Tyler Perry Studios Will Host 2019 Miss Universe Pageant

Looks like Madea’s house won’t be empty anytime soon! According to Deadline, the 2019 Miss Universe competition will be taking place at Tyler Perry’s recently opened Atlanta studio.

Comedian and game show host Steve Harvey is back to host the event for the fifth consecutive year. The three-hour international beauty competition will air live on Dec. 8 at 7 P.M. on Fox and will also simulcast live in Spanish on Telemundo. The televised competition pits women from more than 90 countries against each other to compete for the crown of Miss Universe. Last year’s winner, Catriona Gray from the Philippines, will crown the new Miss Universe at the end of the program.

 Since Perry officially opened the studio, filmmakers have been lining up to shoot their movies on his set, reports TheGrio. Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah of the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Bad Boys sequel, Bad Boys For Life, chose Tyler Perry Studios to produce the third installment. The Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall sequel to Coming to America, Coming 2 America, is also filming at the 330-acre studio.

Tyler Perry Studios will also host the next Democratic Debate on Nov. 20. In addition, Perry announced on CBS This Morning that his eponymous film studio will provide a safe haven for homeless women, displaced LGBTQ youth, and sex trafficking victims.

The movie mogul opened the state-of-the-art studio in Atlanta last month and held a star-studded gala to celebrate. He acquired The Tyler Perry Studio in 2015, which is located on the historic grounds of the former Fort McPherson army base, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The major motion picture studio showcases 40 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, 12 purpose-built sound stages, 200 acres of green space and a diverse backlot. The successful filmmaker is the first African American to own a major film production studio of this magnitude.

Perry has filmed, produced, directed and/or starred in eight television shows, 22 movies, and 20 plays. He currently has two new series, Sistas and The Oval, on BET.

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Tyler Perry Studios Will Host 2019 Miss Universe Pageant

Looks like Madea’s house won’t be empty anytime soon! According to Deadline, the 2019 Miss Universe competition will be taking place at Tyler Perry’s recently opened Atlanta studio.

Comedian and game show host Steve Harvey is back to host the event for the fifth consecutive year. The three-hour international beauty competition will air live on Dec. 8 at 7 P.M. on Fox and will also simulcast live in Spanish on Telemundo. The televised competition pits women from more than 90 countries against each other to compete for the crown of Miss Universe. Last year’s winner, Catriona Gray from the Philippines, will crown the new Miss Universe at the end of the program.

 Since Perry officially opened the studio, filmmakers have been lining up to shoot their movies on his set, reports TheGrio. Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah of the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Bad Boys sequel, Bad Boys For Life, chose Tyler Perry Studios to produce the third installment. The Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall sequel to Coming to America, Coming 2 America, is also filming at the 330-acre studio.

Tyler Perry Studios will also host the next Democratic Debate on Nov. 20. In addition, Perry announced on CBS This Morning that his eponymous film studio will provide a safe haven for homeless women, displaced LGBTQ youth, and sex trafficking victims.

The movie mogul opened the state-of-the-art studio in Atlanta last month and held a star-studded gala to celebrate. He acquired The Tyler Perry Studio in 2015, which is located on the historic grounds of the former Fort McPherson army base, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The major motion picture studio showcases 40 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, 12 purpose-built sound stages, 200 acres of green space and a diverse backlot. The successful filmmaker is the first African American to own a major film production studio of this magnitude.

Perry has filmed, produced, directed and/or starred in eight television shows, 22 movies, and 20 plays. He currently has two new series, Sistas and The Oval, on BET.

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Scarface Says It’s Time for the Hood to Represent Houston’s 3rd Ward on City Council

HOUSTON—I had no idea what to expect when I agreed to interview hip-hop legend Scarface back in September. A child of the 1980s, I was a keen listener of the Geto Boys and their hood tales of trappin’ in Houston, getting women (to put it mildly) and pullin’ out the chrome on niggas who stepped to them sideways. Each…

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Amid Reports of Disappointment from the Royal Family, Meghan Markle Says She Wants to Be Heard, Not Loved

Is it better to be loved or heard? In an interview published Friday by British news outlet the Telegraph, Meghan Markle said she doesn’t want the public’s love; she just wants to use her newfound platform to advance the causes she cares so deeply about, according to journalist and friend Bryony Gordon.

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Oklahoma frees 527 inmates, setting U.S. single-day commutation record

Today, Oklahoma is freeing 527 inmates who were incarcerated for minor drug and nonviolent offenses– the largest single day of commutation in U.S. history.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed off on freeing the inmates last Friday, granting the historic commutations backed by voters. Three years ago, Oklahoma voters approved two ballot measures, State Question 780 and 781. This action lowered low-level crimes, such as simple drug possession and nonviolent property crimes under $1,000, to misdemeanors instead of felonies. The rationale for doing this boils down to dollars and cents. The state factored in all of the money it will save on incarceration, and how those dollars could be redirected to drug treatment and rehabilitation services, according to the Star Tribune.

READ MORE: Kim Kardashian West urges clemency for Oklahoma death row inmate

In January, a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers voted to apply the 2016 laws retroactively, paving the way for today’s commutation.

At a Friday press conference, Stitt announced that the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had unanimously recommended commuting the sentences of the 527 inmates – and that he had signed off on it. Stitt, a first-term governor who campaigned on prison reform, said: “Today, we’re implementing the will of the people.”

“They’ve got a lot of paperwork to do,” Stitt said referring to the Secretary of State’s office, according to the Star Tribune. “I’ve got to sign 450 of these this afternoon.” Once the parole board makes a recommendation to commute a sentence, it then passes to the governor for final approval.

Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the United States and has long engaged in tough sentencing for low-level offenders. But when voters passed the two ballot measures, it was a good indicator to the Republican-dominated legislature that residents wanted a less harsh approach.

READ MORE: 2020 Presidential candidate Andrew Yang wants mass pardon for nonviolent marijuana convictions

Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Oklahoma branch, said the commutations are a step in the right direction although more work needs to be done.

“From the 30,000-foot view, the criminal justice landscape is light-years ahead of where it was three or four years ago,” Kiesel told the newspaper. “It would have been impossible before State Question 780 passed in Oklahoma; that signaled to lawmakers there was an appetite for reform.”

The post Oklahoma frees 527 inmates, setting U.S. single-day commutation record appeared first on theGrio.

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