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03-24-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
SINBAD TO HILLARY: 'WHAT SNIPER FIRE?': Comic says Clinton is exaggerating Bosnia trip.
*The last time Sinbad was suddenly deluged with phone calls from the media, he was the victim of an Internet death rumor. In this latest press attack, the comedian is being asked about a 1996 Bosnia trip that he took with then First Lady Hillary Clinton.
As part of her current White House run, Clinton spoke about the experience during a late December campaign appearance in Iowa, and again on March 17 at a speech at George Washington University.
Attempting to boost her claim that she has more overseas experience than her Democratic rival Barack Obama, she described her March 25, 1996 landing at Tuzla International Airport in the following manner: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Sinbad, who was on the Bosnia trip along with singer Sheryl Crow, says Clinton is putting way too much on the situation. He says the trip was a USO tour to boost troop morale. In an interview with the Sleuth Monday, he said the "scariest" part of the trip was wondering where he'd eat next. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"
As for Clinton's claim of landing in "sniper fire," Sinbad says he doesn't remember that, either.
"I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or 'Oh, God, I hope I'm going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of this tank.'"
In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said: "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."
Sinbad responds: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"
Sinbad, who supports Obama for president, says of Clinton's campaign:
"What got me about Hillary was her attitude of entitlement, like he messed up her plan, like he had no reason to be there. I got angry. I actually got angry! I said, 'I will be for Obama like never before.'"
As a comic, Sinbad said he's also upset with "Saturday Night Live" for its pro-Hillary sketches that portray Obama as unqualified and skittish. The actor is also furious with the casting of non-black actor Fred Armisen to play Obama.
"My problem is -- you couldn't just temporarily hire a black man to play Obama?" said Sinbad. "You had to put a white man in a black face? You couldn't find a light-skinned brother to play Obama?"
PATERNITY SUIT NO JOKE FOR MIKE EPPS: Georgia woman claims the married comic fathered her newborn.
*A woman in Georgia has sued comedian Mike Epps over claims that he's the father of her newborn baby, yet refuses to submit to a paternity test so that she can secure child support, reports TMZ.com.
"We are not asking for the moon, we are just asking him to take a paternity test," said the woman's lawyer, Randy Kessler. "Once the tests are completed and paternity is confirmed, hopefully, Mr. Epps will do the right thing and begin to provide for his child."
Kessler says he and his client were trying to keep the matter under wraps, but quiet efforts to contact Epps and his camp have been ignored. The paternity suit was filed in early February, and followed up with five letters as well as lots of phone calls to Epps' lawyers – all to no avail, reports TMZ.
The Atlanta woman gave birth to the baby in December 2007.
MARLEY BIOPIC WITH NO MARLEY MUSIC?: Family refuses to license library to Weinstein project, even though Marley's widow is exec producer.
*The upcoming Bob Marley biopic from the Weinstein Co. hit a snag last week when his family refused to license any of his music for the film, even though his widow, Rita Marley, is its executive producer.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the problem is rooted in a competing Martin Scorsese documentary being produced by the Marley family-owned Tuff Gong Pictures and Steven Bing's Shangri La production banner, the first theatrical documentary to license Marley songs.
The family members involved in the Scorsese documentary say they had no idea that the Weinstein project would be unveiled so soon. They also believe that its projected late-2009 release date would interfere with their film's February 2010 opening, which is timed to coincide with Marley's birthday.
"Martin Scorsese doesn't want to go out with a competing project, and Steven Bing has made deals with companies" that are now compromised, Blue Mountain Music president Chris Blackwell said. "The Weinstein project has put the documentary into jeopardy." Blue Mountain Music is Marley's music publisher.
"All our efforts and support are currently directed toward the documentary," said the reggae legend's son, Ziggy Marley, who is executive producer of the untitled Scorsese film. "We believe that this project is the best way to represent our father's life from his perspective, and any other film project pertaining to our father will be empty without his music to support it."
"When I sold the film rights to my book (for the Weinstein film)," Rita Marley told The Reporter, "the contract did not include any rights to use my husband's music." The Marley family's lawyer, Terri Dipalo, denied the latest move was a negotiating ploy to compel the Weinsteins to buy Marley music rights or to up the price for those rights. She did suggest that "anything's possible" when asked if Marley's songs might end up in the Weinstein feature.
Music publisher Blackwell would like to see the Weinstein biopic delayed until at least 2015 to avoid the two projects colliding. He said he talked with Harvey Weinstein on March 13 about the issue, but so far nothing has been resolved.
QUINCY JONES TO RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATE: University of Washington to award degree during graduation ceremonies.
*Regents at the University of Washington on Thursday voted to award an honorary doctorate degree to musician-composer-producer-arranger Quincy Jones.
Jones was 10-years-old when he and his family moved to Bremerton, Wash. He played the trumpet in junior high school and was also part of a gospel choir before going on to tour with such jazz greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ray Charles.
He's best known for producing two of the biggest selling records of all time: Michael Jackson's 1982 album "Thriller" and the charity single "We Are the World."
The 75-year-old music icon will be awarded the degree at the school's June 14 commencement ceremony, where he is also scheduled to speak.
RARE SUPREMES TRACKS 'PLAY' ON: Motown/Hip-O-Select.com releases double-disc set of 50 rarely-heard versions of Supremes classics.
*Motown/Hip-O-Select.com has amassed nearly 50 rare tracks from The Supremes for the new double-disc set, "Let the Music Play: Supreme Rarities 1960-1969."
Due April 29, the collection features loads of alternate versions or vocals on such favorites as "You Can't Hurry Love," "Back in My Arms Again," "Someday We'll Be Together" and "I'll Set You Free," plus extended or alternate mixes of "Uptight," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "Don't Let True Love Die," reports Billboard.
Also included are Supremes covers of an array of hits, ranging from Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" to the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," a spin on the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" renamed "I Saw Him Standing There" and "MacArthur Park."
ABC WINS BIDDING WAR FOR NEXT DEM. DEBATE: The next Obama/Clinton showdown to take place Apr. 16 in Pennsylvania.
*In the past month, ABC and NBC have been battling over rights to air the next debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.
After the two networks lobbied both campaigns, ABC won out and will televise the 90-minute debate on Wednesday, April 16 beginning at 8 p.m. EDT on the East Coast and tape-delayed at 8 p.m. PDT for the West Coast.
The faceoff will take place at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia six days before the Pennsylvania primary. "World News" anchor Charles Gibson and "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos will serve as moderators.
ABC's pitch for a debate preceding the April 22 primary was one of seven offered to both campaigns. NBC, which so far has televised its debates on cable channel MSNBC, would have aired this debate on its broadcast network.
LYOR COHEN RE-UPS WMG CONTRACT: Exec signs on for five more years and gets promotion.
*Billboard Biz is reporting that the Warner Music Group has re-signed Lyor Cohen for a five-year contract, and promoted him to chairman and CEO of recorded music for North America from chairman and CEO of U.S.
recorded music.
As part of his new contract, Cohen's annual salary goes from $1.5 million to $3 million. In addition, his bonus is to range from a minimum of $1.5 million to $5 million.
The contract also awards Cohen 1,500,000 stock options and 1,750,000 performance-based restricted shares of WMG's common stock, with the latter shares being tied to WMG share-price performance.
According to Billboard Biz, Cohen's contract stipulates that his stock options become fully vested if he is terminated due to a change in control of the company, and performance criteria are met.
BEST BUY WAVES 'MAGIC' WAND OVER BLACK CONSUMERS: Retail chain teams with Earvin Johnson to boost urban market presence.
*BlackEnterprise.com is reporting that electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. has entered a multiyear agreement with Magic Johnson Enterprises in hopes of boosting its curb appeal among urban consumers.
With the opening of more stores in racially and ethnically diverse locations, the Minneapolis-based chain hopes its partnership with MJE will help grow the business by better understanding the needs of local communities and how to connect with them more effectively, says Herschel Herndon, Best Buy’s vice president of multicultural relations.
Best Buy also hopes MJE can help enhance management’s “ability to create jobs, train, retain, and develop employees and to create value in communities by developing local business partnerships and supporting urban development which helps everyone,” Herndon tells Black Enterprise.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, MJE’s chairman and CEO, says the company has been working with Best Buy in another capacity for many years. “Along with Best Buy leadership and current store managers, we’re going to look at a range of ways to better serve the multicultural consumer who is already a great customer of Best Buy. We love electronics. We love to have the latest and greatest DVDs and CDs. So, this is about how we can grow the physical presence of Best Buy in the urban community.”
According to a recent poll conducted by consumer research company, Yankelovich, roughly 57% of the African Americans and Hispanics polled in 16 states that represent MJE’s business markets indicated that they are more likely to purchase from businesses associated with Magic Johnson.
Best Buy follows in the footsteps of such companies as Aetna, Starbucks, Burger King, NASCAR, T.G.I. Fridays, and 24 Hour Fitness in partnering with MJE to increase multicultural consumer traffic.
WTA CHIEF DENIES RACISM ALLEGATIONS: Father of Venus and Serena claims women's tour is racist.
*Women's Tennis Association head Larry Scott is denying recent claims made by Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus, regarding racism on the women's tour.
While his daughters were playing earlier this month in Bangladore, India, where Venus reached the quarterfinals and Serena won the title, Williams told the Deccan Herald: "Well, I'm black and I'm prejudiced, very prejudiced. People are prejudiced in tennis. I don't think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be."
Scott, who strongly disagrees with Williams' comments, said in a
statement: "The Tour has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism, and I have previously let Mr. Williams know that he should let me know if he ever had evidence of racist comments or acts in women's professional tennis."
Williams said the media is unfairly biased against his daughters, that it was "the worst media job that they have done on any human being in the world," and that if he were Serena and Venus, he would have quit playing.
"But if you get some little white no-good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert, who cannot hit the ball, they (the media) will claim this is great," he said.
Scott countered in his statement, "Champions like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin have done so much to help build women's tennis to where it is today, and it is regrettable that anyone would criticize them in this manner."
Scott's response comes as he and the WTA are in Indian Wells, Calif., where the Williams sisters were booed in 2001 after Venus pulled out of a semifinal match against her sister, citing knee tendinitis. Serena went on to win the title, but was booed during and after the championship match. Neither sister has played at Indian Wells since.
MISSY ELLIOTT LAUNCHES TALENT COMPETITION: Artist teams with adidas for 'Stand Up. Be Seen.'
*Missy Elliott and adidas Originals are teaming up for the international launch of the Respect M.E. talent competition, “Stand Up Be Seen.”
Beginning this month, the competition looks to recruit 10 female ambassadors for Missy and her clothing line Respect M.E. The 10 winners will be featured in the Fall/Winter 2008 Respect M.E. campaign, while five will continue on to be the faces of the Respect M.E. line, starting with Spring and Summer 2009.
The contest will launch in the United States, Argentina, the Asian Pacific Region, China, Japan, Korea, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Switzerland. The five ambassadors will also travel to those locations for photo shoots by international photographers.
Female candidates interested in competing in the contest can enter exclusively at www.adidas.com/Missy.
TAY ZONDAY'S 'CHOCOLATE RAIN' BACK IN THE NEWS: Clip wins a YouTube award for best music video.
*Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" phenomenon lives on with its recent win for best music video at the second annual YouTube Video Awards, recognizing the site's top user-created clips of 2007.
"It's the new Emmys," Zonday, 25, said of the video-sharing site's awards in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's the next Oscars. The next People's Choice Awards. It'll be interesting to see what happens five years, 10 years (from now)."
Zonday's video, which went viral last year, featured the baritone singer crooning his original song to a video camera set up over his keyboard. He says he's flattered by the online explosion of "Chocolate Rain"
parodies.
"A lot of people see political commentary in (the song)," he said. "A lot of people find humor in it. A lot of people, they say their 2-year-olds can't stop repeating it at bedtime, so lots of people get different things out of the song. And I think the greatest consequence and the greatest mileage it can have is to get people asking questions."
He hopes his notoriety can assist him in earning "a living making art and producing music." He's also pursuing a voice-over career.
YouTube users voted on six nominees for each category: music, sports, comedy, instructional, short film, inspirational, commentary, creative, politics, series, eyewitness and "adorable."
The Obama Girl, aka Amber Lee Ettinger, whose "I Got A Crush On Obama" clip has been seen more than 7 million times, lost in the politics category to the serious-minded "Stop the Clash of Civilizations" video by the global organization avaaz.org.
"The (political) video that actually won in an election year wasn't one that had anything to do with the election itself," said YouTube spokesman Aaron Ferstman. "(It's a) video that deals with ... serious issues like discrimination, and that video's done in kind of a neat way that speaks to young people."
BARACK BITS: Obama reveals his NCAA tournament pick; Chris Rock reveals fear of black first lady; watch senator's brand new PA campaign ads.
*So who does Barack Obama have winning the NCAA championship? The Democratic presidential hopeful thinks North Carolina will take the crown, according to Bloomberg News.
As of press time, the No. 1 seeded Tar Heels were preparing for their Easter Sunday matchup against No. 9 Arkansas.
As for the other presidential candidates and their picks, John McCain was running his own bracket pool, and Hillary Clinton was reportedly "stymied" by the question.
"Oh, gosh," she said. "I don't know. I have to consult with my basketball adviser, my husband."
Meanwhile, Chris Rock says he's concerned with a Barack Obama presidency, only because it would entail having a black first lady.
"I don't think a black woman can be first lady of the United States. Yeah, I said it!" Rock says in his cover story in Rolling Stone. "A black woman can be president, no problem. First lady? Can't do it. You know why? Because a black woman cannot play the background of a relationship. Just imagine telling your black wife that you're president? 'Honey, I did it! I won! I'm the president.' 'No, we the president! And I want my girlfriends in the Cabinet! I want Kiki to be secretary of state! She can fight!'"
Clinton may be the frontrunner ahead of the Pennsylvania primary, but Obama hasn't given up the fight. His campaign just released three television ads – titled "Opportunity," "Toughest" and "Carry" – that will run in the state's six major media markets.
"Opportunity" runs 60 seconds, and is a biographical piece; "Toughest" is about his efforts at ethics reform and opposition to lobbyists. "Carry," which has run elsewhere, is about his bipartisanship during his time in the Illinois state senate.
"Carry" is available for viewing here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/pa_carry_ad)
"Opportunity" may be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knUTYzTLVXg&eurl=http://www.salon.com/politic
s/war_room/index.html
"Toughest" is viewable here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3VnURJcOhg&eurl=http://www.salon.com/politic
s/war_room/index.html
ITTY BITTY BITS: 'No. 1 Ladies' screens in London; Shar Jackson wants to rap; Lalah Hathaway's new CD; 'Days of Wrath' fansite.
*"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," starring Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose, premiered in London Tuesday night, hours after it was announced that the film's British director, Anthony Minghella, had died. The television movie was screened at the "very moving" and "bittersweet" London event after Minghella's family insisted the premiere go-ahead, according to the BBC. In America, the film will serve as the pilot for an HBO television series to debut later this year.
*Actress Shar Jackson says she's ready to launch a rap career after dabbling in the genre during her stint on MTV's "Celebrity Rap Superstar." Kevin Federline's ex was already planning to release an album of her singing material, but the record will now include some beats and rhymes. She says: "I didn't even know I could rap. That was a shock to me. Now that people enjoy it, I'm going to have a little fun. The album will drop early spring. I'm excited."
*Lalah Hathaway is back with a new album titled, "Self Portrait,"
due in stores on June 3 via the newly-revived Stax Records label. The release is Lalah’s fourth solo project and brings her together once again with producer Rex Rideout, who served as the producer of the 2004 Grammy-nominated Luther Vandross tribute album, “Forever, For Always, For Luther.” Hathaway's track on the project, "Forever, For Always, For Love,”
was the first No. 1 single of her career. The first single, “Let Go,” is a mid-tempo track written by Hathaway and co-produced with Rideout.
*A new fan site has been launched regarding the unreleased film, "Days of Wrath," at www.DaysofWrath.com. Produced, directed and written by Celia Fox, the cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Taye Diggs, Kurupt, Slim Thug, David Banner, Melyssa Ford, Rick Ross, Faizon Love and others. The fan site offers a sneak preview of the movie via the trailer and encourages visitors to leave their email address along with comments.
KILPATRICK PROBE NEARLY COMPLETED: Prosecutor to reveal results of investigation into perjury.
*Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is today scheduled to announce the results of her two-month independent review of a text-messaging sex scandal involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
She wouldn't give any hint of what, if any, charges would be filed against the mayor and ex-Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, reports the Associated Press.
Worthy says she and her staff have pored over more than 40,000 pages of documents since January, when the Detroit Free Press published excerpts of sexually explicit text messages sent to Beatty's city-issued pager in 2002 and 2003.
The messages contradict statements Kilpatrick and Beatty gave under oath during a whistleblowers' trial last summer when each denied a romantic relationship.
"There is nothing happy about this situation," Worthy said. "Something like this is just not good for anyone. It's tragic for the city, whether we charge or not. What happens in this city, county and region is very important to me.
"At the same time, it's still not going to stop me from doing what I think is the right thing to do."
EUR FILM REVIEW: Meet the Browns
Struggling Single-Mom Seeks Salvation in Tyler Perry's Latest Morality Play
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Tyler Perry has his finger on the pulse when it comes to entertaining an African-American audience in an uplifting fashion which resonates as real with that target demographic.
And Meet the Browns is no exception, this being the latest in a string of the prolific playwright-turned-film director's screen adaptations of a popular stage production.
His modern morality plays invariably touch on timely themes of urgent concern to the black community, though their messages might generally be delivered in conjunction with healthy doses of side-splitting humor.
But where Perry himself has generally played a lead role, bringing the comic relief by cross-dressing as the sassy senior citizen Madea, this time, he merely makes a cameo appearance in drag instead opting to introduce a few new equally-colorful characters.
The picture explores such universal themes as abandonment, trust, faith and redemption on its way to resolving the challenges facing Brenda (Angela Bassett), a single-mother of three who's been struggling to provide for her family while living in the projects on the south side of Chicago.
At the point of departure, we find her barely surviving paycheck-to-paycheck with no safety net to fall back on, and having to choose between paying her bills and putting food on the table.
We learn that this sorry state of affairs is due to her being burdened with raising her kids without child support from any of their fathers. She soon bottoms-out when she loses her job the same day she learns of the death in Georgia of the father she never knew.
Fortunately, she heeds the advice of her best friend Cheryl (Sofia Vergara), a loudmouthed Latina who puts Brenda and her brood on a bus in time to attend the funeral. Once they arrive in the tiny Southern town, not only do they "Meet the Browns," the long-lost, if flamboyant relatives they never knew they had, but also a knight in shining armor in Harry (Rick Fox), a basketball scout. Handsome Harry is a Houdini who has the answer to their every problem, if only the thrice-burnt Brenda will let her guard down long enough to allow this good man to sign her high school phenom son (Lance
Gross) to a pro contract, to buy them a house and to ask for her hand in marriage.
In the interim, the movie devotes plenty of time to getting acquainted with the Browns, as clownish a clan as you could hope to meet, starting with Leroy, an egg-head with the most garish wardrobe imaginable. Then there's his morbidly obese daughter Cora (Tamela Mann), and the shrewish Vera (Jenifer Lewis), a witch with nothing nice to say about anybody. Kudos to a supporting cast which includes Margaret Avery, Frankie Faison, Lamman Rucker and Irma P. Hall
As the plot winds its way inexorably towards its very predictable payoff, it comes as no surprise that rather than hang around her embarrassing kin, Brenda starts to entertain the advances of her perfect gentleman suitor. Too laced with silly slapstick to measure up to the best of Tyler Perry's previous offerings, yet still hilarious in spots and ultimately satisfying enough to be well worth watching.
Very Good (3 stars)
PG-13 for profanity, violence, mature themes, sexual references and drug use.
Running time: 100 minutes
Studi Lions Gate Films
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"The pessimist borrows trouble; the optimist lends encouragement." — William Arthur Ward
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
March 24: TV personality Star Jones is 46. Rapper Maceo of De La Soul is 38. Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes ("The Nativity Story," "Whale Rider") is 18.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
This is an original idea. Atlanta based Kenya's Kandle Kreations features "scents for the soul." Check it out here: www.kenyakandle.com
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Mar. 24, 2002: Halle Berry becomes the first black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the movie "Monster's Ball." (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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