Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre’s 85-year history, performed her farewell show Oct. 22 at Lincoln Center, marking her retirement after 25 years with the company. Surrounded by family, colleagues and admirers including Oprah Winfrey and Debbie Allen, Copeland celebrated a career that broke racial barriers in classical ballet while pledging to continue advancing diversity through her foundation and advocacy work.
Author Archives: Jocelyn Noveck
AP National Writer
Posted inSports
Andy Warhol portrait of OJ Simpson goes on auction block
By Jocelyn Noveck, AP National Writer It was 1977, and Andy Warhol was at work on his “Athletes” series, portraits of top sports personalities who, he felt, were gaining cultural prominence just like “the movie stars of yesterday.” One of them was then the star running back of the Buffalo Bills: O.J. Simpson. Simpson, then […]
Posted inTV and Film
Review: America’s racist past haunts horror film ‘Master’
By Jocelyn Noveck, AP National Writer You want ghosts? Check. How about doors inexplicably opening and closing, creepy moaning in dark corners, and sudden sickening swarms of maggots? Check, check and check. But “Master,” a new horror film by Mariama Diallo with themes of race and social justice at its core, is most frightening when […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Film review: ‘Who We Are’ offers a searing view of racism in US
By Jocelyn Noveck AP National Writer “If you’ve ever owned a slave, please raise your hand,” Jeffery Robinson asks a live audience at the beginning of “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America,” a searing documentary based on a lecture he’s spent a decade perfecting. Obviously, nobody in the auditorium raises a hand. […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Denzel Washington on directing: ‘I’m still learning’
By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer Preparing to direct “A Journal for Jordan,” a bittersweet love story opening on Christmas Day, Denzel Washington says he took a “master class.” That master class consisted of starring in a movie directed by Joel Coen, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” which opens the same day. “I steal from the […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Pyer Moss wows with couture show honoring Black inventors
Pyer Moss listen during an interview after unveiling his fashion, themed around the inventions of African Americans, Saturday July 10, 2021, in Irvington, N.Y., at the Villa Lewaro mansion, the home built by African American entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker in 1917. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) By Jocelyn Noveck AP National Writer This time, the weather gods […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Oprah’s Barnstormer Tops Golden Globes Most Notable Moments
What president? A year after politics — and the newly elected occupant of the White House — dominated the conversation and tone of the Golden Globes, there was barely a mention of such things at Sunday’s ceremony. This year, it was all gender politics, and of course the #MeToo movement that has engulfed Hollywood and […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Report: 3 Women Accuse Music Mogul Russell Simmons of Rape
NEW YORK (AP) — Three women have told the New York Times that music mogul Russell Simmons raped them, the latest in a cascade of serious allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men in entertainment, media, politics and elsewhere. Simmons vehemently denied what he called “these horrific accusations,” saying in a statement emailed to The […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Advocacy Groups: Forget Oscars Snafu, Focus on ‘Moonlight’
Yes, the Great Mistake of Oscars 2017 made history in all the wrong kinds of ways. But a day later, advocacy groups and others overjoyed by the Cinderella win of “Moonlight” were saying, let’s forget the snafu and move on — because “Moonlight” made history in all the right kinds of ways. Barry Jenkins, foreground […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Uncategorized
Rihanna Honored for Style at Annual Fashion Awards in NY
NEW YORK (AP) — Rihanna, an undisputed fashion star of the moment, was the big draw Monday at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, which also honor the year’s top designers. The singer and pop culture star, dressed in a see-through fishnet dress, gloves and headscarf embellished with thousands of crystals, was […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Anita Hill in Spotlight Again as New Film Opens
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been more than 22 years since Anita Hill sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee in that famous bright blue suit — one she could never bring herself to wear again — to make the sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas that transfixed a nation. And much has changed since then. […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Blige, Legend, Anthony Headline Super Bowl Bash
NEW YORK (AP) — Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Marc Anthony kicked off Super Bowl weekend in style by serenading a celebrity-filled crowd in Manhattan. Hundreds of New Yorkers and visitors packed into Cipriani’s 42nd Street Friday night for a party sponsored by Shape and Men’s Fitness magazines. Tickets cost $2,500 per person. Blige […]