TODAY’S PEOPLE
Louis Gossett Jr. avid actor, dies at 87
LOS ANGELES—Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87.
Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
He also was a star on Broadway, replacing Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964 and recently played an obstinate patriarch in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple.”
NBC messily hires, fires Ronna McDaniel
NEW YORK—NBC News’ messy hiring and firing of former Republican National Committee head Ronna McDaniel puts a spotlight on television’s practice of paying on-air political contributors.
Networks have had trouble hiring commentators from former President Donald Trump’s orbit, and NBC initially thought landing McDaniel was a coup.
But it collapsed amid an extraordinary public outcry by personalities like Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace.
The episode—putting
NBC News’ reputation on the line for a non-journalist—has increased scrutiny on its management team.
Tyla, manifests her talent in debut album
NEW YORK—Tyla, who won the inaugural Grammy for African music performance last month, has released her self-titled debut album, Powered by “Water” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and trended on TikTok with the viral #WaterChallenge dance.
The album boasts features from Tems, Gunna, Skillibeng, Becky G and Travis Scott, who appears on the “Water” remix.
The 22-year-old South African has become one of the leading faces popularizing music originating from Africa.
‘Oppenheimer’ finally premieres in Japan
TOKYO—“Oppenheimer” has finally opened in the nation where two cities were obliterated by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist at the center of the film.
Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional.
A Hiroshima survivor said he has been fascinated by the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and waited for a Hiroshima bombing scene, which the film doesn’t depict.
The film’s release in Japan had been watched with trepidation.