HU EXCLUSIVE: Courtney B. Vance On Importance Of Shows Like 61st Street That Spark Change, Oscars & Mental Health

COURTNEY B VANCE

HU EXCLUSIVE: Courtney B. Vance On Importance Of Shows Like 61st Street That Spark Change, Oscars & Mental Health

61st Street is an upcoming American legal drama television series created by Peter Moffat and is set to premiere on AMC on April 10, 2022, it is based on a promising young athlete who is throw into the corrupt Chicago police and criminal justice system, following a botched drug bust that left an officer dead.

While speaking to multiple award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance about his upcoming role in #61st street, he shared the importance f continuing to create thought-provoking film and television that will aid in sparking a change in the United States, as long as people of color continue to be treated how they are and subject to brutality, we must continue making art that reflects this and can teach audiences about these systematic issues.

61st street is award-winning already in that it firsthand shows what is happening in America, through different lenses, and the turn of events in the show leaves with you. You can’t just turn it off like the television.

Vance also shared what he does to keep his mental health at its best while working in the industry, and shared his views on the incident between Chris Rock & Will Smith at the Oscars.

Sandra Bullock, Daniel Radcliffe & More At ‘The Lost City Premiere’

paramount lost city sandra bullock

Sandra Bullock, Daniel Radcliffe & More At ‘The Lost City Premiere’

Hollywood Unlocked graced the carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of Paramount’s ‘The Lost  City at the REGENCY VILLAGE THEATRE in Westwood as stars gathered to celebrate the premiere of the upcoming romantic comedy.

Starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Brad Pitt, we had a chance the speak to Bullock, Radcliffe, and producer Liza Chasin.

On the heels of revealing she is taking a break from acting, Sandra revealed why she fought so hard to get the film created, and why it is important to balance family and your career as a woman. “Have grace with yourself,” she tells us, as she stuns in her gown!

We also stopped Daniel for a quick chat, who gave us the teas on what it was like to play the villain for once, and he liked it!. Hopefully, he won’t be fighting on the dark lord’s side any time soon!

RELATED: Jamie Lee Curtis On Feeling Confident Without Surgery: ‘Do Things That Will Make You Feel Good About Yourself, Not To Change The Way You Look’ & More At Halloween Kills Premiere

Press play for the full interviews and check out more from ‘The Lost City’ below and in theatres on March 25, 2022!

Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and

HU Exclusive: Talking With Langston Kerman & Sam Jay From Peacock’s New Original Comedy ‘Bust Down’

Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd have joined forces and are taking their comedy over to Peacock for an all-new original series called ‘Bust Down.’ This group of hilarious comedians has created and executive produced a hilarious show in the time when the view of the black experience needed some light fun … Read more

HU Exclusive: The Cast Of The New Disney Film ‘Turning Red’ Plays Finish The Lyrics

Disney is going red with their all-new film ‘Turning Red’ Featuring Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, a fluffy red panda,  and so many more. Meilin (Mei) Lee, played by Chiang, is the typical 2000’s middle school girl who loves her friends, loves boy bands, wants independence, and of course, if going through puberty. But in her case, … Read more

Madea Is Back As Tyler Perry Partners With Netflix For ‘A Madea Homecoming’

Everyone’s favorite grandmother is back as Tyler Perry brings Madea out of retirement for an all-new film in partnership with Netflix. Following the release of ‘A Madea Family Funeral’ many never expected to see the slick-talking gun holding grandma on the screen again, but Tyler Perry and the world had other plans.  Hollywood Unlocked was … Read more

The Champ Floyd Mayweather Celebrates Birthday With All The Stars In Miami

Floyd Mayweather celebrated his birthday at the Gabriel South Beach on Ocean Drive with a VIP invite-only, red carpet party over the weekend. This celebration comes at the heels of this week’s announcement on the new investment partnership between Mayweather and CGI Merchant Group, LLC (CGI), a global investment management firm with a focus on commercial real estate and private equity. The Gabriel South Beach is one of CGI’s most recent acquisitions. 

In honor of Mayweather’s birthday and new business venture, the Gabriel South Beach rolled out the red carpet hosting Mayweather’s star-studded birthday bash. Celebrities in attendance included rap star Lil Wayne, recent Super Bowl champion’s Aaron Donald and Robert Woods of the LA Rams, NFL free agent Antonio Brown, UFC Champion Tyron Woodley, Billboard Charting recording artistQuavo (Migos), Media Personality Justin Laboy, Entrepreneur & Shark Tank personality Daymond John, Super Model Chanel Iman, VH1 Love & Hip Hop’s Tommie, and more. A lover of R&B, the themed “Mayweather City was complete with special performances by R&B Veterans Donnell Jones and Horace Brown (Things we do for love).

Mayweather brought in his birthday Wednesday night with a karaoke themed dinner attended by family and close friends. This was complete with the now viral footage of Floyd, Kanye West, and Antonio Brown singing Donnell Jones R&B Hit “Where I Wanna Be”. True to form, the boxing champion plans on celebrating throughout remainder of the week with a number of events.

“Mayweather City” was hosted by Raoul Thomas (Founder of CGI Merchant Group) and Produced by The Money Team & Wright Productions.

Fact Check: 10 Reasons We Believed Queen Elizabeth Was Dead

Queen

Tuesday afternoon Hollywood Unlocked posted an “Exclusive” that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away. Not surprisingly, breaking what could have been the most newsworthy story of the decade caused a tidal wave of reactions on social media, with many questioning how site founder Jason Lee had somehow managed to scoop everyone – including major British … Read more

Opinion | It’s Time We Humanized Kanye West

Kanye West has often been cited as a polarizing figure. But his massive impact on not just Black culture, but the world at large is undeniable.

That is not an opinion. It is a quantifiable fact.

Yet on the warm January afternoon when he sat down with Jason Lee at the Hollywood Unlocked Studios in Los Angeles, gone was the flashiness that one would expect from someone of his celebrity, replaced by the earnest candor of a loving father, demanding to be heard.

 “They act like people just can’t be human. They actually strip me of my humanity when they label me and put me in a box. That’s the issue that I have with paparazzi a lot,” the multi-hyphenate entertainer explained while discussing how the narrative about his mental health is often weaponized against him. 

A perfect example of this is the recent hoopla surrounding the 44-year-old’s attempts to attend his daughter Chicago’s fourth birthday party. What should’ve been a fun afternoon with friends and family quickly snowballed into headlines and public debates about if his desire to be present that day were justified or crazy.

“Crazy” is a word that has often been thrown at West, who now goes by Ye. But he maintains that if you took away the cleverly constructed controversies fueled by overzealous publicists, there’s actually nothing wild or unhinged about a Black father wanting to actively co-parent his children. 

“This is the reason why I wanted to sit down and talk to you directly and talk to the world about exactly what happened,” he told Lee. “It’s just no communication, and I never had like a Solange in my family that was really like, ‘I feel what you saying,’ even though I take care of 300,000 people in my family.”

One of the most striking things about the 45 minute sit-down is how relaxed Ye appears when speaking about his estranged wife Kim Kardashian who is currently dating SNL vet, Pete Davidson. There is an unexpected tenderness in his voice as he outlines their relationship struggles, and then casually drops a jaw-dropping bombshell about her sex tape scandal.

“This is the most transacted upon human being, other than Santa Claus or Jesus Christ. She’s the most famous person in the world,” he boasts at one point, unable to contain how highly he still thinks of her. 

This is a stark contrast to the messaging from the Kardashian camp who sources allege are determined to paint Kim as the stoic matriarch, patiently waiting for her manic ex to “calm down.”

Replacing “Cancel Culture” with Accountability Culture 

To be fair, Ye is certainly no angel and has played his part in creating this enigmatic myth around himself; a fact that he even concedes to. 

But when it comes to his in-laws he counters, “We are not going to be playing these little games, these little throw a stone and hide your hand moves. You know what you did, but then if I scream or react or something, it’s like, ‘Look at him. He’s so crazy.’ I wasn’t crazy when I put the creative director SKIMS. Was it crazy when you made a temp $2 billion?”

To his point, there is a huge difference between disagreeing with someone and dehumanizing them altogether. Although Ye is often painted as a hysterical egomaniac, business wise his reach has never been wider. 

Which begs the question, “Who does it actually serve to make a Black man with this much power an ongoing punch line rather than leveraging his influence to feed and uplift his community?”

Although a lot of celebs have a reputation for being aloof and resistant to feedback, Ye’ has made it a point to be more accessible lately, particularly with Black media outlets who’ve historically been deprioritized by A-listers. 

“I wish that we could just get to a place where we just appreciate people while they’re here,” he explains while recalling the night he, Lee, Floyd Mayweather, Madonna, Antonio Brown, Evan Ross, and Julia Fox were all snapped hanging out in an instantly viral video clip. 

And while some would call that wish idealistic, it’s a sobering reminder of all the living legends who have already passed away in the first few weeks of this new year. None of them perfect, but all of them still incredibly beloved for their contributions. 

In the midst of so many reminders about our shared mortality, do we honestly want to get into the habit of only showing people grace after they’ve passed away?

Instead of complaining about how we “want the old Ye back”, it may be time to call the new Ye in to have more courageous conversations like the one he had with Lee. Throwing away successful Black people who sincerely care about their communities just doesn’t sit right with me anymore. 

Because ultimately, no one wins when the family feuds. 

Blue Telusma is a columnist whose viral think pieces have been featured on CNN, HuffPost, Buzzfeed, USA Today, BET, and several other national news outlets. Her work mainly focuses on dissecting pop culture, promoting emotional intelligence, and fostering activism through the arts.

HU Exclusive: On the Red Carpet With The Cast Of ‘Sing 2’

The band is back together under the leadership of Buster Moon as the we got exclusive interviews with the cast of ‘Sing 2.’ Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly and more are back for the sequel of the movie that many waited 5 years for as the ambitious Koala Mr.Moon leads his team to … Read more

The Game’s Wendy Raquel Robinson & Hosea Chanchez On Tackling Real Issues In Show New Eye Candy, & More Seasons!

the game, hosea, wendy

The Game’s Wendy Raquel Robinson & Hosea Chanchez On Tackling Real Issues In Show New Eye Candy, & More Seasons! Entertainment and television have really gotten us through the past two years, from binge-watching shows and movies, we were more than excited to hear that Paramount + was bringing The Game back! The show has … Read more

HU Exclusive: Moniece Slaughter Denies Claims That She Allegedly Attacked Woman At Cardi B’s Party

HU Exclusive: Moniece Slaughter Denies Claims That She Allegedly Attacked Woman At Cardi B’s Party Moniece Slaughter is denying the claims that she allegedly attacked someone at Cardi B’s birthday party in October. As we reported, according to The Blast, court documents show that an unidentified woman is seeking a restraining order, claiming Moneice tried … Read more

Jamie Lee Curtis On Feeling Confident Without Surgery: ‘Do Things That Will Make You Feel Good About Yourself, Not To Change The Way You Look’ & More At Halloween Kills Premiere

jamie

Jamie Lee Curtis Shares How To Feel Confident Without Surgery: ‘Do Things That Will Make You Feel Good About Yourself, Not To Change The Way You Look’ Hollywood Unlocked was in the building for the world premiere and costume party of the highly anticipated Horror, Halloween Kills! In the latest installment, the residents of Haddonfield … Read more

Disney’s ‘Encanto’ Brings Magic To The Big Screen While Highlighting Columbia

Disney animation is bringing a new magical family to the big screen in the release of their all-new family film ‘Encanto’. In the magical mountains of Columbia, Disney has created a magical family who at a young age receive a magical power with the exception of one child. Related: With music from Lin-Manuel Miranda, this … Read more