Taraji P. Henson Finally Addresses Those Rumors of Drama With Oprah During ‘The Color Purple’
Spoilers! Now That Sinners is Streaming, Here’s Symbolism You Probably Missed
Marvel’s New Black Panther Is …White, Explained
The Best ‘106 & Park’ Performances, Moments Over the Years
-
Salt-N-Pepa Talk Their New Biopic, How They Came Up With Their Stage Name and Advice for Up-and-Coming Artists
On Saturday, Lifetime will debut its latest original biopic about one of hip-hop’s most iconic duos—Salt-N-Pepa. Directed by Mario Van Peebles, Salt-N-Pepa tells the story of Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandra “Pepa” Denton, and Deidra DJ Spinderella” Roper as they push their way to the top of the charts, cementing themselves as one of the most…
-
'I’m the Whole Damn Aisle': The Root Presents: It’s Lit! Gets Into the Thick of It With Michelle Buteau
To say that Michelle Buteau keeps it real would be an understatement. The comedian, actress and now author of Survival of the Thickest: Plus-Sized Essays in a Small-Minded World, published in December by “Simon and Schu-Schu,” as she affectionately calls it, is proudly unfiltered—and hilariously so on this week’s episode of The Root Presents: It’s…
-
Dave Chappelle Tests Positive for COVID-19
Comedian Dave Chappelle has tested positive for COVID-19, The Root has learned. A rep for Chapelle confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday night, saying the Chappelle Show comic was now quarantining himself but hasn’t shown any symptoms of the virus. Chappelle had been performing in Austin, Texas this week, with shows starting…
-
Bridgerton, Sundance and Strange Fruit: Virtual Events to Help Wrap Up Your January
We made it, y’all! We’ve survived four crazy years of a Trump Presidency and now we can all go outside and bask in the glow that is the Biden administration. Actually—scratch that. We still can’t go outside (umm…hello, worldwide pandemic.) But we can still bask and we can still virtually attend some fun and informative…
-
Celebrating America: Let’s Talk About the 2021 Inauguration Celebration, Shall We?
I know what the headline says, but we’re not actually gonna talk about the inauguration today—at least not the formalities of it. Why? Because by most accounts, it was a regular degular ceremony and went off without a hitch. I’m sorry—what was that? Oh, it wasn’t a regular degular ceremony? Because everyone was donning masks…
-
Ava Duvernay's ARRAY Partners With Spotify to Produce Scripted, Unscripted Podcasts: 'We Couldn't Be More Excited'
From Selma to Queen Sugar to When They See Us to whatever the hell else has dominated the pop culture landscape, Ava Duvernay has made it her mission to bang us in the head with an endless ARRAY— (see what I did there?)—of dope content. And after conquering the film and television industry, the 48-year-old…
-
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 5-Year Run on Black Panther Coming to a Close in April
In 2015, when my best friend/then-roommate told me that Ta-Nehisi Coates was going to write Black Panther, my reaction was “Oh shit!” followed by “He’s probably only going to do it for like a year, though.” Well, I was wrong. After five years and 50 issues, Coates’ run will be coming to a close this April.…
-
PageTurners: In With the Old and In With the New
Today has been really emotional. My own moods swung from pure delight to pure anxiety as I woke up this morning and realized that #45 had left the White House as President for the last time—then pessimistically waited for something bad to happen during the Inauguration—but then tearing up the moment Vice-President Kamala Harris was…
-
Remember Me: Ledisi to Star in Upcoming Mahalia Jackson Biopic
Grammy-nominated artist Ledisi will once again be portraying legendary gospel great Mahalia Jackson, this time in an upcoming biopic, Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story. Deadline reports that the Pieces of Me artist, who first portrayed the gospel legend in 2014’s Selma, will star in the feature along with former Scandal star Columbus Short, who…
-
Jemele Hill, Spotify Developing Podcast Network to Amplify Black Women: 'Content That Is Unique to Them Is a Priority'
During a recent interview with Bloomberg, multi-hyphenate Jemele Hill opined on the media’s response to social justice protests this past summer, her journey as a podcaster and television personality, and future plans for her burgeoning media empire. As we reported here at The Root, that includes comedy New Money receiving the green light from Showtime,…