Minaj to be honored at VMAs
Nicki Minaj will be honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at this month’s MTV Video Music Awards in Newark, New Jersey, organizers announced.
Minaj, a 10-time Grammy nominee who’s sold more than 100 million records, is the second female rapper selected for the Video Vanguard Award, following 2019 recipient Missy Elliott.
“Nicki has broken barriers for women in hip-hop with her versatility and creative artistry,” Viacom executive Bruce Gillmer said Monday.
“She has shifted the music industry and cemented her status as a global superstar with her crossover appeal, genre-defying style and continuing to be unapologetically ‘Nicki.’ ”
Minaj — whose hits include “Super
Bass,” “Anaconda” and “Starships” — is a five-time winner at the VMAs.
Her nomination in the best hip hop category for “Do We Have a Problem?” at this year’s ceremony is the 17th VMAs nod of her career.
This year’s show will take place Aug. 28 at the Prudential Center.
The Video Vanguard Award was introduced at the very first VMAs ceremony in 1984, with past recipients of the honor including the Beatles, Madonna, Jackson, LL Cool J, Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez. It was last awarded in 2019.
Anne Heche in hospital after crash:
Actor Anne Heche was in the hospital Saturday following a crash in which her car smashed into a house and flames erupted, a spokeswoman said.
“Anne is currently in stable condition. Her family and friends ask for
your thoughts and prayers and to respect her privacy during this difficult time,” Heather Duffy Boylston, Heche’s friend and podcast partner, said in a statement.
Heche’s speeding car came to a T-shaped intersection and ran off the road and into the house in the Mar Vista section of Los Angeles’ westside shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, Los Angeles police Officer Tony Im said.
The car came to a stop inside the two-story house and started a fire that took nearly 60 firefighters more than an hour to douse, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Television news video showed a blue Mini Cooper Clubman, badly damaged and burned, being towed out of the home, with a woman sitting up on a stretcher and struggling as firefighters put her in an ambulance.
No other injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made. Police detectives are investigating.
Heche first came to prominence on the NBC soap opera “Another World” from 1987 to 1991. She won a Daytime Emmy
Award for the role.
‘Bullet Train’ wins box office in opening weekend:
Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train” zoomed ahead of the competition.
The high-energy action comedy sped to a $30.1 million opening weekend in North America to lead all films.
Pitt stars in the movie as an unlucky assassin whose assignment to recover a briefcase from a Japanese locomotive becomes a lifeor-death mission thanks to competing mercenaries on the train.“Super-Pets” fetched $11.2 million between Friday and Sunday to finish in second place. “Nope” came in third place during its third weekend in theaters, adding $8.5 million to bring its overall earnings to $97 million.
Aug. 9 birthdays: Comedian David Steinberg is
80. Actor Sam Elliott is 78. Singer Barbara Mason is
75. Actor Melanie Griffith is 65. Rapper Kurtis Blow is
63. “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb is 58. Actor Gillian Anderson is 54. Actor Eric Bana is 54. Actor Kevin McKidd is 49. Actor Jessica Capshaw is 46. Actor Anna Kendrick is 37.