Showbiz Top 5
Britney Spears to Appear in Court Over Her Conservatorship

Emmys adopt a gender-neutral title… “Sesame Street” is celebrating Pride Month… Disney’s live-action Snow White adaptation… Michael B Jordan apologizes… and Britney Spears to appear in court over her conservatorship

Listen to “Showbiz – June 23, 2021” on Spreaker.

 

The Emmys have announced a new change in their acting categories that will go into effect immediately. Moving forward, the Emmys are gender neutral, sort of. The new rule says anyone who submits themselves to be in the Actor or Actress categories can “request that their nomination certificate and Emmy statuette carry the term ‘Performer’ in place of Actor or Actress.” But why don’t they just do like MTV did and take out the Actor and Actress categories altogether? We’ll see how this goes when the Emmy nominations are announced in three weeks.

In celebration of Pride Month, “Sesame Street” has a very special episode this week called “Family Day.” The episode focuses on Big Bird who is worried that his Granny Bird won’t be able to make it to a party before he’s surprised by his neighborhood family. And for the first time ever, the show will feature gay dads — Frank and Dave — and their daughter, Mia. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told Yahoo Entertainment, “The ‘Family Day’ episode of Sesame Street sends the simple and important message that families come in all forms and that love and acceptance are always the most important ingredients in a family.” This isn’t the first time the show has addressed issues affecting the LGBTQ community. Back in 2017, Elmo did a segment on Father’s Day and during “Elmo’s World” the narrator said, “You might have a stepdad, or even two dads.” And later that same year, one child said, “I love my moms” before bering kissed by both of her moms. And Sesame Street has welcomed several gay celebrities to the show over the years, including Ellen DeGeneres, Billy Eichner, Billy Porter and, most recently, Lil Nas X.

Disney is working on a live-action remake of “Snow White” and they’ve already picked their lead. She is 20-year-old Rachel Zegler, and no, you don’t know her. But you will! Rachel will make her movie debut this December when she stars as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming remake of “West Side Story.” When she was only 16, Rachel responded to an open casting call that Steven posted on Twitter. She posted videos singing a few songs and beat out over 30K others who auditioned! After Disney producers saw footage from her performance in “West Side Story,” they snatched Rachel up for “Snow White.” In the meantime, Rachel is busy filming with Zachary Levi in DC’s “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” So like I said before…you don’t know her. But you will!

Michael B. Jordan is apologizing for the name of his new rum company called J’Ouvert, a Creole French term meaning “daybreak.” J’Ouvert is also an annual festival that kicks off Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. So what’s wrong with Michael calling his rum company by that name? He’s being criticized by a lot of people — including Nicki Minaj, who happens to be of Trinidadian descent — for cultural appropriation because Michael has no apparent connection to the culture. Nicki tweeted, “I’m sure MBJ didn’t intentionally do anything he thought Caribbean ppl would find offensive, but now that you are aware, change the name & continue to flourish & prosper.” Michael apologized on his IG Story, saying, “…our intention was never to offend or hurt a culture (we love & respect) & hoped to celebrate & shine a positive light on. Last few days has been a lot of listening. A lot of learning & engaging in countless community conversations…We hear you. I hear you & want to be clear that we are in the process of renaming. We sincerely apologize & look forward to introducing a brand we can all be proud of.”

Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship since 2008. Today she will appear virtually at a hearing regarding her conservatorship. It’s the first time she’s addressed the court herself since a closed hearing more than 2 years ago. The New York Times dug up some court documents from that hearing. Britney reportedly described her conservatorship as “oppressive” and said her dad had too much control. For instance, even though she’s worth $60M, Jamie Spears only gave his daughter a weekly allowance of $2K. He told her who she could be friends with and regulated all of her personal decisions, right down to the color of her kitchen cabinets! She also said that in 2019, she was forced to go to a mental health facility against her will. She believed it was punishment for objecting to rehearsals for her Vegas residency, which she said she once performed with a 104-degree temperature. At one point, Jamie was in charge of EVERYTHING regarding Britney’s life, but at this point, he only serves as co-conservator of his daughter’s finances. It’s believed that Britney will ask the judge today to remove him from the conservatorship completely. The hearing is scheduled for 1:30PM Pacific today. While Britney will be appearing virtually, there will be seats in the courtroom. In fact, two seats were made available to the public — one in the courtroom and the other in the overflow room. Also, members of the public can sign up for the court’s Remote Audio Attendance program and join the proceedings online. And while all this is going on, a #FreeBritney rally will take place just down the block from the courthouse.

See all Showbiz Top 5 stories

Recent Posts

Video Grae Drake’s Movie Review
Grae Drake’s Movie Review
Audio Taylor Swift Released Her New Album
Taylor Swift Released Her New Album
Audio Feel Good Friday – New House
Feel Good Friday – New House
Audio Dirty 30 Fail
Dirty 30 Fail
KiddNation
Copyright 2024 | All rights reserved | Designed by The Infinite Agency

Discover more from KiddNation

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading