Today, I became the black Power Ranger. Not literally — I’m not going to be moving to Angel Grove to fight Rita Repulsa’s minions anytime soon. But I did take a pretty dramatic photo as the black Power Ranger at Lionsgate and Nerdist’s Power Rangers party, one of the hottest tickets of the night with… Read more »
Have you been tuning in to the Sisterhood of Hip Hop? Bossip sat down with star of the show Audra the Rapper and talked to her about what it’s like to be on the show and we got the scoop on ‘Smokahontas’ favorite kush. Be sure to tune in to the Sisterhood of Hip Hop on the Oxygen channel Sundays at 9/8c. And check out Audra the Rapper on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook !
After teasing Marvel fans a few months back , Netflix finally released a full trailer for Luke Cage , at Comic Con. For those unfamiliar, the series is a semi-spinoff to Netflix’s other smash Marvel hit Jessica Jones, and follows the adventures of indestructible and super-strong bar owner Luke as he navigates life in Harlem. Executive Producer and showrunner Cheo Coker previewed the series by simply saying, “The world is ready for a bulletproof black man.” We definitely are . Catch this Mike one on September 30th when it drops! Netflix/Twitter
Marvel Comics Announces New Iron Man Will Be A Black Woman Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis recently sat down with TIME Magazine to discuss the newest twist to the Iron Man storyline and it’s a big one…. There’s a new Iron Man. Well, Iron Man for now. She’s still working on the name. The events at the end of the comic book event series Civil War II will result in Tony Stark stepping out of the Iron Man suit and a new character, Riri Williams, taking over, Marvel tells TIME. (Note: Tony’s departure doesn’t mean you know the end to Civil War II yet.) Riri is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15. She comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm. Creator and Iron Man writer Brian Michael Bendis spoke exclusively to TIME about the creation of Riri Williams with book artist Stefano Caselli and Marvel’s increasingly diverse cast of characters. So, what has the reception of the new Black Iron Man been like? Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realize how racist they sound. I’m not saying if you criticize you’re a racist, but if someone writes, “Why do we need Riri Williams we already have Miles?” that’s a weird thing to say. They’re individuals just like Captain America and Cyclops are individuals. All I can do is state my case for the character, and maybe they’ll realize over time that that’s not the most progressive thinking. But can we get some Black writers?? If @marvel needs help finding Black women writers. I can help you with this task. I know plenty. GOOD ones. — Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) July 6, 2016 #RepresentationMatters MARVEL/Time Magazine/Twitter
A billboard for X-Men: Apocalypse is causing a major stir among critics, the most vocal of which is Rose McGowan. The controversial billboard depicts Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse choking Jennifer Lawrence’s character Mystique in the movie. While the X-Men films all contain plenty of destruction, citizens say this image, seen out of context, promotes violence against women. In a Facebook post to The Hollywood Reporter , McGowan speaks out against the ad and the subtle yet powerful message it implies. “There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film,” she wrote. “There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled,” the actress continued. “The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid.” “The geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society.” McGowan then compares the sexist poster to other forms of bigotry, like racism and homophobia – and she has a point. “Imagine if it were a black man being strangled by a white man, or a gay male being strangled by a hetero?” she ask. “The outcry would be enormous.” Although the premise of the comic book franchise is all about bad guys fighting good guys – and, ahem, gals – the isolated image of a man strangling a woman can be viewed as disturbing, especially if seen by children. View Slideshow: 15 Celebs Who Have Been Accused Of Domestic Violence The actress shared a conversation a friend had with his 9-year-old daughter about the billboard. “I’ll close with a text my friend sent, a conversation with his daughter. It follows: ‘My daughter and I were just having a deep discussion on the brutality of that hideous X-Men poster yesterday,'” she shared. “‘Her words: ‘Dad, why is that monster man committing violence against a woman?’ This from a 9-year-old. If she can see it, why can’t Fox?” Not an encouraging image for a little girl to see. McGowan asked the studio to get rid of the billboard to avoid any potential further damage. “So let’s right this wrong. 20th Century Fox, since you can’t manage to put any women directors on your slate for the next two years, how about you at least replace your ad?” McGowan has not been shy about coming out against Hollywood sexism and misogyny. Last year, she blasted Adam Sandler for including sexist requests on a casting call notice she received for one of his movies.
We strongly support the troops here at The Hollywood Gossip. And while it may not be our usual type of content, we wanted to take a few moments to honor our men and women fighting overseas. Below, we therefore present a collection of perfectly-timed military photos that will leave you in absolute awe of these heroes: 1. We Did It! We cannot fathom the pride one must feel upon graduationg from a service academy. 2. Blue Angels in Action Flying a plane in general leaves us in awe. But flying four planes like this?!? 3. Salute from the Sky No CGI use here. This is real and amazing. 4. Take Cover! What an amazing up close snapshot. 5. BLAST! Fireworks have nothing on this. 6. Opening Fire Pretty incredible, huh? The contrast here with the snow and the gunfire? View Slideshow
As Johnny Depp continues to tour Europe with his rock supergroup, the Hollywood Vampires, the drama surrounding the shocking abuse allegations from Amber Heard continues to intensify. As new details about Heard’s claims emerge, Hollywood seems split over whether or not to believe the actress’ testimony about Depp’s violent drunken rages. Several celebs have shared their belief that publicly expressing skepticism regarding Heard’s version of events amounts to victim-shaming and contributes to a culture in which abused women are afraid to come forward. Others believe that some of the sketchier aspects of Heard’s story (such as the fact that she never told police that he smashed his iPhone on her face, as she later told a judge) provide ample reason to be skeptical. One famous figure who’s not the least bit ambivalent about the situation is the beloved comedian Doug Stanhope. Over the weekend, The Wrap published a guest column by Stanhope titled “Johnny Depp is Being Blackmailed By Amber Heard – Here’s How I Know.” View Slideshow: Johnny Depp Domestic Abuse Allegations: Stars React Needless to say, the comic doesn’t exactly beat around the bush in his take on Heard and Depp’s domestic drama. Stanhope says that he and girlfriend Amy “Bingo” Bingham were at Depp’s home on the day that the alleged abuse took place. He claims that Depp was in a “dour mood,” which they initially chalked up to the death of his mother. When Depp revealed, however, that Heard’s behavior was the cause of his depression, Stanhope was apparently not surprised: “Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn’t agree to her terms,” Stanhope writes. “Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified. “Bingo and I together, and then separately, told him how much we were aware of this manipulative a–hole, how his closest circle had all agreed on this since the day we met and that we all feared that telling him outright might alienate us all. “Love makes you do funny things…Other people came in and out during the afternoon, all verifying that we’d been cowardly, saying things only behind his back for so long. He seemed dumbstruck that nobody had ever come clean about this and he thanked everyone for being honest. He still pronounced his love for Amber but was presciently aware that she was going to pull off some kind of ruse to f— him over. “He hadn’t slept in days with anxiety. You’d call him a paranoid if you didn’t know better. But he knew better and he was right.” Stanhope concludes the piece with the surprising claim that he’s certain Depp is not guilty of the abuse alleged by Heard: “Johnny doesn’t abuse anyone. And he told me that day ahead of time that she’d pull some kind of s— like this. Johnny Depp got used, manipulated, set up and made to look like an a–hole. And he saw it coming and didn’t or couldn’t do anything to stop it.” Regardless of where one falls on this issue, there’s no denying that the situation is far more complex than it initially seemed. View Slideshow: 15 Celebs Who Have Been Accused Of Domestic Violence
Four people were injured and one left dead on Wednesday night after multiple shots were fired during at a T.I. concert in New York City. The incident took place at Irving Plaza around 10 p.m. According to NBC, a 34-year old man was shot in the chest… a 33-year old man was shot in the stomach… and a 26-year old woman was shot in the left leg. None of their names have been released, nor has the name of the one fatality. But we can confirm the victim was 33 years old and that everyone who took a bullet was transported to Bellevue Hospital. The official Instagram account for TheYeshivaWorld.com actually has shared footage from the concert, seemingly just as the gunshots rang out. A video posted by TheYeshivaWorld.com (@theyeshivaworld) on May 25, 2016 at 7:58pm PDT Labeled as a “SCARY VIDEO,” the caption to the above video reads as follows: Terror breaks out amongst the crowd, after shots were fired in middle of a packed concert tonight in Irving Plaza, NYC. More then 1000 in attendance. Reportedly 2 people were shot. Via @markygeezy on twitter. T.I. had not yet taken the stage for his performance when the incident took place. Insiders backstage tell TMZ that an argument broke out just prior to one of the opening acts taking the stage. Someone allegedly brandished a gun and folks behind the scenes then scrambled into the crowd as the shots were fired. “I think T.I. was about to go on. Right when he was about to go on, I heard two gunshots and right after there was a stampede,” a concertgoer told The New York Times. “There were at least three rounds after, but after the second one was when people started running.” At this time, police say they don’t know how many shooters were involved and they have no suspects.
Earlier this week, we reported that Justin Bieber ended his feud with Taylor Swift by appealing to her ego. The Biebs took to Instagram to croon one of Taylor’s earliest hits, “Teardrops on My Guitar,” and it looks like the shameless ploy to get back into her good graces was somewhat effective. Taylor eventually “liked” the clip, though it’s worth noting that the usually-effusive singer didn’t offer any praise in the comments section. Fans know that the feud between Swift and Bieber dates back to around the time Justin first started getting romantic with Selena Gomez. It seems Taylor knew Justin was trouble when he walked in, and she cautioned her against taking him back after each of the many times the couple broke up. In fact, sources say Justin blames Taylor for the fact that he and Selena are no longer together. So what does it mean that Justin reached out (in a very small way) to Taylor on Instagram this week? Well, some believe it’s the latest effort in Justin’s ongoing campaign to win Selena back . As we’ve learned from all of his other public feuds, Justin is rarely the first to apologize. He reached out to Seth Rogen during their random intra-Canadian beef, but only because he wanted the comic to appear at his Comedy Central Roast. It seems the M.O. is that Justin will bury the hatchet – but only if he wants something. We’re guessing that in this case, what he wants is a second chance with Selena. And clearly he feels that Taylor is the one who can give him that chance. The whole thing is clearly part of Bieber’s effort to prove that he’s matured. Unfortunately, trying to impress a girl by going through her friends is tres middle school, but who knows – maybe it’ll pay off. View Slideshow: 15 Times Justin Bieber Has Apologized for Being an Idiot
Chris Rock’s New Girlfriend Megalyn Echikunwoke The dust is still settling from Chris Rock’s 2014 divorce , but it seems like the comedian has already found a new love. Chris was spotted with Arrow actress Megalyn Echikunwoke at Clive Davis’ pre-grammy shindig , and the couple was looking cozy and comfortable at their table… Via PageSix : Chris Rock has a new girlfriend. A source close to the comic confirms he is dating “Arrow” actress Megalyn Echikunwoke, and the pair were spotted looking cozy at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy bash on Sunday in Los Angeles. Rock and Echikunwoke were first photographed together in September at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. Echikunwoke, who also starred in TV series “The 4400,” has been tweeting about the upcoming Oscars, which Rock will host — including quoting Whoopi Goldberg, who said of the controversial awards telecast, “Boycotting doesn’t work, and it’s also a slap in the face to Chris Rock.” Rock split from his wife of 19 years, Malaak Compton-Rock, in 2014. Well, good for Chris. And she’s certainly pretty, right? Hit the flip for more from Chris Rock’s new boo… SplashNews