Archives: Episodes

Halle Bailey has enjoyed musical success with her older sister Chloe as the duo Chloe x Halle, and now she feels she’s maturing as a woman with her starring role in The Little Mermaid.

Bailey portrays the underwater Disney princess Ariel in the upcoming live-action film.

“I’d definitely say coming into this film I was a lot more, I think, just young-minded and a bit more not sure of myself so much,” the 22-year-old entertainer tells People. “The whole experience of filming, in more ways than one, mirrored Ariel’s journey of finding herself and her voice.”

Disney debuted the official teaser trailer Friday at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, and it earned over 104 million global views, according to Variety.

Zendaya, Halle Berry, Keke Palmer, Nicki Minaj and Amanda Gorman were among the celebrities praising the clip on Twitter.

In the teaser trailer, Bailey swims under water, leads viewers through her treasure trove and sings some of the lyrics to the iconic song “Part of Your World.”

“I remember at the end of filming, wrap day, I was just sobbing because I truly felt like I had come out of this cocoon with Ariel,” Bailey adds.

She says the film has “changed my perspective on everything” and “impacted my life in so many ways.” Bailey hopes that Black girls will be inspired by her performance.

“The fact that now it’s getting to be played by me, a person who looks like me, woman of color, I’m just like, wow, I’m so grateful what it will do for all the other little Black and brown boys and girls who will see themselves in me,” she says.

The Little Mermaid opens in theaters May 26, 2023.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Saweetie has opened up about her past relationship with Quavo, saying, “I thought we was gonna spend the rest of our lives together.”

The “Best Friend” rapper made the comment on Yung Miami‘s YouTube series, Caresha Please.

“With him, I just knew it was the one. It was different … I was just hella enthralled with who he was as a human. Even if he wasn’t a rapper I would have still been in love with him. It was one of those things,” Saweetie added.

The two-time Grammy nominee says the emotional wounds are now starting to heal after their breakup.

“I’m much better than last year. I feel like I had to overcome a lot last year and I’m finally getting back to my centered self,” said the California MC continued.

“I lost someone who I loved. You know, when you think someone is your soul mate, and you don’t end up with them, it’s hard,” she told the City Girls member.

“A lot of people thought that I was just having fun and the single life, but I was hurt. Like, I really loved him, and I was just doing a lot of soul searching,” Saweetie said on the show. “My problem is, I be thinking about like 10 years from now we gon’ have this, this and that. So like when they don’t happen, I be like … my dreams be, like, shattered.”

Despite the painful ending, Saweetie shared that she felt she “learned how to be a woman.”

“I [was] raised in a really tough environment, both of my parents were tough. But since I was in love, I was like, it’s time to step it up as a woman,” she explained.

The couple started dating in 2018, and Saweetie announced their split in March 2021.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s arguably hard to remember now, seeing as she’s got EGOT status to her name, but Jennifer Hudson only placed sixth on American Idol.

On the debut of The Jennifer Hudson Show Monday, in their first sit down since her less-than-stellar performance, JHud chatted with Simon Cowell about that fateful elimination.

“That night, I will never forget,” said the tough-talking former Idol judge. “I was thinking, ‘Who chose stupid Barry Manilow Week?” Cowell said, rolling his eyes. “Wasn’t me!”

“It wasn’t my idea,” he insisted.

Hudson recalled the song she performed was “Weekend in New England,” about which Cowell recalled thinking, “Not a great song.”

“Not your fault,” he said.

Hudson then said Cowell “flipped the script” on her by asking her a deep question: “If you were going to go back in time, would you have changed the song, or kept things the way they were?”

Hudson said no: “Because that song led me to get Dreamgirls, hon.” Hudson won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the 2006 film.

Hudson explained, “By the time I was eliminated, I felt like I got an opportunity to display who I was as an artist, so I was OK with being eliminated.”

“And then once I was, I was like, ‘You know what? You’re walking away with your talent. You’re walking away with your gift.’ This competition may be over, but … your love and your drive isn’t.”

JHud added, “Too often people give up and think that’s the end of the road and I said, ‘No, I’ll be back. And I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I will sing my way to it.'”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Newly unsealed documents reveal that the FBI tracked Aretha Franklin because she was involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

A 270-page document shows the FBI paid special attention to the Queen of Soul’s many performances for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference civil rights organization.

The shows for the SCLC took place in Atlanta and Memphis between 1967 and 1968 and were labeled as “communist infiltration” events.

The FBI also tracked a scheduled performance at a Black Panther Party event that Aretha eventually canceled.

“Bobby Seale, Chairman of the Black Panther Party, has directed the Los Angeles Black Panther Party to initiate plans for a major rally culminating in free food distribution to the poor black people in Los Angeles,” the document reads. “Source also advised that Gwen Goodloe wanted to contact Negro singing stars Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack to possibly assist in the event.”

The FBI also linked the 18-time Grammy winner to the Black Liberation Army after reportedly finding Franklin’s address in BLA’s organization documents.

The bureau called the BLA a “quasi-military group composed of small guerrilla units employing the tactics of urban guerrilla warfare against the established order with a view toward achieving revolutionary change in America.” Due to insufficient evidence, the FBI concluded that Franklin’s association with the BLA could not be determined.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The late Chadwick Boseman and Black-ish stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross were named Disney Legends over the weekend at the D23 Expo: Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, CA.

Boseman’s brother, Derrick Boseman, accepted the award on his brother’s behalf.

“I think about how he honored our parents. How he honored his family. How he honored even his friends, and he made sure that his friends had good careers,” Boseman said, according to Variety. “How he honored all the contracts that he signed. He honored them with his blood, his sweat, his tears, as he played these roles and he was taking chemo at the same time.”

The Disney Legends Award is given to an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the Disney legacy. Boseman, who died in 2020 from cancer, was recognized posthumously for his role as King T’Challa in Black Panther.

Anderson, who grew up near Disneyland in Compton, CA, remembered how Disney inspired him. “Disney has always been a part of my life, my upbringing, my childhood and it has informed me and allowed me to be the entertainer and the man that I am today,” the eight-time NAACP Image Award winner said, according to Deadline. “Disney has taught all of us to dream, and to dream big.”

Ross thanked Disney for giving a platform to Black-ish that “truly changed the landscape of modern television.”

“It feels really legendary to advocate for and breath life into a joyful Black woman for eight years on a great show,” the 49-year-old actress said. 

She also hopes Black-ish paves the way for “more Black women-centered stories that reflect the truth and diversity of who we are in the world.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Gucci Mane and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, are celebrating an upcoming new addition to their family. Keyshia announced on Instagram she is expecting their second child.

“Let’s Have Another Baby ICE Needs Somebody To Play With,” she captioned a video of her showing her husband a positive pregnancy test. The clip was set to the music of Queen Naija’s 2018 track, “Mama’s Hand.”

The news comes months after Keyshia expressed she wanted another child. “I need me anotha one,” she wrote on Instagram in December, alongside a series of throwback pics when she was nine months pregnant with her and Gucci’s first child, Ice.

The couple will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on October 17. They got married in 2017 in Miami in a lavish ceremony captured by BET’s 10-episode reality series The Mane Event.

In June, the 42-year-old MC dropped the track “Mrs.Davis” in praise of his wife. He’s also declared his love for Keyshia on Instagram.

“We went from kissing in a jail to kissing on a jet. I got the best wife in the world. it’s our 5 year anniversary. I love you Mrs. Davis,” Gucci previously commented.

“I’m so grateful and proud to call you my wife,” he continued. “I’ll always appreciate you and never forget how you stayed in my corner when things were bad. We the perfect team and thanks for keeping me inspired and motivated. Luv you 4L @keyshiakaoir.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/three-children-dead-after-being-found-beach-coney-island-mother-questioned-police

Bring on a Bring It On sequel.

It’s been 22 years since the 2000 cheerleading comedy came on the scene and fans still can’t get enough of it. And apparently, neither can Gabrielle Union, who appeared in the classic pop culture film as Isis, the captain of the East Compton Clovers cheerleading team.

Addressing the rumors of a potential sequel in the works, the actress told Entertainment Tonight, “I’ve heard many takes over the years, but I’m hearing some really great takes from some big-name writers that are very surprising.”

“Bring it On, baby, the gift the keeps on giving,” she added.

Union also dished on a potential storyline where her character is now a mother with a daughter following in her footsteps.

“Imagine if her daughter was, ya know, a high-stepper from Jackson State, Hawthorne State or Hampton. There’s so many forms of cheerleading that we don’t get to celebrate,” Union said. “The possibilities are endless.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Twenty-five years after the original, a Good Burger sequel may finally be on the way. 

While promoting his book Prank Day, Kel Mitchell, who starred in the ’90s Nickelodeon film alongside Kenan Thompson, teased the idea of a potential sequel to the comedy classic.

“Oh, what can I tell you? Let’s just say deliveries are still going out for Good Burger,” the Emmy-nominated actor tells ABC Audio. “You know, we’re open 24 hours. I’ll just say that. Okay. Every day. Good burger is still open.”

The comments come about a month after Kenan Thompson, who also starred in the film, told Jimmy Fallon he would like to do a sequel to the movie.

“We are working harder on it than ever, so it’s about meeting the numbers, letting them numbers match up. ‘Cause I need them numbers,” the Saturday Night Live star said. 

While the logistics for a Good Burger sequel are being worked out, Kel is keeping busy with many endeavors including his latest book, Prank Day, a comedy-fantasy illustrated novel for kids and tweens.

“Prank Day is about a kid named Chase, that on April 1st, he does a bunch of pranks, but then on April 2nd, all the pranks come true,” Kel explains. “So he has to figure out why there are flying spiders flying through the sky, why there are refrigerators running through his neighborhood, and clowns coming out of the toilet. He has to figure it out. So, yeah, it’s just an awesome, awesome fun book.”

So, what’s the craziest prank Kel’s ever pulled? He used Krazy Glue to glue a friend to their chair. 

“When the bell rang he… couldn’t get up,” Kel laughs, before warning, “I got in trouble for that one. So, don’t do that.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/man-accused-killing-8-year-old-california-girl-arrested-after-monthslong-manhunt