Spike Lee releases script of scrapped Jackie Robinson biopic

With Hollywood completely shut down amid the coronavirus crisis, celebrities are finding new ways to entertain the masses while quarantined and Spike Lee is no exception.

The prolific writer/director decided to release the full script for an unproduced biopic on the first Black pro baseball player, Jackie Robinson. Lee took to Instagram over the weekend to drop the script to the project based on the 1972 autobiography titled, I Never Had It Made.

READ MORE: Spike Lee’s classic film, ‘Do The Right Thing’ makes its return to theaters

“Good Sunday Afternoon From Da Corona Epicenter Of The USA-NYC

I Dug Deep Into Da 40 Acres Vault And Pulled Out This Script From One Of My EPIC Dream (Never Got Made) Projects-JACKIE ROBINSON. You Do Not Have To Be A Baseball Fan To Enjoy. This Script Is A Great American Story. Be Safe. Peace,Light And Love. And Dat’s Da “Brooklyn Dodger”Truth, Ruth. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF [click the link in the bio],” he posted along with a video of himself.

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I Dug Deep Into Da 40 Acres Vault And Pulled Out This Script From One Of My EPIC Dream (Never Got Made) Projects-JACKIE ROBINSON. You Do Not Have To Be A Baseball Fan To Enjoy. This Script Is A Great American Story. Be Safe. Peace,Light And Love. And Dat's Da "Brooklyn Dodger"Truth, Ruth. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF [click the link in the bio]

A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:18am PDT

READ MORE: Spike Lee and the Obamas to drop projects on Netflix in 2020

“Hope you enjoy it,” he said. “If not, that’s alright, too. It’s never getting made, but I wanted to share this script with you. Be safe! Be safe! Social distancing! Peace.”

The award-winning director revealed that he originally had Denzel Washington in mind to play the iconic athlete, but worried he was too old to play the part by the time the script was finished in 1996.

According to AV Club, the script appears to cover Robinson’s life in full including his college career at UCLA, military service, his legendary baseball career and life after.

The 155-page script can be found via a dropbox link on Lee’s Instagram page. If you’re in the mood for a lesson from a master, check it out.

 

 

 

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Facebook diversity recruiter files $100M discrimination suit against company

A former Facebook diversity recruiter has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging she was discriminated against based on her race and disability.

Anastasia Boone Talton, a senior talent acquisition specialist who was reportedly hired to diversify Facebook, filed the lawsuit on March 17 in California’s San Mateo Superior Court. She’s suing her former employer for discrimination and harassment, failure to accommodate her disability, retaliation, wrongful termination and breach of contract. She is also requesting a jury trial.

READ MORE: People of color at Facebook pen open letter about racial discrimination at company

In a video posted on Facebook, Boone Talton appears beside her attorney as her lawyer details some alleged issues Talton had while working as a diversity recruiter for Facebook. The lawyer says Facebook talks a good game about diversity but in reality, it’s just “lip service.”

The Daily Mail obtained the court filings submitted by Boone Talton.

“(Facebook) would simply fly out a candidate just to make the quota of saying that they interviewed at least one diverse candidate, but nine times out of ten, that person was not hired,” her lawyer said, according to The Daily Mail.

$100 Million Lawsuit Against Facebook, Inc. pic.twitter.com/JhdV2EtATq

— Anastasia Boone Talton (@ABooneRecruit) March 30, 2020

When Boone Talton complained to Facebook about what she was seeing, the company began treating her differently, the lawsuit alleges. She was left out of company events and was also allegedly told she was not a ‘cultural fit’ when she asked for medical accommodations to help support her medical issues.

READ MORE: Lebron James sued for $150K over Facebook post

“When Ms. Boone Talton complained to management, she was shunned, she was kept out of diversity planning meetings, she wasn’t given her Facebook anniversary balloon, and she was kept away from extracurricular activities that other employers were able to do, such as go to happy hours and outings as a team,” her lawyer said in the video.

The last straw for Boone Talton was when she watched a male co-worker, who was hired at the same time she was, be given preferential treatment and climb the managerial ladder while Facebook failed to promote her. She said she was doing the same work but earning less money.

Posted by Anastasia Boone Talton on Monday, March 30, 2020

READ MORE: Facebook to nominate first African-American woman to its board of directors

Facebook denied these claims in a statement to Business Insider.

“We don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind at Facebook and absolutely disagree with the account presented in this claim,” Facebook spokesperson Bertie Thomson said in the statement.

“We are proud of our efforts to find, grow and keep diverse talent, and of the support we provide to our employees with disabilities.”

Facebook has come under increased scrutiny in recent years for its culture. A gender and discrimination and racial discrimination was filed by Chia Hong in 2015 and eventually settled. Employees also detailed racist incidents of minorities being sabotaged in an open letter.

 

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Alicia Keys claims she was ‘manipulated’ into posing topless

Alicia Keys is sharing her story in her book “More Myself,” and in it, she reveals that she found herself in some pretty precarious situations early on in her career.

The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter detailed an uncomfortable incident with a photographer who insisted on having total privacy while he took her picture in 2000 when she was just 19.

READ MORE: Alicia Keys and Boys II Men deliver touching tributes to Kobe Bryant

“When I emerge from the dressing room, there’s just the two of us on set. ‘Open up your shirt a little,’ he directs while firing off a flurry of camera snaps. My spirit is screaming that something is wrong, that this feels sleazy. But my protests, lodged in the back of my throat, can’t make their way out,” she writes in the memoir, according to the Daily Mail.

Singer Alicia Keys speaks during a press conference at KIIS-FM’s “Jingle Ball 2001” December 19, 2001 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Sebastian Artz/Getty Images)

Alicia Keys on the infamous Dazed Magazine cover back in 2001 pic.twitter.com/KC1MJjSOB6

— 🗝 (@DiaryOfKeysus) March 25, 2020

“‘Pull the top of your jeans down a bit in the front,’ he urges. If I say no, what doors will be closed to me? I swallow my misgivings, tuck my thumb between the denim and my skin, and obey.”

READ MORE: Alicia Keys opens up about absent father in new book: ‘It left a hole in me’

The mother of two didn’t name the photographer she described but admitted she was humiliated by the experience.

Host Alicia Keys speaks onstage during the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

“This isn’t about me showing some skin, which I’ll do on my own terms, for my own purposes, in the coming years. It’s about feeling manipulated. It’s about being objectified,” she writes.

“I am beyond embarrassed, ashamed that I’ve sold part of myself … Had Jeff [Keys’ manager] been in there, he would’ve voiced what I couldn’t at the time: ‘Hell no. Close that shirt. Take your hand off your tit. And you’re not going to yank down your jeans’.”

Alicia Keys continues to inspire fans across the country through her work and her candor and “More Myself” is sure to give us a glimpse of what her journey has been like.

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Netflix drops trailer for crime docuseries, ‘The Innocence Files’

Netflix is taking a deep dive into the criminal justice system in its upcoming docuseries, The Innocence Files.

The streamer just dropped the first official trailer for the project directed by Liz Garbus, Alex Gibney, Roger Ross Williams, Jed Rothstein, Andy Grieve, and Sarah Dowland.

The nine-episode documentary series examines the work of The Innocence Project, the nonprofit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

READ MORE: Netflix’s Madam C.J. Walker series isn’t a bad story — just widely inaccurate

The series will focus on eight actual cases the organization worked to overturn. Subjects include Chester Hollman III, Kenneth Wyniemko, Alfred Dewayne Brown, Thomas Haynesworth, Franky Carrillo, Levon Brooks, Kennedy Brewer, and Keith Harward.

Here’s the official description:

The Innocence Files shines a light on the untold personal stories behind eight cases of wrongful conviction that the nonprofit organization the Innocence Project and organizations within the Innocence Network have uncovered and worked tirelessly to overturn.

The nine-episode series is composed of three compelling parts – The Evidence, The Witness and The Prosecution. These stories expose difficult truths about the state of America’s deeply flawed criminal justice system, while showing when the innocent are convicted, it is not just one life that is irreparably damaged forever: families, victims of crime and trust in the system are also broken in the process.

The Innocence Files is executive produced and directed by Academy Award® nominee Liz Garbus, Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney, Academy Award® winner Roger Ross Williams; with episodes also directed by Academy Award® nominee Jed Rothstein, Emmy Award® winner Andy Grieve and Sarah Dowland. 

READ MORE: O.J. Simpson believes ‘Tiger King’ rival Carole Baskin murdered her husband

Watch the official trailer:

The Innocence Files hits Netflix on April 15.

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Luenell’s daughter gets backlash after comedian bans her from home over COVID-19

Luenell is sticking up for her daughter, Da’Nelle, who is on the receiving end of backlash after being put out the house because the 20-something wouldn’t take the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

Last month, Luenell let her fans know that she had made the difficult choice to ban her daughter from her home.

“I have to make the best decision for me and my husband who is already suffering from COPD,” she wrote in the Instagram caption at the time.

“I’m sure most of the millennials think we are dramatic and overreacting because they’re not as ‘woke’ as they think they are … Why am I sharing this publicly? Because maybe some of You might want to think of the activities of Your children outside of your house these days as well. The millennials are not listening and not taking proper precautions. This is our LIVES we are talking about people especially if you are in a certain age category. I’m bummed but it is what it is.”

The funny lady is now speaking on the matter again.

READ MORE: Lizzo thanks ER staff nationwide with lunch for hard work amid coronavirus

“I had no idea that the sh-t was going to go viral. I don’t do things to go viral,” the 61-year-old recently explained while appearing on Claudia Jordan’s Fox Soul show, which is now airing via Instagram Live.

“Then my daughter called me, because I guess when she woke up, people were all over tagging her,” she said. “What had happened was, she got drug really, really badly on social media. ‘How could you do this?’ ‘Tramp a–.’ Yeah, and she didn’t have a problem with the quarantine. She had a problem with the posting.”

READ MORE: Samuel L. Jackson reads his new book ‘Stay the F**k at Home’

Part of my convo with my girl @Luenell who I just adore about how she's dealing with #coronavirus https://t.co/dkM8CkUnVU

— Claudia Jordan (@claudiajordan) April 2, 2020

“She was like, why do you want to always put stuff on there? What do you want likes and stuff?” the outspoken actress continued. “I said ‘Hunty, mommy has half a million followers. I don’t need no likes, I don’t buy no — I don’t need no clicks, likes, I don’t give a f–k about that sh-t.”

Luenell clarified that she posted the message to get through to other stubborn – and perhaps sheltered – young people who were unwittingly making light of the global pandemic because they’d never experienced that sort of hardship before.

“[Nipsey Hussle] was like the biggest thing they’ve been through,” she opined. “Tragedy is not new to our generation.”

READ MORE: Black people who have died from COVID-19

She also points out that the fear of asymptomatic people putting their more immunocompromised loved ones at risk also played a factor.

“I did it so maybe granny might say, ‘You need to get somewhere and sit your a– down,’” she concluded. “I see that, even though NeNe [Leakes] and I are not fans of each other, we agree on one thing. She has decided that maybe she needs to tell her son to sit down somewhere, too.”

The comedian pulled down her Instagram post to protect her daughter, but maintained that her mindset hasn’t changed.

“For it to go to Shaderoom, BallerAlert, JasmineBrand, my daughter ain’t never had nothing like that happen to her, and for that, I’m sorry,” she said. “But she still can’t come here. Sh-t.”

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#Luenell explains why she had to ban her daughter from her house during this time!!

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Mar 27, 2020 at 10:47am PDT

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