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Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, starring alongside Tom Holland in "Romeo & Juliet," prompts The Jamie Lloyd Company to condemn racism and harassment in the industry. Actress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers will play Juliet in the London West End production of "Romeo & Juliet." Because Rivers is the leading lady, she’s been the target of ongoing racist online bullying. This role as Juliet is Amewudah-Rivers’ West End debut, and what a warm welcome. Amewudah-Rivers is starring alongside “Spider-Man” leading man Tom Holland as Romeo. The Jamie Lloyd Company released a statement: "Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage...

Republican pollster Frank Luntz replied that he “would bet on” former President Donald Trump upon being asked after Wednesday night’s CNN debate whom he predicts will win the 2024 presidential election. A CBS News reporter asked Luntz after the debate, “If you had to bet $150,000 on who’s going to win in November, who would you bet on?” “I never dreamed that I would say this, but I would bet on Trump. I never – I thought it was done. I thought it was over,” he said. “You don’t come back from an impeachment, you don’t come back from January...

The Astros are back in the World Series, which means Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, who owns Gallery Furniture in the Houston area, has a ton of money on the line for them to win it all. Earlier this month, he told Bleacher Report's Greg Ivory that he has $10 million in bets on the Houston Astros to win the 2022 World Series. Now the Astros are just four wins away from earning McIngvale a payout for the ages after sweeping the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Astros will face off against the Philadelphia Phillies in...

Janelle Monáe had some blunt words and coarse sign language for the US Supreme Court on Sunday while presenting onstage at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. '**** you, Supreme Court,' said Monáe, 36, while raising her middle finger in response to the high court's recent abortion case ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Monáe after being introduced by host Taraji P. Henson, 52, said it was 'amazing' to be at the Microsoft Theater 'celebrating us.' 'Happy Black Music Month, happy Pride to us, all the gays in the house, hello,' said Monáe, who came out in April as non-binary on...

You could see it written all over Soledad O’Brien’s face. In her interview with the sitting Vice President she asks a simple question about the efficacy of IDs for voters. The word salad that came back from Kamala Harris was so inane, lacking in general coherency and mortifyingly insulting, the BET cameras caught a glimpse of an expression on the interviewer’s face that screamed, “why me?” This revelation from Harris’ sit down with BET capped off a bizarre weekend in which it was also revealed that she’s “far too busy” to deal with all the areas of focus she’s taken...

Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television and America’s first Black billionaire, wants a check. He wants it from the government. And he wants it to come with an apology for slavery, Jim Crow, and hundreds of years of racism. The 75-year-old media magnate owns several homes, heads an asset management firm, and was the first Black person to own a majority stake in an NBA team. He doubts that check will ever come, but he sees a new kind of reparations—being called by a different name so as not be “divisive” or “controversial”—happening already. The new “reparations”...

Karen’, a main character in pop culture, is now officially a real main character in an upcoming movie. Video clips of white women being racist and disturbing the public have popped up all across the country, with this type of person being dubbed a ‘Karen.’ It’s become such a common label, that the name dropped in popularity for newborns in 2020. that, a chaotic moment in an otherwise normal day, the movie trailer shows what can happen from prolonged exposure to a ‘Karen’ who has deep dark motives. And people aren’t excited about it. No one asked for a movie...

"No father should speak to their children like this," Kerrion Franklin posted with the recording.Grammy-winning gospel singer Kirk Franklin apologized over the weekend after his son posted a recording of a phone call in which Franklin hurled profanities and an apparent threat at his son. In audio of the partial phone call posted to Kerrion Franklin's Instagram account, the elder Franklin can be heard saying: "You need to get your skinny motherf-----g ass back out the g------ way before I put my foot in your ass." "I will break your neck if you ever disrespect me," he continued before seeming...

An unidentified British businessman apparently thinks President Trump will be re-elected and he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is, a report said. The Sun newspaper reported Monday the ex-banker bet $5 million through private bookies located in Curacao and it is believed to be the largest political bet ever made. The report said the individual did his research and consulted with “Trump camp insiders.” The bet can result in a $15 million payout, the report said.

Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson told CNBC on Wednesday he’s viewing the election between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden through the lens of being a businessman. “Where I come out as a businessman, I will take the devil I know over the devil I don’t know anytime of the week,” Johnson said on “Squawk Box.” Johnson, when pressed, refused to outright endorse Trump, instead saying as a longtime corporate executive he knows how the president will react to important issues of the day such as coronavirus and he does not have a handle on Biden would...

2020 BET Awards' 'in memoriam' segment includes Willie Brown, who is alive Awards shows often get criticism for the celebrities they leave off their “in memoriam” lists. But the 20th BET Awards made waves Sunday night for a different reason. They eulogized a San Francisco luminary who is very much alive: former mayor Willie Brown. The awards show on CBS, airing virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, was paying tribute to recently departed Black stars when things got confusing. A screen capture of the segment, posted by viewers to Twitter, reads, “Willie Lewis Brown Jr., Politician,” complete with his picture....

The BET Awards served as an extension of the voices of Black people protesting in the streets about the inequalities Black people face daily, as artists used their performances to highlight the Black Lives Matter movement, civil rights and the lives of those lost because of police officers, including George Floyd. DaBaby, with his face pressed against the ground as an officer's knee crippled his neck — replicating the last moments of Floyd’s life — rapped a verse from the Black Lives Matter remix of his hit song “Rockstar." His performance also featured images from protests, a reflection of the...

BET Founder Robert Johnson mocked the cancel culture mob for taking down statues, getting television shows removed, and have professors fired, thinking that’s what African Americans want. People who are knocking down statues "have the mistaken assumption that black people are sitting around cheering for them saying 'Oh, my God, look at these white people. They're doing something so important to us. They're taking down the statue of a Civil War general who fought for the South," Johnson told Fox News. "You know, black people, in my opinion, black people laugh at white people who do this the same way...

On Wednesday, BET Founder Robert Johnson mocked those who are destroying statues across the U.S. and who are trying to cancel television shows because they think that’s what black people want. During an interview with Fox News, Johnson said that those who are destroying statues across the country “have the mistaken assumption that black people are sitting around cheering for them saying ‘Oh, my God, look at these white people. They’re doing something so important to us. They’re taking down the statue of a Civil War general who fought for the South.'” “You know, black people, in my opinion, black...

Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson is calling on Black Lives Matter to break away from the Democrat Party to form an independent political party. Joe Biden’s racist “you ain’t black” comment appears to have been what motivated Johnson to come up with this idea. During a Tuesday morning appearance on CNBC, the billionaire explained, “I’ve been convinced for a long time that 40 millions African Americans who tend to vote as a bloc in one of the two parties limit their leverage in getting action from both parties.” Watch below: CNBC ✔ @CNBC BET founder Robert Johnson is...

The hypocrisy of mega-rich celebrities calling for reparations for slavery is astonishing. Black Entertainment Television Founder Robert Johnson, as summarized by CNBC, said that the “U.S. government should provide $14 trillion of reparations for slavery to help reduce racial inequality.” He’s currently worth an estimated $550 million.

BET co-founder Robert Johnson has condemned Joe Biden for claiming that black people aren’t really black if they don’t vote for him. “VP Biden’s statement today represents the arrogant and out-of-touch attitude of a paternalistic white candidate who has the audacity to tell Black people, the descendants of slaves, that they are not Black unless they vote for him,” Johnson said in a statement obtained by Fox News’s Bret Baier. “This proves unequivocally that the Democratic nominee believes that Black people owe him their vote without question; even though, we as Black people know it is exactly the opposite. He...

Consider a little history from the Hawkeye state. The University of Iowa basketball team has a junior center who just completed one of the most amazing seasons in Big Ten history. Luka Garza scored at least 20 points in 16 consecutive games. He set a single season Hawkeye scoring record. He was named Big Ten player of the year and a first team All-American. His achievements came against some of the best big men in the country, in spite of the fact he was usually double and occasionally triple-teamed. The Northwestern coach described Luka with one word, “relentless.” Ironically, even...

Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Robert Johnson is betting on President Donald Trump to be re-elected in 2020. The first black American billionaire said Friday that he continues to give the president an A+ grade for his management of the U.S. economy. “I still stand by that position, absolutely,” he told CNBC, citing historic lows for black unemployment as just one reason he says Trump is succeeding fiscally. Johnson said these economic accomplishments combined with the president’s “style” make the 2020 presidential election Trump’s “to lose.”

Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, said in an interview Friday that he does not believe that there's a Democrat in the 2020 field today who can prevent President Trump from winning a second term. Johnson, a lifelong Democrat who has in the past praised Trump, told CNBC that his opinion was based on facts and he did not want to make it political. "I think the president has always been in a position where it’s his to lose based on his bringing a sort of disruptive force into what would be called political norms,” he said.