Photo Credit: PNP/WENN.com

Wendy Williams is out here winning, ya’ll. We told you not too long ago that more episodes of her talk show were ordered to go into summer because of all the success the show is having with an increasing viewership, but now Williams is taking her mouth to Broadway to star as Matron Mama Morton in the Broadway production of Chicago. According to the Huffington Post, Williams will get to sing “When You’re Good To Mama” for the production, and will do the show for seven weeks. But for fans of the talk show host who are wondering, it doesn’t seem that her participation will impact her shooting schedule for The Wendy Willliams Show. And because of that, she seems very excited about it all.

“I’m so excited to sing and dance while still doing the talk show. It’s going to be a very busy summer around here.”

If you’ll recall, this role is the one that helped Queen Latifah garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2002 when the play was made into a major motion picture film (it would also win Best Picture). But then again, we know that Queen Latifah is a pretty talented singer, but is Williams? Has anybody ever heard her sing for that matter? The role will also require some dancing too, and after being the second contestant voted off of her Dancing With the Stars season in 2011, we’ll have to wait and see if she’ll surprise everybody and shut the Broadway stage down. Either way, it’s a good look for her.

If you’re interested in watching her strut her stuff as a Broadway actress, she’s slated to start her time as Mama Morton in the show on June 25-August 11.

What do you think about Williams playing Mama in the show? Is she a good fit?

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Lauren London on the big or small screen like that in a big role, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that she has a three-year-old son at the house that she’s a doting mom to. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably already know that the gorgeous actress brought her son into the world with the help of rapper Lil Wayne. The shock over their choice to procreate together (more or less, the fact that she wanted to get down with the get down with him) has come and gone, and clearly, London is back to work, but it doesn’t mean people don’t have questions about it all. Well, really, just Wendy Williams does.

While on The Wendy Williams Show with Brandy and Jay Ellis to promote season 6 of The Game, in the short time that London was on the couch, Williams asked the actress about her new character, Keira Whitaker, a child star who is a “hot a** mess” on the show, but she really spent more time inquiring about her “baby’s father” (Wayne) and how having the baby at a time when her career was hot might have affected it after she had him. She made it the central topic after London brought him up as a reason why she doesn’t engage in after-hour shindigs with the cast. Here was their exchange, which starts around the 2:55 mark in the video below:

Wendy: Lauren’s baby’s father is the rapper Lil Wayne, and you two are no longer together, right?

London: No. We’re great friends though.

Wendy: You’re friend’s And you co-parent?

Lauren: Yes, of course.

Wendy: And is it difficult being a single parent in Hollywood?

Lauren: I think it’s difficult being a single parent period. For me, with my job, luckily I can bring him to work–

Wendy: –Cause I remember early in your career you were in a few projects and then you fell off the map. Then you had the baby. Do you feel as though you lost traction?

Lauren: You know what…No, because life happens. As an actor, your depth as an actor comes from life experience. And I think it just gave me life experience.

Wendy: How is Lil Wayne doing health wise?

Lauren: He’s great! His album comes out today! He’s really good.

Wendy: More money for you, girl…

Lauren: I make my own though.

Wendy: Isn’t that nice?

Lauren: Yes, my mother taught me well.

So glad to see that London handled such a line of questioning with class, because she could have been mum about it all, or acted a fool. Much respect, because we know how Wendy’s mouth can get. Check out their interaction below and let us know your thoughts!

By the way, did you check out the season premiere?

Anton Oparin / Shutterstock.com

Can’t get enough of The Wendy Williams Show? Well, neither can Debmar-Mercury it seems. The company is the producer and distributor of the popular daytime TV show and it has announced it will add two months of original episodes to the fourth season of the program, extending production through June and July because the show is such a hit. Wendy Williams pulled in the biggest Nielsen sweeps gains of any talk show on the TV dial and surged to new ratings heights in the February sweeps.

“I have the greatest fans in daytime TV, and I’m so excited to be giving fans more fun throughout the summer,” Williams said in a press release. “If it were up to me, we’d have a show every day, all year long!”

The show made some changes that have worked. According to the press release, the ratings surge started with the most recent expansion in mid-December of the Wendy fan-favorite “Hot Topics” segment. Wendy finished as the fourth highest-rated metered market talk show among women ages 25-to-54—the key daytime demo—averaging a 1.1 rating and a 7 share during the month. This was an incredible 47 percent share increase in the demo from the most recent sweeps period in November 2012. All that means people were really watching Wendy.

“Wendy is absolutely thriving and, with its record-breaking sweeps finish, continuing spectacular ratings growth and ability to build on its lead-in, it is clear that this is the hottest program in the genre,” said Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus. “Expanding the number of original episodes will allow us to continue the program’s incredible momentum well into the summer, when our core audience grows with younger viewers drawn to Wendy and her unique take on hot topics of the day.”

In the end, Wendy also scored the best gains by far of any talk show compared to November and February 2012. The show jumped 35 percent  in the ratings in that women 25-to-54 age demographic and 29 percent in households. During February, the show saw year-over-year gains of 11 percent in households and nine percent in the demo.

After the surprising success of her single “Love and War,” which rocketed to number one last week with the help of great production, a great voice, her reality show and the co-sign of celeb friends and supporters like Ne-Yo and Lady Gaga, Tamar Braxton is riding around and getting it as we speak. For further proof of that, check out her performance of “Love And War” on The Wendy Williams Show, which was shown on today’s episode. In a form-fitting black dress with white floral details, a dramatic blonde wig, and a bright red lip, she sang her little heart out, even allegedly bringing Wendy to tears.

All in all, the more I hear the song, the more I appreciate it, because initially, while it was a beautiful track, I was indifferent about it. But that girl can SANG. Yes, “sang” m’dears, not “sing,” which made me like the song a lot more. But I will admit that there were moments where I couldn’t really hear what she was saying and she struggled at first to get those high notes off the ground, but once she did, I had to bob my head hard like Vince was doing in the audience (big laugh at him for doing it with such a straight serious face). Good work by Toni’s little sister, who is clearly starting to get some shine all on her own. Check out the video below and let us know if you’re loving the track and the performance. And on a side note, unless you love Wiz Khalifa, you can stop watching around the five-minute mark.

What do you think?

While still stuck in the house working thanks to Sandy, I once again had to endulge in “The Wendy Williams Show” this morning. On the program this time around was Vince Herbert and Tamar Braxton, and it seems the “happy” couple was on their media rounds for the sake of doing damage control. For about a month now rumors have been swirling that the two were heading for a divorce, and the rumors only heated up more when it came out that the two were selling their 15,000 square foot mansion after having lived in it less than a year. Well, they say the move is just a coincidence, and the divorce speculation is false. A healthy looking Vince and his lady also talked about whether or not they have any regrets about doing their show and on possible beef between Oprah and Toni Braxton.

When asked about where the rumor about a possible split came about, which Wendy had even gone out of her way to claim Tamar planted out their in the media for publicity (rude), Tamar denied the rumors and said she would never do such a thing:

I don’t know. I don’t really, lie because it’s hard for me to remember stuff. I would never put a rumor out like that…because this is my baby. I don’t play with that one. But we’re selling our house, that’s a fact.

Perfect segway, because Wendy then asked Tamar why the two were selling their lavish 15,000 square foot home, which was only a space for three people by the way, when they just moved in. Well, Tamar pointed the finger saying it was all Vince’s idea because he found an even bigger and better home, but he says he did it for his lady: “I want you to have everything you need, babe. We need a little bit more space.” I know what you’re thinking, more space for a couple with no children? But why? Vince wants a gym for himself, a little beauty salon for Tamar to get her glam on…out of his way, and adding all these things would have been even more costly, so it was actually cheaper to just move instead of adding on to their now for sale crib.

As for regrets, she doesn’t have any regarding what she put out there about herself, her man and their relationship, but ironically, she doesn’t like people thinking they can comment on it. As she says, “I don’t have any regrets…its just that a lot of people think it’s okay to comment on how you run your relationship.” And while they weren’t getting along perfectly on the show, she says nothing they’ve gone through would be worth trying to divorce over. They prefer counseling. “When we got married, we decided that divorce was not an option.”

I think what Toni was saying was that people were looking at her differently because they thought she spent all her money at Gucci and Prada and stuff like that, which she definitely didn’t, and I can attest to that. But I felt like Oprah really did hurt her feelings and Toni had every right to say that she hurt her feelings. Oprah’s a human being as well, and she hurts people’s feeling sometimes.

WENN

While trapped in the house because of lack of transportation thanks to Hurricane Sandy, I was flicking through the channels this morning and for once, decided to stop at “The Wendy Williams Show.” I’ve never really been a big fan, but the non-stop news and lack of cable is making me a bit depressed and tired. So anywho, I look and she actually had the chance to interview Halle Berry while homegirl was promoting her most recent release in theaters, Cloud Atlas (sadly the promotion didn’t really work–the movie kind of crashed and burned). During their sit-down, which Wendy traveled to LA for, they covered some very interesting topics–and no, they didn’t include anything about moving to France and dealing with Gabriel Aubry so don’t even ask. But she did talk about what she went through to play that crackhead in Jungle Fever (10 days without a bath: “Ask Sam Jackson, he’s the one who got a big whiff of it”); That her daughter doesn’t really know her name like that (she calls her Halle Blueberry); That she’s leaving it up to God to see whether or not she’ll give Nahla a little brother or sister; That she feels like her best self when she rocks her short hair (though she gets bored like everybody else from time to time), she loves her some “The Voice,”  and that she gets confused for two R&B divas whose fame is just as big as her own.

In a game of five questions, Wendy asked Halle who folks tend to mistake her for and surprisingly, she said Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson. “Toni Braxton when I have short hair, Janet Jackson when I have long hair.” You know, honestly, I could somewhat get Toni with the short cut, because they both made their respective cuts must-haves for women everywhere, but during that time when she was wearing those long wavy locks, I don’t really see as Ms. Jackson. But they do have those cheekbones. Hey, you know what they say–we all look alike anyway (kidding!!!!).

Do you think Halle Berry of all people bears a resemblance to Toni or Janet depending on her hairstyle at the time? Do people confuse you for someone you don’t think you look like?

WENN

We see them on TV, and on the movie screen. We hear them on the radio. We follow them on Twitter. Our fave celebs are creating all kinds of buzz and blazing trails in everything they do. These business-savvy celebs have launched some lucrative ventures worth checking out. Take a look…

straightfromthea.com

Jennifer Hudson

It seems that just about everything JHud touches turns to gold. First, it was her Oscar-worthy role in Dreamgirls. Then it was her Grammy-award winning debut album. Now it is Weight Watchers. JHud wowed us with her phenomenal weight loss reveal last year, and now she hopes to influence people in her native Chicago to do the same. JHud became the first celebrity to have a Weight Watchers center when she opened the Jennifer Hudson Weight Watchers Center in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood last fall.

What’s next for JHud? A launch of her new clothing line, the Jennifer Hudson Collection on QVC this fall, as well as recurring role on the hit NBC show Smash, where she’ll take on the role of Broadway star Veronica Moore.

Back when Wendy Williams was strictly on the radio, living in the Midwest, I really didn’t have the chance to listen to her show, therefore, I didn’t know much about her other than the fact that she was the black female “shock jock.” As years went on, I started to know more about her and more about her show, though I still hadn’t had the chance to listen, through the controversy she was creating. I remember she had started a huge beef between herself and many rappers, including 2Pac (who she claimed got raped in jail), Method Man (for talking about his personal business and exposing the illness of his wife, who was trying to keep her cancer diagnosis on the low), and a lot more folks. But what else can you expect from a shock jock but to make something out of nothing, even if her route was a little trifling? That’s what I’ve always taken away from these big names and their radio shows–if you hear gossip from them, don’t believe it–they’ll do anything to attract attention and start drama. But alas, that’s just how radio personalities are.

But now that Wendy Williams is actually on a syndicated television show, I expected her to do better. She doesn’t have to be on Oprah’s level or completely lose her wit, but all the drama starting and unprofessionalism should be on the up and outs. Somebody should have told her that a while back. Not only does Williams stir up drama where there isn’t and shouldn’t be any, but she comes off really crass and disrespectful sometimes when interviewing her guests. The latest “gotcha, gotcha” about her happened last week when she read off a supposed letter she received from Oprah (YEAH RIGHT) saying how Oprah supports Gayle King’s new position at CBS. It all started when Wendy questioned if Gayle’s new gig would cause a rift in their friendship.

Gayle heard about the letter Williams said was given to her by the Big O and called Wendy out by calling into the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” to set the record straight–Oprah never wrote that mess. Wendy responded today on Joyner’s show and cleared up the facts by saying that a member of Oprah’s camp sent the letter, but that Oprah had to know that it was going out. In Wendy’s own words: “I have no reason to lie about this…You could not imagine that this woman just sent the letter out on her own accord.”

Riiiiiiight.

The more I have seen Wendy Williams’ talk show in the short time that it has been airing, the more I want to put my foot through the television. Aside from being charismatic with her audience, which is nice, the show is a hot, burnt, booty mess. I’ll never forget an episode I saw recently when Wendy was instigating the rumors that Beyoncé wasn’t really pregnant after that video came out with her sitting down for an interview and her stomach wound up looking deformed. Not only did she say that B didn’t look as many months as she said (like all pregnant women have to look the same from month to month), but this lady actually had the nerve to do a test, asking pregnant staff members to sit down for the audience so she could show that Beyoncé didn’t sit down like an actual pregnant woman. Say what!? You could tell she was too delighted with the whole display.

And let’s not forget how awesome she is with her guests. From openly saying Basketball Wives LA star Draya has gotten around (and then calling her “ slory” behind her back on her after-show video blog) and asking Tiny and T.I. if the rapper’s wife should have taken the charges for him (a conversation he shut down with the quickness), to saying other former guests were getting a bit…plump, Wendy is the definition of class (you know I’m playing, right?). Check what else she had to say about Chris Brown’s ex Draya on her after-show blog when she was disappointed that the reality star didn’t go in-depth about her child endangerment rumors and basketball star dating past:

“If you’re going to continue to be on your back and only exemplify behavior that we saw on ‘Basketball Wives,’ or defensive, nasty behavior—which I don’t think you were nasty yesterday. I actually liked meeting you, and I loved your Fendi dress—but I don’t think that you did anything to defend your reputation of coming up lying down. That’s all.”

Wow. A part of me would like to really like Wendy Williams as a black woman doing massive things, but in reality, that’s just too hard of a task. She is a gossip monger who instead of trying to show some love to the black folks on her show, puts them on “front street” and just winds up appearing like a really nasty individual. She might say that once you get into the business you have to have “thick skin,” but child please, there is a difference between being able to take criticism and being able to deal with acrimonious speech.

Her show, from the intro music to the guests in general and the “HOW YOU DOIN!?, is random, and the fact that she has nothing better to talk about on it other than to make up a few lies and to be outright mean at times, is sad. Wendy Williams is like that one friend who spends more time defending the bull you heard she spread around rather than keeping it real, and because of that, I’d rather be watching the never-ending onslaught of court shows that show up on daytime television than what she’s offering. Divorce Court here I come!

Two of the funniest women in the media got together on the same show and comedy ensued. Check out this clip of Whoppi and Wendy clowning on “The Wendy Williams Show.”

Get the rundown on the rest of Whoopi’s appearance over at Black Voices.

Watch this video below…

Wendy Williams somehow managed to not only get the first post-op phone interview with the Queen of Soul, but she also convinced Aretha to allow her to film their conversation in her Detroit home. The two met for tea actually. How quaint.

But even though they were surrounded by refined scenery and Wendy wore her own mini-church hat, she wasted no time getting to the hard questions, asking Aretha about her alleged abdominal surgery.

The full interview will air tomorrow but in the meantime, you can get more details and check out a video clip over a Black Voices.