Oscar nominees Viola Davis (Doubt) and Taraji P. Henson (Curious Case of Benjamin Button) have been spotted at various industry events looking like they stepped off the runway.



Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto also looked hip and fab at the 61st Annual DGA Awards. Love that Zac Posen one shoulder sequin dress.



Viola just signed on to appear in the psychological thriller Law Abiding Citizen with Regina Hall and Jamie Foxx according to EURWEB. (Congrats Viola, Freida, and Taraji for the well-deserved Oscar hoopla!)

Labels: Blair Underwood, Box Office Hoopla, Freida Pinto, Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis

Taraji P. Henson had a private dinner celebration for her Oscar nomination at Mastro's Steakhouse. Close friends Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, John Singleton, and her Baby Boy co-star Tyrese showed her support at the small gathering.



Pregnant Kimora Lee supported her equally happy boyfriend Djimon Hounsou's Push movie premiere last night in Westwood, Californina. Kimora and Djimon are engaged and this baby would be Djimon's first...congrats! Kimora's divorce from Russell Simmons is final.

Labels: Box Office Hoopla, Djimon Hounsou, Kimora Lee Simmons, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Taraji P. Henson, Tyrese/Black-Ty

Dawn Richard confirmed the Danity Kane split recently to MTV News. Aubrey O'Day went on to do a Playboy editorial while D. Woods has a girl group. Shannon Bex and Aundrea Fimbres are the only two remaining members. However, Shannon would NOT be seen in the upcoming season of "Making The Band." Best luck to Dawn!

As of right now, [Danity Kane doesn't exist]," Dawn Richard told MTV News on Wednesday (January 28). "It's devastating for me."

"You'll see me and Drea [Aundrea Fimbres] try and pick up the pieces on our own [on this season's show] — pieces that we didn't even make," she continued. "We didn't even break it and we're trying to sweep it up ourselves. Puff invited all the girls to come back on this season and they chose not to. Only two of us showed up. That's fine if that's the choice.[MTV NEWS]

Director Bill Condon best known for Dreamgirls opened up about the upcoming Aaliyah biopic. Condon has said to expect the film to mirror the succes of Selena - (Jennifer Lopez's claim to fame). Canadian-singer Keshia Chante has since release a statement confirming that she'll play Aaliyah.

"Aaliyah inspired me and an entire generation," Keshia Chante said in a statement. "She was stunning, effortless and was capable of so many things. This is a hard undertaking, I have big shoes to fill but I am committed, determined and will train to the very end to master this role. I want Aaliyah's fans and admirers to be proud of this film and feel like it was the best interpretation possible of our babygirl. I refuse to disappoint." [BET News]

Well said, Keshia! A Roc-a-Fella music producer Choke No Joke (seriously??) has come out with a blind item about the rift behind Jay-Z and Dame Dash.

"Both Jay and Dame was involved with a certain R&B singer, who I'm not gonna say her name out of respect 'cause she ain't around to defend herself, but I believe that was a part of the initial friction. I was seeing Jay with her back around 2000, then Dame was with her after. All you have to do is look at the movie they did, Death of a Dynasty. In the movie they were fighting over a model. In real life she was a model, but singing is what she was known for first."[Hip Hop Weekly/Rhymes With Snitch]

There's 3 sides to every story with the truth somewhere in between. (Only Aaliyah, Dame and Jay-Z know the real deal.) Speaking of which, check out these photos of Aaliyah, Dame, and Jay-Z at a party in the Hamptons over at Rhymes With Snitch. Oh let the drama begin...

Labels: Aaliyah, Box Office Hoopla, Danity Kane, Jay-Z, Music Hoopla

TBS/TNT broadcast the The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards live tonight at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Indie favorite Slumdog Millionaire picked up the event's highest honor - Best Film. Visit here for the complete 2009 SAG Winners list.

Labels: Award Hoopla, Box Office Hoopla, Look on Lock, TV Hoopla

Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon (mother of three) made the red carpet her personal runway at the LA premiere of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Love those black gladiator sandals...



Zoe Kravitz and Wycelf Jean were the latest celebs spotted at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Fun times, indeed!



Also at the event were Benjamin sigh! Bratt and Zoe's ex boyfriend Ben Foster. (*Time to go watch Miss Congeniality*)



Brad Pitt (in Tom Ford) and Angelina Jolie arrived in matching gray outfits at the Paris premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Brad and Angelina just picked up Oscar nominations. Hopefully Brad wins. (Congrats!)



They were also seen at the Berlin premiere where Angelina wore a white Akris suit and interesting new hairstyle. (Thanks Just Jared.)

Labels: Box Office Hoopla, Brad Pitt, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Wycelf Jean, Zoe Kravitz

Taraji P. Henson had her first interview after getting her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) on CBS "The Early Show" this morning. She seemed so humble in the interview. Hard work does paid off. Check it out...




Taraji on how she got the good news:

Henson says she was asleep when she got the word she'd been nominated. "I was asleep," she says. "I was comatose. ... I have a great group of friends, and they knew that I was gonna to be angst. And they took me out the night before for a fabulous dinner. And then we went out for music and dancing just so I could have a light night and not think about it. And the tactic worked, because I got home. I was wiped out. And I was knocked out."

Then her manager called at 5:30, "and I knew it had to be good news.'Cause what idiot would call me at 5:30 with bad news?!"

Henson says she hadn't even mulled winning. "I couldn't go there yet. I was still dealing with, 'Wow! A dream has come true!' Because that's every actor's dream. When you say, 'I want to be an actor,' everybody thinks about Old Oscar." [CBS News]

UPDATE: Extra caught up with Taraji as well post-Oscar nod.



I liked how she and her friends took the edge off the night before. Congrats to Taraji!

Labels: Box Office Hoopla, Taraji P. Henson, TV Hoopla

Check out the official movie poster for Obsessed starring Idris eye candy Elba, Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter. The film comes out in theaters on April 24th. (View trailer here.)



On Beyonce's feet are these Valentino bow detail patent leather d'Orsay pumps ($745).



Will you go see this film...or not?

Labels: Beyonce Knowles, Box Office Hoopla, Fashion Hoopla, Idris Elba

Taraji P. Henson secured her first ever Oscar nomination for role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Taraji picked up the Best Supporting Actress in A Motion Role nod. Remember her from "Baby Boy" or "The Family That Preys"?!) The film lead Academy Awards nominations with 13 nods according to The Huffington Post. I thought Queenie (Taraji's on-screen character) was the heart of the film...and Clutch magazine concurred. Congrats to Taraji!



Check out Taraji's interview with Black Tree Media about her role as Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button)'s on-screen mother Queenie.


Read the full 2009 Academy Awards nominations here. The 80th Annual Academy Awards with host Hugh Jackman will air live on ABC on February 22nd.

Labels: Box Office Hoopla, Taraji P. Henson

Ne-Yo posted up a MySpace blog about the heavy hoopla surrounding many critical comments/actions that he has endured in the past year or so. (Personally Erykah Badu held it down for best celebrity blog rant!) Ne-Yo sure did give his critics plenty of feedback. The blog has since been taken down but read for yourself what Ne-Yo had to say.

“One rule of being a gentleman is to keep your cool and composure at all cost, but right about now I gotta loosen up this tie and take off this expensive suit jacket and talk to the people for a minute. The haters especially.

Pardon my french, but what the fuck is wrong with y’all!?! Are you so desperate for an R&B bad guy that you gotta find a way to create one in me??

Okay, the comment about light skinned babies…….an obvious joke, maybe not a good joke, but clearly a joke. Y’all REALLY took that serious!?!

I understand that a hater’s job is to hate, clearly. But it’s when people start feeding in to what a hater is saying that something must be addressed.

The whole gay thing. For goodness sake it’s been 4 years!!!! Y’all still on that huh?

The whole “boys” song, and the song “go over there”. See this is what happens when people steal. These songs were clearly written for women.

Had you been patient, you would have heard them the way they were supposed to be heard, with the voice of the intended artist on em’. But noooo, someone gets a hold of these demos and suddenly everybody forgets that I write songs for women. Riiight.

I tell People Magazine that Young Jeezy’s crib is right next to mine and that once I saw him in there from across the way. I then make a JOKE about him maybe not wanting to walk around naked in his crib with the shades up because the buildings are THAT close to each other, and that AIN’T something I care to see. Suddenly, everybody thinks I said I saw Young Jeezy in his crib naked when, NEVER ONCE did I say anything like that.

I mean come on people. Is this really what you’re gonna spend time on??

Will you not be satisfied until I truly become this asshole you so desperately want me to look like?? Here’s my stand on the whole thing: I’m NOT gay, I’m NOT prejudice to anyone, I DID NOT get stomped out by Jim Jones or anyone else, I’m NOT engaged, I’M NOT STUPID.

And to anyone that INSISTS on thinking that any of these things are true……FUCK YOU. To the haters….find some new material please!!! It’s 2009, our president is black!!! Time for change. To everyone else……I love you to death, thanx for all your support. WE PLATINUM ROUND HERE!!!!!

Much love, and see you at the Grammy’s. Check the suit…..it’s going to be TROUBLE!!!”

Faith Evans gave her feedback on Lil' Kim's casting displeasure/opinion on the upcoming Biggie biopic "Notorious." I love how Faith wrapped up the whole ordeal. As Faith explained to MTV News...

"It's just sad. I don't know Kim's story like that. The part of my life that she was a part of, that what was in my book. This movie is not relative to my book other than that there are certain things in there. This is not my movie. I didn't write the script. I got four kids, and I definitely don't have time for this type of shi*!"

Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace already addressed Kim. For the record the film was based on the Cheo Hodari Coker novel, "Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G." What do you think of this Lil' Kim/Voletta/Faith situation?

Labels: Box Office Hoopla, Celebrity Blog, Faith Evans, Lil' Kim, Ne-Yo