Stephen Akinmosa Cleopatra Magazine, London
OSCARS 2021 THE 93rd ACADEMY AWARD
ANTHONY HOPKINS
Hollywood's biggest night -- the Academy Awards -- has come to a close. "Nomadland" took home the coveted best picture award while Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand won best actor and actress in a leading role. Hopkins' victory was an upset over Chadwick Boseman, who died in August after a private
four-year battle with colon cancer. Boseman was nominated for best actor for his role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." This year brought barrierbreaking wins, including the first woman of color to win best director and the first Black women to win best makeup and hairstyling.
CHLOE ZHAO
Movie director Chloe Zhao speaks after accepting the Oscar for Best Director for "Nomadland," April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles ABC. Another Oscar barrier was broken for Asian women this year -Yuh-Jung Youn, who won best supporting actress for her role in "Minari," is the first actress of
Korean descent to win the award. Chloé Zhao is a Chinese filmmaker, known primarily for her work in independent American films. Her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
Yuh-Jung Youn speaks after accepting the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role in the movie "Minari," April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles.
At 73, Yuh-Jung was an unlikely first-time Oscar nominee. But the South Korean actress, and star bit film Minari, is taken Hollywood by storm. Though a long time major celebrity in her homeland, Youn’s sudden and meteoric
worldwide rise has taken many in Tinseltown by surprise. She has completed an astonishing “treble” at the Academy Awards by add a best supporting actress gold award to the BAFTA and Screen Actor Guild Wins.
DANIEL KALUUYA
Daniel Kaluuya used a lead role to win a best supporting actor Oscar. He’ll take it. Kaluuya won his first Academy Award on Sunday night for playing one of the two title roles in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” In a quirk of the nominating process, LaKeith Stanfield, who played the “Judas” of the title — William O'Neal who betrayed Black Panther Party leader Fred
Hampton to the FBI — competed in the same category. “I share this honor with the gift that is LaKeith Stanfield,” Kaluuya told the small audience gathered at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. The London-born Kaluuya portrayed the fiery Hampton, who was killed in an FBI raid in 1969. He already earned Golden Globe, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards for the role.
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry, winner of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, poses in the press room at the Oscars, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles.
a pair of shoes.
As Perry stood on stage, he recalled a story of when he offered money to a homeless woman. She, however, asked for
The woman said to Perry that she thought he’d hate her. Perry said he responded: “How can I hate you when I used to be you?”
The woman, staring down, said, “Thank you, Jesus, my feet are off the ground,” Perry recalled.
Regina King
The ceremony got underway on Sunday with Regina King, a former Oscar winner and the director of “One Night in Miami,” strutting into a supperclub set. It harkened back to Hollywood’s earliest days, when
the Academy Awards were held in hotel ballrooms — laid-back, insider events without the pressure of worrying about whether the television masses might find them compelling.
Netflix’s “Mank” was one of eight movies nominated for best picture; from left, Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies and Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz.Credit...Netflix. Netflix received its first Oscar nomination in 2014 for “The Square,” a feature documentary
about the Egyptian revolution. Since then — in large part because of copious amounts of money spent on awards campaigns — the streaming giant has come to dominate the nominations. It amassed 36 this year, more than any other company, with “Mank” receiving 10, more than any other film.
Neal and Jamika Wilson, who won alongside Sergio LopezRivera, were the first Black women nominated in the category. “As Jamika and I break this glass ceiling,” she said, she was filled with “so much excitement for the future.” Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson and Sergio Lopez-Rivera, winners of the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" pose in the press
room at the Oscars, in Los Angeles, April 25, 2021. In many ways, the 93rd Oscars amounted to a celebration of diversity, an issue that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has emphasized in wake of the #OscarsSoWhite protests of 2015 and 2016, when its acting nominees were all white. This year, nine of the 20 acting nominations went to people of color.
Evelyn Maisvoreva
REGE-JEAN PAGE LINKED TO BOND ROLE
Bridgerton hero is ‘flattered’ to be linked to bond role. Is currently a news that’s breaking hearts around the globe. Rege-
Jean Page - the Duke of Hastings hero of TV smash hit Bridgerton will not be returning for seasons two.
Daniel Craig The London-born star flew to London recently amid mounting speculation that he is to be new James Bond following Daniel Craig’s departure from the franchise. The extremely handsome Simon, Duke of Hastings, in the TV series Bridgerton actor had earlier confirmed he was leaving by tweeting that it had been a “pleasure and privilege” and “an honour to be a member of the family- on and off the screen”. In an interview with Variety. Rege-Jean Page explained that his short-time on the series was part of the plan all along. It was a one season arc. “It’s going to have a beginning, middle, and
end / given us a year He said”. Rege-Jean Page, with his brilliant success as an actor, he no longer needs to accept supporting roles. Is work work is quickly establishing him as one of the most exciting British acting talents of his generation. Rege gathers rave reviews in his breakout lead role as ‘Chicken George’ in the award winning events series ‘ROOT,’ then went on to star in the shondaland legal thriller ‘for the people’, Peter Jackson sci-fi blockbuster and ‘Mortal Engine’, and Jazz age epic ‘Sylvie’s Love, before re-partnering with Shonda as the romantic lead of her Netflix debut, period romance spectacular “BRIDGERTON”.
Trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, then the infamously left-field 'Drama Centre London', Regé began his career on stage, in 'The History Boys' at the Sheffield Crucible, and then alongside Jonathan Price in 'The Merchant Of Venice' at Shakespeare's Globe. A Londoner who spent much of his childhood in his mother’s native Zimbabwe Raised in
Zimbabwe, schooled in the UK, and working extensively in the USA, Regé is known for a keen international perspective and versatility that characterises his work. He appeared to slip effortlessly into the role of a British aristocrat, so the confident poise of Eltoneducated 007 shouldn’t give him too much trouble.
Queen Adelakun
RISING FEMALE FILM DIRECTORS.
Yale graduate Minhal Baig was high profile Sundance directors with the premiere of “Hala,” which got picked up by Apple as one of the company’s first film acquisitions. “Hala” stars “Blockers” favorite Geraldine
Viswanathan in the coming-of-age story of a Muslim teenager. Baig wrote and directed the feature, hailed by IndieWire as a wonderfully sensitive debut about finding sexual agency.
Chinonye Chukwu is a NigerianAmerican film director best known for the drama film Clemency (2019) A Long Walk
(2013) and Alaska Land (2010). She is the first black woman to win the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Mati Diop made history at the Cannes Film Festival as the first black woman director to ever compete for the Palme d’Or. Diop is the niece of Senegalese cinema pioneer Djibril Diop Mambéty and first got her start as
an actress, starring in films such as “Simon Killer” and “35 Shots of Rum.” Mati Diop was born in Paris, France. She lives and works in Paris as a Filmmaker and Actor.
Hannah Pearl Utt and collaborator Jen Tullock have been honing their shared voice for years now, first with Joey Ally’s amusing short “Partners” and then with their charming web series “Disengaged.” The two raise the stakes in Utt’s feature
directorial debut, “Before You Know It,” a quirky female comedy that was one of the bright spots at Sundance festival. The way Utt manages to cut through quirk with real emotion, stellar acting, and a kicky sense of pace makes her one to watch.
Philadelphia-based writerdirector Tayarisha Poe had one of the most assured debuts at Sundance in (2019) with “Selah and the Spades.” The film is set at an elite Pennsylvania boarding school where the student body is run by five factions. Poe takes a cliched high school set up and gets to its truthful core,
proving she has much to say about the current teenage generation and inventive ways to say it. She is a director and writer, known for Selah and the Spades (2019), Honey and Trombones (2012) and the Twilight Zones (2019).
Melina Matsoukas made a name for herself as a music video director for such powerhouses as Beyonce (her “Formation” video is a landmark), Rihanna, Alicia Keys, No Doubt, and Christina Aguilera, among others. The director has already made the leap to television (“Insecure,” “Master of None”) and next
up is her feature film debut, the Daniel Kaluuya-starring drama “Queen & Slim.” She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four time MTV Video Music Awards for her “We Found Love” and “Formation” music video. She studied at New York University, Tisch School of the art and American Film Institute.
Sonejuhi Sinha sticks a knife into the hard underbelly of the American Dream and draws fresh blood from familiar territory in her stylish feature debut “Stray Dolls.” The immigrant thriller, co-starring Cynthia Nixon, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to positive buzz and announces Sinha as a new director with a
topical voice.
and
urgent
political
She is an Indian American, bicoastal filmmaker, who grew up in Northern India until the age of thirteen when she went through the life changing experience of moving to the US from India.
Terri Donnelly
CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE ANNOUNCED IN 2021 THAT THEY ARE EXPECTING BABIES Owens, M.D. The How to Get Away With Murder actor is expecting her first child. She opened up about this journey on Instagram, revealing she's suffered two miscarriages. Aja Naomi King
Aja Naomi King is an American actress best known for her role as Michaela Pratt in How to Get Away with Murder. She began her career in guest-starring roles on television, and starred as Cassandra Kopelson in The CW medical comedy-drama Emily
“I’ve been so deeply moved by the women who have openly shared their miscarriages,” she wrote on Instagram. “It brought me solace in a time that was incredibly painful to know I wasn’t alone. To understand that this experience is common, horrible but still common.
NE-YO AND CRYSTAL RENAY
“Overjoyed to announce......the family is expanding,” Ne-Yo announced on Instagram in February. The couple have two sons: Roman Alexander-Raj and Shaffer Chimere Jr. Ne-Yo also has a son, Mason Evan, and a daughter, Madilyn Grace, from a previous relationship.
Nick Cannon and Abby De La Rosa
Cannon, already a father of four (including twins with ex Mariah Carey), will add two more to his brood! DJ Abby De La Rosa announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with twins and included Cannon in her latest maternity shoot. “Our dearest sons - my miracle babies,” she wrote in a lengthy caption, which ended with, “You both are already so loved and we can’t wait to meet you both.”
Kirsten Dunst
Dunst is expecting her second child with actor Jesse Plemons, she revealed via a baby-bump photo shoot, directed by Sofia Coppola, for W magazine. A very glam baby announcement indeed!
Georgia Fowler
Victoria's Secret model Georgia Fowler announced on April 2 that she's pregnant with her first child. “It’s been hard to keep this one quiet, but now it’s pretty hard to hide,” she wrote on Instagram alongside a stunning black-and-white photo of her baby bump. “Nathan and I couldn’t be happier to share our exciting news with you. We cannot wait to meet you little one and begin our next adventure together. The best is yet to come.” She shared even more photos on her blog. Fowler's boyfriend Nathan Dalah further revealed that the couple is expecting a baby girl in his own private Instagram post. “Beyond excited to welcome a little princess into the world with my superwoman,” he wrote, according to the Daily Mail.
Jason Derulo and Jena Frumes
The singer and Cats star announced via Instagram that he and his girlfriend, model Jena Frumes, are expecting their first child together. In a video posted on March 28, Derulo and Frumes walk hand in hand on the beach in the Bahamas. Derulo sweetly kisses his girlfriend's baby bump, and the words “coming soon” are written in the sand. Life's a beach!
Ilana Glazer
Broad City just got its littlest resident. Comedian and actor Ilana Glazer, who has been married to David Rooklin since 2019, is pregnant with the couple's first child. She made the announcement in Entertainment Weekly, showing off her bump in a photo shoot.
Elle King
King and her fiancé, Dan Tooker, announced on March 3 that they're expecting their first child together. King was careful to note that, for some women trying to have children, her announcement might hurt. “I hope that all mothers-to-be, in whatever sense that may be, know that I am trying to be very sensitive,” she wrote. “You see, this miracle baby comes after two very big losses. It’s a terrifying and extremely painful experience for everyone….I remember every pregnancy announcement felt like a dagger to me. So I want to be very delicate and say to YOU! That soon to be mom, who’s maybe had a loss, or has been struggling with fertility, I’m telling you, our babies come.”
Gal Gadot and Yaron Varsano
Gal Gadot and Yaron Varsano are expecting their third child. “Here we go again,” Gadot captioned a sweet selfie with her husband and two daughters, Alma and Maya, on Instagram on March 1.
Emma Stone and Dave Mccary
In January 2021, rumors started swirling that Stone and McCary are expecting their first child together. The Daily Mail published photos of Stone seemingly cradling her stomach, but, of course, it's best not to assume anything.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
It's baby number two for this royal couple! On Valentine's Day, the Sussexes confirmed that their son, Archie, would soon become a big brother. It's an especially emotional moment because Markle revealed that she'd experienced a miscarriage over the summer. Harry, of course, is also a second sibling, and the couple's announcement echoed the way Buckingham Palace announced that Princess Diana was pregnant with him, once upon a time. So sweet.
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BARACK OBAMA ‘BELOVED GRANDMOTHER’ DIES IN KENYA AGE 99
Barack Obama’s step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, has died in Kenya at the age . Known as Mama Sarah, the matriarch of the former US family promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo Village. She had been ill for a week before being taken to hospital. A family spokesman said she tested negative for Covid - .
In a tweet, Mr. Obama said ‘ e will his her dearly, but we we we’ll celebrate her with gratitude her long and remarkable life.’ He referred to her as Granny in his memoir, Dreams rom My ather where he described meeting his her during his inauguration as president
in 00 . In a condolences message, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said “The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. e’ve lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values.” She was a loving and celebrated philanthropist who graciously shared the little she had with the less fortunate in her community, he said, wishing the Obama family God’s grace as they mourn their departed matriarch. Her demise was confirmed by her daughter, Marsat Obama, who told the Nation that her mother died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu at . am on Monday morning. She had been admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning. She said her mother had been ailing for some time now and had suffered a stroke in September last year. She was diagnosed with stroke in September last year and had blood sugar related problems, she told the Nation by phone. “She was a loving and celebrated philanthropist who graciously shared
the little she had with the less fortunate in her community,” she added.
Meanwhile, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o issued a message “It is with deep sorrow and regret that I would like to announce the untimely passing of Mama Sarah Obama at Jaramogi Teaching and Referral Hospital here in Kisumu at . a.m. 0 GMT in the morning after a short illness.”
“ e send our condolences to the Obama family and the Kogelo people of Siaya county, Kenyans will miss her dearly,” he said.
The governor said that Mama Sarah was a philanthropist who mobilized funds to pay for school fees for many orphans and vulnerable children while also supporting widows.
In July 0 , US President Barack Obama visited his ancestral village in Kenya and participated in a traditional dance with his grandmother and half-sister Auma Obama.
JACK MORGAN
BISHOP CHARLES MOTONDO CROOKED PREACHER JAILED
Charles Motondo was investigated over a series of bogus insurance claims. Investigators found he had impersonated the voice of another driver The 40-year-old was today jailed for 10 months after admitting the frauds. His wife, Anette Ntumba, was given community service for benefit fraud. A self-styled ‘bishop’ who impersonated the voice of a parishioner to fabricate a false insurance claim has been jailed.
he preached high-octane sermons at three-hour Sunday services. But he was arrested and today jailed for fraud after insurers became suspicious about £12,000-worth of claims he made over supposed crashes involving his Range Rover Fraud specialists at the City of London police, who took up the investigation, discovered he had impersonated someone who he had earlier helped to buy a car.
Charles Motondo, 40, was popular among followers at the Grace Faith His partner Anette Ntumba, 43, Ministries church in Leeds, where also appeared in court alongside
father-of-four Motondo after policy holder, and said he’d pleading guilty to a separate crashed his Vauxhall Corsa into a parked Range Rover and took full offence of benefit fraud. responsibility. The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement A spokesman for City of London Department (IFED) were behind Police said: ‘The person whose the long-running investigation. details Motondo had used for this fake claim told IFED that the They discovered Motondo - who accident never took place and that receives Universal Credit - had the car wasn’t ever insured. They contacted First Central Insurance also revealed that Motondo had and fraudulently bought a policy helped them buy their car.’ using the details of a person in his local community. Leeds Crown Court heard Motondo opened up insurance A few days later he called the policies in 2016 using two false insurers, pretending to be the names. He then deceived Aviva
Insurance and Mulsanne Insurance access the illegally obtained sums in claims he made. of cash claimed for the crashes previously, the court was told. Motondo, who moved to the UK from the Democratic Republic of At Leeds Crown Court today, Congo in 2005, was only uncovered prosecutor Ian Hudson said: ‘[The on a third occasion when insurance insurance company realised] the company First Central found the insurance policies had been taken damage to his Range Rover did not out on the same day. The claim was not paid.’ match the alleged crash. Motondo used both his own and his He had a shop theft on his criminal partner’s bank accounts in order to record but was otherwise of
‘impeccable’ character, defence solicitor Michael Collins told ‘The culpability in this case is the court. high. More than one person was involved but it is difficult Mr Collins said: ‘He is a pastor. to identify who they were. This He has acted in that role for was sophisticated offending. 12 years. He plays a significant This was deliberate and role in the community. He persistent.’ regularly meets with police and members of parliament on the Sentencing Motondo to basis to assist with members of ten months, Judge Bayliss his congregation. added: ‘Those who engage in sophisticated fraud must ‘He has told me of his expect to go to prison.’ embarrassment and shame of his conduct and has genuine Motondo, wearing a purple remorse.’ jacket and blue jeans, sat motionless throughout the Judge Tom Bayliss QC said hour long hearing. his offences were ‘highly sophisticated’ and over a Motondo’s partner, Anette sustained period. Ntumba was sentenced for unrelated benefit fraud during He said his initial admission the hearing. that the insurance claims were a mistake was false and he had instead planned the fraud. Judge Bayliss said: ‘I treat you as a man with impeccable character. The offences are serious offences of fraud. The total frauds amount to £12,804.23.
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TREY SONGZ SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSER SCORES HUGE VICTORY IN LEGAL BATTLE
Trey Songz has reached a settlement with the women who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Miami nightclub. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the alleged victim, who used the pseudonym Jane Doe in the proceedings, informed the court of the deal with Songz (real name: Tremaine Neverson). Her attorney wrote, “The Plaintiff and the Defendant have entered into a Settlement Agreement resolving all disputes between them.” She asked the court to approve the deal and close the case. The judge has yet to officially shut the case due to issues between the woman and her lawyers over money. However, it appears the judge will
eventually approve the settlement meaning Songz will have one less legal matter to worry about. In the original lawsuit, Doe says she met Songz at Diddy’s home on New Year’s Eve. She said he invited her to a nightclub and she accepted the offer. The suit accused Songz of taking Doe to a VIP table where he, “sexually assaulted and battered JANE DOE by proceeding to forcefully place his hand under her dress, without her consent, and attempting to insert his fingers into JANE DOE’S vagina without her consent or permission.” Doe’s lawyer said Songz, “intentionally created an offer of bodily injury to Plaintiff by force under circumstances that created a well-founded fear of imminent peril in PLAINTIFF and NEVERSON had the present ability to effectuate his attempts to produce bodily injury towards PLAINTIFF when he reached under her skirt and attempted to insert his fingers into her vagina.”
The lawsuit was seeking in excess of $10 million for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was the latest in a string of legal troubles for the singer. Earlier this year, Songz was arrested after getting into an altercation with police officers at an AFC championship game in Kansas City. AP reported, Songz refused to follow coronavirus rules after being asked by private security at the game. Police officers tried to intervene but a scuffle broke out. Songz was taken into custody. The artist was held in jail for several hours before being released. No charges have been filed against Songz. In 2017, Keke Palmer said she planned to take legal action against Songz for including her in his “Pick Up the Phone” video, after “sexual intimidation” during the shoot. “I clearly said no and you said okay, yet I was being secretly filmed when you told me ‘let me just show you the idea’?? Wow,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “People have to listen to women and stop questioning them and their intelligence. Speak up, cause when you look someone in the face and they say ‘I
understand. You don’t have to feel pressured to do the video’ and they Still put you in it, it is a violation.” A woman accused Songz of domestic violence in February 2018, saying he punched and choked her and later threw two of her phones when she tried to leave. He turned himself in on the resulting felony domestic-violence charge while claiming the woman was lying, and the charge was later dropped that May. The accuser then filed a lawsuit against Songz for domestic violence in August, which was also dropped in September 2019. The current $10 million case against Songz alleges he tried to put his fingers into her vagina without consent at a Miami club in January 2018 and allegedly later touched another woman without her consent.