Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 8-21-18

Entertainment
Kenya Barris Officially Joins
Stevie Wonder Gets Emotional And Cries When Talking About Aretha Franklin
Netflix With Big TV Overall
Deal For New Series
Things got really emotional on Friday for Stevie Wonder as he discussed having a final con- versation with his longtime friend, Aretha Franklin.
Wonder said that he and Franklin, who died Thursday, had spoken about collaborating as recently as two months ago.
“We’d been talking about it. There was a song that I had writ- ten called ‘The Future,’ and we were going to sing it together. And so I thought I cried my last tear,” Wonder told “CBS This Morning” on Friday, his voice breaking.
Wonder, 68, and Jesse Jackson visited Franklin at her Detroit-area home on Tues- day.
Wonder described his last words to the legend.
The pact had been rumored for months. The agreement with Netflix was made awhile ago but could not be an- nounced until Barris formal- ized his exit from his ABC Studios deal. Barris and ABC Studios last month an- nounced that his overall deal there would terminate in Au- gust, a little over a year into its four-year term. The date was Aug. 15, thus today’s official news from Netflix.
I hear the Netflix deal, which started Aug. 16, is for three years with an option for two more. Under the pact, Barris will produce new se- ries exclusively at Netflix, writ- ing and executive producing all projects through his produc- tion company, Khalabo Ink So- ciety. In success, if it goes to
STEVIE WONDER AND ARETHA FRANKLIN
KENYA BARRIS
five years, the deal is believed to be potentially worth as much as $100 million, possibly crossing into the nine-figure territory of Netflix’s mega five- year pacts with uber series cre- ators/producers Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes.
“She wasn’t able to speak back, but her family felt that she could hear me, and so I just said all the things that I’ve always said and told her to say hello to my sister – that I lost this year as well,” Wonder recalled.
“I love you Aretha, and that’s a forever thing,” he con- tinued. “We have to celebrate
her life and continue her legacy by letting people of all the vari- ous genres hear the music that influenced us all. I’ve known [for] sometime about her condi- tion, and I just prayed, even though the odds were very, very, very crazy — when you think two out of 100 would succeed — that she would beat this thing.”
A 'Girls Trip' Sequel Is In The Works, According To Regina Hall
Argument Over Aretha Franklin Biopic Actress Leads To Shooting
Michael Hatton shot Tony Lundy over a argument about who shouldn’t play Aretha Franklin.
Get ready for another round of Girls Trip!
According to star Regina Hall, a sequel is in the works. She revealed the news on
BuzzFeed's AM to DM.
"I don't know where the girls are going...(but) the girls are coming back," she said. Hall commented they are still trying to figure out the sched- uling, but they are trying to make it happen.
Last August, Will Packer also discussed a sequel with Vulture.
He said, "We’re definitely talking about it. The only thing harder than opening a studio comedy today is opening a stu- dio comedy sequel. That’s the next challenge. I love our team. If anybody can do it, we can do
REGINA HALL
it. It’s still a little early — the movie is still in theaters — but it’s something we’ve all thought about."
The film was a box office success, hitting over $100M domestically.
SUFFOLK, VA – Two men in a Virginia barbershop got into a heated argument over whether Halle Berry would play Aretha Franklin in a biopic. According to WKTR, po- lice said the fight turned into a physical altercation.
Before the Queen of Soul’s August 16 death, she’d expressed
interest in having Berry play her in a biopic based on Franklin’s memoir, Aretha: From These Roots. But Berry confessed she couldn’t sing and wouldn’t do the role justice. Singer Jennifer Hudson was eyed for the role instead.
The debate evidently led to the incident. During the
melee, 44-year-old Michael Jermell Hatton, produced a firearm and shot Tony Jonathan Lundy, 47, at least once outside of the shop.
People inside a nearby busi- ness heard four to five shots.
Lundy is reportedly in criti- cal condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
LisaRaye Calls Off
Trump Was Begging To Get Aretha Franklin To Perform At His Inauguration And Her Reported Reaction Was Priceless
Engagement After 1 Month!
It looked like LisaRaye McCoy was headed down the aisle, but a lot can change within a month. The actress made the commitment of en- gagement in July, after weed- ing out hopeful contestants who wanted to spend the rest of their lives with McCoy for ABC’s show, The Proposal.
Out of two finalists, she de- cided to take a shot at love with Anthony Bryant. After the premiere of the show, the pair took to social media, where Bryant made an official proposal among their family and friends, but everything must have been not what it seemed. On Thursday, McCoy revealed that she was back on the market and the engage- ment was off!
ANTHONY AND LISARAYE
She stated,“Yes it’s over and I’m single again! Hello every- one, yes the relationship with Anthony B. is over. I feel the right decision was made when I chose Anthony from the batch of men, I was given to se- lect from the TV show.”
As we all have learned, Aretha Franklin wasn’t just the Queen of Soul, she also fought for justice. Ms. Franklin was close to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and sang at his funeral. She offered to post bail for Angela Davis in 1979, saying, “I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black peo- ple.”
Franklin also sang at three inaugurations: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. However, there is reportedly one inaugu- ration she refused to lend her voice — Trump’s. And a new report claims he was begging the
PRESIDENT TRUMP AND ARETHA FRANKLIN
Queen of Soul.
Franklin “hated” the rise of
Trump. Tom Barrack, the chairman of the Presidential In- augural Committee, was at- tempting to book Aretha, The Daily Beast reports, writ- ing, “Trump had long consid- ered the legendary singer a friend, and wanted the offer framed as an opportunity to help bring the country back together after a brutal, bruising presiden-
tial election.”
A “source” told The Daily
Beast that Franklin said “no amount of money” would per- suade her to perform for him at the inauguration. Also, “Another knowledgeable source described her as ‘despising’ everything he stood for, as an avowed Hillary Clinton supporter.”
Of course this should not be a shock; unlike Omarosa, Ms. Franklin was able to clearly see who Trump was.
Speaking of Trump, he raised some eyebrows on Twitter when he claimed Aretha “worked for him.” However, no one knows in what capacity Ms. Franklin was employed by 45. Also, he harshly said, “The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, is dead” on Twitter.
PAGE 16 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018