Lena Waithe Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Andy Fischel has joined Yahya Abdul Mateen II’s House Eleven10 after spending four years at Netflix on the Original Studio Film team. In this role, he will oversee production and development for House Eleven10.

The stars are stepping out for the 2022 BET Awards!

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning screenwriter Chris Terrio has signed with Theresa Kang-Lowe’s Blue Marble Management for representation across film, television and all media.

Netflix is giving fans a first look at the new movie Beauty.

William Earl Variety and Indeed present a night of cocktails and conversation on June 16 in New York City with this year’s 10 Rising Voices finalists from across the United States.Participants include Jalmer Caceres, “Empty Bases”; Leon Cheo, “The 25th Filial”; Shanrica Evans, “Amina”; Justin Floyd, “Malleable”; Georgia Fu, “Maps”; Gbenga Komolafe, “Tofu”; Cara Lawson, “Crooked Trees Gon Give Me Wings”; Tara Motamedi, “Before Dawn Kabul Time”; Urvashi Pathania, “Beast” and Travis Wood, “Black Santa.” The conversation will be moderated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis.Established in February 2021 and now in its second season, Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Indeed partnered on Rising Voices to provide resources to the selected BIPOC filmmakers to create the short film that will have premiered earlier in the day at the Tribeca Festival in New York City. The finalists were selected from 900 applicants based on their submitted screenplays.

Tony Awards parties.Eyes red, heels broken, sequins… everywhere. Gripes about Uber surge charges. A Tony in one hand, a McDonalds bag in the other.After last year’s pandemic-hobbled celebrations — held in the fall, 2021 Best Play winner “The Inheritance” had a last-second fete at Hurley’s Saloon and Josh Groban and Aaron Tveit ate Trader Joe’s mini hotdogs in William Ivey Long’s studio — big bustling bashes were back in full force.Champagne was being poured all over town — toasting victories and drowning sorrows.

EXCLUSIVE: United States Of Al star Parker Young has been tapped as a lead opposite Michaela McManus in Criminal Nature, ABC’s drama pilot from Rashad Raisani, 20th Television and A+E Studios. The network snagged Young quickly after he became available following CBS’ cancellation of the Chuck Lorre comedy series after two seasons.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterFor the first time in two years, Tribeca Festival is going back indoors.After canceling the 2020 edition and staying mostly outside in 2021, the annual gathering is returning to traditional premieres, panels and parties to celebrate its 21st edition. It’s also staying put in Manhattan, a change from last year’s version that spanned all five boroughs of New York City.“We’re back to normal,” says Jane Rosenthal, who founded Tribeca Festival with Robert De Niro in 2002. “We are watching things together as a community.

EXCLUSIVE: Indya Moore (Pose, Aquaman and the Last Kingdom) has signed with UTA and Management 360 for representation across all mediums.

The most star-studded after party following the 2022 Met Gala was definitely the one held at the Boom Boom Room!

Wilson Chapman editorNetflix has set release dates for nearly 40 moves debuting between May and Labor Day Weekend. The streamer unveiled a first look at the Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg-starrer “Me Time,” which follows a stay-at-home dad (Hart) who finds himself with some “me time” for the first time in years.

Katie Holmes is excited for the premiere of “Alone Together.” The actress, director, and writer shared on her Instagram the news that her film would premiere at the Tribecca Film Festival, one of the most emblematic cultural events in New York City.Get power suit inspiration from Katie Holmes who has master the lookKatie Holmes goes on a New York walk with her camera in handHolmes shared the news via her Instagram, where she thanked her co-actors and collaborators for the experience. “I am so honored and excited to share our film,” she wrote The film festival will take place in the city.

Showtime is heading back to the South Side this summer. The premium cabler said today that Season 5 of its Lena Waithe-created drama The Chi will premiere at 9 p.m. Friday, June 24.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Jerry and Marge Go Large,” a comedy starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, as well as new films from directors Lena Waithe and Ray Romano, will premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival.As previously announced, the 2022 edition of the Tribeca Festival will kick off on Wednesday, June 8, with the world premiere of “Halftime,” a new Netflix documentary centering on Jennifer Lopez.See the full lineup below:OPENING NIGHTHalftime (United States) – World Premiere. A new Netflix documentary film that follows global superstar Jennifer Lopez, as she reflects on her milestones and evolution as an artist, and navigates the second half of her career continuing to entertain, empower, and inspire.

The Tribeca Festival has unveiled its 2022 lineup of 109 feature films from 40 countries and 88 world premieres including  Joachim Back’s Corner Office starring Jon Hamm and Somewhere in Queens, directed by Ray Romano starring Romano and Laurie Metcalf.

EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins, one of the stars of Netflix’s Dear White People, is launching her own podcast series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWriter, director, and actor Gabriela Ortega has signed with M88, Variety has learned exclusively. Ortega will continue to be represented by Dean Panaro Talent, KMR Talent, and Meyer & Downs.Ortega was selected to be a 2021-2022 Sundance Institute “Art of Practice” fellow, at which time she debuted her short film “Huella.” The film was produced as part of Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices fellowship during the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.2021-2022 Sundance Institute “Art of Practice“ fellow Ortega debuted her short film “Huella,” which was produced as part of Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices fellowship, at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: The Oscar nominated What’s Love Got to Do With It actress has boarded Netflix’s fantasy film Damsel, which also stars Millie Bobby Brown.

Cynthia Erivo made a big statement on the red carpet at the 2022 Grammy Awards on Sunday (April 3) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

lost ground in the never-ending battle for equality (and in fighting our own battles, as well). There were some strides, as “CODA,” a female-directed-and-written film took Best Picture and Jane Campion snagged Best Director (the third woman in 94 years) for “The Power of the Dog,” but the talk of every after-party on Sunday night wasn’t celebrating those achievements; instead, every conversation was about the two famous men and the one famous woman at the center of the storm.But Hollywood’s return to the party swirl had plenty of glitz and glamour as the week unfolded – and lots of love, too, overriding that violent interlude seen around the world.

Ramin Setoodeh Executive EditorIf Will Smith was feeling any remorse about slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night, he didn’t show it. The 53-year-old best actor winner, who took home the trophy for his performance in “King Richard,” arrived at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party just after midnight with a large entourage and immediately hit the dance floor.As the DJ played a medley of Smith’s biggest ’90s hits, the actor sang along to “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Miami” as he shimmied in the middle of a mosh pit of his fans at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, swinging his gold statue in the air.Will Smith is at the #VanityFairOscarParty dancing with his Oscar to ‘Gettin Jiggy With It.’ pic.twitter.com/PvKrRICQEN— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) March 28, 2022“It’s all about love,” Smith told Variety, when asked how he was doing.Just hours prior, Smith overshadowed the 94th Academy Awards when he stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Halle Berry has a tall teenager on her hands! On Wednesday, the “Bruised” actress shared a rare photograph of her daughter in honour of her 14th birthday.

EXCLUSIVE: Hillman Grad Productions has named the 22 creatives selected for its second annual Mentorship Lab, geared toward uplifting marginalized creatives in film and television, which launches in Los Angeles on March 18, and will wrap up with a showcase event in October.

Angelique Jackson Hillman Grad, the multi-platform entertainment company founded by actor, producer and Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe, has promoted veteran executive Rishi Rajani to CEO.In his new role, Rajani will oversee all divisions across Hillman Grad, guide the company’s overall strategic and creative direction, and develop new business partnerships. Waithe will retain her position as founder and chair.Since joining the company in 2018 as president of film and television, Rajani has played a key role in furthering Hillman Grad’s mission to “create art that redefines the status quo by amplifying and celebrating the stories and voices of diverse, historically marginalized communities across all industries.” “Rishi Rajani has worked tirelessly to help make Hillman Grad what it is today,” stated Waithe, announcing the promotion.

Pixar, and their allies” obtained by Variety, employees of the animation studio allege that Disney corporate executives have demanded cuts from “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection … regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”The stunning claim is part of a wider reaction to the company-wide memo sent to Disney  employees by CEO Bob Chapek on Monday regarding its response to the recently passed legislation in Florida known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In the memo, Chapek states that the “biggest impact” the company can make “in creating a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce.” According to the Pixar letter, that claim is at odds with employees’ experience of trying to content with same-sex affection approved by Disney executives.“We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” the letter states.

Wilson Chapman editorFilm Independent has announced the presenters for the 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards.Kirsten Stewart (“Spencer”) will serve as the Spirit Awards honorary chair this year, in addition to being a presenter. Past honorary chairs for the Spirit Awards have included Shaka King, Lena Waithe, Ava DuVernay, Jessica Chastain and Ang Lee.Along with Stewart, Dianna Agron (“Shiva Baby”), Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Jennifer Beals (“The Book of Boba Fett”), Rosario Dawson (“Dopesick”), Daveed Diggs (“Snowpiercer”), Jay Duplass (“The Chair”), Mark Duplass (“Language Lessons”), Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Fresh”), Hannah Einbinder (“Hacks”), Bridget Everett (“Somebody Somewhere”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick… Boom”), Regina Hall, (“Nine Perfect Strangers”), Lily James (“Pam and Tommy”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Sam Richardson (“The Afterparty”), Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”), Sebastian Stan (“Pam and Tommy”), Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria”), Taika Waititi (“Our Flag Means Death”), Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) and Chloé Zhao (“Eternals”) have been announced as presenters for this years show.

EXCLUSIVE:  Amazon Studios, Hillman Grad Productions, and Good Trouble Studios are partnering for the feature-length documentary Gifted & Black for Prime Video, Deadline has learned.

Sarah Jessica Parker, in partnership with independent publisher Zando, will launch her own imprint that will see the publishing of four to six books over a three-year span.

Leading job site Indeed, Emmy winner Lena Waithe (Master of None, Twenties) and her company Hillman Grad Productions have today named Cara Lawson, Gbenga Komolafe, Georgia Fu, Jalmer Caceres, Justin Floyd, Leon Cheo, Shanrica Evans, Tara Motamedi, Travis Wood and Urvashi Pathania as the 10 filmmakers selected for the second edition of their Rising Voices program.