Chris Stokes gives the latest trends and entertainment news here first
You Got Served writer and director Chris Stokes just finished directing his latest project “Til Death Do Us Part”. The thriller stars Taye Diggs (Empire) and Annie Ilonzeh (All Eyez On Me). It’s about a wife in an abusive relationship who gathers up the courage to leave her abusive husband and start a new life. The action packed thriller is full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. The movie will be opening wide on September 29,2017. Make sure you go check it out!
Comedian Charlie Murphy died at 57 after losing his battle with leukemia, TMZ reported.
Murphy died in a New York City hospital on Wednesday morning, according to TMZ. Murphy co-starred on the “Chappelle’s Show” and is the older brother of Eddie Murphy.
Murphy was credited in a number of different movies and TV shows, including roles on “Night at the Museum” and “Norbit” along with TV series “Black Jesus” and “Power.”
In addition to playing several acting roles and serving as a comedian, Murphy also got several writing credits, according to IMDB.com.
As news of Murphy’s death broke on Tuesday, fellow comedians and others in show business took to Twitter to mourn the loss of their colleague and friend.
Beyonce is pregnant with twins – but that isn’t stopping her from going full steam ahead with her 2017 Grammys performance this Sunday!
“She’ll be taking it easier than normal,” a source told TMZ about superstar, who reportedly is “very pregnant” according to this report.
Beyonce is in rehearsals for the show and will not be locking anything down until Saturday, apparently, due to her pregnancy and the limitations she may face. The report continues that the performance may go at a slower pace.
In addition to being some cameos (could it be Jay Z?!), there will also be a digital screen used during the show.
The 2017 Grammys are set to air on Sunday (February 12), and we’ll be covering the whole show. Make sure you don’t miss it. It’s going to be a good show!!!
Everyone has his own version of the truth.
Ask Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone or Chris Kirkpatrick why Justin Timberlake left ‘N Sync at the height of the boy band’s success and you’re likely to get different answers. Timberlake’s truth is revealed in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Feb. 17 issue. “We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big. It started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche,” the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” singer remembers. “And, also, I was growing out of it.”
“I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group,” he explains. “I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart.”
In addition to becoming a solo artist, Timberlake found success in Hollywood with Alpha Dog, The Social Network, Friends With Benefits, Runner Runner and other films. But he doesn’t prefer one form of expression to the other. “I want to do both things. I really do idolize the golden era of Hollywood, when actors were required to sing and move. But I’m just following my gut in the decisions that I make about what I’m going to do next. I’m mostly just glad this is all working out because I really can’t do anything else,” Timberlake confesses. “I’m not gifted at anything else.”
At the moment, Timberlake is unsure whether he wants to focus on acting or music. “Going on tour is a circus. You set up the tents, you play the show, you tear the tents down and go on to the next place. It’s like Groundhog Day,” he says. “After the 125th show, you feel debilitated.”
Even so, Timberlake is excited about his new music. “It sounds more like where I’ve come from than any other music I’ve ever made,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s Memphis. It’s Southern American music. I want to make it sound modern—at least that’s the idea right now.”
The most important thing to consider, though, is how his career will affect his family.
“Everything feels divisive to me right now,” he says. “Everything.”
Frank Ocean is facing a $14.5 million defamation lawsuit from his father Calvin Cooksey, TMZ has reported.
The allegations stem from a Tumblr post Ocean penned last year in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. “I was 6 years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out of a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty,” Ocean wrote. Cooksey alleges that this passage is untrue and “damaged his financial opportunities in film and music.” He’s asking for $14.5 million in damages.
This is the second multi-million dollar lawsuit Cooksey has served relating to Ocean: last year, he asked a court to award him $142 million after Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons called him “a deadbeat dad.”
Pitchfork has obtained a copy of Cooksey’s complaint against Ocean. In it, Cooksey accuses Ocean’s collaborator Tyler, the Creator of being a “devil worshiper,” and calls Ocean “a fraud and only cared about making millions of dollars through Defendant’s exclusive deal with Apple, Inc.”
The lawsuit reads: “It’s important to note that on June 21, 2016, the Defendant did NOT include a homophobic bigot named Tyler the Creator in the Defendant’s June 21, 2016 anti-homophobic Tumblr essay.” The complaint goes on to accuses Frank Ocean’s mother, Katonya Breaux, of hypocrisy for slamming gospel singer Kim Burrell’s homophobic rant while not calling out Tyler’s use of slurs.
“This is the reason Defendant did not include this homophobic Tyler the Creator on June 21, 2016, because it would expose Defendant as a hypocrite and fraud who dishonestly betrayed the LGBT fans base for Tyler the Creator, who has clearly demonstrated hate for the LGBT community,” the lawsuit says.
Cooksey’s complaint makes frequent mention of Tyler’s ongoing ban from the United Kingdom, instituted by in 2014 by then-Home Secretary (and current British Prime Minster) Theresa May.
According to another document viewed by Pitchfork, a judge has ordered Cooksey and Ocean into mediation in an attempt to reach a settlement.
Rolling Out Magazine highlights the start of the Chris Stokes Movie Training Workshop. For more information about the workshop and how you can be a part of it click here.
For more information on Chris Stokes go to All Music.
Pop superstar George Michael has died peacefully at home, his publicist said.
The 53-year-old, who was set to release a documentary in 2017, rose to fame as a member of Wham!, known for their hits Club Tropicana and Last Christmas. He had a highly successful solo career which included the songs Careless Whisper, Faith, Outside and Freedom! ’90.
Michael – who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou – had 11 UK number ones and sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades. His most recent album, Symphonica, was released in 2014.
Thames Valley police told the BBC an ambulance attended the house in Goring, Oxfordshire, at 1.42pm.They said the death was being treated as “unexplained but not suspicious” and they would not comment further until after a postmortem.
In a statement, the star’s publicist said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period.
“The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
Michael’s manager Michael Lippman said he died from heart failure and was found “in bed, lying peacefully.” His publicist Cindi Berger said he had not been ill.
On Twitter, Andrew Ridgeley, Michael’s partner in Wham!, said he was “heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend”.
Kanye West has always been something of a provocateur and a nihilist, and is staunchly anti-political correctness.
Last night he stirred a maybe unprecedented level of controversy, however, declaring at a Saint Pablo Tour show in San Jose: “I would have voted on Trump”.
“This is my platform and I’m going to talk about the paradigm shift that’s happening right now,” he said at the top of a 40-minute political speech that came at the cost of several songs.
It’s hard to ascertain exactly the point he was trying to make as we only have tweets and videos from attendees, not a transcript, to go off, but it sounds as though he was mostly praising the disruptive nature of Trump’s campaign, which ‘inspired racists to reveal themselves’.
“Whether you voted for Hillary or Trump, this is a safe space for both of you,” he told the audience, asking any Trump voters to make themselves known. He also reiterated his desire to run for president in 2020, saying his focus would be on education and that his campaign would use a different political model.
“Stop focusing on racism,” he added, declaring sombrely: “We are in a racist country – period.” His stance stands in stark contrast to 2005 Kanye, who famously declared that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” in the wake of the devestating Hurricane Katrina.
The concert received an understandably mixed response.
Kanye was apparently happy when one woman screamed that she loved him in spite of his appreciation of Trump’s campaign, but there was also a lot of booing, stunned silence and even a few projectiles – one of which was a Yeezy shoe, which Kanye promptly signed and returned to the thrower.
Kim Kardashian West was robbed of millions of dollars worth of jewelry while visiting Paris on Sunday night, according to a judicial source and reports.
A second source with knowledge of security at the private mansion where the reality TV star was staying told NBC News that she was tied up during the incident and that a wedding ring was among the valuables taken.
Kardashian West’s spokeswoman said that she was left “badly shaken but physically unharmed” after being held at gunpoint by two armed, masked men.
The culprits escaped with a ring worth about $4.5 million and a jewelry box containing other items worth $5.6 million, the judicial source said. The Associated Press also cited a Paris police official as confirming that account.
The judicial source told NBC News that five individuals dressed as police officers went to the building Sunday night.
An authoritative source with knowledge of the hotel’s security said an overnight watchman was on duty when he was overcome by armed men. They took the key to where Kardashian West was staying and ran around the building trying to find the correct apartment.
Once inside, the source said, the men tied her up and put her in the bathroom. The source added that the robbers seemed to have known that security was light on Sunday night, triggering speculation it may have been an inside job.
We will keep you informed as more develops. Happy that Kim is OK.
Just days after the season three premiere aired, the rapper took to Instagram where he shared a screenshot of Taraji P. Henson and a headline claiming Empire’s ratings were down.
“Well look at the bright side at least. You can eat your trophies,” 50 Cent wrote on Instagram. “I was talking to old girl but you felt like you had to respond. SMH you know I love you cookie. I got a new show for you BMF COMING SOON !!!#EFFENVODKA.”
As it turns out, Taraji saw the message and decided to speak up with her own message.
“For the confused ppl. Do REAL research!!! Loose change makes sooooooo much UNNECESSARY NOISE,” she shared on Instagram Saturday afternoon. “STILL LOOKING FOR THAT DAMN CENT SIGN!!! I guess it’s obsolete. AGAIN CONGRATS ON YOUR SUCCESS BLACK MAN!!! @50cent.”
She later included a screengrab from a recent story that said Empire remains the No. 1 scripted show on broadcast TV.
Ultimately, 50 Cent wasn’t done just yet. After reading Taraji’s response, he went back to social media where the digs kept coming.
“All this back and forth s–t is starting to turning me on cookie, LMAO I ran into Lee Daniels at the gym on Sunset Blvd. he asked why I didn’t except his offer to be on EMPIRE. I told him I have a lot going on, I’m actually working on the show FOX is gonna replace EMPIRE with, he looked at me like…why the f–k are you doing that?” he wrote. “It’s because I’m a drug dealer, and I was taught to get in, get your weight up, then take over. So that’s the deal #EFFENVODKA #smsaudio #FRIGO.”
Reports have also circulated that Empire co-star Jussie Smollett may have joined in on the conversation. A post has surfaced on social media where the actor appears to respond to 50’s Cent’s original post.
“So here we go…I’ve always taken the high road when you’ve said our show was too gay, was stealing the word ‘power’ in our marketing from your show, or was too whatever you felt like saying at the moment,” he wrote in the now deleted post. “But now you’re messing with @TarajiPHenson.”
Speaking of Taraji, even though she has some disagreements with a certain Power star, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t support the cast especially Naturi Naughton.
“Sooooooooo proud of you @naturi4real I WANT YOU TO KNOW I will NEVER let any NEGATIVITY come between the LOVE I have for my sisters!!!” Taraji shared while supporting Power. “As women we put up with enough BS. I will NEVER add to that stress and heartache!!! YOU ARE DOPE on #Power and in life!!! #BlackGirlMagic SHINE BABY SHINE.”