Morgan Freeman describes Black History Month and the term ‘African-American’ as “an insult”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America West held a rally Wednesday night to demonstrate solidarity with the other Hollywood unions in their collective contract battles against Hollywood’s major employers. About 1,800 guild members attended the meeting at the Shrine Auditorium, and heard from WGA leaders about the reasons behind the two-day old strike. One of the stars of the show, however, was Lindsay Dougherty, the 39-year-old leader of Teamsters Local 399. “We’re all sticking together,” Dougherty told Variety outside the event. “We have an opportunity to change things in this industry, and the only way we’re going to do that is if we’re together.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director As Warner Bros. gears up to release “The Flash” in theaters this summer, many moviegoers are wondering how star Ezra Miller’s history of legal troubles and alleged abuse might impact the release and press tour. The film’s production designer, Oscar winner Paul Austerberry (“The Shape of Water”) isn’t sweating it. During a recent interview with CBC, Austerberry said “people will forget” Miller’s history when the film releases. As reported by the CBC: “Austerberry says he’s not too concerned about how the stories surrounding Miller will affect the film. ‘People will forget that,’ he said, noting that Miller did a superb job playing the titular hero as two distinct characters, which required production to shoot the film in ‘two different chunks,’ with Ezra switching roles every few days.”

Louis Arthur Charles - or Prince Louis of Wales - was born on the 23rd April 2018. He is the youngest child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, but was also the heaviest baby, weighing in at 8lb 7oz - three more lbs than his older brother, George. But while we’ve gotten to know the cheeky Prince over the last five years, there was a brief time where we didn’t even know his name.

Ayrshire police have launched an investigation after a woman and her dog were attacked by another dog.

EXCLUSIVE: Cheech Marin (Shotgun Wedding, Champions) has been cast in the Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day reimagination following George Lopez’s exit due to a scheduling conflict.

Facebook, Chronicle Live reports. The actor played Simon Meredith on the popular ITV soap, which he appeared between 2003 and 2006 and also starred in Byker Grove for five series. More recently, he starred in ITV Drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat, as Moat's friend Rory Sutcliffe.

Emmerdale and The Hunt for Raoul Moat star Dale Meek has died aged 47. The actor's death was announced by a family member on Facebook, Chronicle Live reports.

Manchester City are reportedly weighing up a move for Brentford left-back Aaron Hickey after receiving a setback in their pursuit of Chelsea's Ben Chilwell.

William Earl This post contains spoilers for “Evil Dead Rise.” “Evil Dead Rise” director Lee Cronin has made his enthusiasm for the horror franchise known over the course of the past weeks, with each interview featuring him taking delight in recounting the amount of gore and severed limbs he had to wrangle on set. It’s no surprise that when asked about the future of the franchise, Cronin is full of ideas. In a conversation with Variety, Cronin breaks down our biggest burning questions after seeing “Rise.” Do you have any ideas for sequels? I certainly do. I didn’t want to bait it for sequels necessarily, even though the ending could be interpreted that way. But the ending for me was closing the loop back to the beginning. The way the story is told, I’ve got four places I’d like to look at in terms of where to go… I’m excited for the potential of what could be next and and really hope that I can be involved in in future chapters.

Netflix Orders Season 2 Of ‘Rana Naidu’

Marta Balaga Keshet International has closed deals with DPG Media (Belgium), TV 2 (Denmark) and TV4 in Finland and Sweden for the hidden camera investigation “Undercover: Sexual Harassment – The Truth,” which debuted on Channel 4 in December. Produced by Kalel Productions, the film sees investigative reporter Ellie Flynn revealing the true extent of sexual harassment towards women of all ages in the U.K. Accompanied by hidden crew members, she goes undercover, enduring countless harassment online and in real-life. “These are stories that women tell one another in their friendship groups or on social media. I wanted to show that feeling,” Flynn tells Variety.

Norgan Freeman is opening up about identity and race.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director In a rare new interview while promoting his performance in Zach Braff’s “A Good Person,” Morgan Freeman told The Sunday Times that he’s insulted by Black History Month and the term “African-American.” “Two things I can say publicly that I do not like,” Freeman said. “Black History Month is an insult. You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” “Also ‘African-American’ is an insult,” he added. “I don’t subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the n-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses ‘African-American’. What does it really mean? Most black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if it’s a country when it’s a continent, like Europe.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer (below) has debuted for “An Owl, a Garden and the Writer,” which is having its world premiere as part of the Burning Lights Competition of Visions du Réel, the documentary film festival, which runs April 21-30 in Nyon, Switzerland. Sara Dolatabadi’s film previously won the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2021, and was presented at the IDFA Forum that same year. The film is produced by Dolatabadi and Farhad Mohammadi for Dolatabadi’s production outfit Petit Duc Doc, in association with Fondation Jan Michalski. The film is executive produced by Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi (“Vegas,” “Manhattan by Numbers,” “The Runner”), who received the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award at the Venice Film Festival in 2016, an award dedicated to a personality who has made an original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.

Marta Balaga Gro Harlem Brundtland started out as a doctor. Climbing the ranks, she became Norway’s first female Prime Minister. Now, new show “Power Play” takes a closer look at her way to the top.  “She is aware that we made it,” says showrunner Johan Fasting, who co-wrote with Silje Storstein and Kristin Grue. Currently in her eighties, Brundtland wasn’t involved in developing the series, however.   “This story needed to be told, now. It wouldn’t make sense to wait just to be courteous.” Playing in main competition at his year’s Canneseries, which runs April 14-19, “Power Play” is produced by Motlys and Novemberfilm, with REinvent International Sales handling international distribution.  

told The Sunday Times the annual observance — which takes place every February and recognizes the cultural achievement of black people — has a negative connotation to him and that it ‘regulates’ his culture to just 4 weeks. “Two things I can say publicly that I do not like,” said the “Million Dollar Baby” star. “Black History Month is an insult.

In a rare interview, Morgan Freeman has expressed his distaste for both the premise of ‘Black History Month’ and the term ‘African-American.’

Instagram post. No cause of death has been released.“Much loved husband, father, brother, bandmate and friend Mark Sheehan passed away today in hospital after a brief illness,” The Script wrote.

Max and Cartoon Network have greenlit an animated take on the classic tale Peter & the Wolf, featuring music and narration by Gavin Friday, and artwork based on original illustrations by Bono. The short film, slated to premiere later this year, transforms Sergei Prokofiev’s symphony into a contemporary piece that touches on themes of growing up, loss, courage, transformation, and our relationship with nature. The project was originally developed in 2003 by Gavin Friday and Bono in support of Irish Hospice Foundation, a national charity supporting those facing dying, death and bereavement.

EXCLUSIVE: Wicked filmmaker Jon M. Chu will direct a new film version of the famed Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for Amazon Studios.