AP Images/WENN.com

For the past few weeks, the discussion of “How old is too old?” has come up a lot for me. Well, not necessarily for me per se, but in reference to celebrities and even everyday women who wear and do certain things after a certain age to the chagrin of others. Writer IndigoBlack did a slideshow a while back about that wretched half-shaven hairstyle that stars like Cassie and Rihanna like to wear, and in it, she pointed out that even Jada Pinkett Smith had tried the hairstyle. While she looked pretty cool in it, it seems that for the 41-year-old mom, some felt she was doing too much at her age (including the author). To that, a reader disagreed with a very interesting comment:

“I think it’s ridiculous to say anyone is too old for anything, except maybe breast feeding. that’s what’s wrong with society. people turn 40 and assume they and everyone else their age are growing old and stale, and the closer they get to their expiration date, the more boring they have to get… do what you want, wear what you want and live your life exactly how YOU want to, who cares what year you were born?”

I kept this comment in mind after checking out the old post. Less than a week later I was surprised to find that on a popular fashion website, they were asking “How old is too old to wear a crop top?” plastering the image of Evelyn Lozada and LaLa Anthony with their stomachs out. Toned with tummies looking even better than my stomach at ages 37 and 33, I thought to myself, “Hell, if their bodies are in shape and looking better than most young women’s bodies, what’s the harm?”

Fast forward to this past weekend when Madonna came out with a Chinchilla fur and no pants on, and Jennifer Lopez performed in a red leotard (booty all out) and thigh-high boots with a boa at the Billboard Music Awards, everybody had a lot to say on social media. Folks were all over Facebook saying that Madonna looked a fool at 54 in her fishnets (though those legs of hers are envious), while others were claiming that despite her very entertaining performance, Jennifer Lopez was too old to be dressing like an extra from the Broadway show, Kinky Boots. Pair that with the fact that even my mother scolded the singer through the television during the Grammys for wearing one of the highest slits I’d ever seen at the age of 43, and it’s clear that many believe that as your age goes up, your levels of rachet should go down.

So now that I have all that straight, I guess I just need clarification from someone about exactly what age I’m supposed to turn in my tight jeans and my crop tops, and start wearing muumuus and mom jeans, because clearly their is some unwritten rule that when you pop out a few kids and get around your late 30s, you’re supposed to start shopping at Dress Barn and wearing dresses more fitting for a character like Madea. But we all know that’s complete bull.

While I can for the most part agree that as a mother, you shouldn’t be out here behaving recklessly (i.e., at the clubs all night, booty shorts on at PTA conferences and rocking belly shirts at graduations), I think we can all be a little too hard on our fellow sisters who would rather dress and act how they feel, and not by what their age relegates them to do. And I’ve found that it’s so easy for either younger women, or older women who’ve turned in their hot pants, to point the finger at the J.Los and other brave souls with banging bodies to say, “Have a seat,” but nobody wants society, especially not strangers on the Internet, telling them what looks appropriate on them because of their age.

I will say though, there is a difference between expressing yourself how you want and being thirsty for attention. If this attire is all you wear, chances are, you’re crying out for help. But if your body can look as right and tight as Madonna’s at 54, why not show a little leg? If your stomach, despite a kid or two, or three, is washboard worthy, why not put on a crop top occasionally? Our bodies are our own, and just because motherhood and older age comes, it doesn’t always mean that you have to dress like Bea Arthur on Golden Girls (love that show!). Life’s too short to start living a dull existence because people you don’t know tell you that’s what you should do. As Kevin Hart would say, “Do you boo boo, do you.”

Oh yes, but let’s keep the hot pants and leotards to a minimum ladies, especially if you want to stay in good graces with your kids. Everything in moderation…

Source: WENNN

From HelloBeautiful

I remember vividly the first time I came to know the name Jada Pinkett. It was in the last days of “A Different World,” when the “The Cosby Show ” spin-off sitcom set on a Historically Black College campus was struggling to keep its freshness as it transitioned in to the early 90′s. Beloved characters Dwayne Wayne & Whitley Gilbert were all grown-up and professional, and the show’s once authentic connection to college life, youth culture and energy was dwindling. Insert Jada Pinkett’s Lena James, a powerful pint-sized freshman who boomed with energy and breathed new life in to cast. She joins the cast as a freshman, Lena James, introducing her self to the common area with a not so humble solo step routine: “L to the E, to the N, to the A, Step off, you ain’t getting no play!” From that moment on, in my 9 year-old mind, I was pretty sure I wanted to be her. She exemplified the spirit of what largely came to define the creative Black experience in the 90′s: loud, colorful and unapologetically proud. That was 20 years ago.

I find myself on the phone with Jada on a Thursday afternoon about a month ago. She’s in the process of doing promotions for “Free Angela And All Political Prisoners,” the brilliant documentary directed by Shola Lynch.  After a friend shared the film with her, Jada came on as a producer using her hollywood muscle to help get the film distributed in select AMC theaters nationwide. What I thought would be the typical 15-minute movie junket interview (abruptly ended by publicists listening in on the other end), turned in to a 90-minute phone call with the real Mrs. Smith about everything from her early relationship with her husband to why people should lay off Rihanna.

In what #TeamBEautiful has deemed the Best.Jada.Interview.Ever., we speak with the stylish and brutally honest A-lister about about parenting, dating, marriage, Black hollywood, and why America loves to hate on little girls. Check out the first of our three part series.

HB: You get a lot of criticism on the way you parent, has it ever bothered you?

JPS: You know what, I get it. In people eyes, I could see how it could be radical. It’s so funny the more I sit back and think about it, I was raised like this. It’s so natural to me–my situation was different; I had a lot of freedom. My mother worked a lot and she also struggled with drugs. So I had a lot of freedom at 12. But I also paid attention to where freedom worked and where it didn’t. One of the freedoms that I had was hair and clothes and how it completely [helped to] develop my self-esteem and sense of worth. And how, if I could dye my hair blue and shave it on the sides and deal with people remarks or smirks while I am walking to school, I’m good. To be able to stand tall in my own personal convictions for who I am and what I decided I wanted to be. And I was given that at a very early age. So by the time I got to 18 and I came out to LA, there was nobody out here that was going to pull me out of my own Jada game because I was very clear about who I am. You aren’t going to sucker me into to doing some crazy Isht I didn’t want to do. I didn’t have someone dictating to me along on what I need to be, and then at 18 struggling to figure out–I was already there. And the difference I see in Willow at 12 is, she’s got a loving father and the truth of the matter is that a girl’s emotional development is really strongly developed based on her relationship with her father. I just think of parenting at this: I don’t believe until waiting until a child is 18 to throw them to the world. I’d rather have kids in my house with me, building out certain freedoms as you go, and being there with them in my house while they are exercising these certain freedom so that we can be in the process in these freedoms together. When my children are 18, they will be fine. I don’t have to worry about them. Life starts when you pop out of the womb, and that’s what I believe!

Read more at HelloBeautiful.com

Source: Caravan

I’ve wanted to expound on the secrets behind this film for the longest. But the information is sparse. Well, today you’re in for a treat. We’re talking about the Wayans written, directed film. Let’s just jump right in.

PNP/ WENN.com

Well, 2014 is about to be a big year for Jamie Foxx. He’ll go from playing the bad guy in the epic The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will debut next summer, to possibly being the good guy, playing a variation of the Daddy Warbucks character in the new Annie remake, which will come out next Christmas.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Foxx is currently in negotiations to play a character named Benjamin Stacks, the new version (and black version) of the wealthy Daddy Warbucks character from the famous comic strip. The character takes in Annie, who has already been confirmed as Academy Award-nominated actress and Beasts of the Southern Wild star, Quvenzhane Wallis.

According to Shadow And Act, for a while there, there was a rumor that Justin Timberlake of all people would actually play the character, but that was shut down by Sony as just that–a rumor. But currently it has been confirmed that Foxx was reached out to, and the actor/singer and his people are working on locking that opportunity down. The movie is being produced by Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith, and of course, their daughter Willow was originally cast to play Annie, but as papa Will told the world back in February, she just wanted to have a normal childhood, just for a little while:

“Willow was supposed to be doing ‘Annie,’ we got Jay-Z to do the movie, got the studio to come in and Willow had such a difficult time on tour with ‘Whip my Hair’ and she said, ‘You know Daddy, I don’t think so’ and I said, ‘Baby, hold up! I said no,no,no, listen, you’ll be in New York with all of your friends and Beyoncé will be there. You will be singing and dancing,’ and she looked at me and said, ‘Daddy, I have a better idea, how about I just be 12.’”

Jay-Z is still behind the project as well as a producer, and Will Gluck has been brought in as director (Easy A, Friends With Benefits).

We’re sure that Foxx will bring it in the comic strip-turned-musical-turned movie, even if his character is originally supposed to be a 50-something-year-old, bald white male. And the fact that he can really sing helps too.

What do you think about Foxx possibly coming in as the Daddy Warbucks character?

There are some actresses (i.e,. Halle Berry, Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington) who get all of the glory, and there are some that don’t get nearly as much recognition. Phenomenal acting abilities have gone with a lack of praise while mediocre performances by non-black women are seen as unparalleled (even when they’re just okay…). You can Google lists of top black actresses, and find that while those women are great at what they do, a great deal of them haven’t even had a leading role in years (if at all). Maybe they’ve decided to take a break from acting, or maybe they are just struggling to grab those big roles, but it’s about time that Hollywood is reminded that there are strong black actresses in Hollywood, and these women need to have their faces back in somebody’s movie sooner than later.

Source: WENN

From Essence

Jada Pinkett Smith is taking another shot at addressing the persistent rumors that she and hubby Will Smith have an open marriage. The actress took to her Facebook page this past weekend to comment on the public’s preoccupation with the goings-on in her bedroom because, you know, we have to know. First and foremost, wrote Jada, is “trust and love.” That would include agreeing that one doesn’t “own” the other.

“Do we believe that ownership is the reason someone should ‘behave?’” she asked “Do we believe that all the expectations, conditions, and underlying threats of “you better act right or else” keep one honest and true?”

Jada added that she trusts Will, and he the same. “Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so,” she wrote. “This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.”

So we get the whole bit about Will and Jada’s marriage being none of our business, (because, really, it isn’t) but her open letter has us thinking about the expectations we so often bring into relationships. How many of us can really say that we allow our significant other to be who they really want to be?

Read more at Essence.com

Source: WENN

Remember earlier in the month when Jada Pinkett-Smith opened up about her relationship with Will Smith to HuffPost Live? To some, it came off like she was saying that Big Willy is allowed to to run the streets because he is “his own man,” when in reality, she was saying that she can’t put a leash on him and control him in their partnership:

“I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay. Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be, and that’s not for me to do for him. Or vice versa.”

Feeling like some took her words and ran into the opposite direction with them, Pinkett-Smith took to her beloved Facebook page on Sunday and set the record straight one more time. Not that she needed to, but hey…:

Open marriage?

Let me first say this, there are far more important things to talk about in regards to what is happening in the world than whether I have an open marriage or not. I am addressing this issue because a very important subject has been born from discussions about my statement that may be worthy of addressing.

The statement I made in regard to, “Will can do whatever he wants,” has illuminated the need to discuss the relationship between trust and love and how they co-exist.

Do we believe loving someone means owning them? Do we believe that ownership is the reason someone should “behave”? Do we believe that all the expectations, conditions, and underlying threats of “you better act right or else” keep one honest and true? Do we believe that we can have meaningful relationships with people who have not defined nor live by the integrity of his or her higher self? What of unconditional love? Or does love look like, feel like, and operate as enslavement? Do we believe that the more control we put on someone the safer we are? What of TRUST and LOVE?

Should we be married to individuals who can not be responsible for themselves and their families within their freedom? Should we be in relationships with individuals who we can not entrust to their own values, integrity, and LOVE…for us???

Here is how I will change my statement…Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.

Siempre,

J

Oooooh child, whatever they’re doing, open marriage or not, is their business. As long as they’re happy and their family is happy and healthy, there’s no need for any more lengthy notes or interview questions about it. Do you, Jada, and continue to do you, because you’re too fab to have to continue to explain the details of your love.

What do you think of her statement?

Source: WENN

For years, rumors of Hollywood power couple, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith maintaining an open marriage have been circulating. Whispers have implied that Jada has a thing for the ladies and Will has his eye on the fellas, and that the pair really just have a mutual understanding, which is why they’ve been able to stay together for so long. Public figures are subject to have all kinds of wild and outlandish things being said about them, so it’s sometimes difficult for the public to decipher what’s real from what’s not. Either way, Jada doesn’t seem to be allowing anything to slow her stride. In a recent, rather interesting interview with Huff Post Live’s Marc Lamont Hill, the 41-year-old beauty somewhat addressed the rumor that she and Will are in an open relationship.

When asked by Hill whether or not the rumors were true, Jada responded:

“That’s the most persistent one [rumor]. I think people get that idea because Will and I are very relaxed with one another. And I think how I answered questions in the past like, ‘Girl, you know, what would you do if he came home and this and that and that?’ or ‘Being married to a big superstar like Will, how do you deal with all the women?’ I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want, as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay.”

“At the end of day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that’s not for me to do for him or vice versa.”

It really seems that Jada’s well-crafted answer was given with intent of allowing people to assume what they want. While one person could perceive her answer as an admission of carrying on an open relationship, someone else may take it as Jada simply expressing that she refuses to drive herself crazy over the actions of another person. Things did, however, get a bit interesting when Hill noted that the couple’s “understanding” sounds very similar to the one shared between Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.

“I think that just comes from respect. You’re in a partnership, but that you also are an individual as well,” Jada responds.

And there you have it… sort of.

Skip to the next page to watch Jada’s interview. What are your thoughts on her response to the rumors?

Credit: WENN

From Essence

Sidra Smith, also known as actress Tasha Smith’s equally ebullient twin sister, is the producer behind the thrilling new documentary on political activist Angela Davis.Free Angela and All Political Prisoners explores the explosive months Davis spent on trial for murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy charges in 1972.

We spoke with Smith about her involvement in the Shola Lynch-directed project, finally getting to meet Davis in Toronto, and how she got Jada Pinkett Smith (with Will Smith and Jay-Z through their entertainment companies, Overbook Entertainment and Roc Nation respectively) involved.

ESSENCE: Did Shola Lynch come to you with this project?

Read what Sidra Smith had to say on Essence.com.

Ever since Michelle Obama unveiled her bangs earlier this year they’ve become the simple yet underrated hairstyle to have. So to keep the conversation going, we thought we’d examine some of our favorite celebrities with bangs and without to see which looks we prefer best. Click through and let us know your opinions below!

Source: WENN

Michelle Obama

So how do we feel about Mrs. O’s bangs? Well… they’re cute. That’s right, cute. They’re not remarkably fab or over-the-top gorg. They’re just a small, simple, somewhat chic change to the appearance of one of the most widely recognized women of today. But despite their relative insignificance, they’ve made headlines, sparked national and international debate (Karl Lagerfeld reportedly hates them), gotten their own twitter page, and inspired a Madame Noire slideshow…