August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

VH1(LOS ANGELES) — It’s been almost a month since ViacomCBS decided to cut ties with Nick Cannon but it hasn’t been the last they’ve heard of him because Cannon is reportedly suing the network for $1.5 billion for his improv comedy series Wild ‘n Out. 

In a statement to The Shade Room, the comedian’s team said, “It is just that simple, ‘Wild’N Out belongs to Nick!”

“The show was created by Nick Cannon with his idea and original thought. Wild’N Out has brought billions of dollars in revenue to Viacom since 2015. And Nick deserves and has earned everything it is worth,” the statement continued. “From the platforms he provides for other entertainers, the jobs he creates for black youth, the time he gives to mentoring incarcerated men and women, to the money he gives back and puts into communities, homelessness, and people less fortunate. He is constantly evolving both spiritually and mentally, as well as, taking action in learning, education and bridging the gap within the Jewish and African American communities, so that it will allow us to build relationships, work together and learn from each other in order to move forward in equality.”

“If Viacom believes in growth, equality, education, then Viacom will do what is right and pay Nick what they owe, and giving him his $1.5 brand,” the statement concluded. 

ViacomCBS parted ways with Cannon on July 14 after he received backlash for making comments that were deemed anti-Semitic during a June episode of his podcast and YouTube series Cannon’s Class. Following the outcry, the 39-year-old issued an apology.

Cannon remains the host of Fox’s The Masked Singer. However, he has taken a break from his LA-based morning radio show and his upcoming daytime talk show has been delayed a year. 

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in “Watchmen” – Mark Hill/HBO(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) In a new story in Men’s Health, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II recalled a painful experience dealing with racism while he was a freshman at the University of California Berkeley. 

The Aquaman baddie and Watchmen Emmy nominee contributed his story to the magazine’s report “Race, Racism, and Black Men’s Health.”

“I studied architecture, and … it was common to spend the whole night working in the studio,” Abdul-Mateen explained.  “One night, I left the studio around 1:00 a.m. to go to my dorm and get something to eat, and then I headed back … As I approached the building, there was a woman going inside, just a couple steps ahead of me.”

The woman reportedly told him, “’Stop, you don’t belong here'” the actor recalled. “I said, ‘What are you talking about? I’m going to the studio. I’m going to the same place as you.'”

He recalled reaching for his student ID when the woman told him, “‘I’m gonna call the police and tell them that you’re trying to rape me.'”

As Abdul-Mateen II tried to enter the building, “she began running and screaming at the top of her lungs.” He said campus security responded, but “apologized and left,” after speaking with him.

Abdul-Mateen writes, “I remember being so angry that I cried. It was frustrating. I deserved to be there. Period. That was my reminder that even if I did everything right … some things in life would be unavoidable. Because I was black. I was 18 years old. I did the only thing I knew to do. I cried, and I swallowed that s***.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

CW(LOS ANGELES) — After Ruby Rose dropped the bombshell in May that she was departing Batwoman after one season, the actress candidly revealed what led her to make the difficult decision.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the 34-year-old actress explained how the COVID-19 pandemic inspired her to leave the CW series.

Rose suffered a serious back injury when shooting Batwoman, which she disclosed to fans back in September.

The Australian actress said on Instagram last year, “A couple of months ago I was told I needed an emergency surgery or I was risking becoming paralyzed.  I had herniated two discs doing stunts, and they were close to severing my spinal chord [sic].”

“Being the lead of a superhero show is tough,” Rose told EW.  “But as far as being a lead of a show or a film —  regardless if it’s action or if it’s emotional — in whichever ways it’s taxing.”

“The challenge is sort of outweighed,” she furthered. “The accomplishment and the trust that people put in you to do that role and then there’s also the vibrancy of being able to come on set and set the mood and the tone and the trust being put into it is something that’s been such an honor.”

The actress admits that, injuries aside, having her life put on pause due to COVID-19 allowed her to really think about her career. 

“You know, you have time in quarantine and sort of isolation to just think about a lot of different things and what you want to achieve in life and what you want to do,” detailed Rose.

While Rose is “very honored to have been able to play” Batwoman on the pioneering superhero series, she is confident that Javicia Leslie, who is next to don the bat suit, will be “fantastic.”

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Redstone in 2013 – Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Sumner M. Redstone, the media mogul who turned his father’s drive-in theater into National Amusements, a powerhouse company the assets of which span nearly every aspect of the entertainment industry, has died. 

The WWII veteran and Harvard Law graduate was 97, and reportedly died at his home in Beverly Hills, according to a statement from ViacomCBS. 

Redstone served as chairman of Viacom from 1987 to 2016, and as CEO from 1996 to 2005. “Under his leadership, Viacom acquired brands that make the ViacomCBS portfolio strong today — including MTV in 1985, Paramount Pictures in 1994, and BET in 2001,” the statement reads, noting his passing “with profound sadness.” 

Redstone — whose mantra “content is king,” along with his business savvy, built one of the largest portfolios of assets in the world of motion pictures and television — was a self-made billionaire whose legacy and influence will continue through his daughter, Shari, who is the chair of ViacomCBS, and son Tyler.  The pair will continue to oversee National Amusements’ portfolio. 

In a statement from ViacomCBS, Shari Redstone said, “My father led an extraordinary life that not only shaped entertainment as we know it today, but created an incredible family legacy. Through it all, we shared a great love for one another and he was a wonderful father, grandfather and great-grandfather. I am so proud to be his daughter and I will miss him always.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 12, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Mitch Haaseth(NEW YORK) — Tonight, after seven seasons, ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. says goodbye with a two-hour finale starting at 9 p.m. ET. The episode, called “The End Is At Hand,” has our heroes making a final stand against the nefarious Chronicoms, who want to erase S.H.I.E.L.D. from history. 

Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel movies and on AOS, told ABC Audio that over the years, the cast was convinced the show was kaput several times — but now, it’s for real.

“We’ve had a number of goodbyes, which has been kind of odd,” he said. “[For] several seasons we…didn’t know if we were coming back, so we would say goodbye to everybody…Definitely at the end of season five, the last episode was called ‘The End’, and it looked like we weren’t coming back.” 

Gregg credits the fans with saving the show, noting, “[They] stuck with us and really became a kind of vocal crowd backing the show and pulling us off the bubble every year, so that by the end of it, we turned around and we’d done seven seasons and had this amazing journey.”

Chloe Bennet, who plays Daisy Johnson/Quake/Skye, agreed, telling ABC Audio, “I really feel like I’ve grown up with [my character]…on and off screen…Y’know, I was so young when I started and it’s just been special to kind of take that journey along with so many other people — like our fans.”

Elizabeth Henstridge, who plays Jemma Simmons, reminisced about her on-screen romance with co-star Iain De Caestecker, who plays fellow scientist Leo Fitz. The pair were dubbed FitzSimmons by fans early on, but De Caestecker had his own ideas. “What’s weird to season one me and Elizabeth, I mean, we protested as desperately as hard as we could that these two are brother and sister. There was no romance between them. And if there ever was, it would ruin the whole foundation of it, you know.”

Henstridge laughed, adding, “You protested more than I did, FYI…I won.” De Caestecker laughed, but allowed of the onscreen coupling, “sure enough, they wrote it in such a way that was like it’s you know, it’s impossible not to become invested in it.”

For her part, Ming-Na Wen, who played steely Agent Melinda May, said of her last day on set, “It was a mixed bag, for sure. It was a sense of accomplishment that, ‘Wow, we did this!’ and we were able to celebrate that, and you know, [it was] very melancholy in other ways.”

Bennet explained how she feels going into the home stretch. “I don’t think it’s still going to hit. You know, we still have the finale airing. And I think after that, I might feel different.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.