PASADENA, Calif. — Angela Bassett won entertainer of the year at Saturday's NAACP Image Awards on a night that also saw her take home an acting trophy for the television series “9-1-1.”
The Bassett-led Marvel superhero sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” won best motion picture at the ceremony, which was broadcast live on BET from Pasadena, California.
Viola Davis won outstanding actress for the action epic “The Woman King,” a project she championed and starred in. Will Smith won for the slavery drama“Emancipation,” his first release since last year's Academy Awards, where he slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage before winning his first best actor trophy.
“I never want to not be brave enough as a woman, as a Black woman, as an artist," Davis said, referencing a quote from her character in the film, which she called her magnum opus. “I thank everyone who was involved with ‘The Woman King’ because that was just nothing but high-octane bravery.”
“Abbott Elementary” won for outstanding comedy series. Creator and series star Quinta Brunson invited her costars onstage and praised shows like “black-ish” for paving the way for her series.
The 54 NAACP Image Awards were presented Saturday in Pasadena, California, with Queen Latifah hosting. Serena Williams received the Jackie Robinson Sports award, which recognizes individuals in sports for high achievement in athletics along with their pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement.
The ceremony, which honors entertainers, athletes and writers of color, was hosted by Queen Latifah. Special honorees included Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union and civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
The basketball star, who has been DJing since the 80s, tells Cheddar that he initially decided to start spinning after attending a Public Enemy concert and meeting Chuck D and Terminator X. "I got enough money to go to the pawn shop, get some turntables and taught myself how to DJ." His "Summer of Shaq" tour began June 9 and runs through August 5.
The basketball superstar took over Cheddar's Slack channel to tell the team to "BE NICE" and "TAKE MONDAY OFF."
Facebook is in talks to launch a 13-episode series about the Portuguese soccer star for its Facebook Watch platform. It's reported Ronaldo could make $10 million from the series but it's unclear if Facebook's investment in original content would turn into viewers, says Taylor Lorenz, a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Singapore's competition watchdog is proposing fines on Uber and Grab, saying the recent merger between the two companies stifles competition. The Competition and Consumer Commission, or CCCS, even suggested unwinding the deal between Uber and Grab. Last March, Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to ride-hailing rival, Grab.
Amazon is reportedly planning to roll out a holiday catalog later this year. The catalog would be mailed out to millions of U.S. households and would also be available to customers at Whole Foods locations across the country. The e-commerce giant is looking to attract holiday shoppers from Toys R Us after the toy chain shuttered all U.S. stores.
Business Insider reported that Tesla's CEO Elon Musk asked engineers to halt putting Model 3 vehicles through a standard brake and roll alignment test before leaving the factory floor.
The federal investigation into Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal is expanding. AT&T raising prices on DirecTV Now by $5 a month. Trump’s shortlist for replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat on the Supreme Court.
After signing a $154 million contract with the L.A. Lakers, some are wondering if the basketball legend has some ulterior motives in moving to the West Coast. “I think he’s primarily going to become a dominant producing force and maybe becomes an Oprah-type person, who launches his own channel,” Sean O’Connell, managing editor at Cinemablend tells Cheddar.
A massive heat wave has engulfed the east coast of the United States and has even made its way far to the west. Andrew Freedman, science editor at Axios, discusses why the weather system is so intense, and what has temperatures rising so much.
"Scorpion," Drake's latest album features a whopping 25 songs on it. However, this doesn't defy expectations for the rapper's most loyal fans. "Essentially, Drake has done that every year," says Insanul Ahmed, executive editor at Genius.
"The China Hustle" uncovers the Chinese companies many investors turned to after the financial crisis that ended up being a fraud. The film's director Jed Rothstein tells Cheddar that "these companies were not what they said they were."
Despite progress in increasing diversity in the film and TV industry, Hollywood still has a long road ahead. Cheddar spoke with some of the biggest influencers at the American Black Film Festival in Miami to discuss how to continue progress.
