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From BlackVoices

Before announcing to the public that he is gay, NBA athlete Jason Collins was engaged to be married to his college sweetheart, former WNBA player Carolyn Moos. The two were together for eight years before Jason called off the wedding in 2009, leaving Carolyn heartbroken and confused as to why the relationship ended. The truth wouldn’t be revealed to her until years later — just a few days before Jason publicly announced his homosexuality in Sports Illustrated.

In this clip from his interview with Oprah for “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” Jason opens up about being engaged to Carolyn while struggling with his sexuality, explaining that he was still working through several different emotional stages that prevented him from accepting the truth about himself.

“At that point, I hadn’t reached acceptance in myself yet,” Jason tells Oprah in the clip. “Being in the closet… it really is going through the 12 steps of denial and shame and anger and all of that. I hadn’t reached acceptance yet.”

Read more at BlackVoices.com

Sex. Lies. Deceit.

According to Tyler Perry’s serious Alex Cross-esque voice, that’s what we can expect from his new OWN show, The Have And The Have Nots. Last week we showed you a short trailer for the program, but the full one-minute trailer has been released, and yes, it’s messy. But that could be a good thing entertainment wise.

However, it’s hard to tell if the show is supposed to be a soap opera of sorts or if it’s just a very dramatic black version of a telenovela drama, but something about it reminds us of a mix of the Tyler Perry film, The Family That Preys, and the BET show, The Game. There’s the cheating white husband, messing around with the money-hungry young black woman (Tika Sumpter’s character), who just so happens to be the daughter of the man’s maid. And the show is shot very much like The Game–with cinematic aspirations. Either way, it all seems a bit familiar. Here’s the full synopsis so you can understand what you’re about to see:

From prolific writer, director, producer Tyler Perry, “The Haves and the Have Nots” is a new television drama which follows the complicated dynamic between the rich and powerful Cryer family and the hired help who work in their opulent mansion set in Savannah, Georgia. From the outside, the Cryer’s are the enviable face of success and wealth, but behind the veil, the family’s dysfunction threatens to destroy their world of privilege. Cryer family patriarch Jim Cryer (John Schneider, “Dukes of Hazzard”) is a powerful judge whose double-life, including tawdry affairs with high-priced escorts, puts his family and political ambitions at risk. His wife, Katheryn Cryer (Renée Lawless, “Wicked”), is the ultimate matriarch portraying a loving and dutiful wife, but she is willing to do anything to protect her family’s status. Their son Wyatt (Aaron O’Connell) is a troubled angry jock who cares little for his own image and finds himself in and out of rehab. His sister Amanda (Jacyln Betham), a struggling law student, tries harder to live up to her parents’ expectations, but unknowingly has befriended a scurrilous young woman, Candace Young, with the power to ruin the entire family. Hanna Young (Crystal Fox) is the Cryer’s maid and the matriarch of her family. Despite having no money, she has found other types of wealth through religion and virtue. She prides herself on her dutiful son Benny (Tyler Lepley), the glue who helps keep the family together. Hanna does have one dark secret, however, her estranged daughter Candace (Tika Sumpter, “Gossip Girl”) — a manipulative opportunist who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. In a bizarre coincidence, Candace is shocked to find out that her newfound friend Amanda’s father is Jim Cryer, the very man who has been paying her for sex and who also employs Candace’s mother as his family’s maid. Armed with this knowledge, the dramatic stage is set for what will be, in Candace’s eyes, the opportunity of a lifetime.

Sounds ratch! Check out the full trailer below and let us know if you’re feeling it. If you are, you should know that The Have And The Have Nots premieres on OWN on May 2 at 9 p.m. And if you’re not, well, you can always catch up on episodes of Iyanla: Fix My Life…

Another new face is gracing the cover of ESSENCE this month!

Though Tyler Perry typically gets a cover once every other year or so, Oprah is a new addition to the magazine’s arsenal of cover ladies and she’s looking pretty darn great.

Inside, the pair who is currently involved in a major partnership — TP’s developing two new series for Oprah’s OWN network — talk about leaning on each other and how unique their friendship is in the industry.

“We both know how rare this is,” Oprah told the mag. “Where else in the history of our African-American culture have two really, really successful people who can do whatever they want said, ‘Let’s come together and be even more powerful—let’s take it to the tenth power?’”

Some would say it’s risky business for Oprah and Tyler to work together, but the screenwriter and director said they’re not afraid to mix business and friendship.

“…The most important thing about coming together was making sure we would not lose our friendship because of the business. We had to establish ground rules. The main one: Both of us have to continue to live in our truth. If she doesn’t like something, say it. If I don’t like something, I’ll say it. And we’ll figure it out and keep moving on…”

It sounds like Oprah followed the rules, as Tyler told ESSENCE working with the media mogul on his new series, The Haves and the Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor, “challenged me to push myself in terms of my writing and level of thinking. I’m hoping that the energy of our coming together will go out to other people.”

We’ll see if it does on May 28 and 29 when the series’ debut. What do you think of their cover?

Source(s): WENN, OWN

Earlier this week we reported on Washington Wizards player Jason Collins’ decision to come out as the first openly gay male playing in the NBA. Intrigued by Jason’s revelation, fans had many unanswered questions. Since his coming out, Jason has sat down with a couple of news outlets including Sports Illustrated and Good Morning America, but we’ve just learned that the 34-year-old Los Angeles native will also be appearing on an upcoming episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter. The media maven went took to her Twitter page yesterday to talk up her exclusive interview.

A recently distributed press release on Oprah’s upcoming sit down reveals that the Next Chapter interview will stand out from all the rest because she will actually be interviewing his family as well.

“Oprah Winfrey will speak with NBA player Jason Collins; his twin brother, Jarron; and the Collins family for their first interview together on the heels of Jason Collins becoming the first active pro athlete in one of the four major American team sports to announce that he is gay. The special episode of Oprah’s Next Chapterwill air this Sunday, May 5, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Jason Collins reflects on the worldwide reaction following his decision to reveal that he is a gay man and remarks how he hopes his story will further the conversation around equality. Oprah and Collins are joined by his twin brother, former NBA player Jarron Collins; his parents, Portia and Paul Collins; his sister-in-law, Elsa Collins; and Teri Jackson, his aunt and a San Francisco Superior Court judge, who was the first family member he came out to,” the news release reads.

Jason’s Next Chapter interview is scheduled to air Sunday, May 5th at 7:30/6:30 c.

Turn the page for a sneak peek. 

Source: Twitter

Dark Girls is a documentary by Bill Dukes with the intended goal of exploring and raising awareness around “the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color particularly dark skinned women.” The eye-opening  film originally debuted back in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been creating quite a buzz ever since.

During an interview with The Root last year, Duke revealed that witnessing the pain endured by little Black girls who wished they look like someone else is what really inspired him to put the project together.

“From observing the unfortunate pain that friends of mine’s children are still going through. Just yesterday we were at the Links. A beautiful dark-skinned woman was at the desk, and she said to me, ‘I’m so glad you’re making this film.’ I said, ‘Thank you.’ She said: ‘You don’t understand. A few days ago, my daughter, who’s as dark as me, came home crying that they were calling her ‘blackie’ and all of these names at the playground at her school.’This is not something that happened 50 years ago; this is happening now.”

Duke went on to say that he hopes his documentary will bring about healing.

“[I hope] to create a discussion, because in discussion there’s healing, and in silence there is suffering. Somehow if you can speak it and get it out, healing starts.”

“I think the deepest part is we learned our own prejudices and we learned our own indoctrinations. We learned where our own standards of beauty came from, what were our preferences and why were we making those decisions in terms of women.”

“You know you think your conscious is right; as you dig deeper in to the core of these issues, it’s a self-discovery process as well. And when you start facing those issues, they are not painless, let’s put it that way. And so this self-discovery process was part of it.”

It was officially announced yesterday that Dark Girls will make its television debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network in June.

Check out a preview of Dark Girls below. Let us know what you think. 

Source: OWN

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have been hinting for for months that they’ve been working on something big. Now we finally we get to see two of the top secret projects that they’ve been working so hard on! So in case you haven’t heard it through the grapevine yet, Tyler has been in the process of producing two new scripted series for OWN.

The first series, which is titled The Haves and the Have Nots seems have a soap opera-ish type feel to it. It also appears to be loosely based on Tyler’s 2011 stage play that bore the same title, with a few elements from his 2008 film, The Family That Preys sprinkled in . Starring in the television drama is Tika Sumpter, Crystal Fox, Renée Lawless, John Schneider, and a host of other talented actors and actresses. A brief description of the tele-drama found on the network’s website reads:

“Set in Savannah, Georgia, Jim and Katheryn Cryer, a wealthy couple, become intimately involved with the families of their hired help, creating a web of controversy as the worlds of “The Haves” and “The Have Nots” collide.”

Perry switched gears a bit with the second series, taking a more comedic approach. Love Thy Neighbor seems to follow the formula that we are used to seeing when it comes Tyler’s scripted series. OWN describes the show as “a wonderfully fresh show about a middle class family, and their daily joys, struggles, triumphs and fumbles.”

The Haves and the Have Nots is scheduled to premiere May 28th at 9/8c and Love Thy Neighbor is set to premiere May 29th at 9/8c.

Check out a preview of The Haves and the Have Nots below. Turn the page to for a preview of Love Thy Neighbor. Will you be checking out either of these shows? 

WENN

From Essence

It’s been nearly two years since Oprah finished up her uber-popular daytime talk show—4,561 complete in shows in fact, according to People. But there’s one thing she simply misses the most—the audience.

The OWN creator sat down with Steve Harvey on his network talk show, also based in Chicago, and explained her feelings “I got a little choked up seeing you guys today, because what I really miss is the camaraderie with the audience every day… I did that for 25 years,” said Oprah.

She told Harvey she decided to end her show while she was still on top. “When I look back at the body of work, those of you who watched us for years, it’s astounding,” Oprah explained.

Awww, Oprah!  Many people miss you too! You can read more over on essence.com.  Perhaps it’s time for a new talk show on OWN? Would you watch?

s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

Finally some positive feedback for Iyanla. After DMX going off on her and Sheree Whitfield complaining about her recent appearance on Iyanla: Fix My Life, the OWN Network show is reaping rewards with the viewers, particularly those in African-American households, according to Nielsen. Moreover, reports Target Market News, Life With La Toya, the reality show tracking LaToya Jackson (who seems to be making a Kardashian-like career out of being on multiple reality programs), was a favorite on the Top 25 chart of black viewers’ favorite shows for the week ending April 14. Iyanla: Fix My Life and Life With La Toya were the only adult-oriented Saturday night shows on the list, reports the site.

Looking at other numbers, Bravo was the week’s most watched cable network and BET had 4.8 million across four shows, such as The Game, followed by VH1′s 4.4 million for four shows.

Fewer African Americans were viewing TV for the week, however. The total number of viewers watching the Top 25, according to Nielsen, was 27.3 million, or three percent less than the previous week,” reports Target Market News.

The top shows for the week among African Americans were the two episodes of American Idol, The Voice, and Dancing With The Stars.

Haven’t been tuning in to LaToya’s show? (We know you’re watching Iyanla!) Here’s a teaser for the next episode of Life With LaToya. Are you tuning in?

Source: OWN

Life coach and spiritual advisor Iyanla Vanzant has been receiving harsh criticism from her Fix My Life guests since the show’s season two debut. Just last week we told you that DMX’s publicist came forward claiming that her client’s appearance on the show did nothing but make his current situation worse. The Yonkers rapper even furthered those allegations by saying Iyanla is “toxic” and  that he’s taking legal action to have footage from his episode removed. While X’s gripe with Vanzant may seem a bit on the extreme side, he doesn’t appear to be the only person unhappy with the way things turned out. According to RumorFix, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Shereé Whitfield also had a few issues regarding her portrayal on the show and admits to feeling “misled” by Iyanla.

“Since leaving the ‘Housewives’, I’ve been at a different place in my life, a place of healing and self-empowerment, so when Bob reached out to me about doing this show on co-parenting I was excited because I thought we were both on the same page and equally wanted to work towards mending our relationship so that we could more effectively co-parent, and even more importantly I thought it was an opportunity to inspire single parents in our situation. However, once shooting began I felt misled because the line of questioning was centered more on accusations of my shortcomings as a wife versus how we can begin to resolve our issues,” Whitfield said in an issued statement.

Shereé went on to say that she considered Iyanal’s counseling approach to be “one-sided” and “judgmental.”

Did you watch Sheree’s episode of Fix My Life? What do you think of Shereé’s allegations?

Source(s): WENN, OWN

Since the explosive airing of Iyanla: Fix My Life’s Season 2 premiere episode starring troubled rapper DMX aka Earl Simmons, a represntative for the Yonkers M.C. has come forward, claiming that Iyanla didn’t fix Simmons’ life, she only worsened his image.

“DMX agreed to be a guest on ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’ with the understanding that she would be helping his relationships with his ten children. When he arrived for the taping, most of the content was focused on his struggles with drugs and poor parenting. Iyanla did not “fix” DMX’s life just made his image worse, and does not have DMX’s personal written consent to use the footage,” Simmons’ publicist said in a written statement.

While statement prompted many to give the serious side-eye to Simmons and his publicist, Iyanla’s fellow OWN star, Kym Whitley had no problem jumping to Vanzant’s defense and even had a few words to say about X’s “publicist” during an interview with The Grio.

“First of all, his publicist is probably his cousin Shanina or somebody. That’s the first thing. Do he have a real publicist? Really, okay? What is he paying her with? Love you DMX, sorry,” Whitley said in a joking tone with hint of seriousness mixed in.

“He came on my show a long time ago, ‘Oh Drama.’ So I love X. But the truth is that they might have filmed for four hours, but what we see was only an hour or an hour and a half. So I’m pretty sure, knowing Iyanla, that she sat there and tried to work with him, but you can’t fix a person that’s not willing to be fixed. If you watched that interview, you know that he is lost. He’s not ready!” exclaimed the Raising Whitley star.

“What she did do is fix his son’s life. So Ms. Shenina Quequika, whatever your name is, Pookie, whatever her name is, I’m sorry. She might not have fixed DMX’s life, but she fixed that boy’s life and she walked away winning that. He said he was satisfied.”

 Flip the switch to watch a clip from Kym’s interview. What do you think of her comments?