Label suspends Wallen after slur
Country star Morgan Wallen has been suspended indefinitely from his label after a video surfaced of him shouting a racial slur, and some radio stations have already removed his music from their playlists.
Big Loud Records said in a statement posted to social media Wednesday that Wallen’s contract has been suspended indefinitely. Republic Records, to which he is co-signed, said it agreed with the decision and said “such behavior will not be tolerated.”
The video, which was first published by TMZ on Tuesday, showed Wallen outside a home in Nashville, Tennessee, yelling profanities and a racial slur. Wallen said in a statement to TMZ that he is embarrassed and sorry.
‘CODA,’ ‘Summer of Soul’ win at Sundance:
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards were unlike any before and had filmmakers calling in from around the world Tuesday to cap off the festival’s first virtual edition.
“CODA,” director Sian Heder’s film about the hearing child of deaf adults who is trying to carve out her own life apart from her family, won the top awards, including the grand jury prize, the directing award, the audience award and a special ensemble prize. Heder accepted the awards in American Sign Language from her home.
Questlove, who made his directing debut with “Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” at the largely forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, accepted his documentary grand jury prize and audience award from his car.
Dash Shaw picked up the NEXT Innovator award for “Cryptozoo.”
The world cinema documentary grand jury prize went to “Flee.” “Hive” was awarded the world cinema grand jury prize and the audience award.
PBS chief defends Burns:
The chief executive of PBS rejected a filmmaker’s argument that public TV’s 40-year relationship with documentarian Ken Burns has come at the expense of diversity.
President and CEO Paula Kerger was asked Tuesday about an essay by filmmaker Grace Lee, who contended that public TV’s deep attachment to Burns, whose series include “The Civil War” and “Baseball,” slights viewers of color.
“We create lots of opportunities for many filmmakers,” Kerger said. Burns “mentors a number of filmmakers who now have quite established careers ... and he has a deep commitment to mentoring diverse filmmakers.”
She said she “respectfully disagrees” with Lee’s arguments in a essay for the Ford Foundation.
Cooper, Guthrie to host ‘Jeopardy!’:
The next round of “Jeopardy!” guest hosts has been announced: Dr. Oz, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Oz is the host of “The Dr. Oz Show.” Cooper is an award-winning anchor for CNN. Guthrie is the co-anchor of NBC News’ “Today.” Gupta is CNN’s chief medical correspondent.
Feb. 4 birthdays: Actor Jerry Adler is 92. Drummer John Steel is 80.
Singer Florence LaRue is
79. Singer Alice Cooper is
73. Actor Lisa Eichhorn is
69. Singer Clint Black is 59. Actor Rob Corddry is 50. TV host Nicolle Wallace is
49. Singer Gavin DeGraw is
44. Actor Ashley Thomas is
36. Actor Charlie Barnett is
33. Actor Kyla Kenedy is 18.