Ray Rice has reached a settlement with his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, for a whomping $1.588 million. Rice sued the Ravens for wrongful termination after being suspended following the footage of him knocking his then-fiancée Janay Rice unconscious in an elevator. Rice has since appealed his suspension and has been reinstated into the NFL and after this settlement, he’s recovered a portion of his wages lost during his suspension. No word yet on whether he’ll sign to a new team. [Yahoo! Sports]
GLAAD, the nation’s leading LGBT media advocacy group, is honoring Scandal star Kerry Washington and their 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 21. Washington will receive the GLAAD Vanguard Award, for making a significant difference in promoting equality in media. “Throughout her illustrious career, Kerry Washington has consistently brought life to characters that encourage acceptance of LGBT people,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “Her outspoken support for equality, both here at home and abroad, has sent messages of hope and empowerment to fans all over the world.” [GLAAD]
Nia Long and Mike Epps will star in an ABC pilot by producer Will Packer (Think Like a Man, Ride Along) based on John Hughes’ classic film, Uncle Buck. The new series will center on Buck Russell (Epps), a childish man who learns to be an adult by taking care of his brother’s children. Long will star as his wife. [Deadline]
Finally! We have an official release date of the highly anticipated Nina Simone documentary. On June 28, What Happened, Miss Simone? will be available for streaming on Netflix. So close, and yet so far away… [Colorlines]
Fourteen years after her last album, R&B Divas star Monifah is making a triumphant return to music with her new single “One Moment” available now on iTunes. “I’m sharing my personal wake-up call with the world,” says Monifah about the single. Listen to “One Moment” here. What do you think?
The Apollo Theater is set to honor iconic blues singer Billie Holiday to commemorate what would’ve been the singer’s 100th birthday. The Apollo is planning a series of events and concerts in April, including a tribute performance by two-time Grammy winner Cassandra Wilson. Holliday herself performed at the Apollo theater over two dozen times. She died in 1959 at age 44. [Huffington Post]
While Empire star Jussie Smollett has chosen not to share his sexual orientation with the public, his co-star Malik Yoba has taken it upon himself to let the cat out of the bag. “I think that our show represents a huge opportunity to stay in the culture beyond entertainment value and there’s an intrinsic nature of you have the gay factor, right? I know Jussie, he is gay, and he’s very committed to issues around the LGBT community,” Yoba told BlackFilm.com “He and I have a very close relationship.” [BlackFilm.com]
Friday the 13th is about to get spooky, sexy and scandalous thanks to TV One. Fear Files, the network’s new mystery trilogy starring Columbus Short and Robin Givens, airs March 13. Each episode of the trilogy will follow a different character as they try to solve a mystery with a frightening twist. Clifton Powell, Eva Marcille and Lynn Whitfield will also be appearing in the series. [TV One]
While speaking at Oxford University, Kanye West candidly shared his thoughts on classism and how it’s one of the biggest social problems facing this world. “They think we’re done with racism. What about elitism? What about separatism? What about classism?” he said. “Class is the new way to discriminate against people, to hold people down, to hold people in their place based on where their kids go to school, how much money they make, what they drive, where they live and what type of clothes they have and how much they have in their account for retirement.” [Huffington Post]
