really honest or simply for attention. Nevertheless, Tamika told her sister to “drive up, let’s talk.”
Still, the web is buzzing. Some fans praise Latoch’s susceptibility, calling freestyle a master class in transforming pain into art. Others ask if public display of regret can fix the years of harm.
Celebrity Coverage
Ici: Keke Palmer’s Beauty appearance and more – Essence

ASKRS> Keke Palmer
Time is now for essentially the most fashionable moments in celebrity between Fashion Week, a season of prizes and magazine covers. Meanwhile, some glances required a full GLAM team once we finished a month and Valentine’s Day, sleeping hair and romantic manicures are still strong.
For example Black flexible headband. With an analogous volume Honey Afro Janet Jackson was entwined with a red gel manicure to enhance the golden accents. Then the model Alva Claire attended Baft in a fragile UPDO, which combined her curved, thin eyebrows and a blue-winged insert.
Makeup Artist Dee Carrion was chargeable for the golden lips and teeth in the quilt. Then Coco Jones’s hair was soaked in water – glass lids and lips added to the appearance. As for TEMS? The shiny French manicure was cherry on its siren and hot chocolate gloss.
And those that participated within the NAACP rewards didn’t come either. Keke Palmer has turn into viral not only due to touching speech of “Artist of the Year”, but additionally due to her to knock out beauty: elegant red hair and gothic makeup makeup.
Sheryl Lee Ralph was on her “suit and draw” that night. Saisha Beecham Saisha Beecham worked on shiny magic, as she put it, “Sixty Fine” within the years. Finally, the hair artist Larry Sims gave the Gabrielle Union museum by some means Bobów. He wrote within the signature “It gives a film star”. And we couldn’t agree more.
If you missed this, take a look at the very best moments of beauty from the week.
Celebrity Coverage
Cosmetic school: Expert for additional long nails – essence

“At that time we only had acrylic,” Angie Aguirre says Essence, who puts ESPY-Jones in the primary episode. “We didn’t have a number of things we have today.” Starting the series, in honor of the Black History of the month, Aguirre, nail artist Sha’carri Richardson, resembles a black story for extremely long nails-at the identical time spreading techniques from the past.
From memories of curved acrylics on Flo Jo of the Eighties to the red manicure in Donn Summer, and even the nail of Stiletto from the Nineteen Thirties about Queen Nenzim from the Democratic Republic of Congo, manicure for construction has a wealthy history hidden behind every decorating extension.
Using the attention shadows as a substitute of the airbrush machine (which within the Nineteen Nineties was a big, loud pedal machine), she recreated one of the vital popular styles that has since appeared today as a preferred look.
Often appropriated in popular culture long, loud nails are historically called “ghetto” as an offensive statement after they wear black women. Meanwhile, they are sometimes seen as fashionable after they wear white celebrities.
“We usually set up trends [and] People kick, “says Aguirre within the film while painting about traditional nail art visible within the Nineteen Nineties.” When pop culture gets it, they change what they want to be like that. ” However, “black women wore these nails long before social media.”
Now that the nail industry is to succeed in USD 36.27 billion until 2032Aguirre explains the influence that black women have on beauty and what the longer term of those historical manicures will seem like. “Nail game has become very innovative,” he says, with latest products reminiscent of Gel-X. “[It’s] It is very different from what was during the day. “
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