Franklin’s kin slam ‘Genius’
All Aretha Franklin’s family is asking is for a little respect from the makers of “Genius: Aretha,” National Geographic’s recently released biographical series about the legendary soul musician.
Earlier this month, Franklin’s granddaughter, Grace Franklin, posted a Tiktok video accusing the “Genius” team of refusing to involve her family in the third season of the show, which stars English actress Cynthia Erivo.
And over the weekend, Rolling Stone published an interview with Aretha Franklin’s son, Kecalf Franklin, backing his daughter Grace Franklin’s sentiments about the project, which premiered Sunday on National Geographic. Aretha Franklin died in August 2018 at age 76.
“As the immediate family, we feel it’s important to be involved with any biopic of my grandma’s life, as it’s hard to get any accurate depiction of anyone’s life without speaking to the ones closest to them,” 15-year-old Grace Franklin said on Tiktok, where her family and friends can be seen chanting, “This movie has to go!” in protest of the series.
“During the process of writing, directing and filming this movie, we reached out to ‘Genius’ as a family on multiple occasions where we’ve been disrespected and told that we will not be worked with. As the immediate family — emphasis on immediate — we do not support this film, and we ask that you also do not support this film, as … we feel that there will be many inaccuracies about my grandmother’s life.”
In Rolling Stone, Kecalf Franklin clarified that National Geographic sent
his family a nondisclosure agreement offering to show them the final product but allegedly made no effort to honor their input.
— Los Angeles Times
Elton John opens up Oscar night party to all
Attending Elton John’s long-running Oscar-night party has always been one of the hardest tickets to get. Now you can go — if you have $20.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation is inviting everyone to an hourlong, virtual preshow Oscar party special hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and with a performance by Dua Lipa.
Tickets for the April 25 event are $19.99 and are available via Ticketmaster. Proceeds will go to young people at risk and living with HIV all over the world.
The foundation is one of the leading independent
AIDS organizations in the world. One of its fundraising highlights is the starstudded Oscar viewing show, with a dinner and an auction. This time, a preshow will be available to ticket buyers.
The special will be hosted four times in four different time zones and each will accommodate 100,000 viewers, meaning a total of 400,000 ticket buyers are allowed access.
“Now more than ever, we need to ensure that one pandemic does not override another, and we cannot forget the 38 million people living with HIV globally who need our care, love and support so we hope everyone joins us for this special one of a kind Oscar Pre-party,” John said in a statement.
Comic Jo Koy writes on race and rejection
Like many famous comics, Jo Koy had early struggles at comedy clubs. But, unlike them, the half white and half Filipino comedian could only seem to book spots on ethnic theme nights like “Wonton Wednesdays” and “Asian Invasion.”
“There’s a lot of comics that had to do it. I’m not just saying Asians — Black people, Latinos, anyone that was ‘other’ had to do these themed shows. And it sucks,” Koy recalled recently.
Segregating comics may sound bizarre and offensive in today’s world but that underlying racism “baked into” the comedy club circuit was acceptable in the early 2000s, according to Koy. How he went from there to being a Netflix darling and having a movie deal with Steven Spielberg is part of the career journey Koy, 49, tells in his new memoir.
“Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-american Combo,” out Tuesday, is an ideal companion to Koy’s stand-up with its humorous — and at times painful — origin stories behind some of his most popular bits. The book shows how Koy’s mixed-race background shaped his brand of comedy and his determination not to give up on his childhood dream.
“I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. It was a long road,” Koy said. “And when I finally got to this point in my career, I just looked at my manager. I was like, ‘Man, I would really like to tell people, you know, this struggle, and how hard it was to really get here.’”
With the help of a writing partner, Koy, born Joseph Glenn Herbert, lays bare how he grappled with his mixed-race identity as a child growing up in Tacoma, Wash. He doesn’t shy away from deeply personal topics including an older brother with violent schizophrenia and a father who left when he was only 12 years old.