Source: Tony Powell / Tony Powell Humanity Of Connection Awards Honored People For Outstanding Contributions To The Black Experience The tailor who helped give hip hop its style, a legendary dancer and actress and the founder of a spirit brand with African-American roots were among the honorees at AT&T’s Humanity of Connection awards dinner. Attendees including Cicely Tyson, designer B. Michael, Essence Communications CEO Richelieu Dennis, National Urban League head Marc Morial, the Rev. Al Sharpton and celebrity stylist June Ambrose were spotted at the invite-only affair June 10 at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan. Source: Tony Powell / Tony Powell Event host, journalist Mara Schiavocampo said the guests of honor – Fawn Weaver, Dapper Dan, Linda Spradley-Dunn and Carmen de Lavallade – were chosen for their contributions to the black experience. Source: Tony Powell / Tony Powell The event also kicked off the countdown to the Essence Festival next month in New Orleans. Guests screened a film that charted the festival’s rise and its impact on host city New Orleans. The film, “The 25th Anniversary of the ESSENCE Festival,” was executive produced by Tanya Lombard, the head of Multicultural Engagement and Strategic Alliances for AT&T.
Source: Ian West – PA Images / Getty Phase 3 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe ends with the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home film. One burning question that MCU fans were left with after watching Avengers: Endgame is what exactly did happen with Loki when he disappeared with Tesseract? We may have an idea thanks to a new image. At a Disney investor meeting back in April, head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige made an appearance to spill some tea on the highly-anticipated Loki series that will see Tom Hiddleston reprise the role. Feige showed off the logo for the series as well as a new still that places the God of the Mischief walking down a busy street with a Jaws marquee which likely hints at the show taking place in the year 1975. OFFICIAL | First look at the ‘LOKI’ series coming to Disney+. pic.twitter.com/44shBqHQh4 — Marvel Stuff (@marveIstuff) June 9, 2019 Whether the series will take place right after the events of Avengers: Endgame after he stole the tesseract or before Infinity War which some folks are speculating is still up in the air. Speaking with Variety , Feige stressed the importance of the Disney+ series: “Disney+ is another exciting avenue and another exciting thing about being at this place at this time goes back to the amount of characters we have and the amount of stories we could tell… When we announced ten movies and people asked ‘Well what about these other things?’ the previous stance would be ‘We only have a certain number of slots to make movies per year.’ That’s still true but we have another outlet that I think will be very unique and very special.” Looks like we will have to wait for a trailer or when Disney+ launches in November to find out exactly what will be going on when the series premieres. — Photo: Ian West – PA Images / Getty
Source: Ian West – PA Images / Getty Phase 3 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe ends with the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home film. One burning question that MCU fans were left with after watching Avengers: Endgame is what exactly did happen with Loki when he disappeared with Tesseract? We may have an idea thanks to a new image. At a Disney investor meeting back in April, head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige made an appearance to spill some tea on the highly-anticipated Loki series that will see Tom Hiddleston reprise the role. Feige showed off the logo for the series as well as a new still that places the God of the Mischief walking down a busy street with a Jaws marquee which likely hints at the show taking place in the year 1975. OFFICIAL | First look at the ‘LOKI’ series coming to Disney+. pic.twitter.com/44shBqHQh4 — Marvel Stuff (@marveIstuff) June 9, 2019 Whether the series will take place right after the events of Avengers: Endgame after he stole the tesseract or before Infinity War which some folks are speculating is still up in the air. Speaking with Variety , Feige stressed the importance of the Disney+ series: “Disney+ is another exciting avenue and another exciting thing about being at this place at this time goes back to the amount of characters we have and the amount of stories we could tell… When we announced ten movies and people asked ‘Well what about these other things?’ the previous stance would be ‘We only have a certain number of slots to make movies per year.’ That’s still true but we have another outlet that I think will be very unique and very special.” Looks like we will have to wait for a trailer or when Disney+ launches in November to find out exactly what will be going on when the series premieres. — Photo: Ian West – PA Images / Getty
With Duggar women scheduled to bring a new life into the world this year, the famous family was hit with some news of the opposite kind over the weekend. Some very awful and sad news involving death, that is: Mary Duggar has passed away. The mother of Jim Bob Duggar, Mary was often featured on both 19 Kids and Counting and its ongoing spinoff, Counting On. We’re still waiting to learn details of how and why she died, but it appears to have been a sudden and unexpeted tragedy, simply based on the way various loved ones reacted yesterday on social media. “We are so sad to share that Grandma Duggar (Mary) passed away Sunday afternoon, June 9th, 2019,” a message shared on the family’s official Facebook page reads. “Mary Lester Duggar grew up in Farmington, Arkansas and was married almost 50 years to J.L. (Jimmy Lee) Duggar who preceded her in death…” This post also included the photo and above and continues: Mary found great joy in sharing her love for Jesus and her own story of how at age 15 she asked Christ to forgive her for her sins. It was at that time she committed the rest of her life to live for Him, a commitment she kept with devotion. She loved to share with others how they too could be forgiven of their sins, live a fulfilling life as a Christian, and one day spend eternity in heaven. Mary – who is survived by her daughter, son, 21 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren – celebrated her final birthday on the same day Jessa Seewald gave birth to her third child . Along with her affect on her family personally, Mary is actually considered responsible for their success professionally as well. She allegedly called several networks in an attempt to gauge interest in airing a TV special about the Duggars many years ago. Wrote Anna Duggar on Instagram in response to this very sad piece of news: Great-Grandma Duggar went to heaven today to be with Jesus! What an awesome woman of faith and such a loving example of God’s love. She was a true soul-winner and loved everyone she met, telling them to turn from sin and trust Jesus for salvation! Miss her soooo much and we cherish each moment we were blessed to spend together! Lots of tears being shed here — grateful for all the prayers! Jill Dillard then chimed in as follows: My heart breaks. My grandma died suddenly today! She was an amazing woman of God and such a great example to so many! Grandma, you are greatly missed by all who knew you! She was a feisty, incredible woman who always took the time to talk about Jesus with everyone she knew! I know she was ready to check outta here and get her new body in heaven before the old one started giving her too much trouble! We miss you so much! Mary Duggar worked as a real estate broker (who owned Good Neighbor Realty) for most of her adult life. She was famous locally for this job, too, known for being the individual who put together the property sale for the John Q. Hammons Holiday Inn & Convention Center in Springdale. We will update this post with more tributes to Mary and more news as it breaks. We send our condolences to the Duggar family at this time. May she rest in peace. View Slideshow: The Duggars: Who’s Courting? Pregnant? Next In Line? [UPDATED]
Depending on your point of view, Kourtney Kardashian has either figured out how to co-exist and co-parent with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick… … or she’s totalluy deranged. And maybe even still in love with the polariazing Lord . The main focus of Sunday’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians centered on the recent trip Kourtney took to Mexico not just with Scott and not just with her three kids — but with Sofia Richie as well. (By recent , of course, we mean in December. This season appears to truly have been filmed AGES ago.) Kris Jenner was confused and concerned over this vacation, especially after Disick shared a photo (below) of himself, Kourtney and Sofia all just lounging around a pool in Cabo. What the heck is going on , she asked Kourtney upon the latter’s return. “We honestly had the best time,” Kourtney said with a smile when confronted on air by her mother, clearly enjoying the response. But this only made Jenner more anxious to get some answers. “The fact that you have Scott’s girlfriend on vacation with you, or you’re on vacation with them or he’s on vacation with the two of you…I don’t know what’s going on!” Jenner cried, asking the mother of three for more information. Please . “He was gonna take them anyways,” Kourtney said simply about Disick and the three kids they share. “So I’m like, do I want to go and experience it with them? Or do I want to stay home? I get FOMO so I’m like, I don’t want to miss out on this with my kids.” Sounds perfectly sane and logical, right? But where does everyone sleep, Kris wondered. Kourtney explained that she had a three-bedroom villa for her and Mason, Reign and Penelope; while Scott and Sofia had their own accommodations. Kris labeled the entire thing as “wild,” but Kardashian basically shrugged it all off. “I know that we don’t have to travel together and I don’t think that we will take every trip together, but it was totally not awkward,” Kourtney told the camera, adding: “I feel like we are doing our best to make everything feel super normal for the kids…So, I think as long as we’re all OK with it, I think it’s really amazing to be able to all travel together.” Kardashian and Disick really do seem to be soulmates of a certain kind , huh? Elsewhere on this episode, Kim took over planning and hosting duties for the family’s annual Christmas party. Much to her mother’s chagrin and, eventually, much to her own. “It’s turned into such a sh-t show,” she vented to Khloe and her grandmother. The KKW beauty founder insisted the event had taken a turn for the much worse because the invite list had deteriorated over the years, ballooning to include “people we don’t know.” She then got really upset when Caitlyn Jenner asked to be invited. How should she respond, Kim asked, considering the tension that has existed between Caitlyn and her family ever since the release of Caitlyn’s memoir , which sort of trashed the Kardashians? Shortly after Kim invited Caitlyn to the gathering, controversy erupted when Khloe insisted the invite was a mistake. When Kim insisted she was trying to “make peace” with the former Olympian, Khloe shot back: “Do we care about Caitlyn’s peace when she’s never cared about ours?” Okay, fine, Kim confessed: “I made a big fcking mistake.” Khloe then pressured Kim to actually disinvite Caitlyn. Eventually, though, Kris insisted that the invite stand, saying: “I promise you. I’m fine. Just let it go. Vodka’s my friend.” The party was later held and it went very well. Those in attendance included Sia, Jennifer Lopez, Kathy Griffin, John Legend, Paris Hilton… and even Jordyn Woods . She stopped by alongside Kylie Jenner, mere weeks before her infamous makeout session with Tristan Thompson. Keeping Up With The Kardashians airs on E! Sundays at 9/8c. You can watch it — or you can just bookmark The Hollywood Gossip and get caught up on all things related to this family as they actually happen… each and everyday. View Slideshow: Keeping Up with the Kardashians: 14 Shocking Secrets Revealed!
Jermaine Dupri Announces Partnership With Remy Martin At First-Ever Producer’s Summit Source: Getty / Getty To kick-off season six of the Rémy Martin Producers Series, an exceptional roster of music industry leaders, producers and creatives including Zaytoven, Boi-1Da, Trakgirl, Miss Info and DJ Envy (Host) provided the next generation of producers, execs and moguls with tips and tricks to make it in the industry during a series of panels! At the event, Hip-hop and R&B legend Jermaine Dupri was announced as the curator for this season’s series before joining both panels! Source: Getty / Getty Rémy Martin announced season six of Rémy Producers, a program designed to discover aspiring music producers as they compete for the chance to win a co-sign with Grammy Award-winning producer, Jermaine Dupri, of SO SO Def Records. Following a successful five seasons of competition, Rémy Martin continues to unite producers across popular music genres while fostering the community around the art of making music. For season six, Rémy Martin collaborated with Dupri, who will be the face of this year’s program and hand-select this season’s winner and, potentially, the industry’s next greatest music producer. The Rémy Producers contest begins today with Dupri officially announcing the call-for-submissions and encouraging aspiring beat makers of all experience levels to submit their tracks to the official program website: RemyProducers.com . Fore event photos and more, hit the flip!
Tuesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was a real hoot. Kim Richards returned, Lisa Rinna dressed up as Erika Jayne, and there was even some BunnyGate drama. The episode kicked off with Lisa dressing up as Erika, and she nailed it. The purpose of the fancy dress was for Kyle Richards’ Halloween party. When the party was in full swing, Kim walked in. If you watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills online , you know the last time they spoke on the show was during the Season 7 reunion. Kim returned a teddy bear to Rinna she had bought for her grandson. It was down to the way the two women butted heads during that particular season. Kim could not forgive Rinna for telling Eden Sassoon that she (Kim) was not sober and “close to death.” Rinna was shocked because she did not know Kim was going to be at the event. Rinna lapped up playing the version of Erika and brought up BunnyGate. “You know, I wanna say one thing. Kim, you giving Lisa Rinna that bunny was really c–ty,” Rinna said. When Kim did not respond, Rinna continued to repeat it until she got a reaction. “I don’t recall Erika being quite like that,” Kim complained. Kim then turned to Dorit, Kyle, and Camille to complain about Rinna for being silly and “running around in Erika’s ponytails.” Denise Richards appeared out of nowhere and unleashed holy hell on Kim. “I think she looks great… Isn’t it about a f–king stuffed animal that we’re talking about? And you know what, it really hurt her feelings,” the new cast member shouted. “That is a lie,” Kim shot back. “It’s not a f–king lie, Kim. It hurt her feelings!” Denise countered, before trying to tell Kim to “let it go.” Both Kim and Kyle were livid, but the whole thing pushed Kim to find Rinna for a good old sit down. “I’m not looking for a fight, Lisa,” Kim said to her nemesis. In a true twist, Rinna wanted to put the past behind them. Kim wanted an apology, but Rinna felt like Kim owed her one. The two ladies finally put the past behind them and agreed to cut the B.S. It’s not often that these ladies manage to move on from things. At this rate, we’ll still be talking about PuppyGate in ten years. In any case, Brandi Glanville’s big return is sure to shake up the dynamics. She’s back next Tuesday. What did you think of the latest drama? View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Official Season 9 Portraits!
Source: Prince Williams / ATLPics.Net Ma$e and T.I. Celebrate AT Cassette Event Thursday night Kenny Burns hosted the monthly event “Cassette” at District in Atlanta. Mase, T.I., Lil Duval, Big Boi and others notables attended the event, which also served as a birthday celebration for industry executive Hannah Kang. Source: Prince Williams / ATLPics.Net Looks like everyone had a blast. Hit the flip for more photos from the party.
Well, it finally happened. On Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, First of Her Name and Perpetrator of Plot Twists broke bad and roasted more peasants than a medeival insult comic. Like many, many others, we long ago predicted that the Khaleesi would make a heel turn and be revealed as the show’s final villain, but if Twitter is any indication, the events of “The Bell” came as a complete shock to many viewers. In one sense, this is hard to understand, as the show has been hinting at a darker side to Dany ever since her very first rants about “laying waste to armies” and taking what’s hers “with fire and blood” way back when her dragons were about the size of pet iguanas. But at the same time, the surprise is quite understandable. After all, prior to this week’s episode, the Khaleesi was arguably the show’s best-loved character, and many considered her ascendancy to the Iron Throne to he a foregone conclusion. As a result, creator’s D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have been accused of prioritizing shock value over organic character development with their decision to have Dany embrace her family’s mercurial nature and unleash unspeakable violence on innocenr civilians and soldiers who had already surrendered. If that were the case — if a character who had been built up as the savior of a people and an incorruptible force for good suddenly embracec wickedness out of nowhere — then these critics would be right to complain. But Dany’s turn was hinted at so often that many speculate it would never happen simply because it would be too predictable for a show that’s always trafficked in surprises. So yes, you have one camp griping that the character’s shift came out of nowhere, and another complaining that it was entirely too obvious. And in that sense, the clash over Dany’s true nature highlights the biggest challenge facing the Game of Thrones as we approach the show’s wildly anticipated finale: It’s nearly impossible for any show to conclude in a way that will leave an audience of millions universally satisfied — and that task is even harder for a series that revels in moral ambiguity and long ago raised the bar in terms of gut-punch surprises. Don’t get us wrong, there were legitimate complaints to be made about “The Bells”: Several major figures behaved in ways that flew in the face of eight seasons’ worth of character development. Some combatants seemed to be shrouded in impenetrable plot armor (We’re looking at you, Arya!) while others met frustratingly anti-climactic fates. (Evil genius Cersei Lannister is felled by freakin’ falling rocks? Really?) But the main issue that many fans seem worried about is the climactic battle for the Iron Throne will likely be fought between Daenerys Targaryen and her conflicted neph-boo Jon Snow. This is a baffling concern, not only becsause the show has been foreshadowing such a conflict for quite some time, but also because Weiss and Benioff insist that they’re staying true to the “broadstrokes” of the ending mapped out by George R.R. Martin’s several years ago. Yes, they’ve made some missteps along the way (The less said about the lighting for the Battle of Winterfell, the better.), but we’ll continue to place our faith that the kings who led us this far will be wise and just in wrapping up TV’s most ambitious story. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Spoilers: Is This Really How It Ends?
So much for a baby bringing people together. Even a very famous baby with a very cute name and a couple of loving parents. Just a few days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the birth of their first child, the latter’s cruel half-sister has broken her silence about the blessed development. And if you think Samantha Markle used the occasion to say kind words about Meghan and/or to mend the rift that Samantha is entirely responsible for, well… … you must also think Prince William has remained loyal to Kate Middleton throughout their marriage. “I love it,” Samantha told DailyMailTV late Wednesday when asked about Meghan having a son, adding: “Family is family. What I think is incredible is that it’s a great moment historically and although the adults have a lot of water under the bridge, I would really like to see everyone reach out. “We’ve extended the olive branch and now it is Meghan’s turn.” Yup, there it is again. There is Samantha once more placing blame for her failed relationship with Meghan directly on the lovely shoulders of the Duchess. For those unaware, Samantha and Meghan share the same father — and almost literally nothing else. Samantha is 17 years old than Meghan and the two did NOT grow up in the same household. They’ve scarcely been in touch over the years, yet Samantha has taken every opportunity possible ever since Meghan started dating Harry to trash the former actress, claiming she’s phony and fake and unappreciative of her family. Meghan has somehow managed to take the high ground and never respond in public. “We’re all welcoming the baby – Markles, Raglands, Sussexes, Windsors,” continued Samantha in this interview. “In terms of the gene pool, we’ve all made a contribution to this wonderful little boy who will probably grow up to be an exceptional man and we’d like to treat this as if we’re all a big family. “It would be nice not to react to what we’ve heard in the news but to personally meet him and let him judge us for himself.” Samantha is likely speaking here for her dad as well, who chose not to attend the Royal Wedding last May and who issued his own weird statement in light of the Royal Baby’s birth this week. Markle and Harry posed with their precious newborn yesterday, announcing his name a few hours later. It is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and we actually think it’s rather adorable. “It’s magic. It’s pretty amazing. I have the best two guys in the world, so I’m really happy,” Meghan told the media on Wednesday, saying of her little one: “He has the sweetest temperament. He’s really calm.” And Samantha did conclude her statement with a few nice words at least. While also claiming that she was speaking for an entire nation. “I want [Archie] to know he’s got a big family and he’s part of an amazing historical time and we’re excited for him,” she said. “We’re excited for Meg and Harry – I am really excited for her. I love her, she’s my baby sister and it doesn’t matter what we’ve all said back and forth but she’s got to do the right thing. “I just want to say Meg, you’ve got a world here and family here [in the U.S.] that’s excited for you.” In the end, however, the woman who is exploiting this entire situation to write a memoir and gain publicity simply could not help but continue to hammer Markle for allegedly turning her back on her loved ones. That’s just how Samantha Markle rolls. View Slideshow: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry: Royal Baby Photos are HERE! This was how she wrapped up the interview, referencing Thomas Markle and making a very selfish, narrow-minded and biased plea: “I want Meg to be part of his life, I want Meg to be able to share this beautiful time with him in whatever way she can. “I think it’s important for her too. I hope something sticks with her – that she decided to do the right thing for my dad. Life is short and we’re family. “I hope she decides to do the right thing this time.”
