Happy birthday to a Hollywood legend! James Earl Jones celebrated his milestone 90th birthday on Sunday, and got a lot of love from some of his famous friends and fans.
Jones’ booming voice, powerful gravitas and daunting screen presence have made him a true screen icon, and his impressive performances have left an indelible mark on pop culture throughout his nearly 70-year career.
As the voice of both Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King, Jones has been an unforgettable and integral part of so many generations of movie fans. His body of work also includes award-winning performances in a slew of comedies and dramas — including Coming to America, The Sandlot, Field of Dreams and countless others.
It’s no surprise then that the celebrated figure was showered with love and effusive praise as he celebrated his big 9-0 on Sunday. Celebs including Regina King, Josh Gad, Wendell Pierce and many others took to social media to share the love.
The Oscar-winning actor recently spoke with USA Today about his plans for commemorating the milestone birthday.
“I will keep having to remind myself that it’s my birthday,” Jones shared. “I’ll make an exception and enjoy a slice of strawberry shortcake, my favorite!”
The actor told the publication that he is “feeling fantastic and grateful” and looking back at his career makes him “so proud of my work and accomplishments.”
“I love growing older and wiser with time,” Jones shared, adding that he plans to continue acting “for as long as I can.”
Big Brother Naija former housemate, Nengi, has reacted to Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri’s decision to replace her with Ebizi Blessing Eradiri as the Face of Bayelsa Girl Child.
Governor Diri removed the Big Brother Naija star and replaced her with Eradiri, the first female First Class graduate from the Faculty of Law at the Niger Delta University, NDU.
Eradiri also finished First Class from the Nigerian Law School.
The decision of the Governor to pick Nengi for the position had met strong criticism on social media as many believed that the double First Class Law Graduate, not only made Bayelsans proud but also the entire Izon nation.
And the Governor on Monday announced Eradiri as the New Face of Bayelsa Girl Child.
Eradiri and her father were at the Government House, Yenagoa, where the Governor also, among other things, gave her automatic employment to lecture at the NDU’s Faculty of Law.
Reacting to the development, Nengi tweeted, “Congratulations to Barr. Ebizi Eradiri. It’s amazing how you were able to pull that thru!
“Special thanks to my Governor for also finding her worthy for the honour. It is without doubt that we will both work together to see how we can front for a better welfare for the Girl child.”
Congratulations to Barr. Ebizi Eradiri. It's amazing how you were able to pull that thru!
Special thanks to my Governor for also finding her worthy for the honour. It is without doubt that we will both work together to see how we can front for a better welfare for the Girl child pic.twitter.com/88riQTUvK4
Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Films, has kicked against the N2.5 billion allegedly demanded by Tobore Ovuorie, an investigative journalist, who accused her of copyright infringement with respect to ‘Oloture’, her 2020 movie.
Ovuorie had claimed that Abudu’s film adapted 75 percent of her 2014 undercover investigation on sex trafficking. She also alleged that it was done without her express permission.
The media mogul, however, debunked the allegations in a 10-minute video shared on her Instagram page on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old former human resources management consultant said Tobore’s lawyers sent a letter to her a month after the film was released on Netflix demanding N2.5 billion in compensation.
Abudu also said she had earlier reached out to the publishers of Premium Times, Tobore’s employers as of when the story was filed, and obtained a go-ahead to make the film while out of moral obligation promising the reporter’s NGO a five per cent cut from its theatre run.
“Tobore wrote the article titled ‘Inside Nigeria’s Ruthless Human Trafficking Mafia’, which was published on August 12 2014 by the Premium Times, her employer at the time. Premium Times Services Limited, the publisher of Premium Times, has disclosed that she can’t lay claim to the investigative report that belongs to them,” she said.
“According to the Premium Times editor-in-chief, only the media company and their partner on that project, Zam Chronicles, can lay claim to the copyright of that report based on Nigeria’s copyright law. We sought and obtained the rights from Premium Times, the owners of the story. As such, we fulfilled our legal obligations.
“And do not take kindly to suggestions stating otherwise. There are several instances where we have acquired the rights to books, stories, and places such as ‘Queen Hunter’ ‘Death of the Kings Horsemen’, and ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’. This is how our industry works. We dare not make a film without acquiring rights.
“Although I have addressed our legal obligations, there were moral issues to be dealt with in a case like this. In May 2019, 20 months before the launch of ‘Oloture’ on Netflix, we reached out to Tobore to acknowledge her journalistic achievements, to recognise and encourage her in her ongoing campaign against sex trafficking and that of her NGO.
“We granted her a private screening of the movie; gave her a special mention at the end of ‘Oloture’. And I interviewed her on ‘Moments with Mo’. In addition, we wrote to her and offered her five percent of the proceeds from our plan to cinema-run. This is to go towards her NGO, which she acknowledged. We also reached out to other NGOs.
“This was to pledge proceeds from our cinema run as ‘Oloture was never created as a commercial film. We felt it was an important film to make and donors helped us to raise the money. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the cinema release never happened. Instead, we decided to partner with Netflix, and the film was released on October 2, 2020.
“Within a few days (after release), Tobore went on social media making accusations. She wrote to Netflix, launched an attack against Kenneth Inyang, who never saw the script until we approached him to direct. A month after, we got a letter from Tobore’s lawyers alleging copyright infringement and demanding $5 million in compensation.”
Describing Tobore’s monetary demands as “extortionist and blackmailing” in nature, Abudu stated that she might resort to going to court if need be but said she remains open to settling the issue in an “appropriate conversation”.
“At this point, our in-house lawyer suggested that we needed to engage an external legal counsel, which we did. We knew we had not infringed on her copyright because Premium Times owned it. We did not have N2.5 billion to give. In order to understand what her demands were based on, our lawyers began meeting with hers,” Abudu added.
“That process stopped because her lawyers disengaged from her. Recently, Tobore started contacting out producers via WhatsApp and sending them horrid messages. To me, Tobore’s demands have become threatening, extortionist, and blackmailing in nature. If she felt she has a legal case, it could be best to come through the proper channels.
“A few days before the film was released on Netflix, I had sent her a text message: ‘Hi dear, it’s strictly on Netflix. No cinema due to covid. I promised you a cash gift towards your foundation and I will still make it happen even though we did not have a cinema release’. However, everything changed after the growing popularity of the film on Netflix.
“Oloture is a story inspired by true events and involving the work of scriptwriters, the development of characters and locations, situations, and occurrences that were created by our writers. Certain incidents in Oloture are similar to what happened to Tobore and this is why she was given credits. But it could never be her life story as claimed.
“So many women from around trafficked to Italy have similar stories. Please let’s educate ourselves. If there is one thing I stand for, it’s about integrity, working hard, and standing up for what I believe in. We’ve not exploited Tobore or anyone else and we will not be exploited. The facts are clear. We have everything in writing.
“And we’re prepared to defend ourselves against baseless attacks and legal challenges. We will not be intimidated because of the financial success of Oloture. However, our door is always open to having a conversation that is appropriate and right. Anything else will be refuted and rebuffed and, if necessary, settled in a court of law.”
Based in Lagos, ‘Oloture is the story of a young, naïve Nigerian journalist who goes undercover to expose the shady underworld of human trafficking.
On the other hand, Ovuorie’s investigation, which was published on Premium Times, exposed the syndicates that caused the death of Ifueko, her friend, who returned from sex work in Italy in 1999 with AIDS and died later.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have been in marriage counseling, and we’ve learned the subject of divorce was looming for much of 2020, but they haven’t given up.
Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, the marriage was in deep trouble for the last half of 2020. In fact, we’re told Kim was ready to pull the plug on the marriage at one point but it was when Kanye was going through a serious bipolar episode and she felt it was cruel to do it when he wasn’t well.
They have been living separately for a few months … with Kanye spending the majority of his time in Wyoming while she has been in Calabasas with the kids. They were absorbed in personal business projects and didn’t focus on making any final decisions.
Kim has gone back and forth, we’re told … at times thinking divorce was the only option but other times believing there was a chance to save the marriage. That’s why they took a family vacation late last year … to see if they could repair things.
Everything got put on hold for the Christmas holidays, but now the issue is front and center. Kim’s had disso queen Laura Wasser on retainer for years for various reasons, and the subject of divorce was discussed months ago, but Kim never gave the green light to file.
Her ambivalence is understandable, what with 4 small kids. They married in May, 2014.
We’re told no final decision has been made, and it’s telling they’ve been in counseling for a while.
We’re told their issues have been neither contentious nor ugly, but they do have lots of differences … from lifestyle to politics. They are, however, fully aligned on parenting.
One thing our sources wanted to make clear … there is no third party.
As for the likelihood of divorce … we’re told don’t bet against it.
Dr. Dre was undergoing medical treatment Tuesday after being admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with a possible brain aneurysm, two sources familiar with his condition said.
(Brain Aneurysm is a weakness in a blood vessel in the brain that balloons and fills with blood.
Most intracranial aneurysms occur between the underside of the brain and the base of the skull. The aneurysm can leak or rupture, causing life-threatening bleeding.)
The legendary rap artist and producer turned music mogul was considered to be in stable condition at the Los Angeles hospital after undergoing testing, according to one of the sources who asked not to be named because the person was not authorized to discuss the medical matter.
The rapper, 55, whose real name is Andre Young, rose to fame with N.W.A from the streets of Compton and went on to become a top producer and the co-founder of Beats Electronics, a venture that turned him into a billionaire. After TMZ.com revealed that Dre was hospitalized, N.W.A co-founder Ice Cube tweeted, “Send your love and prayers.”
Dre, according to a source, had been in the intensive care unit at one point.
The medical emergency comes amid an escalating divorce battle with his longtime spouse, Nicole Young, who is seeking $2 million a month in spousal support and $5 million in lawyer fees.
In the 1980s, Dre steered the city’s most incendiary act, N.W.A, and forced the discontent of police-brutalized South L.A. onto radios and televisions nationwide with singles such as “F— tha Police.” The group’s furious and profane lyrics were bolstered by Dre’s ear for the bounce of funk.
On his 1992 solo album “The Chronic” and on 1993’s “Doggystyle,” his album with the young Long Beach rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, he helped perfect the raw and provocative sound of Los Angeles rap, but with a super-producer’s ear for a hit.
In 1995, he earned his first Hot 100 chart-topper with Tupac Shakur’s “California Love,” one of the defining West Coast hip-hop songs.
After leaving the volatile Death Row Records and founding his Aftermath imprint with Interscope, in 1998 he signed a young white rapper from Detroit, Eminem. Eminem’s skill and darkly funny lyrics fit Dre’s sensibilities, and the two cemented hip-hop as the new chart-dominant pop music.
With 50 Cent’s smash 2003 LP “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” Dre continued his run as a producer and talent incubator at Aftermath. “Detox,” the long-planned follow-up to his “2001” album, saw years of delays. But an acclaimed return set with Snoop Dogg at Coachella in 2012 reasserted his foundational role in hip-hop. That legacy was explored in the hit 2015 N.W.A biopic, “Straight Outta Compton.”
In the meantime, he’d built a fledgling headphone business, Beats Electronics, into a dominant consumer tech brand for rap fans. In 2013, Dre donated $70 million to USC with fellow music mogul Jimmy Iovine to found the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. In 2014, he sold Beats to Apple for an estimated $3 billion, making him one of the richest men in popular music.
On Tuesday night, rap peer L.L. Cool J tweeted that the music producer was “recovering nicely.” On Instagram, Snoop Dogg added his well wishes: “GET WELL DR DRE WE NEED U CUZ.”
Nigeria’s talented music sensation, Umughare Aghogho Prosper popularly known as Holmes, who is fast establishing himself as one of the great artistes on the continent with his Afro-fusion genre of pleasant sound has continued to break fallow grounds in the entertainment industry, despite the challenges that hit the year 2020.
No stage performances, no gigs, no concerts, no doubt, the year 2020 came with a lot of hits for many people from various walks of life all around the world and, Nigeria’s entertainers are not left out from the heat of the covid-19 pandemic, #EndSARS protests, and the likes, but for Holmes, the heat became his ‘hits’ as this has affected his career in a positive way.
The talented singer’s focus and dedication to his music career saw him hit eight singles in a pandemic year, boasting of high profile collaborations with Ycee, Yung6ix, and multiple award-winning mega-superstar, Davido, and DJ Neptune, meanwhile, and he is nowhere near slowing down on dishing out his best in terms of good music and entertaining his millions of fans across the continent. His hard work has seen him deliver hit singles that are ruling the airwaves; Magician, Break It In January, Love, Sade, Finally, and several others.
A Native of Delta State, Warri, Holmes’ growing and amazing success story cannot be distant from the massive support from his record label, Addictive Music Worldwide and D’Luxe Management under the supervision of Franklin Amudo whose wealth of experience is contributing amazingly to Holmes’ transcendence into the top rank of Afrobeat musicians, not just in Nigerian, but Africa.
He is not just unique in his work rate, but also in his sound that stands him out among many, creating his own unique flavour of Afropop music. According to him, his music is mostly inspired by life generally with its challenges, especially drawing from the numerous number peculiar to Nigerians and then, ladies who would find several attractions in his music.
Holmes’ latest single, which featured one of the greatest DJs in Africa, DJ Neptune has been attracting massive positive reviews. The Amanpiano-inspired song which was released in November, on top digital platforms like iTunes and Boomplay, has been creating melodious fever and has continued to receive positive vibes from industry heads and fans. Finally was produced by P Loops and the video, filmed in a choice reserved factory in South Africa was shot by the Shelf director, Sesan Ogunro
The 28-year-old singer’s music career has continued to skyrocket since his debut single, “Magician” produced by Kel P, followed by his hit single and then the much talked about collaboration with the DMW records honcho himself, Davido, “Love” released early in the year.
If his past and present are anything to go by, Holmes is already stepping into 2021 on a very high note as his popularity and fame continue to grow immensely.
An eyewitness of a fight between Nigerian music superstars, Davido and Burna Boy, at a Ghanaian club on Monday, has said bouncers at the club ejected Burna Boy who stormed the club with six hefty men.
Earlier today, the news went round that there was a fight between Nigerian superstars, Davido and Burna Boy at a club, Twist Club and Lounge, in Ghana. In several videos that have since gone viral, Wizkid was also seen at the club drinking from a bottle seemingly unbothered by the rancour.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Steven Mingle, who is responsible for posting most of the videos about the brawl, said he was at Twist Club and Lounge, the venue where the fight occurred.
Mingle had posted clips of the fight on his Instagram handle, Ghhyper1.
He explained, “Davido was having fun with his guys; I was also there beside him taking some shots. The place got choked, so, I had to excuse myself and stayed by the door to get some fresh air.
“When I was standing by the door, I saw Burna Boy and at least six guys following him. One is a popular guy who spends in the club and the others are the muscular guys.
“When Burna Boy entered, he did not come to chill there because he just came to attack Davido. He just went straight to Davido.
“The club’s bouncers had approached them to ask where they were going but when he showed his face as Burna Boy, they allowed him.
“Davido spotted him and his look showed that he was wondering why he (Burna Boy) was coming to his table but he stood his ground. Just like boxing face-off, the next thing blows started flying; the girls and people inside Twist Lounge had to run; I also ran.”
The eyewitness further claimed that the security officers of the club immediately asked Burna Boy to leave the premises.
“The Twist bouncers forced Burna Boy and his guys out of the premises. Even when they were going, Burna Boy hit the club gate. Davido had to wait for about one hour thirty minutes before he moved out because of security reasons.”
Mingle further told The PUNCH that he has been with Davido and his crew since they landed in Ghana on Sunday to celebrate the song Davido and ace Ghanaian artiste, Stonebwoy, recorded together ― Activate.
When The PUNCH reached out to Burna Boy’s Public Relations team, it simply said, “Unfortunately we have not gotten any information yet because we are in Lagos and they are in Ghana. We have not spoken to anybody, so, we cannot really give any information on what transpired.”
We can tell you authoritatively that Nigerian singers Omah Ley and Tems that has been held in detention by the Ugandan government for flouting the COVID-19 lockdown rule in the East African nation has been released.
In documents in our possession the 3 Nigerians held in the President Museveni led country were ordered to be released by the magistrate court.
Nigerian had trooped to the social media to demand for their release since the story of their arrest broke-out and the Abike Dabiri-Erewa led Nigerians in Diaspora Commission played a significant role in fast tracking the release of the two Nigerian music stars.
US based Nigerian reggae musician and actor The Ras General has dropped a new single ‘How Long’, a song inspired by current events happening around the world.
A former member of the Rasta Officers Band, the first reggae family band to come out of africa formed with his three brothers as members.
The Ras general (Given name, Stanley Onwu) would soon relocate to Ghana where he became a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel Organisation where he met another rasta bredren by the name Ras Korby and together they formed another band known as The Nazarite VowBand, one of the biggest and most militant reggae outfits in Ghana at the time.
The Ras General always on the move later migrated to the united States of America, where he still resides with his family.
The artiste who is also an Actor, Poet, Movie Producer, Writer and Singer has performed alongside many local and international acts including reggae legends like Mutabaruka, Yesus Afari, Culture, Don Carlos, Buju Banton and Toots Hibberts just to mention a few.
He also played a major role alongside Jamaican movie star Paul Campbell in the movie ‘The Jamaican Mafia.’
His brand new single ‘How Long’ released under his Peoples’ Army music label is currently enjoying massive airplay on reggae shows on local radio stations across the country and on other radio stations across the west african coast.
The song is also available for download on social media platforms.
Accomplished role interpreter, Saidi Balogun is set for location for his first ever comedy movie.
The Ibadan, Oyo state born act had before now, produced series of movies in different languages, even as he holds the enviable record of the first African Black Man from Nigeria to produce one and only 2 and the first Person to Produce all cast in Africa Ankara.
“Master P” another movie you can wait to see from the stable of the multiple Award winner, and an exceptional script interpreter Saidi Balogun, according to him said the hilarious comic movie will be shot in cinema standard with higher resolution for saidi Balogun productions,
“Master P” is big one which has been conceived for years now and the time is ripe now to make the idea real”
Acts on the bill of the new movie are scheduled to hit location from the 2nd of December 2020 in Ajilete settlement in Ogun state.
The project “Master P”, according to Saidi,” is unique because we always give you value for money and your time”
The Actors involved in the new work include Ayo Adesanya, Olaiya Igwe, Adewale Eleso, Eniola Badmus, Bimbo Akintola, Odunlade Adekola, Olaniyi Afonja (sanyeri ), Jude Orora, Tunde usman (Okele), Saidi Balogun, Office Garji, Funky Mallam, Koffi the Guru, THE NEPA BOYS, AJIREBI, MUSTAPHA SOLGBADE, Peter ijaye gbemi Samuel Olashehinde, Ben O Ben including his children namely Jamal, Zenat and Kalid.
