Category: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Etta James’ manager says the terminally ill blues singer is breathing on her own after being taken off a respirator. Lupe De Leon says Friday that the change in her condition is great news and that the singer’s blood pressure is normal. De Leon says James was put on a respirator […]

An actress from the 1990s NBC series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” recently slammed the show’s star, Will Smith, following a reunion luncheon that the cast attended. According to TMZ, actress Karyn Parsons, who played Hilary on the show, held a charity luncheon in early December that was attended by most of the Fresh Prince […]

Not-for-profit Washington D.C. theater Arena Stage will relocate a major portion of its American Voices New Play Institute, including a program focused on Black playwrights, to Emerson College in Boston, the organization recently announced. The move radically alters the theater’s play development programs, particularly with the departure of Associate Artistic Director David Dower and the […]

Singer Jennifer Hudson has recorded a new duet featured in a commercial for Weight Watchers, belting out a tune alongside an image of her heavier self. Creatively using footage from a 2004 performance on American Idol, the new commercial pits the old Hudson up against her newly slim self to perform the Whitney Houston classic […]

Continuing a marketing strategy it began earlier this year, Showtime is offering the premiere episode of the Don Cheadle dark comedy series “House of Lies” for free online. The series based on a book by author Martin Kihn, features Cheadle as part of a group of ruthless management consultants willing to go to extremes to […]

A man charged with killing an Atlanta rapper at a recording studio has turned himself in to police. WSB-TV reports (http://bit.ly/sRwHlA ) that Vinson Hardimon, known as rapper Young Vito, surrendered to Atlanta police Monday afternoon. He was handcuffed and taken to the Fulton County jail. Police say the 28-year-old shot and killed 24-year-old Mario […]

Ever present in the background, Kevin Peck has had the kind of success in his career that most producers can only dream of. Manager of the popular group, Dru Hill from 1992 to 1996, Peck has again and again shown what it takes to possess longevity in the entertainment business. “It’s about being the best […]

The editor-in-chief of a Dutch fashion magazine has resigned after publishing an article about pop star Rihanna that used a racist slur. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jackie magazine’s Eva Hoeke stepped down after receiving many complaints about an article that discussed Rihanna’s style, referring to the singer as the “ultimate n-word b*tch.” “She has […]

NEW YORK (AP) — John Legend will no longer be a bachelor: He’s engaged. The singer’s publicist said Tuesday that Legend proposed to his girlfriend, model Chrissy Teigen, recently in the Maldives. No more details are being provided. Legend has won nine Grammys and released four albums. Teigen was named “rookie of the year” in […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles coroner’s office says Jamaican-born rapper Heavy D died of natural causes. The self-proclaimed “overweight lover” of hip hop, who became one of rap’s top hit makers with a combination of humor and positivity, collapsed outside his Beverly Hills home on Nov. 8. The 44 year-old rapper, whose real […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stan Rosenfield, the 68-year-old actor’s spokesman, says De Niro and his 56-year-old wife, Grace Hightower, welcomed a healthy 7-pound, 2-ounce baby girl named Helen Grace Hightower through a surrogate mother. She is the couple’s second child. Their son, Elliot, is 13. No other details were provided. The “New Year’s Eve” and […]

Russ Mitchell, CBS News’ current weekend anchor, is departing the network to become managing editor of the main local newscasts for the NBC’s Cleveland, Ohio affiliate. Mitchell, who anchors the CBS Evening News weekend editions and The Early Show on Saturday, is the national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning. “I’ve been looking to get […]