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Entertainment
Eddie Murphy To Play
Tampa Native Attends NAACP Awards
Richard Pryor's Father In Lee Daniels-Directed Biopic
Last month, the NAACP
th
held their 46 Annual Image
Awards Show.
The event was broadcast
live on TV One. The show was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Tampa native Danny Green was among those in attendance at the popular
Tampa native Danny Green, left, is shown with Shamar Moore, who starred on the day- time soap opera, The Young & Restless.
Actress Angela Bassett at- tended the event.
Tika Sumpter, star of the popular “Haves and Have Nots” attended the awards show.
Actors Will Smith and Laurence Fishburn were among those attending the awards show.
event. Green had the oppor- tunity to meet and mingle with several of the award re- cipients, many of whom are currently starring in broad- cast and cable television shows.
Anthony Anderson was the host. NAACP Chair- person Roslyn Brock pre- sented the NAACP
U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder attended the 2015 NAACP Awards in Pasadena, California.
ACTRESS GABRIELLE UNION
Chairman’s Award to Eric Holder, Jr., U. S. Attorney General.
NAACP President Cor- nell William Brooks pre- sented the NAACP President’s Award to Spike Lee, and Russell Sim- mons presented the NAACP Vanguard Award to Clive Davis.
OPRAH WINFREY
Taraji Henson, star of “The Empire” posed with her award.
RICHARD PRYOR, EDDIE MURPHY AND LEE DANIELS
Eddie Murphy is in talks to play Richard Pryor's fa- ther, LeRoy Pryor, in the upcoming Lee Daniels-di- rected biopic.
Eddie Murphy declined to play Bill Cosby on the “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary special, but the comedian may be open to a role in the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic.
“Strap in and brace your- self,” director Lee Daniels captioned an Instagram photo on Thursday of him and Mur- phy. “They done let me and him out of our cages!”
The 53-year-old comedian is currently in talks to join the cast of the Daniels-directed biopic starring Mike Epps as Pryor, reports The Holly- wood Reporter.
“Richard (Pryor) is the one who made me want to do comedy,” Murphy said in his 1987 stand-up special “Raw.”
“When I was young, I wanted to be Richard Pryor so bad I used to sneak in the basement, put his albums on, and just listen,” he added.
Lee Daniels posted photo of Eddie Murphy on Thursday, 'Strap in and brace yourself. They done let me and him out of our cages! #idon- teventhinkimreadyforthisone! #excited #proud #OMG'
While Murphy won’t star as his idol, he will play Pryor’s father and former boxer, LeRoy “Buck Carter” Pryor, who the late comedian often described during his standup routines as an alcoholic that beat him.
'Empire' Star Smollett Is As 'Honest As Possible'
Instant fame can be diffi- cult to navigate, especially when you're part of a cultural juggernaut known as Empire.
Jussie Smollett, 31, who plays Lucius Lyon's John Legend-like son, is currently experiencing the other side of fame's coin: the privacy de- bate.
In Smollett's case, the conversation up for grabs is his sexuality. Like his charac- ter, Jamal Lyon, he is gay, and said so while visiting The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday, though he prefers not to discuss his private life.
"There's never been a closet that I've been in," he told DeGeneres in an inter- view backstage after his ap- pearance. "But I have a home and that is my responsibility to protect that home. ... So that's why I choose not to talk about my personal life."
'Empire' Star Jussie Smollet Confirms He's Gay
Smollett laughed about his "overnight success" dur- ing an interview with USA TODAY on Wednesday. He's been in the business since he was 10, taking less-than-
JUSSIE SMOLLETT
glamorous jobs along the way (from a clown at children's parties to non-profit jobs) as he pursued a career in music and acting.
Smollett has figured out how to draw the lines be- tween his public and private life "simply by drawing them."
"When it becomes too much, then drawing them. People have the right to be nosy, but guess what? If peo- ple have the right to ask ques- tions, I have the right to not answer. I just try to be as hon- est as possible without sacri- ficing who I am."
As for how Empire's rabid audience has received Jamal's struggle in being ac- cepted by his homophobic, powerful father (played by Terrence Howard): "It's been like 99.999 percent pos- itive," he said.
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