All hail the queen! Wednesday (March 18) marked Queen Latifah’s 50th birthday, and her friends and fans took to social media to share heartwarming birthday wishes. The New Jersey emcee stepped into the music scene as a formidable rap force back in the late 1980s and has developed a career that has spanned all aspects of the entertainment industry. Her 1989 debut album All Hail the Queen gave us the feminist anthem “Ladies First” while her third project, Black Reign, had women worldwide yelling “Who you callin’ a b*tch?!” as they sang along to  “U.N.I.T.Y.”

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Queen Latifah operates a production company (Flavor Unit), has starred in multiple television shows (Living Single, The Queen Latifah Show, Single Ladies, Star), has been featured in various films (Set It Off, Hairspray, The Secret Life of Bees, Joyful Noise, Chicago, Just Wright, Girls Trip, Brown Sugar, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday) and can rap and sing the house down. Many of her famous friends showed her love on her 50th birthday, so we join in to salute and celebrate Queen Latifah, a rap icon. 

“Happy Birthday to the Queen!!! @queenlatifah has inspired me more than any other woman in the entertainment business,” Kandi Burruss wrote on Instagram. “She really has done it all & done it well! Everybody give @queenlatifah some bday love! ????.” Others like LL Cool J, Tiffany Haddish, Naughty By Nature, Monie Love, Lee Daniels, Kelly Rowland, and Jude Demorest gave her a shout out, including Common who penned an entire poem. Check a few of them out below.

There’s no denying that Kevin Hart is one of the hardest working individuals in show business. His recently released Netflix docuseries, Don’t F**k This Up (2020), provided his fans and critics with an introspective and brutally honest look at his life behind the scenes as he toured the globe his friends, interacted with his father and family, and battled several different controversies. Now, the Laugh At My Pain comedian is providing the masses with another inside look of his life in a new Men’s Health magazine interview where he’s admitting he handles the 2019 Oscars hosting dispute poorly. 

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After agreeing to host the 2019 91st Annual Academy Awards, some of Kevin Hart’s old Tweets resurfaced, some of which containing homophobic and anti-gay rhetoric, the comedian packaged as jokes. During the time, the multifaceted comedian/actor released a formal apology to the LGBTQ community which wasn’t particularly well-received. 

While Kevin Hart has revealed that he feels no type about the Academy choosing to remain hostless, he did express to Men’s Health magazine that his disdain for how he handled things with the Academy and how his peers confronted him about the debacle stating: 

“With the whole Oscars thing, there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was. I got ten years where I made sure not to joke or play in the way that I did back then because it was a problem.”

Hart continued to the publication:

“It wasn’t until close friends like Wanda Sykes, Lee Daniels, and Ellen (Degeneres) talked to me and explained what they didn’t hear me say that I understood. Then I was like, ‘Oh, sh*t. I did f*ck up.'”

With the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony receiving its highest ratings in five years, the producers of the commemorative event have decided to move forward without a host for the 2020 92nd Annual Academy Awards. The 2020 Oscars will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, CA this Sunday at 5 P.M. PST on ABC. 

Check out a clip of Kevin Hart poppin’ his hips on a boat and enjoying time with his family while speaking about positivity with Men’s Health in the video provided below. 

Oprah Winfrey has been taking some hard hits from her fellow entertainment industry professionals. She faced heavy backlash over her After Neverland special with Michael Jackson’s Leaving Neverland accusers. Then, most recently, her inclusion with the Russell Simmons documentary where a number of women who accused the Def Jam mogul of sexual assault and/or misconduct was called into question.

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Of the latter, Oprah recently shared that she was removing herself from the film, not because of the pressure she says Simmons put on her, but because she didn’t agree with the creative direction of the documentary. The disagreement with the filmmakers reportedly caused her to split from the production, but whatever the reason, 50 Cent still applauded the OWN mogul for disbanding from the film.

Actress Mo’Nique Hicks has been at odds with Oprah for quite some time as she aired out Oprah, Tyler Perry, and Lee Daniels for allegedly coming against her. On Monday (February 3), Mo’Nique wrote a lengthy message directed to Oprah where she once again called out the media mogul’s actions, this time she targeted Oprah’s involvement in #MeToo while accusing the mogul of making her life “harder.”

Her message in full:

I felt compelled to write you this open letter after observing the disparity in the way that you seem to treat people, who were accused of the same allegations. You did an interview on the CBS Morning Show and were asked about Harvey Weinstein by Norah O’Donnell, and you said as it pertained to him that you “always try to look at the Rainbow in the clouds, whatever is the “silver lining”. You also said “if we make this all about Harvey Weinstein then we have lost the moment”. When you either are, or were going to be a part of documentary on Michael Jackson, and Russell Simmons, how is that not making it all about them? Interestingly, Brother M.J. was acquitted, and deceased, so how is he not off limits? Russell and Harvey are accused of the same thing so in fairness how do you not “support” the accusers of both as you said you did with R.S. or you look for the silver lining for both like you said you did for H.W.?

The only difference between the two is there skin color and doesn’t H.W. have way more accusers? My personal experience with you is you’ve watched me as a black women be accused of being difficult for not promoting “Precious” internationally for Lions Gate, at Lions Gate, Tyler Perry and your request, despite the fact my deal was with Lee Daniels Entertainment. And, how are you for black women when you hear Tyler on audio saying I was right and he was going to speak up but you or him still haven’t said a word? When I was sixteen and I meet you at your local show in Baltimore, I told you I wanted to be just like you when I grew up. You responded, “ you have to work really really hard”. My sixteen year old self didn’t know that you in your silence in the face of wrongdoing, would make my life “harder”. Lastly, please consider standing by the people who are right and not just the “right people”. Love you to life.