Source: Jace Downs/BET / Jace Downs/BET Promo For “Boomerang” Airs During Golden Globe If you were paying attention the brand spanking new promo for “Boomerang” on BET aired during the Golden Globes Sunday night. Produced by Lena Waithe (The Chi, Master of None) and Halle Berry , BOOMERANG picks up roughly 25 years after the film of the same name’s theatrical release. This subversive, smart comedy follows the children of the original cast as they try to balance making their mark on the professional world while navigating the personal struggles of young professionals. Have a look at some BTS footage and interviews with Lena Waithe and showrunner Ben Cory Jones (HBO’s Insecure) who discuss the origins of the show and how it will look at relationships and dating in the 21st Century. BOOMERANG premieres Feb. 12 on BET starring Tequan Richmond & Tetona Jackson, Leland Martin and Lala Milan. Hit the flip for more from Lena’s feed.
Source: Kurt Krieger – Corbis / Getty Black YouTubers React To ‘Us’ Trailer If you haven’t seen the trailer to Jordan Peele’s new nightmare Us then you need to sit down for 2:39 of your life and watch it. If you have seen it and then there is a good chance you’ve seen the deluge of theories and reactions to the arresting imagery and skin-crawling remix to the Luniz kush classic “I Got 5 On It”… People are excited AF for this film, especially the Black YouTubers. Flip the page to see more shocked reactions on following pages. Continue reading →
She came in like a weddddding bell! Okay, our apologies for the unfortunate song parody, but we have some joyous news to report: Miley Cyrus and Liem Hemsworth are married ! For real this time! Yes, there have been countless reports of a secret Miley-Liam wedding , but this time, we have official confirmation straight from the source. Moments ago, Miley posted a series of wedding pics to her Instagram page. She captioned the photo set, “10 years later …..” Rumors that Miley and Liam had tied the knot began to circulate on Christmas Eve when a bunch of pics that appeared to be wedding photos were posted on the Instagram page belonging to Conrad Jack Carr, a pro surfer and friend of the couple. Miley and Liam laid low on Christmas Day, but it seems that today, Miley couldn’t keep the news to herself any longer. While details remain scarce, we now know that Miley and Liam celebrated the holidays by exchanging vows. Miley has often said she knew from the moment she met him that Liam was the man she would marry. But the road to the altar hasn’t always been an easy one for the Hemsworths (squeeee!), who met on the set of the film The Last Song in 2010. Miley and Liam got engaged in 2010, but they broke up in 2012. There was a period of time when both parties dated other people and appeared to have moved on. But the couple eventually found their way back to each other, and Miley says their attraction was stronger than ever the second time around. “I call him my survival partner now,” she said in a recent interview with Howard Stern. “He thinks it’s not romantic, but I learned that it is. It is why you pair up with someone is for survival.” Our sincerest congrats go out to Miley and Liam. We wish this fantastic couple all the best in the years to come. View Slideshow: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth: Relive the Romance!
There was a time when it seemed highly unlikely, but believe it or not, the cast of Vanderpump Rules is growing up. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are engaged ; Stassi Schroeder is dating a guy who doesn’t seem like a colossal douche-nozzle; the Toms have made the leap from Lisa’s lackeys to Lisa’s business partners … But perhaps no one has taken as many steps toward full-blown adulting as Lala Kent. Back in September, we learned that Lala is engaged to film producer Randall Emmett , the man who was once derided by the rest of the cast as Kent’s adulterous sugar daddy. Make no mistake — Emmett is loaded — but it’s not clear that Lala is far more to him than a side-piece. We’re sure Randall’s career will recover from the film Gotti and it’s 0 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and that he and Lala will snjoy many luxurious years together. But Kent’s biggest achievement of 2018 isn’t landing a wealthy fiance or cementing her place as the most down-to-earth, relatable member of the Vanderpump cast. No, her greatest accomplishment is waging a victorious battle against substance abuse. “Today marks 60 days that I’ve been sober and it’s been the best 60 days that I’ve had in a really long time,” Kent shared in her Instagram story today. “Thank you to my sponsor, thanks to my sober coach, people in my meetings that tell me to keep taking it day by day,” she said, blowing a kiss at the camera. “I love you guys.” The news comes just months after the death of Lala’s father . “I stayed dry this season, most of it, I didn’t drink just because I was so up and down with the emotions with my dad. … I was still kind of in a fog,” Kent said in a recent interview promoting the current season of Vanderpump. “So I think a lot of the stuff I see this season, I’m going to remember after I watch it, I was very foggy and just very emotional at the same time.” In a separate interview from earlier this month, Lala opened up about her decision to get sober: “My fiancé always says I have this sixth sense where I know when things have gotten to a point where they need to change, so I can’t really pinpoint one incident [that marked a turn to sobriety],” she told Cosmopolitan . “When I really came to the conclusion that I am in that zone of having a problem, I just said enough’s enough. I picked up the phone, I called this sponsor that had been recommended to me. It’s the best decision of my whole life.” Kent went on to reveal that her alcohol consumption was never about partying: Drinking for me was medication instead of celebration,” she told the magazine. “Instead of going and talking to somebody about losing someone extremely important to you, we turn to things to medicate. “I just want to make sure that I put my voice out there to say, reach out to someone, reach out to a grief counselor, partner with someone who can make you feel like you’re not by yourself and going completely insane.” Lala didn’t open up about her feelings toward her ex-BFF James Kennedy and his increasingly problematic boozing, but it’s become clear that she’s very much not a fan. (Especially after the way James skewered Gotti on Sunday night’s episode.) We commend Lala on opening up in such candid fashion, and we wish her all the best going forward. View Slideshow: Lala Kent: Best Instagram Pics of Vanderpump Rules’ Newest Star
Though Scorsese’s many peccadilloes in the wild days of the 70s really never bled over into his films in that era, he isn’t afraid to work blue when the film calls for it. … read more
Text “RICKEY” to 71007 to join the Rickey Smiley Morning Show mobile club for exclusive news. ( Terms and conditions ). Source: Douglas Sacha / Getty via Bossip : A 30-year-old nurse and single mother with $150,000 in student loan debt received an absolutely life-changing surprise on Wednesday. Jasmin Ford was surprised with the news that Fifth Third Bank was going to be paying off her student loans entirely. “I still can’t find the words,” the mother said on Thursday. “I’m off work again today and I’m just sort of pacing around and restless because I know my life is going to change.” Sign Up For Our Newsletter! Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Email Submit Ford is a Chicago native and was the first in her family to graduate from college. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2011 and then became a nurse three years later after going back to school for her nursing degree. She finished her Master’s degree in nursing in 2015. With no family assistance, she said she had to take out student loans in order to cover necessities like food and rent in addition to tuition. SEE ALSO: Couple Brought To Tears After Operation Blessing Surprises Them On “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” [VIDEO] “I could not foresee when I’d be able to pay it off,” Ford said of her debt. “I just knew this was going to be a part of my life as long as I was alive unless there was some significant change, which — wow.” Ford said she now envisions being able to use her nursing career to give back even more and “pay it forward.” “I just imagine being able to spend more time physically with my family, not having to hustle, having mental freedom and with that, some spiritual freedom,” she said. “I can open myself to more experiences, opportunities and just be able to sit and be with my thoughts and be able to pursue what it is I came to do.” She also said that life will change for her son, Caleb, who is going to turn 2 in February. While struggling to pay back her debt, Ford worked nearly every day of the week at two jobs. “His life will be totally different,” she said. “I’m so happy and so proud that I’m able to offer that to him more than anything else because he deserves it.” Jasmine Ford was surprised by Fifth Third Bank after being chosen to participate in a documentary that the Ohio-based bank was producing on the student loan debt. She didn’t know she was being awarded $150K for her loans, because she thought the film crew was simply coming back to her home on Wednesday to shoot some additional video. Next year, Fifth Third Bank plans to pay off student debt for two more people. The bank will pay off loans of up to $39,000 for two users of Fifth Third Momentum, the bank’s student loan initiative that rounds up a customer’s debit card purchases and applies it to their student loan balance. See photos of Rickey Smiley below! ALSO TRENDING ON RICKEYSMILEYMORNINGSHOW.COM : Tragic: Window Washer Falls To His Death At Trump Hotel In Las Vegas Gabrielle Union And Dwyane Wade’s Baby Girl Is Living Her Best Little Life On The ‘Gram White Lady Harasses Black Women At Target For Talking About Eartha Kitt [ione_media_gallery src=”https://rickeysmileymorningshow.com” id=”1944876″ overlay=”true”] Follow @TheRSMS
Source: Chance Yeh / Getty A screening of Lifetime’s forthcoming Surviving R. Kelly documentary was evacuated due to a gun threat. Reportedly, a pair of threatening phone calls were received which caused the precautionary action. According to Variety , the threatening phone calls came in about 15 minutes into the screening which was scheduled to start at 7 pm, following by a panel at 8:30 pm. However, a pair of anonymous phone calls came into the venue, NeueHouse Madison Square, which contacted the NYPD, and the authorities recommended the evacuation. Said Lifetime via a statement, ““At tonight’s premiere of Lifetime’s documentary series ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ at NeueHouse Madison Square, several anonymous threats were called in. As a precaution, the network elected to evacuate the building. The safety and security of our panel, guests and staff is of paramount importance to Lifetime,” the network said in a statement.” The venue also released the following statement: “NeueHouse has always existed to celebrate creatives, entrepreneurs and activists with important and meaningful stories to share. The safety of our storytellers and of our members is always our first priority. Tonight was no different. Despite non-credible threats called in during tonight’s screening, we followed appropriate safety protocols in collaboration with the NYPD and elected to postpone the event. We stand by the creative women bringing these heroic stories to light.” The panelists included seven women who are R. Kelly accusers— Drea Kelly, his ex-wife , Kitti Jones, Asante Jones, Faith Rodgers, Lizzette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen and Jerhonda Pace—all who were also in the film. Also in attendance was #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and panel host Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club . Nevertheless, Surviving R. Kelly is a six-part, three-night documentary series that features numerous women accusing the R&B crooner of sexual assault and abuse. The series will premiere on January 3, and Twitter will be lit. So…Y’ALL ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS! Tonight was a private screening of the @lifetimetv documentary #survivingRkelly where his survivors, parents of survivors, and folks featured in the doc were gathered and a BOMB THREAT was called in and the event shut down. #muteRkelly — Tarana (@TaranaBurke) December 5, 2018 Source: Chance Yeh / Getty — Photo: Getty
Source: Disney / Disney / Marvel Studios By now you’ve probably seen the epic trailer for Captain Marvel , the next movie from the Marvel Studios that stars Brie Larson , Samuel L Jackson and newcomer Lashana Lynch who plays Maria, the best friend of Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. I went down to Baton Rouge, Louisana to find out more about Marvel’s next big blockbuster. We headed into Maria’s living room, that was an old farmhouse on a large patch of land. Entering the house you immediately felt like you were thrown back in time to the 90s. Everything from the decor to the logos on the snack in the kitchen screamed the 90s. Brie Larson rocked Nine Inch Nails t-shirt during our interview, which is one of Carol’s favorite groups. Source: Disney / Disney / Marvel Studios Captain Marvel occupies a space before Iron Man and we will see Carol Danvers carve out a space for herself in a world before superheroes. This can be considered an origin story for the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe as this would be the world’s first encounter with superheroes especially Nick Fury. Who has two eyes and isn’t the big dog to the whole Avengers program yet. Seeing him witness superpowers for the first time should be a fun experience for fans of the Marvel franchise. The filmmakers are allowing Captain Marvel to be the bridge between the Earth side of the MCU and the space side, as you will get to see a lot of that in this movie. It starts in outer space with the Cree Empire who are at war with the Skrulls and over the course of the movie Captain Marvel will travel to Earth and continue her adventure here on Earth. Brie Larson is taking this role very seriously putting in a tremendous amount of work to be as strong as a superhero, she worked out for 9 months to be able to move a car and did 90% of her own stunts. She revealed, “A lot of that came from Ignorance I thought you when you sign up for a movie like this you have to do your own stunts, and I’m an introvert with asthma so I thought I gotta get my shit together to be able to keep up with this movie.” After Brie completed her first fight sequence where she did all the work herself and every move herself that the studio came up to her to reveal no one does this. Brie said she was told, “Nobody trains with the stunt team for 3 months before a movie to learn how to do this. It just doesn’t happen, but for me, if she’s the strongest character in this universe and she’s able to move a planet I should be able to push a car. It makes the story feel more complete to me that I can talk about what’s it’s actually like to feel strong in my body as a self-identifying woman. I do feel strong, I trained for 9 months and it consumed my whole world it was no joke.” Source: Disney / Disney / Marvel Studios Brie really went through the motions with this film, even overcome her fear of flying by going up in a fighter jet with trained pilots and experiencing a dogfight and hitting some pretty bad turbulence that she thought was significant but later found out it was just moderate, “we had really bad turbulence and we were running out of gas and she thought we are not going to make it. I was like oh planes can take even more than this? It really helped me overcome that fear.” Going through G-Force that’s a 6.5 and living to tell about it, will help you feel invincible. Samuel L Jackson also discussed how this Nick Fury is different from the Nick’s he’s played in the past. “The hard job for me is being a Nick Fury that is a bureaucrat. He’s been a desk jockey for a while after he left the spy business, now he is riding a desk and his job trying to figure out where the next threat coming from. Then all of a sudden he meets this person and see these things and realizes there is a threat out there too. Believing in aliens is just not something we’re wired for until you see them. Its like oh shit they are out there. Now the job is convincing the people with the money that we need to figure out a way to fight something that doesn’t live here. That can do things that we can’t do. That’s the beginning of Nick Fury’s fight with the bureaucrats.” This movie will spark Nick’s mission to find people that can do things humans can’t do to help them fight this threat. The trailer looks insane and the set was a beautiful throwback to the 90s and I for one can’t wait for Captain Marvel to hit theaters March 9th, 2019.
Source: WENN.com / WENN Score a W for Drake . The Toronto rapper won a settlement in a lawsuit be brought against woman who falsely claimed he got her pregnant and even said that he raped her. Turns out, as most people figured, she was pulling the jig . Reports Page Six : “The filing made by Drake against Layla Lace has been resolved, with Layla avoiding going to trial by agreeing to a stipulated judgment which prohibits her from repeating past statements she made against Drake,” his lawyer told Page Six on Friday. The “In My Feelings” rapper, 32, met Lace in February 2017 while he was on tour in Manchester, England, where he claims they had consensual sex at his hotel. A few months later, the model went on a Sirius XM radio show and claimed she was pregnant with his child. After dropping the pregnancy bombshell didn’t get the reaction she wanted from the rapper, she went to New York police and claimed Drake raped her during their one-night stand. She also continued to demand millions of dollars from the rapper. At the time, he sued for civil extortion, emotional distress, fraud, defamation and abuse of process. Actually, how was she able to avoid jail time? Drake’s lawyer said his client wants fans to move on past the incident. — Photo: WENN.com
On the 14th floor of HBO’s office I am instantly greeted by Sandra Bland’s face when I walk into the conference room. Source: Sandra Bland’s sisters Shante Needham (L), Sharon Cooper (R) / Charise Frazier I see two women, Sharon Cooper and Shante Needham, who if given a brief glance, would pass for their deceased sister. They are warm and very welcoming. The spirit of Sandra Bland is definitely in the room. On any other occasion, it might’ve felt like we were gathered to talk about something less heavy. As we greet one another and prepare to dive into the discussion, the imagery of Sandra’s face embedded onto Needham’s shirt won’t let me forget. We are here to talk about HBO’s latest documentary, Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, which documents the events leading up to the death of their beloved sister, who was found hanged in a Texas jail (Waller County) three days after being pulled over by former officer, Brian Encinia. The completed project shows never before seen footage and details what transpired from Sandra’s arrest on July 10, 2015, to her death on July 13, 2015. The film also touches on Sandra’s impact and how her death became a literal representation of the undocumented state-sanctioned violence that many Black women in America face, birthing the rallying call, #SayHerName. “I think what we have managed to do is fully document what families go through in the aftermath of this,” Cooper said. “It really all comes down to I think historically, people who don’t have the proper or appropriate intel or access, have been telling our stories, and they tell our stories to the exclusion of us.” For the past three years Sandra Bland’s family undertook an unthinkable task. They have repeatedly witnessed the events leading up to their loved one’s death in watching dash cam footage of her arrest. They’ve read and negated online commentary written by people who never knew Sandra. They’ve sat through a long legal battle advocating for some form of justice. And all the while, they’ve had to process the stages of grief. “As you can only imagine, this was very, very, very raw. And to have to relieve it over and over and over again, it put a lot of emotional stress on a person,” Needham said. Just two weeks after Sandra’s death, HBO contacted Sandra’s family to begin documenting. HBO enlisted award-winning filmmakers, Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, to tell the story, who followed the events as they unfolded on social media and in the news. In total, from start to completion, the film took about two and a half years. For the filmmakers who’s life work is based in civil rights and activism, Sandra’s case enlisted a series of challenges and mystique which made her specific story unique. “We were also drawn to the story because it was one more situation where a person of color died at the hands of cops–at the hands of police, whether literally or not. She was in custody in this case, all too often it was happening on the streets,” Davis said. “Editing this film was doing a really complicated braiding. It’s a mystery. It’s a death in custody. It’s also a portrait of a woman as she becomes woke and empowered. It’s also a political parable of race in America,” said Heilbronner. As white filmmakers, Davis and Heilbronner are in complete alignment with what it means to tell a Black woman’s story, putting their own biases and privilege into examination during and after filming as they forged a tight bond with Sandra’s family during the process. “I’m just gonna note the elephant in the room. No Kate and Dave don’t look like the broader part of this community that’s being impacted, but they’re truth tellers,” said Cooper. “They just seemed so genuine, they cared,” Needham said. As filmmakers, Helbronner and Davis did their best to use all of the voices involved in the case, conducting on camera interviews with Sandra’s family and Waller County authorities. According to Davis, Brian Encinia was the only person who declined to participate in the film. Remarkably, Sandra’s voice narrates the documentary using snippets from her video blog, “Sandy Speaks.” “Sandy utilized a very free platform to speak her truth and to express herself, and so it was this digital memorialization of her that I don’t even think she realized that she was making at the time,” said Cooper. “And to be able to leverage that throughout the film and have her appear as the voice narrating her own documentary, that’s powerful and I don’t think that we take a step back and are just in awe of that and how powerful that is and how social media, because it does give us the power to connect and build community, we connected and built so much community through the duration of that case,” Cooper said. Social media and the news media played a large role in Sandra’s case, setting a tone for public perception in regards to the narrative. It presented rewarding but oftentimes difficult challanges for all involved; the family, filmmakers and the family’s legal counsel, Cannon Lambert. Lambert helped the family secure a $1.9 million in a civil settlement and also assisting the family in navigating a difficult and painful legal terrain. Encinia was fired by the Texas Department of Public Safety in March 2016 after a grand jury indicted Encina over falsifying Sandra’s arrest report. The Sandra Bland Act was signed into law in June 2017 offering an investment in de-escalation tactics for officers and awareness surrounding mental health. But a few days after the Sandra Bland Act was signed, the perjury charge was dropped against Encinia. Sandra’s case begs the question surrounding the definition of justice. “Justice is evasive,” said Lambert. “I don’t think you ever go into it believing that you as a lawyer have the ability to bring about justice. What you have the ability to do though is to shepard families through a very difficult terrain so that they can come away feeling like they were heard,” he said. Forgiveness is also an idea which Sandra’s family does not feel committed to take up. Needham and Cooper both expressed that the first step to forgiveness is an apology, which they believe has not been issued on behalf of Waller County authorities. But through their pain, the family has found time to heal using therapy, journaling and by supporting other families who have experienced the same difficulties. “We will never be the same. Holidays, birthdays, marriages, kids, grandkids. She’s gonna miss all of that. And why?” Needham said. “Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland” premieres Monday, December 3 at 10 p.m. (EST) on HBO.
