Archives: Episodes

After winning a Tony Award in June, Jennifer Hudson just received her trophy, and she was thrilled to show off her coveted EGOT collection on Instagram.

The Respect star previously won an Emmy, two Grammys and an Oscar, and now her Tony makes her trophy case complete.

“Look what arrived yal!!!” Hudson wrote in the caption of her post, as she displayed her awards on a baby grand piano. She is one of only 17 people to achieve EGOT status by winning the four most sought-after awards in the entertainment industry. The singer/actress won her Tony as a producer of the Broadway play A Strange Loop, which was named Best Musical.

The 40-year-old entertainer previously received an Academy Award in 2007 as Best Supporting Actress in Dreamgirls; a Best R&B Album Grammy in 2009 for her self-titled debut album; another Grammy in 2017 for Best Musical Theater Album for The Color Purple; and a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021 for co-producing the Baba Yaga animated short, which won Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program.

Now, Hudson is preparing for her Fox self-titled TV talk show, which premieres on her birthday, Monday, September 12.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Burger King is recreating their iconic crown, and they’ve chosen Latto to debut it to the world. 

Designed by celebrity jeweler Laurel DeWitt, the crown features red, green, clear and topaz crystal embellishments, a crystal Burger King centerpiece and the 777 logo displayed on Latto’s last album. It  “represents empowerment, self expression and the Burger King Motto ‘Have It Your Way,’ which is no longer just an invitation to customize food, but an encouragement to live life, whatever and however that may be and allows all kings and queens to have the keys to the kingdom,” according to a press release.

Latto wore the new blinged-out piece during a performance of “It’s Givin” which aired during the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night. Following the debut, fans who entered a $1 drawing with hopes of securing the headpiece will be narrowed down to the lucky winner, who will be announced August 29 via a LIVE episode on the NTWRK app.

Profits will benefit the Save The Music Foundation, which aims to “build sustainable music programs and helps promote and ignite self-expression through music.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 30 marks the 40th anniversary of the best-selling album of all time — Michael Jackson‘s Thriller. An expanded version of the Grammy-winning album arrives November 18, and fans can begin pre-ordering it now.

Back in May, Sony Music first announced Michael Jackson Thriller 40 — a double CD set with a bonus record filled with rare audio recordings and demos that Jackson worked on during the 1982 album’s sessions.

In a new release posted Monday, the record label revealed that they’ll begin unveiling the titles of every bonus track after Labor Day — but only one at a time. The final mystery title will be made known on November 17.

Sony is further treating fans by including 15 rarely heard tracks in an expanded digital release of the Thriller album. These songs were previously granted a limited release.

Furthermore, Sony Music will host pop-up events and other Michael Jackson-centered celebrations across the globe.

Thriller has sold over 70 million copies worldwide and is certified 34-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it the second-best-selling album ever in the U.S. The album dominated the Billboard 200 chart for an impressive 37 weeks.

It also fired up the Billboard Hot 100 with seven top-10 hits, including the chart-topping singles “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” as well as “The Girl Is Mine,” the Paul McCartney duet that peaked at number two.

The album also is credited with breaking the color barrier at MTV with the 1982 music video “Billie Jean.” Prior to the clip, the channel rarely played material from Black artists.  

In addition to “Billie Jean,” the John Landis-directed cinematic music video for “Thriller” became the standard by which all music videos were judged.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o posted to Instagram a throwback video of her Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman on Sunday, which was the second year anniversary of his death.

Boseman was 43 when he died on August 28, 2020, following a very private battle with colon cancer.

In the video, Boseman is shown at a movie theater in front of a throng of fans of all ages.

“Chadwick, what are you doing?” Nyong’o asks off-camera as she records Boseman with a Sharpie in hand.

“I’m signing tickets. I signed somebody’s shoes over there,” he said, to laughs.

The actor joked that he didn’t know why he was asked to scribble his name on the Jordans, as he doesn’t even play basketball.

Lupita sweetly asks why he thinks people wanted his signature so much, and Boseman replied, “I have no idea.”

“Keep it real, keep it kind,” Nyong’o captioned the video.

Among the more than 151,000 and counting who “liked” the post were Jurassic World franchise actress and filmmaker Bryce Dallas Howard and Winston Duke, Boseman’s co-star in Black Panther and other Marvel movies.

“generous man,” Duke began. “always sharing [and] helping and giving and loving… ugh… my heart … Ure missed beyond any words my brother… love love!”

He added, “Thanks Lupita for posting our treasure… man oh man!”

Letitia Wright, who played Boseman’s sister Shuri in the Marvel films, responded to Lupita’s post with a string of heart emojis.

Boseman’s character T’Challa was not recast in November’s sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; instead, as the teaser hints, his family and friends are grappling with his death in the MCU — just as their alter-egos are doing in real life.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/artemis-1-launch-updates-nasa-says-launch-scrubbed-after-engine-problem

Jordin Sparks brought the nostalgia this past weekend when she joined Chris Brown onstage for a rendition of their beloved duet, “No Air.”

The reunion went down during the final stop on Chris Brown’s One of Them Ones tour in Las Vegas.  Jordin posted video of the moment on Instagram, writing, “15 YEARS LATER:@chrisbrownofficial and I returned to the stage to perform No Air. Thank you Chris for having me at the final stop of your ‘One of Them Ones’ tour, ended it with a bang in Vegas!!!”

“The crowd was lit!!!” the former American Idol champ added. “Loved hearing you scream every word of this song!!! My heart.”

“No Air” was a single on Jordin’s self-titled 2007 debut album. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and earned the duo a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2009.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/5-year-old-boy-17-year-old-boy-gunned-down-drive-shooting-toddler-injured

(NEW YORK) — All eyes will be on Serena Williams Monday when she takes the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium for her final US Open.

The tennis superstar will face 80th ranked Dana Kovinic in her final Grand Slam event. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Williams, 40, announced earlier this month that she will be retiring from tennis after 27 years in the sport. Throughout her career, she has won 23 Grand Slam titles, six of which were at the US Open.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lizzo doesn’t have time for the haters because she’s “winning!”

The “About Damn Time” singer attended the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night and, while accepting the Video for Good award, she took a moment to seemingly address comedian Aries Spears, who recently made some comments about her body.

After saying her thank-you’s, Lizzo added, “Now, to the b****** that got something to say about me in the press,” a phrase Nicki Minaj used to call out Miley Cyrus at the 2015 VMAs.  

“I’m not gonna say nothing,” she continued, noting that people have asked her why she didn’t “clap back” at her haters. “Why don’t you clap back? Because b****, I’m winning.”

Although the “2 Be Loved” singer didn’t say any names, Spears recently made headlines when his comments about her went viral. 

During an appearance of The Art of Dialogue from August 25, Spears was asked about Lizzo’s music and he responded, “I can’t get past the fact that she looks like the s*** emoji.”

“Listen, I ain’t the most in-shape [man] in the world… but a woman that’s built like a plate of mashed potatoes is in trouble,” he continued, before later complimenting her music.

“She’s dope,” Spears, 47, added, “Her music hard, her body ain’t.”

Lizzo, 34, also used her speech as a moment to stress the importance of voting telling fans, “I don’t know what ‘music video for good’ means, but I do know what your vote means, and that’s a f****** lot.”

“Your vote means everything to me,” she said. “[Your vote] means everything to make a change in this country. So, remember when you’re voting for your favorite artists, vote to change some of these laws that are oppressing us.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PROVO, Utah) — A Duke University women’s volleyball player was allegedly harassed by a fan with a racial slur while playing in a game against Brigham Young University in Utah on Friday, according to BYU.

The fan, who was not a student, was sitting in the BYU student section, and was identified by Duke during the game, according to BYU. The fan has since been banned from all BYU athletic venues.

“To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans in last night’s volleyball game in the Smith Fieldhouse between BYU and Duke is not strong enough language,” BYU said in a statement. “We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced.”

Rachel Richardson, who is Black, is a sophomore at Duke and was the target of the alleged racial slurs. Richardson heard the slur “every time she served,” according to former Texas county prosecutor Lesa Pamplin, who is running for county judge and said Richardson is her goddaughter in a tweet posted on Saturday.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench,” Pamplin tweeted. “Not one freaking adult did anything to protect her.”

In a statement posted on Twitter Sunday, Richardson said officials and BYU coaching staff were aware of what was happening during the game but she said they failed to stop the fan and end the behavior.

“This is not the first time this has happened in college athletics and sadly it likely will not be the last time,” Richardson said.

But she said that after game, Tom Holmoe, athletic director for BYU, was “quick to act in a very respectful and genuine matter,” and said that he is taking steps to better educate his staff and student-athletes on ways to handle inappropriate behavior from fans in the future.

“This is an opportunity to dig deep into closed cultures which tolerate amoral racist acts, such as those exhibited Friday night, and change them for the better,” Richardson said Sunday. “It is not enough to indicate that you are not racist, instead you must demonstrate that you are anti-racist.”

Holmoe said he met with Richardson and her coach to discuss what had happened, and while addressing fans at a match Saturday night said, “As children of God, we are responsible. It’s our mission to love one another and treat everybody with respect. And that didn’t happen. We fell very short. We didn’t live up to our best.”

Duke University Vice President & Director of Athletics Nina King said Friday’s alleged incident is unacceptable and all players should be able to compete in a safe environment.

“Duke student-athletes should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play,” King said in a statement on Saturday.

Duke Athletics has been in contact with its student-athletes at the tournament, said King, and will “continue to support them in every way possible and look forward to connecting further upon their return from Provo.”

BYU and Duke were competing in the doTERRA Classic on Friday and Saturday, which was a four-team round robin tournament in Provo that also included Rider and Washington State University.

Duke’s match against Rider on Saturday was moved to a different location to “afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition,” King said. Attendance was limited to staff and family, BYU Volleyball said on Twitter.

“On behalf of my African American teammates and I, we do not want to receive pity or to be looked at as helpless,” Richardson said. “We do not feel as though we are victims of some tragic event. We are proud to be young African American women; we are proud to be Duke student-athletes, and we are proud to stand up against racism.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.