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Entertainment
Jennifer Hudson In Negotiations To Star In Aretha Franklin Biopic
Aretha Franklin and Jennifer Hudson
The King Of African Rumba Collapses And Dies On Stage
Papa Wemba
BIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Papa Wemba, a musician known around the world as the king of Congolese rumba, has died fol- lowing a collapse on stage dur- ing a concert, officials said. He was 66.
Culture Minister Bau- douin Banza Mukalay con- firmed the musician’s death Sunday, calling it a “great loss for the country and all of Africa.”
Footage from the concert in Ivory Coast shows his fellow performers rushing to his side as he collapsed in front of thou- sands of fans. He was taken to a nearby clinic, but couldn’t be resuscitated. The cause of death wasn’t immediately known.
Rumors Of Rachel Roy-Jay Z Affair Re-Circulate After Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ Premieres; Roy Sends Cryptic Tweet
Jay Z, Beyonce and Beyonce’s sister, Solange exiting the ele- vator after the infamous fight. Solange attacked Jay Z after he allegedly disrespected her sister with Roy at a party.
Rachel Roy, the former ex of Dame Dash tweets cryptic mes- sage after Beyonce premieres ‘Lemonade’.
According to Hollywood- BlackRenaissance. Com, after approximately five years of de- velopment, the Aretha Franklin biopic is officially ready to receive the greenlight. It has yet to be confirmed; however sources state that Jennifer Hudson is in dis- cussions to play Aretha Franklin and is currently in the last stages of negotiation.
“Good news, we’re ready to sign for the movie. We’ve agreed on all the key points. There’s very little left now (to negotiate), very little. They have given me creative control and that’s all I wanted.”- Aretha Franklin
Franklin initially wanted Halle Berry to portray her in the film, but the actress said in response, “Someone should tell
Aretha that I can’t do her jus- tice.” Hudson would be the perfect casting choice to honor the life of the legendary Aretha Franklin. She won the world over with her Acad- emy Award-winning perform- ance in the film adaptation of the play Dreamgirls, and went on to star in The Secret Life of Bees, Sex and The City, Think Like A Man, and Lullaby. Most recently, she appeared on the hit Fox series Empire.
According to The Wrap, The Untitled Aretha Franklin Project, has been in the works since 2011. The film will be pro- duced by Universal Pictures ex- ecutive Scott Bernstein, who produced the critically ac- claimed film Straight Outta Compton.
Rachel Roy just got stung by the Beyhive once again.
The fashion designer — whose close connection with Jay Z once sparked affair ru- mors — faces new scrutiny after posting a cryptic message to Instagram following the re- lease of Beyoncé's "Lemon- ade" album and music video.
In the evocative "Lemonade" project, Beyoncé seems to hint at Jay Z's infidelity in multiple tracks, notably punc- tuating a verse in her song "Sorry" by proclaiming, "He better call Becky with the good hair."
Several hours after the song dropped, Roy posted an Insta- gram photo of herself and a friend with the caption, "Good hair don't care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always." Live in
the light," the captioned con- tinued. "#nodramaqueens."
The post immediately sparked speculation among fans that Roy had just outed herself as the subject of the singer’s new song.
"Are you Becky?" one hand-wringing fan posted in the photo's comments section.
In 2014, Roy was linked to Jay Z once again after Bey- once's sister Solange was caught on video punching and kicking the rapper in an eleva- tor at a Met Gala after-party at the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District.
Sources told the Daily News at the time that Solange's attack was trig- gered by the hip-hop mogul getting "too close" to Roy at the party.
Rihanna Has Passed The Beatles For Second-Longest At No. 1
Let that Rihanna reign last forever. Photo: Getty Images
Get back, Beatles, another diva has left you in the dust: On this week's Billboard Hot 100 Rihanna has officially sur- passed the Beatles for second- longest cumulative weeks at No. 1. "Work," featuring Drake, is once again the No. 1 song in the U.S., having scored its ninth week in that position, which gives her a total of 60 weeks, spent at No. 1 in her ca- reer. She tied the Beatles last week at 59, but has now set a new record. (Fun fact: Ri- hanna's first week at No. 1 came in May 2006, for "S.O.S.") The leader, for now, remains Mariah Carey with 79 weeks, which she could eas- ily extend if yet another hit ever comes along. "Work" also gives Rihanna her second-longest No. 1 streak, just behind "We Found Love" at 10 weeks. De- signer’s "Panda" could pose a threat to Rih on next week's chart, however, as The Life of Pablo sample has risen to No. 2 this week, having topped the streaming chart. (And that's without an official video, which has apparently already been filmed.)
Justin Bieber and his un- yielding chart presence also made history this week: With
RIHANNA And The BEATLES
"Love Yourself" at No. 8, Bieber has now broken the record for most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 for a song since its chart debut, with 22 weeks. It's a record he previ- ously held at 21 weeks with his own Purpose hits, "Sorry" and "What Do You Mean?" — which tied him with Maroon 5's "Sugar" and Nicki Minaj's "Starships." Both he and Rihanna can now say they've bested the Beatles — last year the Biebs broke the Beatles' and tied Drake's record for most simultaneous songs in the Hot 100, with a ridiculous 17 Purpose songs charting at the same time. Fur- ther proof that the Beatles should've maybe stuck it out for a few more albums, you know, for insurance.
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