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  • The Week That Was: Shyne not really free at last, Kim Zolciak Really Engaged to Big Poppa?

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    The Week That Was: Shyne not really free at last, Kim Zolciak Really Engaged to Big Poppa?The rapper Shyne, who was convicted of a club shooting in 1999, was reportedly released from a New York correctional facility Oct. 6 and then transferred into custody by immigration officials. Though the former Bad Boy Records star has a green card, news reports hint that he may be deported to his native Belize because of the felony conviction. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Mike Gilhooly would only tell media outlets that Shyne was in custody for being in violation of U.S. immigration law.

    Born Jamal Barrow, Shyne was on the verge of superstardom when he was arrested in 1999 for a shooting at the Club New York nightclub. His mentor and record label chief Diddy, and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, was also charged but acquitted at trial.

    While in prison, Shyne (now 30) changed his name to Moses Leviy in recognition of his Jewish mother. His father, Dean Oliver Barrow, is currently the prime minister of Belize.

    Attorney Oscar Michelen, told the ‘New York Daily News’ his client “is anxious to get released and is looking forward to seeing his family and being able to be free to do what he wants to do.”

    ShyneDespite what seems to be a smear campaign from a few mainstream gossip columns, Mo’Nique and her new late night talk show is a hit. Numbers do not lie. The comedienne -who is making headlines for not promoting the new Tyler Perry/Oprah Winfrey-produced film ‘Precious’ – has made history for BET with ‘The Mo’Nique Show,’ which netted 1.5 million viewers for its debut Oct. 5.

    The premiere episode featured appearances from Steve Harvey, R&B artist Monica, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin as well as a performance by R&B recording artist Jeremih. A rep for BET said the show ranked as the network’s highest-rated show for the season and was the number two entertainment program on cable during its time slot. “The inaugural episode also outperformed the competition, coming in as the number one entertainment talk show on cable overall and the number one talk show among adults 18-49 (850,000),” said BET spokeswoman Tricia Newell. The show, a loud and colorful spectacle, tapes from Atlanta’s Turner Studios and airs on BET at 11 p.m. weeknights.

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    Jennifer Hudson is getting back to work. As the Academy Award and Grammy Award winner celebrates the recent birth of her baby, she’s also getting into the holiday spirit. The TV special ‘Jennifer Hudson: I’ll be Home for Christmas’ has been announced to air on ABC in December. According to reports, the show will feature the singer-actress reliving her childhood holidays with musical performances filmed at various locations around her hometown of Chicago. The chosen venues will be specific to her youth; they include her church and the music academy she attended. Hudson’s record label has no plans to release a holiday album to coincide with the TV special.

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    Anna Deavere Smith is something like a phenomenon. Her new show ‘Let Me Down Easy’ opened Oct. 7 at New York City’s tightly packed Second Stage Theater and a flurry of notable well wishers – including Gayle King, opera diva Jessye Norman, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage, actresses Dawn Lewis and Judith Light – came out to celebrate.

    For the Tony Award nominee’s latest one-woman, multi-character show, Smith explores the power of the body, the price of health, and the resilience of the spirit. The Anthony Foglia-directed tour-de-force where the McArthur Genius Grant winning wunderkind transforms herself into a dramatic range of characters, all of whom she’s interviewed and impersonates masterfully for the 95-minute play. But this is far from satire; ‘Let Me Down Easy’ is a thought provoking marvel about mortality channeled through journalistic accounts from a wide variety of sources, including fashion icon Lauren Hutton, super-athlete Lance Armstrong, playwright Eve Ensler, former boxing champ Michael Bent, late movie critic Joel Siegel and former Texas Governor Ann Richards.

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    Controversial reggae artist Buju Banton’s concert at the Voodoo Lounge in San Jose, California on Oct. 13 has been canceled. “After reviewing Buju Banton’s lyrics, I was appalled by their sheer hatred and encouragement of violence towards the gay, lesbian and transgender community,” stated David Powell, co-owner of Voodoo Lounge. “There is no place for these types of incendiary remarks at Voodoo Lounge or in San Jose.” Banton – who recorded the song ‘Boom, Bye Bye,’ in 1988, which incited the torture and murder of gay men – has been the subject of protest for his concert bookings.

    A website has been erected to boycott any promoter doing business with him. An open letter to his manager Tracii Mcgregor, a former editor at the Source magazine, has been published there also, calling her to task for saying that Banton was “only 15 years old when he recorded that song.” Powell maintained that the club’s ownership team “did not know the content of Banton’s lyrics. If we had known, we would not have scheduled this performance.”

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    Big Poppa Kim Zolciak Real Housewives of AtlantaSo is ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ star Kim Zolciak really engaged to Big Poppa? Only God knows for sure. On last week’s episode of the televised guilty pleasure, the bleached-blond urban socialite showed off the new rocks that she got, and boasted of her engagement to her mysterious millionaire paramour (who has been identified as Lee Najjar). Hmmmm. Her TV show co-star Sheree Whitfield, who recently underwent a downsizing divorce from former football player Bob Whitfiled, wondered aloud (and on camera) about the validity of the engagement since the man is still married.

    A Bravo network spokeswoman couldn’t be reached for comment about the possible nuptials. But until that stone is uncovered, folks can see really how large the ‘Tardy for the Party’ singer is living — the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper got an exclusive look at her luxurious digs.

     

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  • Angels clinch third straight West title (AP)

    Texas Rangers' Marlon Byrd(notes) throws his helmet after striking out with two runners on to end the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.

    Kendry Morales homered and drove in three runs, and the Los Angeles Angels wasted no time clinching their third straight AL West title with an 11-0 victory over the second-place Texas Rangers on Monday night. Ervin Santana pitched a seven-hitter for his fourth career shutout, while Maicer Izturis had three hits and two RBIs to wrap up the Angels' sixth playoff berth in eight seasons.

  • Yanks clinch playoff spot as Texas loses (AP)

    The New York Yankees are headed back to the playoffs, clinching their 14th appearance in 15 seasons with the Texas Rangers' loss at Oakland. New York missed the postseason for the first time since 1994 last fall in manager Joe Girardi's debut campaign. The Yankees won 17 playoff series and four World Series in that 13-year span.

  • The Week That Was: Mo’Nique Moves on, Roxanne Shante Rings Alarm

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    She may have been a no-show at the Toronto International Festival earlier this week, but Mo’Nique partied it up with the likes of Vogue Editor-at-Large Andre Leon Talley at the Sugar Bar last night. The incredibly shrinking funnywoman dined on buttery shrimp, sidestepped to the live music (with a bodyguard standing shielding her = insane to observe), cut up on the microphone and welcomed the black media with open arms at an exclusive soiree celebrating her upcoming BET late-night talk show, which premieres Oct. 5.

    Aside from the new show, which we hear may draw comparisons to Arsenio Hall’s groundbreaking 1990s chat fest, the former star of ‘The Parkers’ is looking forward to a busy season. Her performance in the Oprah Winfrey/Tyler Perry-produced drama ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push’ has garnered early Oscar buzz. It has also brought a tinge of scandal, too. This week, a source told Roger Friedman of the Hollywood Reporter that the 41-year-old actress asked for $100,000 at one point to show up to the festival with the rest of the cast. Of course, a rep for Lionsgate (the studio will release the film on Nov. 6) downplayed that tidbit with talk of “scheduling conflicts.” Hmmm. Winfrey, Perry and the diva Mariah Carey all showed up. And no one could possibly be busier than those three. They were all in New York City last night, too, but were nowhere near the Sugar Bar. When probed about the movie’s shining star, the film’s director told a room full of Toronto Festival journalists, “She’s at home eating some potato chips with her kids.” Ummmmm. Okay.

    Last night, however, Mo’Nique seemed to be in her own mode at the Ashford & Simpson-owned hot spot. She wasn’t talking about Toronto drama. Actually, come to think of it, she didn’t say much at all in the watering hole’s tight quarters. The ‘Original Queen of Comedy’ did commend ‘Precious’ filmmakers for believing in her, along with BET honchos Debra Lee, Stephen Hill and Loretha Jones.

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    Party Hearty: Mo’Nique at The Sugar Bar
    Mo’Nique getting her groove on.
    Wilson Morales
    BlackVoices.com

    Black Filmmakers

      Spike Lee
      Besides Woody Allen, no other filmmaker has had more films on the big screen in the last 20 years than Lee. From ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ to ‘Jungle Fever’ to the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated ‘Do The Right Thing,’ Lee’s production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. In 2008, the Atlanta native released his latest film, ‘Miracle at St. Anna,’ a story about blacks fighting in WWII that stars Derek Luke and Michael Ealy.

      Oscar Micheaux
      As the pioneer of Black filmmakers, this Metropolis, Illinois, native revolutionized the film industry when he formed his own movie production company and, in 1919, became the first Black to make a film. He wrote, directed and produced the silent motion picture ‘The Homesteader’ and then introduced the film world to Paul Robeson in ‘Body and Soul.’ In 1986, the Directors Guild of America honored Micheaux with a Golden Jubilee Special Award, and today the Oscar Micheaux Award is presented each year by the Producers Guild.

      Robert Townsend
      Primarily known as a comedian, this Chicago native established himself when he wrote, directed, produced and starred in the comedy ‘Hollywood Shuffle,’ his 1987 film about struggling black actors. He also created and produced the CableACE award-winning ‘Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime’ for HBO. His best film to date is the 1991 musical ‘The Five Heartbeats.’ Townsend recently directed the documentary ‘Why We Laugh,’ a story on black comedians and their impact in America.

      Bill Duke
      Known for his imposing 6-foot-6-inch figure and action films such as 1987’s ‘Predator,’ the Poughkeepsie, New York, native began directing feature-length films in the 1990s with the crime dramas ‘A Rage in Harlem,’ ‘Deep Cover’ and ‘Hoodlum.’ In 2007, Duke directed ‘Cover,’ which starred Vivica A. Fox, and most recently ‘Not Easily Broken,’ which is based on a T.D Jakes novel and stars Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson.

      Ossie Davis
      As a pioneer in the film business and a legend in the Black community, Davis was an actor, director, poet, playwright, writer and social activist whose career spanned nearly 50 years. Davis directed numerous films during the blaxploitation era, including 1970’s ‘Cotton Comes to Harlem’ and 1973’s ‘Gordon’s War.’ Along with wife Ruby Dee, the Georgia native starred in many movies, including several of director Spike Lee’s films such as ‘Do The Right Thing,’ ‘Jungle Fever’ and ‘She Hate Me.’

      Melvin Van Peebles
      This Chicago actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer is most famously known for his contribution to the blaxploitation era with the independently financed and critically acclaimed film ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.’ The 1971 film was written, produced, scored, directed by and starred Van Peebles and tells the story of a deprived Black man on his escape from the white authority. The father of actor/ director Mario, in 2008, Melvin completed the film ‘Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha,’ which played at various film festivals.

      Julie Dash
      In 1991, this Queens, New York, native’s film ‘Daughters of the Dust,’ which tells the story of three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the 20th century, was the first full-length film with general theatrical release in the United States by an Black woman. In 2004, the film was included in the National Film Registry.

      F. Gary Gray
      Having directed more than 30 music videos for artists such as Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, TLC, Dr. Dre and Mary J. Blige, and winning several awards for his work, the New York native moved into the film world with the cult favorite ‘Friday,’ starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. He then followed that film with another fan favorite, ‘Set It Off,’ with Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Jada Pinkett Smith, before moving on to big budgeted films such as ‘The Negotiator,’ ‘The Italian Job’ and ‘Be Cool.’ His next feature is slated to be ‘Marvin: The Life Story of Marvin Gaye.’

      Forest Whitaker
      An Academy Award winner for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film ‘The Last King of Scotland’, the Longview, Texas, native has directed many films, including the fan favorite 1995’s ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ based on the Terry McMillan novel of the same name. Other directorial films from Whitaker include ‘Hope Floats’ and ‘First Daughter.’

      Lee Daniels
      Beginning his career in entertainment as a casting director and manager, the Philadelphia native worked on projects such as ‘Under the Cherry Moon’ and ‘Purple Rain,’ both of which starred Prince, before hitting the jackpot with his production of ‘Monster’s Ball’ in 2001. That film garnered Halle Berry a best actress Oscar, making her the first Black woman to do so. In 2006, Daniels made his directorial debut with ‘Shadowboxer,’ which starred Oscar winners Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Helen Mirren. Just recently, in January 2009, his latest directing gig, ‘Push,’ won three awards at the Sundance Film Festival, including best film.

    Mo’Nique

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    Everyone and their mother (and even the P.O.T.U.S.) seemed to have some sideways comment about Kanye West’s messy spectacle at the MTV Video Music Awards — as if he was videotaped urinating on underage girls; as if he was accused of sexual assault by a Colorado hotel employee; as if he lumped up his beautiful Cover Girl model girlfriend on the streets of Los Angeles … but I digress.

    Joining in the fray is Angelo Ellerbee, an esteemed public relations veteran.

    In an eyebrow-raising interview with Out magazine, the New Jersey native – who has worked with virtually everyone in black entertainment from, Dionne Warwick to DMX, spoke his piece about the highly publicized debacle: “This is a problem! You can talk about how it’s liquor, but liquor just makes you do what you want to do. It’s an excuse. His mother dying, the liquor — they’re all excuses. You need to go and get some help. You need to come to me for a week. That’s what you need to do!”

    Another nugget from Ellerbee, who has garnered praise for media coaching and teaching celebrities proper etiquette: “It angers me to think that we’ve come so far and then our black president is shouted at and called a liar and nobody wants to do anything because no one wants to ruffle any feathers. You know what? I’ve got nothing but feathers to ruffle. I’m tired of this. When I worked with Mary J. Blige, people said it was the hardest thing to do and it would never happen. But life is not a cup of instant coffee. It’s brewed coffee. It’s brewed over time. Look where she’s at today!”

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    Before Wanda Sykes starts hosting her late-night show on FOX this fall, audiences will get to see her on HBO. The Emmy Award-winning comedienne returns to the network for her second solo special, ‘Wanda Sykes: I’m a Be Me,’ debuting Oct. 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Taped last month before a live audience at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., the special will feature the brazen funnywoman performing material featured in her national stand-up tour. She addresses such topics as having a new “cool” black president, coming out as a lesbian, the real Michelle Obama, being a new mom, getting her first bikini wax, health care town halls, pirates and working as an entertainer on a gay cruise. Named one of Entertainment Weekly’s “25 Funniest People in America,” the ‘New Adventures of Old Christine’ star recently hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

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    Grammy-Award winning neo-soul powerhouse Jill Scott, Obie Award-winning actress Yvette Freeman and Emmy Award-winning producer Shonda Rimes have some irons in the fire. Scott has been cast as the lead in Lifetime Television’s telefilm ‘Sins of the Mother,’ about a grad student who returns home to face her abusive, alcoholic mother. Scott, who recently helmed the critically acclaimed HBO series ‘Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency’ (now on DVD), will play the mother. According to ‘Variety,’ production began this week, and a 2010 premiere is slated.

    She played nurse Haleh for 15 years on the TV drama ‘ER,’ but Freeman is a master at theater. This week, the Obie Award-winning Delaware native stars in McCarter Theatre Center‘s production of Emily Mann’s ‘Having Our Say,’ based on the memoir about civil rights pioneers Sadie and Bessie Delany. The multiple-award-winning play officially opened Sept. 17 and will continue at the Princeton University venue through Oct. 18.

    ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ creator Rimes will produce a Miramax Films project adapted from journalist Helena Andrews‘ upcoming memoir ‘Bitch is the New Black,’ a satirical look at the new generation of young, successful black women in Washington, D.C. Andrews, a culture columnist for TheRoot.com, has been tapped to pen the screenplay.

    *****

    Roxanne Shante, who was recently embroiled in a sordid scandal about whether Warner Bros. Records financed her alleged college education, sounded an alarm about a serious women’s health issue earlier this week. Via her Facebook page, the Queens, N.Y., native wrote: “Sisters, it is very important that you get mammograms. I am not going to put my personal business out here. But just know I am speaking from a place and situation that I don’t want to see any of you in. If anyone here is a breast cancer survivor I would love to hear from you. Life Begins at 40.”

    When reached for comment, the former Cold Chillin’ Records rap diva (nee Lolita Gooden), who many consider the “First Lady of Rap,” did not respond. But today, she wrote: “Okay, let me explain. I wanted to share my situation because someone reading this needs to know they are not alone. Or they need to go and get a mammogram. We always put ourselves on the back burner for family, work, friends, etc. Put your health 1st today. As for me, I will be fine. God is good and has given me a guarantee. Plus, to worry is a sin, and I have committed enough of those so I don’t worry. Lol.” Her 40th birthday is Nov. 9.

     

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  • Remainder of Clemens’ lawsuit dismissed (AP)

    The remainder of Roger Clemens' defamation suit against Brian McNamee in Texas has been dismissed, leaving the pair to fight their legal battle in New York. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who threw out most of Clemens' case in February, dismissed the remainder of the suit on Aug. 28. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning Clemens can't refile, but he plans to ask the 5th U.S.

  • Byrd pitches Red Sox over Blue Jays 7-0 (AP)

    Boston Red Sox's Kevin Youkilis(notes) looks back to see he has been called out at second base after being tagged by Toronto Blue Jays' Marco Scutaro(notes) trying to stretch a single into a double during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009.

    Paul Byrd, making his first major league start since last September, pitched six shutout innings and the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep with a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. The win was the sixth in seven games for Boston, which opened the day 2 1/2 games ahead of Texas in the AL's wild-card race.