Getty Images Sinbad Casts In Rel Pilot It’s lit! Comedy veteran Sinbad has just joined the pilot for “Rel”, a Lil Rel Howery and Jerrod Carmichael pilot for Fox according to Variety . The standup comic will play Rel’s dad, as well as the father to Nat (Jordan L. Jones), who seems to care more about his reputation in the community than he does about the happiness of his sons. According to reports, Rel is a comedy inspired by the life of comedian Lil Rel. Lil Rel Howery reportedly stars as a prideful, self-made success who lives by the code of “always believe in yourself and great things will come.” He finds that attitude put to the test when he learns his wife is having an affair with his barber. He tries to rebuild his life postdivorce as a long-distance single father on the South Side of Chicago who is on a quest for love, respect and a new barber. Ironically, Sinbad’s return to television is happening on Fox, where he had his own self-titled series once. The Sinbad Show , which aired on Fox for one season in the 1993-94 season. This sounds like it’s going to be funny!Will you be watching???
It’s been a few months now since all the awful stories about Harvey Weinstein started pouring in … And what a super depressing time it’s been. Actress after actress has come forward to accuse Weinstein of everything from sexual harassment to sexual assault to rape, and though these stories have been coming out for so long now, we’ve yet to hear the end of it all. We know that because today, Uma Thurman finally felt comfortable to reveal what Weinstein did to her. A little bit of background: Uma has known Weinstein for years and years, ever since she starred in Pulp Fiction. Back in November, she was asked about all the stories that had been coming out about him, and she explained to the reporter that she didn’t have a “tidy soundbite” prepared . “I am not a child,” she said then, “and I have learned that when I’ve spoken in anger, I usually regret the way I express myself.” Uma Thurman: See Her INCREDIBLE Statement on Harvey Weinstein Scandal “So I’ve been waiting to feel less angry. And when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.” She definitely seemed angry then, and she seemed even angrier a few weeks later when she shared a message about Thanksgiving with her followers on Instagram. After talking about being “grateful,” she wrote that “I feel it’s important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so… Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!” “Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators,” she added in parentheses. “I’m glad it’s going slowly — you don’t deserve a bullet .” She advised everyone to “stay tuned,” and we have … and now in a new interview with the New York Times, she’s telling her story at long last. To start, Uma explains that she began getting close to Harvey and his first wife after filming Pulp Fiction. “I knew him pretty well before he attacked me,” she says. “He used to spend hours talking to me about material and complimenting my mind and validating me.” “It possibly made me overlook warning signs.” “This was my champion,” she continues. “I was never any kind of studio darling. He had a chokehold on the type of films and directors that were right for me.” Later, she says that she had a meeting with him in a hotel room — unfortunately, you can probably tell where the story is going at this point. As they were discussing a script, Harvey changed into a bathrobe, but Uma says that she “didn’t feel threatened,” that she “thought he was being super idiosyncratic, like this was your kooky, eccentric uncle.” After that, he told her to follow him as he went to a different room, and he ended up leading her to a steam room. “And I was standing there in my full black leather outfit — boots, pants, jacket. And it was so hot and I said, ‘This is ridiculous, what are you doing?'” “And he was getting very flustered and mad and he jumped up and ran out,” she says. Not too long after that, Uma says that she was meeting with Harvey in another hotel when he attacked her. “It was such a bat to the head,” she recalls. “He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things.” “But he didn’t actually put his back into it and force me.” She compares the experience to being “like an animal wriggling away, like a lizard.” “I was doing anything I could to get the train back on the track. My track. Not his track.” The next day, he sent her roses with a card that just read “You have great instincts.” How horrifying is that? She went back to the hotel to confront him about what happened, but she says that his assistants tried to pressure her to let it go and to focus on the upcoming film projects she was working on with Harvey. After finally agreeing to meet with him one more time, she told him “If you do what you did to me to other people you will lose your career, your reputation and your family, I promise you.” She says that that was the last thing she remembered of that night, but a friend of hers who’d gone with her to the hotel for support says that Uma stayed upstairs in Harvey’s room for a long time, and when she came back down “she was very disheveled and so upset and had this blank look.” View Slideshow: Hollywood Sex Scandal: Who’s Been Caught? Accused? Fired? Harvey has already denied everything, beyond admitting that he did make an unsuccessful pass at Uma during that first hotel incident. What a terrible story that just keeps getting worse, huh?
Things have been rough between Kailyn Lowry and Javi Marroquin for a while now. Pretty much ever since they met. Sure, they were probably in love or whatever at some point — they did get married and have a baby together, after all — but things have never really been easy between them. Remember how much they would fight over anything and everything? Literally just any old thing? It was bad But although there was a lot of bad blood between them , they managed to put aside their issues last year for the sake of their son, Lincoln. At some point, it even seemed like they were forming a pretty solid friendship. Or at least they were before Briana DeJesus came into the picture. When Javi started dating Briana last fall, his relationship with Kailyn pretty much fell apart. There was drama between the two of them, and between Kailyn and Briana . Again, it was bad. Unfortunately — or let’s be real this was probably best for everyone involved — Javi and Briana broke up earlier this month . It wasn’t a terribly dramatic breakup or anything. The big issues were that he wanted to settle down and get married again, and also that she planned on getting more plastic surgery and he wasn’t cool with it. But still, they’re no longer together, and so it seems like he and Kailyn are able to tolerate each other once again. So are they tolerating each other enough to give love one more chance?! Javi appeared on Kailyn’s podcast this week, and they touched on the subject of a possible reconciliation in the future. You know, because it worked so well the first time around. “I just think that there’s a lot of history between us that neither one of us will ever let go,” Javi explained . “Even if we were to try again in the future it wouldn’t work because I know the type of person I am and the type of person she is. We argue. It just wouldn’t happen.” It’s interesting because while he admitted that things would never work out between them, he did say “if we were to try again in the future.” When are these two crazy kids going to get it together?! Kailyn confirmed that their love just is not meant to be, saying that “Javi argues out of passion. Javi is a habitual arguer and a ‘never letter goer.'” “I couldn’t have said it better,” she told him. “I don’t think we could get back together.” They both agreed that being on Teen Mom 2 definitely played a hand in the downfall of their marriage, and thankfully Javi admitted that jumping from one Teen Mom to another probably wasn’t the best idea. “I’m trying to learn from my mistakes and not repeat those mistakes so moving forward, I’m not gonna mix that,” he said. What, was he thinking about landing another Teen Mom next before he came to this realization? Should Leah Messer be on the lookout? It actually sounds like he’s still a little hung up on Briana . “I don’t know what the future holds,” he told Kailyn about his most recent ex. “There is a lot we have to discuss and talk about before we make any other decisions.” “But if we do get back together, I would hope we can all get along.” Fat chance, buddy. “It would never happen,” Kailyn replied. “We would never get along. You allowed her to disrespect me to my face, also on camera, also in text messages.” “When I said what I had to say in a nice way you defended her and not me. We raise a son together, you don’t raise a son with her.” There’s that good old bickering we know and love! Look, is there any real chance that these two will ever get back together? Yes, honestly. It definitely could happen — there seems to be some unresolved feelings there for sure. But is there an even bigger chance that they will go back and forth between being friendly and being ridiculously, hilariously petty for the rest of their whole entire lives? You bet your bottom dollar. View Slideshow: Kailyn Lowry Reacts to Javi Marroquin-Briana DeJesus Breakup: Did She Throw Shade?
Of the various famous men accused of being sex monsters in recent months, many have been more famous but arguably none have been as influential as Steve Wynn. He’s a billionaire. He’s an outspoken conservative and the finance chair for the Republican National Committee. He’s a Las Vegas casino mogul. And, according to dozens of accusers, his pattern of alleged sexual misconduct goes back for decades . The Wall Street Journal reports that billionaire Steve Wynn has engaged in behaviors for years and years that create a working culture of sexual harassment. According to dozens of current and former employees of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn’s demands for sex from female employees came under the guise of manicures, makeup applications, and massages that were performed privately in his offices. It is there that these numerous sources say that Steve Wynn would exert pressure upon these women to engage in sex acts at his behest. The Wall Street Journal describes employees conspiring to invent fake appointments that various female coworkers might have so that they could avoid spending time alone in their CEO’s office. One woman recounted her story in which she alleges that Wynn forced her to have sex. While working as a manicurist at Wynn’s flagship casino in 2005, she says that Wynn pressured her to remove her clothing. She says that he then relentlessly pressured her to lie naked on the massage table in his office. The Wall Street Journal spoke to coworkers of hers who remember her returning to where they were, looking visibly shaken and upset, immediately after the alleged incident. That sounds like a horrifying abuse of power. The Wall Street Journal says that they were the ones who reached out to employees, not the other way around. They spoke to over 150 current and former employees in order to hear personal accounts and seek confirmation from others. We can only guess which stories they may have heard but were unable to confirm. Citing Steve Wynn’s powerful influence throughout the Las Vegas strip, most of the employees who spoke were hesitant to speak on the record, worrying that it could hurt their careers. At least one previous alleged incident with a manicurist led to a lawsuit and payout of $7.5 million. All in all, the culture described by the report is one in which some female employees would hide in the bathroom if they knew that Steve Wynn was in the building. In response to these allegations, Wynn’s company issued a lengthy statement. Interestingly, both he and his company seem to believe that this report is part of a conspiracy by his two-time ex-wife, Elain Wynn (1963-1986, 1991-2010). “The recent allegations about Mr. Wynn reflect allegations made in court hearings by Mr. Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine Wynn.” That’s part of a statement by Wynn Resorts, which also says: “It is clear that Mr. Wynn’s ex-wife has sought to use a negative public relations campaign to achieve what she has been unable to do in the courtroom: tarnish the reputation of Mr. Wynn in an attempt to pressure a revised divorce settlement from him.” The statement also iterates that Wynn Resorts is committed to a safe workplace. Additionally, Wynn himself says that “the idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous.” We don’t know what Steve Wynn’s wife Andrea Wynn (formerly Andrea Hissom) thinks of all of this, but we do know what stockholders think. Shares in Wynn Resorts fell by 5% … and then it was 8% … and then 9%. The presentation of these accusations as a smear campaign is curious, as one would imagine that it would require enlisting over 150 accomplices and also hoodwinking The Wall Street Journal , a notoriously conservative news outlet that one would imagine would take extra care when accusing one of the nation’s wealthiest Republicans. It is difficult to gauge what the fallout from this will be for Wynn, professionally. Las Vegas is not Hollywood. Perhaps only time will tell if he’ll be ousted from any of his many, many business and political interests. View Slideshow: Hollywood Sex Scandal: Who’s Been Caught? Accused? Fired?
You know how sometimes your non-friend acquaintance doesn’t text you back, so you take that as permission to bang their boyfriend? That’s life, right? According to Faith Stowers, anyway. Because she’s not only unapologetic about hooking up with Jax, she’s also claiming that she and Brittany were never really friends. Way to commit to your role as Vanderpump Rules villain, Faith. So, on this season of Vanderpump Rules , Faith Stowers has gone from being essentially a glorified extra to being the center of attention. She slept with Jax Taylor . To make matters worse, she also claimed that she’d missed her period — guaranteeing her the on-camera attention that she clearly craves. But not all attention is good attention, folks. She’s emerged as the villain. Just because Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor are still together somehow doesn’t mean that Faith didn’t play a key role in sabotaging their relationship. Was Jax the guiltiest party? Yes. But since the much-beloved Brittany has taken him back, viewers and fans are going to want to look to the other woman to direct their ire. And Faith is making herself really, really easy to dislike. Faith Stowers spoke to Us Weekly in what we assume was, at some point, an attempt to make herself look better. You tell us how well she succeeded. “I don’t owe Brittany anything, I’m not Brittany’s friend.” There is a line of thinking that suggests that only the cheater is doing anything wrong, not the woman with whom he cheats. In some cases, we’re inclined to agree. But basically everyone, ever, including Faith’s costars, were definitely under the impression that Brittany and Faith were friends. Faith, however, suggests some “evidence” that they weren’t friends. “Brittany doesn’t even text me back. I mean, I’m confused.” Banging somebody’s boyfriend sounds like a bit of an overreaction. In my day, when somebody didn’t text back, we just set their car on fire. (Kidding!) It looks like Faith knows that the whole “banged Jax and faked a pregnancy” storyline can’t go on forever without adding a little more fuel to the fire. Because then she decided to bring up a more salacious topic. “The only reason why you text me in the beginning was cause you wanted a threesome.” Apparently this whole thing started when Jax was messaging Faith, ostensibly on behalf of himself and Brittany. Faith told Us her reaction: “I was like laughing, ‘LOL, you guys are hilarious. Brittany’s pretty cute though.’” She’s not wrong. Faith says that, at the time, she at least entertained the notion of a threesome with her Vanderpump Rules costars. “I’m kind of flirting with the idea, but I’m not serious.” But … you know how, if you mention a walk in front of a dog, they get super excited and can’t calm down until you walk them? That’s the impression that we get of Jax and all of this sex talk. Super eager … but without a dog’s loyalty. Or cuteness. “I think that’s what pushed the envelope for him. OK now I’m bringing up threesomes, here we go.” We all know where that led. Jax screwed up — and by up , we mean Faith. But Faith is no longer happy with him. “I actually liked Jax, like I actually appreciated his time, and so it was the fact that he lied to my face.” The Jax she banged, it seems, was very different from the Jax who tried to preserve his relationship with Brittany Cartwright. “This kid was almost in tears laying in my bed, talking about this girl, saying he was done with her and he felt trapped. But lie to my face at a party?” Faith even describes what sex with Jax was like, because of course she does. “It was almost like he really, really needed this.” It sounds a little like she’s calling Jax pathetic, here. Or insulting Brittany’s sex skills. “It was … you could just tell, ’cause even when during the intercourse, it was very intimate, it was like … he just, I don’t know.” She takes another stab at describing their encounter. “He was in a whole other world, he was just so excited. I don’t know. I was into it, cause I liked him, I could tell he was more into it than I was. If that makes any sense.” That actually does make sense … but we don’t really need to hear Jax’s sexual experiences described to us ever again. Please. View Slideshow: 37 Classic Vanderpump Rules Moments in GIFs
When Snooki and Jionni LaValle got married back in 2014, they truly defied the odds. No, not because of that dumb “don’t look for love on the Jersey Shore” mantra that some of Snooks’ roommates tried to make happen back in Season 1, but because of the circumstances under which their relationship began. Usually, when romances start with one party telling the world that the other has a small penis while doing her best to cheat on him, it doesn’t bode well for the future. Add to that the fact that Jionni bailed after just a few hours when he attempted to visit Snooki during her time in Italy, and it’s pretty clear that the smart money would have been on these two never making it to the altar. But to the utter shock of many, Snooki and Jionni tied the knot, and they’re currently raising two kids together. Of course, for a while now, the LaValles relationship has looked more like an amicable co-parenting partnership than an actual marriage. And now fans are starting to suspect that the lack of romance is putting a strain on the couple. Rumors of Snooki and Jionni living separate lives have been circulating for years. Only in the past few months, however, have the LaValles stopped trying to hide the growing distance between them. Fans have noticed that Jionni is nowhere to be found on Snooks’ social media page. The couple is seldom seen together in public, and Jionni didn’t attend Deena Cortese’s wedding or any of the recent Shore reunion events with his wife. “How come your husband is never in anything ever?” one fan recently asked on Snooks’ Instagram page. “No more Jionni?” echoed another. “Jionni never goes out with her and she seems to be going out a lot, ” a source close to the couple tells Radar Online. “He can’t say he has to take care of the kids because they live a few minutes away from his entire family.” It’s not hard to see why fans are so curious. According to Radar, Jionni and Snooki were spotted attending a comedy show together earlier this year, but they haven’t been photographed together with their kids since 2015! Until today (seemingly in response to the latest round of rumors) the only pic Snooki had posted of Jionni in the past month was a throwback to their wedding day. But who’s to say? Maybe they’re one of those couples that can contentedly live separate lives and stay together for the kids. Fans are a bit taken aback, of course, as Snooki … never struck as the unemotional type. View Slideshow: Jersey Shore Cast: Where Are They Now?
For better or for worse, Arie Luyendyk Jr. is the leading man on this upcoming season of The Bachelor , and there are some people who are very unhappy about this upcoming season. And there’s more to that frustration than wishing that someone else were starring on the show. Is Arie Luyendyk Jr. too old? Is the cast of contestants too young? Are they all (or most of them) too white? Before you say it, this isn’t just about why Peter Kraus isn’t the Bachelor . Peter’s a fan favorite and, unlike precious puppy Dean Unglert, didn’t soil his reputation on Bachelor in Paradise . Peter was an easy pick to win. But, you know, fans think they know who’ll win The Bachelor based upon names and math, so … sometimes a fan theory is really just a guess. (Hint: if you follow The Bachelor Spoilers , you have a pretty good idea of how all of this is going to end) But showrunners felt that Peter wasn’t up for it, or maybe they just wanted to surprise fans by defying their expectations. And picking Arie certainly does that. That said, the concerns that fans have over this upcoming season ( The Bachelor will be upon us so soon, you guys!) are a little less personal and a lot more important. First of all, we have to talk about race. Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette was historic, and not just because Rachel was the franchise’s first black female lead. Though that, in and of itself, was a huge deal — and many are disappointed that The Bachelor did not follow in its sister series’ footsteps. Eric Bigger isn’t quite Peter Kraus … (Even Rachel Lindsay knows that, even though she’s thrown Peter under the bus at every opportunity since her season ended) … But some fans feel that he would have made a stronger, handsomer Bachelor. (Especially with that revenge beard!) And, quite frankly, even with Arie at the helm of the show, they could have made the contestants a little more racially diverse. Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette was historically diverse. Yes, she is black, and that was an amazing and embarrassingly long overdue bit of the bare minimum amount of inclusion for the franchise. But if you look at her suitors, you notice that they were a much more diverse crowd than we’re used to seeing — on The Bachelorette or The Bachelor . Nearly half of Rachel Lindsay’s suitors were men of color. Then we look at the women competing for Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s “rose” (or “heart” or whichever euphemism you prefer), and see that the series has taken a step backwards. Finally, we need to talk about age. Nobody likes this topic, because time is cruel and unfeeling and robs us of all capacity for pride or joy with time, but we need to address it. Arie Luyendyk Jr. is 36. His absolute oldest contestant this season is 33. A 3-year age difference barely matters in college and is a blink of an eye when both people are in their thirties. Most of the women are in their mid-to-late 20s. There are a couple of women who are 23. And scuttlebutt is that Rebekah, whose age was conspicuously absent from early reports, may be as young as 22. Of course, people have whined about recent Bachelors being “too young,” allegedly wanting to increase their social media visibility instead of genuinely looking for love. (As if anyone believes that Arie’s here for love) All of these criticisms make sense. Diversity matters. Reasonable age ranges matter. But we have to wonder if The Bachelor is preparing to pivot. Perhaps their next leading man will be a 26-year-old man of color, and Arie is just the dull build-up to a groundbreaking 2019 season. In the mean time, take a look at Arie’s prospective mates, and decide for yourself if, beautiful though they all are as individuals, the make-up of the overall cast leans a little too young and white . View Slideshow: The Bachelor Season 22 Cast: Official Photos, Descriptions Revealed!
Omarosa hasn’t made much news lately, so it’s unclear what her status is these days in the ever-changing Trump White House. However, a recent story has surfaced that indicates that she thinks she’s important. It appears that Omarosa took wedding photos at The White House after she got hitched to Florida pastor John Allen Newman in April. Politico.com first reported the incident . Per Politico: The Apprentice villain turned senior White House official brought members of her 39-person bridal party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for an extended wedding photo shoot, catching fellow senior aides and some security officials by surprise in her bridal attire. The visitors loudly wandered around, looking to snap photos in the Rose Garden and throughout the West Wing, according to four current and former White House officials. While it’s unclear whether she received formal permission for the photo shoot, at least some lawyers and other senior aides were not briefed in advance, the officials said. They quickly banned Manigault, director of communications for the Office of the Public Liaison, from posting the pictures online, citing security and ethical concerns. The incident — which created buzz in the West Wing for weeks — did little to help the reputation of the Office of Public Liaison, seen by some White House officials as one of the most unruly and under-utilized operations in the West Wing, according to eight current and former White House officials and advisers. The office has floundered for months, these people say, and has drawn particular scrutiny from Chief of Staff John Kelly, who has asked for changes. Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook . Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Share your email below to receive our daily newsletter! Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Email Submit Share on Facebook Share on Twitter [ione_media_gallery src=”https://blackamericaweb.com” id=”41632″ overlay=”true”]
