Ja’Nae and her older cousin Taylor.
Source: NBC

9 year old Ja’Nae Hornsby (right) has been identified as one of the first victims of the the Oklahoma tornado that claimed 24 lives Monday.

Ja’Nae was a 3rd grader at Plaza Towers Elementary. Her school was demolished Monday afternoon. A medical examiner released Ja’Nae’s name along with 6 other people, some of whose ages have yet to be reported.

Hornsby’s family had congregated a local Baptist church yesterday evening , hours after they got the call from the medical examiner’s office, identifying the body as their niece, daughter and sister.

Ja’Nae’s mother died last year from Lupus. In the wake of her mother’s passing, family members say that Ja’Nae doted over her 2 year old baby sister.

Ja’Nae’s aunt, Angela Hornsby told NBC News that Ja’Nae spent last weekend over at her house playing with her cousins.

“They like to play dress-up. My daughter puts jewelry on them and I took pictures of them dancing together and they took video. They were just happy. She was always happy, always smiling.”

Ja’Nae and her younger sister Jia.
Source: NBC

On Monday, Ja’Nae went to school while her father Joshua went to work in Oklahoma City.

The tornado struck the school before dismissal time and Joshua attempted to race to Plaza Towers to pick Ja’Nae up from school and his two year old daughter from daycare.

But traffic was heavy and by the time he got to Moore, the school was destroyed and Ja’Nae was nowhere to be found.  Joshua and other family members looked for Ja’Nae at several shelters and called all the hospitals hoping that Ja’Nae had been rescued from the rubble. Ja’Nae’s grandmother was able to pick up Ja’Nae’s younger sister from daycare.

Joshua, who also lost his home to the tornado, made his way to St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church where he and several other families awaited news. They received the call yesterday morning.

Pastor James Dorn of Mount Triumph Baptist Church said he watched Ja’Nae grow up because her grandfather was an associate pastor there.

“She was a beautiful child to be around, someone you feel privileged to know. She did well in school. She was just awesome.”

Source

Today’s cover of The New York Post.

Dang, it was a bad week for journalists. Already ranked the worst job out there, a gaggle of news reporters lost their jobs this week as the media industry continues to adjust to keep up with audience fragmentation and shifts brought about by the Internet.

Over at the New York Post, they’re looking to cut 10 percent of the staff. So they’re offering buyouts, according to a memo from editor-in-chief Col Allan, obtained by Capital New York. If there aren’t enough volunteers, layoffs will likely take place. “The buyouts come as the Post‘s parent corporation, News Corp., prepares to separate its publishing properties, which also include The Wall Street Journal and various newspapers in the U.K. and Australia, from the company’s cash-cow television and film assets,” the paper says. “After the split, the publishing titles will no longer be cushioned by more lucrative brands such as Fox News.”

“The Post is said to lose as much as $110 million a year,” the story continues.

Over at Say Media, which owns ReadWrite and xoJane, 10 percent of its 400-person staff has been laid off. The CEO of the company, Matt Sanchez, says the cuts come as the company ceases to operate as an ad network and becomes a digital media company. With that change comes pressure to show a profit. In a memo, Sanchez writes that the company has “made a set of hard decisions aimed at right-sizing our business with a greater focus on supporting our strong content brands, growing sales and building innovative publishing and advertising products — while at the same time achieving profitability in the second half of this year.”

Next! Over at the Village Voice, the iconic alt-weekly newspaper, editor-in-chief Will Bourne and executive editor Christine Brennan decided to walk off the job rather than cut the roles of five staff members. The paper only has 20 staffers and, Bourne told The New York Times, “we are on a short string already.” Bourne was only on the job since November, becoming the sixth EIC at the troubled paper since 2005.

“When I was brought in here, I was explicitly told that the bloodletting had come to an end. I have enormous respect for the staff here and the work they have been doing, and I am not going to preside over further layoffs,” he continued. Still, a statement from parent company Village Voice Media indicates that cuts and other changes will still take place. Sigh.

Finally, the New York Daily News laid off about 15 writers this week, including gossip columnist Joanna Molloy, who used published alongside her husband George Rush for 15 years. He took a buyout in 2010.

(AP Photo/NBC)

The single, solitary bright spot in this tornado of reporter joblessness is the pending appointment of Deborah Turness as the next president of NBC News. Turness, the current head of overseas outlet ITV News, will be the first woman to occupy the spot at a network news organization in the U.S. The announcement is expected Monday but neither the network or Turness would offer comment to The New York Times.

If you don’t have a passion for news, the mental toughness to deal with the constant change, or a streak of masochism, steer clear of media jobs.

UPDATE: Deborah Turness has been officially named the president of NBC News, starting August 5. In a press release, NBC Universal says:

As President, Turness will be responsible for all aspects of the NBC News division including the programs “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “Today,” “Meet the Press,” and “Dateline” as well as its news bureaus around the world. She will also oversee all breaking news, investigative and enterprise reporting, along with the division’s digital properties including NBCNews.com. Additionally, she will have oversight of Peacock Productions, an award-winning in-house production company.

While Turness has good news to celebrate, we have word of more media job losses, this time over at the Village Voice where veteran reporter Michael Musto was among the reporters let go. (Food critic Robert Siestema and theater critic Michael Feingold were the others.) For fans of the alt-weekly — and alternative news outlets in general — it’s a tremendous loss.

Source: NBC

Back in February we told you that a new NBC series starring Lance Gross was in the works. We’re happy to report that the network has officially picked up the series and it’s slated to debut this fall.

As previously reported, the series is titled, Crisis and it takes place in the politically charged world of Washington D.C. Gross will be playing Secret Service Agent, Michael Finley, who is given dutiful the task of protecting the President’s son. But, as Hollywood would have it, Agent Finley finds himself in the midst of an international crisis during his first day on the job when a criminal organization carries out a plot to kidnap the President’s son and his friends.

A vivid description of the series found on NBC’s website reads:

“To bring the most powerful people in the world to their knees… threaten what they hold most dear.

It’s field trip day for the students of Ballard High, a school that educates the children of DC’s elite, top-of-their-industry CEOs, international diplomats, political power players, even the President’s son. But when their bus is ambushed on a secluded rural road, the teenagers and their chaperones are taken, igniting a national crisis.

Now, with some of the country’s most powerful parents at the mercy of one vengeful mastermind, the question arises: how far would you go and what would you become to ensure your child’s safe return? With so many parents and dignitaries put into play with nowhere to turn and no one to trust, the unthinkable grows from the select families at risk to an entire nation at stake.”

The 31-year-old Howard University graduate took recently took to his Twitter page to express his excitement.

Check out the show’s action-packed trailer on the next page. Will you be checking out Crisis when it airs this fall?

Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Well, it’s about time somebody did it!

We’ve seen all his eccectric ways in his videos, through his music and, of course, as a judge on The Voice but TBS is finally giving Cee Lo a chance to fully show every aspect of his personality.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Cee Lo Life will, right now, be a six episode series that will follow the rapper/singer as he tries to maintain a very hectic schedule. In addition to his hosting gig, he’s performing, producing and trying to make sure he and the rest of the Goodie Mob can come back together to make good music.

Michael Wright, head of Programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies had this to say about Cee Lo and the show:

“This new TBS series will give viewers the chance to get to know Cee Lo Green, who is without a doubt one of the hardest-working men in show business. The Cee Lo Life is certain to be a smart, fun and funny journey packed with a lot of great music.”

Cee Lo does seem fun and wacky so this will definitely be entertaining.

Cee Lo also has a development deal with NBC to create and produce new scripted and unscripted shows, as has his The Voice fellow judge, Adam Levine.

The Cee Lo Life will premiere in 2014.

Will you be watching?

Image Source: WENN.com

Well, this is actually a bit of a surprise.

As she continues to make her mark in Hollywood, Nene Leakes has hit a bit of a stumbling block: NBC has decided to cancel The New Normal after just once season. Nene has been part of the cast from the beginning.

This does come as a bit of a shock because not only had it received critical and fan acclaim, it wasn’t doing horribly in terms of ratings. The Huffington Post reports that while ratings did consistently drop, they maintained about 3.39 million viewers. Yes, it debuted to more than six million viewers but new shows almost always hit highs and lows.

Leakes played Rocky Rhoades, a former production assistant of one of the main characters, as well as all her family members when they popped up on the show.

While she is most likely very disappointed, Nene kept it very professional by tweeting:

Twitter

That’s right Nene, say all the right things because we know she’s a hustler and her next opportunity might be right around the corner.

For now, she still has her recurring role as “Coach Roz” on Fox’s Glee which has been renewed for another two seasons. We don’ t know if her character will be around that long but she can ride it until the wheels fall off. Plus, we know she isn’t going anywhere as HWIC (Head Wife In Charge) on Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Good luck to Nene and the entire cast as they make their next moves!

Source: WENN

After much speculation regarding the fate of NBC’s primetime soap opera, Deception, the network has officially confirmed that the thriller will not be renewed for a second season, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The murder mystery starring Meagan Good and Laz Alonso had a promising start, earning a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 year old demographic and 3.69 million viewers during the first episode; however, that success quickly diminished, averaging a mere 1.2 by the season finale.

Deception’s suffering ratings have been no secret and greatly contributed to premature reports and rumors of its cancelation. When asked about the rumors last month, actor Laz Alonso responded:

“We will find out in May if we got season 2. We have our fingers crossed, you know Megan and myself. We appreciate all the support we got this year. I mean people love the show and you know we will see what happens.  We have good feelings that we will be back for a season 2.”

Once the show’s cancelation was officially confirmed, Meagan took to her Twitter page to break the bad news to fans and express her gratitude for being given the opportunity.

She also shared a message regarding Deception’s cancellation to her Instagram page.

Source: Instagram

In an interview with theJasmineBrand, fine actor Laz Alonso talked with the site about the future of the NBC drama Deception, which he stars on alongside Meagan Good. The show was getting a lot of buzz when it started. Good looking cast, pretty good storyline, black lead–what could go wrong?  But in all honesty, ratings for Deception began to dip pretty quickly after its premiere in January, starting off strong with more than 5 million viewers and dipping to 3 million by the time the season finale came around. And as we know from NBC’s track record, if a drama isn’t clocking big figures consistently, they’re not going to put money towards any more episodes. Undercovers anyone? In the site’s interview with Alonso, he seemed just as confused about whether the show will get a second chance as we are, but he’s definitely keeping it positive and has his fingers crossed:

“We will find out in May if we got season 2. We have our fingers crossed, you know Megan and myself. We appreciate all the support we got this year. I mean people love the show and you know we will see what happens.  We have good feelings that we will be back for a season 2.”

He also opened up about rumors that he might be practicing celibacy and got inspired by Good and her husband, Devon Franklin. While he claims he didn’t plan to, he says that if he decides to, that’s his business, and he won’t make it public like some people we know…:

I wasn’t, but if it was something that I considered, that is something that I would keep to myself. That is something very personal.  But I was asked on a red carpet that Megan and her husband practiced celibacy before they got married, if that is something that I would consider and I said yeah. If it is something that meant a lot to the woman that I was in love with and that was a vow that she had with God, I would respect that and be patient. That’s what it was and it just got blown out of proportion.

Well, as for Deception, let’s keep our fingers crossed like Alonso since we can never grow weary of seeing such a good looking man on our television screen every week–especially a talented one. But alas, we’ll have to wait and see what NBC has in mind.

Click over to theJasmineBrand to see the video interview in full and see more of the actor.

(AP Photo/NBC, Lloyd Bishop, File)

We’ve been following the late-night saga on NBC, with the final decision coming down last week: Jimmy Fallon will be replacing Jay Leno next year. This is great for people who find Leno unwatchable. But, nonetheless, it’s just another game of musical chairs. A white male who once hosted a show at 12:30 a.m. is now hosting one an hour earlier. SNL‘s Seth Meyer is rumored to be in the running to take that 12:30 slot. And late night will be as lacking in diversity as ever.

Among the suggestions that have been made as an alternative to all of this is Chelsea Handler (who already has a couple of shows on the E! Network), and, our personal suggestion, Aisha Tyler. However, according to the AP, which takes TV to task for this state of affairs, neither woman is in serious contention for a job.

“Women have exhibited an interest in talking for centuries. I’m not sure how it is that no one has seemed to notice,” the article quotes Merrill Markoe, an Emmy award-winning writer who has worked with David Letterman.

Aisha Tyler. (Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP)

The article goes on to blame a reluctance to change in the television industry. But what’s getting neglected by these late-night execs is the fact that late-night viewing habits are already changing. The major networks are now sharing the landscape with cable, where shows like The Daily Show, HGTV programming (a mellow, pre-slumber alternative to the yuk yuks on other stations), and reruns of some of your favorite movies and bygone TV shows are running. It’s always interesting to see your favorite celeb sit down to talk about their new movie. But no one has to tune in to a TV show at 11:30 at night to do so. The Internet has made sure of that.

But on that note, the AP says that the networks have research that shows women prefer to watch a man on late night, “while Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Katie Couric are welcome in daytime.” And the majority of people watching these late-night shows are women. It’s the guys who are choosing the alternatives we mentioned.

And in terms of racial diversity, the fact that shows hosted by comedians like George Lopez and Wanda Sykes were cancelled gives the networks the excuse, “Well we tried, but people aren’t interested.”

Just like anything else, you have to keep trying until you find someone who captivates. So TV is going back to the tried-and-true: Arsenio Hall is getting a show in September. But it’s going to be syndicated rather than broadcast on one of the major stations.

So we’re going to — ONCE AGAIN — push for Aisha Tyler. Funny, smart, edgy, she’s just what any station needs.

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NBC has finally announced what we already knew: Jay Leno is out as host of The Tonight Show come Spring 2014 and Jimmy Fallon is in. Fallon just closed a new deal with NBC this morning, and Leno followed soon after with his statement on the matter. “Congratulations Jimmy,” CNN quotes him. “I hope you’re as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you’re the old guy. If you need me, I’ll be at the garage.” Leno had been the host for 22 years and topped the ratings. Fears about the 62-year-old host losing a young audience to Jimmy Kimmel on ABC played a role in the change.

Just as exciting, we’ll get to see The Roots an hour earlier! We support that. Moreover, for the New Yorkers, the show is coming back East. So we can just mosey on over to 30 Rock and check it out.

Even though there had been speculation about all of this, it seems like things moved kind of quickly in the end. It was only the other day that we were watching the two do their best West Side Story in a skit that got a lot of pick up.

Source: WENN

Deception co-stars Meagan Good and Laz Alonso have amazing on-screen chemistry. From their steamy love scenes to their throwback friendship, it’s only natural for people to wonder if there has ever been something more than friendship between the two young and attractive Hollywood stars. During a recent interview with Black Enterprise, Laz discussed the nature of his relationship with Meagan and if the two have ever viewed one another in a more romantic light. Check out a portion of his interview below.

On his busy schedule sometimes prohibiting him from having a social life: 

 ”It depends. I would say I have more of a social life when I’m filming just because you need that time to unwind more than when [you’re] not working. I’m more focused on working out, being healthy and cooking my own meals. When I’m working, I just don’t have time to do all that so [I] do tend to go out more for dinner and drinks, and really want to engage in social activity. But being an actor is very similar to being back in school again. You have a full day of things you have to memorize.”

“When you have 120 people that are relying on you to know your lines and deliver them with emotion and make it something believable, you can’t show up on set and not be prepared. This is NBC; this is the big leagues. Every minute that they go over because you weren’t prepared, it costs money. If it’s your fault why they’re going overtime, then you better believe you ain’t gon’ be working for too long in this business. You have to come prepared and play the role.”

On the type of love he has for Meagan:

“You always look out for the best interest of your co-stars, so it’s just being a friend and being protective. Sometimes [fans] start getting a little physical, and you got to let ’em know, like, Whoa! Slow it down; she ain’t going nowhere, but you got to stop trying to pull on her. Different fans show [a] different type of love, and Meagan’s fan base shows a very, very aggressive, strong love.”

On if he and Meagan ever had a “thing:”

“You know what, Meagan and I always had kind of like a younger sister-older brother kind of thing. When we did Stomp the Yard, this was back in ’06, she was a lot younger and I was just always really impressed with the stuff that she had done: her career path and what she had worked on before then. And then, I didn’t see Meagan again until Jumping the Broom [in 2011]. So four years had passed when I saw her again, and…she was an adult. It was like wow, you’ve done a lot in these four years. It was just good to see her playing an adult…playing Paula Patton’s maid of honor. It was just a different dynamic seeing her playing more mature roles.”

And there you have it.