Years after FRIENDS was NBC's most talked about show, and way past the time where they had any substantial Black programming, Variety is reporting that NBC is developing a comedy based on the book "Making Friends With Black People," by Nick Adams, a stand-up comic who takes a comedic look at the issue of race.  Mara Brock Akil ("Girlfriends" and "The Game") and Salim Akil will write the script and serve as exec producers on the project.  Read More »

Don Chealde's Cresendo Prods., headed by Cheadle, Lenore Zerman and Kay Liberman, has signed a two-year first-look deal with Overture Films.  Overture and Crescendo collaborated on "Traitor," the government thriller that Cheadle starred in.  Overture CEO Chris McGurk and COO Danny Rosett oversaw the MGM/UA when it released the Cheadle-starrer "Hotel Rwanda."
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A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been sold for $13.5 million at an auction in New York City.  The 1982 painting, "Untitled (Boxer)," was consigned to Christie's auction house by Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica. Christie's didn't identify the buyer.

The painting shows a black heavyweight fighter with his arms thrust in the air against a white graffiti-filled background. It surpassed its pre-auction estimate of more than $12 million.  The current auction record for a Basquiat is $14.6 million for "Untitled," which sold at Sotheby's last year.  Francis Bacon's "Study for Self-Portrait" didn't sell. Christie's says it had been estimated to sell for about $40 million.  Read More »

It's gettin' ugly in Atlanta!

“We’re asking all those who had planned to attend the opening of Tyler Perry’s new studio not to cross our picket line,” said writer Christopher Moore. “It’s very disheartening considering that this is a studio run by African Americans. What Tyler Perry is essentially saying to us is that ‘you’re black and there’s not a lot of opportunities for you so you’ll take what I give you’ – whether it’s fair or not.”

If Tyler wants to be the male Oprah, then he should keep his employees happy like she does!

It gets more scandalous below!  Read More »

The WGA (Writer's Guild of America) is going to war with Tyler Perry!

A source close to the camp tells BLACKARAZZI.COM that media mogul Tyler Perry FIRED all of his writers that were members of the WGA.

Mr. Perry has made a name for himself as a renegade filmmaker/producer extraordinarie that knows how to "bring it" to the box office and television. But apparently he doesn't want to pay the salaries to keep the few African-American writers in Hollywood employed.

Share the wealth man!!  Read More »