From the controversial docuseries Surviving R Kelly airing on Lifetime in the beginning of the year, rapper Lil Nas X making history with his epochal hit, "Old Town Road" during the summer and superstar comedic actor Eddie Murphy making a comeback on Saturday Night Live near the end of the year, 2019 was definitely a year that will go down in history of black entertainers who made 2019 quite the year.
To commemorate, we will count down the Top 10 Black Entertainment Stories of 2019 :
Below are those stories FROM NO. 10 to NO. 1 .......
10.WENDY WILLIAMS SPLITS WITH HUSBAND AFTER CHEATING SCANDAL
In January, the talk show host was going through turmoil with then rumors of her husband,
Kevin Hunter alleged physical abuse and buying a house for his mistress, Sharina
\ Hudson close to their residency in New jersey. After her discourse of her personal
dilemma on her talk show, Williams soon after filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage,
when she discovered he fathered a child with his mistress. Hunter Sr. was her former
manager and the show producer of her daytime talk show.
9.ASAP ROCKY ARRESTED ON ASSAULT CHARGES IN PUBLIC BRAWL IN SWEDEN
In July, the rapper and members of his entourage were charged in a Swedish court guilty of assault when a fan confronted Rocky on the street. He was eventually locked in a Swedish prison until President Trump demanded the authorities to release him. He was soon able to leave back ti U.S. until the verdict A month later, He was later found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay damages of 12,500 Swedish krona (about $1,300 US), split with his two associates, to the victim.
8.FILM DIRECTOR JOHN SINGLETON DIES
The film world was in shock when Academy Award-nominated filmmaker best known for
directing "Boyz N the Hood" died April 28 after he was taken off life support following
complications from a stroke. He reportedly began to experience weakness in his legs after
returning to the United States from a trip to Costa Rica.
A private funeral was held on May 6 in Los Angeles. He was 51.
7.KEVIN HART INVOLVED IN BAD CAR ACCIDENT
In September, the comedian was involved in a near -fatal car accident after one of the
classic cars he owns drove into a ditch in the Malibu Hills. Hart reportedly was not behind
the wheel of the vehicle and one of the two other passengers was his wife's trainer
Rebecca Broxterman. He and the driver reportedly suffered major back injuries. Hart was
released from the hospital nine days later, and continued recovery at a rehabilitation facility.
6.MEGHAN MARKLE HAS A BABY BOY
In May, the former actress and current Duchess of Sussex and her husbands Prince Harry,
welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor at 7 pounds, 3 ounces as
they posed in front of their home St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle for the press.
5.KAN YE BECOMES RELIGIOUS; RELEASES FIRST GOSPEL ALBUM
This year the rapper turned another page in his illustrious career as he stepped onto the
pulpit to preach Sunday Services in a field in Calabasas . In October, to showcase his new
found career, he released his first gospel album, Jesus Is King, in October, his ninth
overall. It was also his ninth consecutive album to debut atop the US Billboard 200.
4.RAPPER LIL NAS X'S 'OLD TOWN ROAD ' BREAKS HOT 100 RECORD FOR MOST WEEKS AT NO. 1
In July, the Time cover rapper made history with this game changing, trap country
juggernaut when it held on atop the Hot 100 for a record 17th week making it the longest
running No. 1 hit on Billboard defeating 16 weeks ' One Sweet Day" by Mariah Careya nd
Boyz II Men and "Depacitio" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber. To cement the
feat, "Road" held the No. 1 spot for an additional 2 weeks totalling 19 weeks altogether.
3.RAPPER NIPSEY HUSSLE KILLED
On March 31, the beloved Grammy Award nominated rapper was gunned down was killed
in a shooting in the parking lot at Marathon Clothing in South Los Angeles. Police identified
Eric Ronald Holder Jr. as the suspect who, was known to the rapper and that the shooting
was possibly motivated by a personal matter. On April 2, Holder was arrested by the Los
Angeles Police Department and was being held in solitary confinement. His death caused
international mourning for the rapper. A star studded funeral where thousands attended had
taken place at The Staple Center in Los Angeles. He was 33.
2.R KELLY'S SURVIVING R KELLY AND CHARGES ENSUES
The troubled singer's life in the spotlight was highlighted in a controversial docuseries Surviving R. Kelly which aired on Lifetime detailing sexual abuse allegations against the singer from various victims and their parents as well opinions by celebrities such John Legend. It aired over three nights, from January 3 to January 5. Filmmaker and music critic Dream Hampton served as executive producer. Its premiere episode was Lifetime's highest-rated program in more than two years, with 1.9 million total viewers. In February, Kelly was formally charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. On March 6, 2019, television program CBS This Morning broadcast an interview with Kelly by Gayle King, in which Kelly insisted on his innocence and blamed social media for the allegations.
On July 12, federal prosecutors from New York and Chicago indicted Kelly on 18 charges , including child sexual exploitation and child pornography among other others . He was denied bail.On August 5 a Minnesota prosecutor charged Kelly with soliciting a minor and prostitution following a 2001 allegation of inviting a girl up to his hotel room and paying her $200 to remove her clothing and dance with him. in December, R. Kelly's attorney pleaded not guilty on behalf of Kelly in Brooklyn, NY to bribery charges involving a fake ID stemming from his 1994 marriage to the late teen pop star Aaliyah. Also in the same month his trial was set for September 2020 and a part two of Surviving R Kelly was announced to air in January 2020 on Lifetime.
AND THE
NO 1 STORY
OF 2019
WAS
1.JUSSIE SMOLLETT ALLEGED ASSAULT HOAX
On January 29, the Empire star reported to the Chicago Police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime in an attack on a Chicago street in the wee hours of the night that briefly left him hospitalized. After investigation, the police found it difficult to pinpoint what actually happened causing them to believe he falsified the attack. Supposedly, Smollett hired two Nigerian fitness trainers to help him plan the alleged hoax. In February, police arrested Smollett and charged him for allegedly filing a false police report which was a felony. He was also dropped from the show, Empire.
The arrest and charge followed news reports calling Smollett’s initial claims into question, suggesting that Smollett orchestrated the supposed hate crime attack himself. In March, He pled not guilty to a 16-count indictment and later in that month, prosecutors shockingly dropped the charges. A month later in April, the city of Chicago sued Smollett for $130, 000 for money used to investigate his case. As the case remained in limbo, Smollett filed a counterclaim in November accusing the City of Chicago for ignoring key evidence that proved his claim and its police department of maliciously going after him without probable cause. In December, lawyers for the City of Chicago was to be in court to have a counter suit from actor Jussie Smollett dismissed. As of press time, the counterclaim and the city's initial claim were still pending. It was also discussed by the showrunners of "Empire" that Smollett may return to the set for the series' finale.
From Internet sensation Antoine Dodson's "hide your kids-hide your wife" mantra, former Chicago Mayor and reality show star Rod Blogoevich getting sentenced to prison for bribery, beloved pop superstars Whitney Houston and Prince dying tragic deaths, football player Michel Sam becoming the first openly gay man to get drafted and Colin Kaepernick taking a knee for police brutality in the NFL, actress Megan Markle marries Prince Harry becoming interracial royally and actor Jussie Smollett getting charged for an alleged attack hoax and getting fired from his hit show Empire, which, in itself was a TV sensation, the 2010s had its share of controversy, tragedy, and "viralbility."
SPECIAL MENTION: Even though it wasnt an entertainment story, the No 1 Black non-entertainment story was definitely the re-election of President Barack Obama to the Oval in November 2012.
BELOW ARE THE TOP 10 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT STORIES OF THE DECADE (2010-2019) FROM NO. 10 to NO. 1
10.TV SHOW "EMPIRE" BECOMES A TV RATINGS SENSATION (2015)
The Fox TV Show becomes a ratings phenomenon starring Terrence Howard and Teraji P henson when it aired in January 2015 and became a pop culture phenomenon drawing 17 million in its first season finale;its first season soundtrack also hits No. 1 on Billboard Top 200. Its sixth and final season was in 2019-2020
9.BLACK PANTHER BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORDS (INTERN)NATIONALLY.
This marvel film became a cultural phenomenon which was released in February 2018 after much hype. It would eventually gross over $700 million domestically becoming the top film of 2018 and over 1.3 billion in international sales. Its popularity garnered discussion in the board room at Academy Awards of creating a new category "Best Popular Film " but was rescinded. At the awards show, it would be nominated for seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture ) and winning three.
8.MEGHAN MARKLE MARRIES PRINCE HARRY (2018)
In November 2017, Prince Harry and actress/Duchess Meghan Markle got engaged. The engagement sparked some racist backlash because Markle is a half-Black actress, a divorcee and three years older than the prince. The wedding was held in May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The wedding also was diverse in its selection of performers, speakers and musicians. Guests included Oprah Winfrey, Serena williams and Sir Elton John to name a few. It was estimated about 29 million in the United States saw the wedding on TV. The global audience was estimated hundreds of millions. In 2019, they welcomed a son, Archie (SEE TOP 2019 STORIES ABOVE).
7.NFL PLAYER COLIN KAEPERNICK TAKES A KNEE PROTESTING POLICE BRUTALITY (2016)
San Fransico 49ers' Colin Kaepernick, during one of his team's preliminary games in August of 2016, refused to stand during the singing of the National anthem by sitting down on the bench to protest the injustices of black people. The sitting then changed to taking a knee after much negative hoopla about it. His gesture caused waves with some of his teammates joining him and even local sporting arenas where players took knees to protest.
Kaepernick pledged to donate $1 million to communities for this cause. His gesture also was good business when his No. 7 jersey became the top selling jersey from No. 20 up to No. 1 at $99 a jersey.Later in the year he made the cover of Time Magazine. The years following, Kaepernick would sue the NFL for firing him, settled and tried to get scouts to re-sign him to the NFL but to no avail.
6.PRINCE DIES (2016)
The world mourned when one of the biggest superstars in music history died on April 21 from an overdose of fentanyl, at the age of 57. The GrammyAward winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was cremated soon after and his ashes were placed into a custom, 3D printed urn shaped like the Paisley Park estate. The urn was placed on display in the atrium of the Paisley Park complex in October 2016.
5.WHITNEY HOUSTON DIES (2012)
Another shocker in the music world occurred when Grammy award winning pop icon Whitney Houston died Feb 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel during Grammy Week, submerged in the bathtub. The cause of death was not immediately known; local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent". On March 22the Los it was reported that Houston's death was caused by drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use." A week later, The Homegoing Celebration of the singer was held Houston at New Hope Baptist Church in New Jersey, the church where she was raised. The Associated Press screened the funeral online and said it had nearly two million unique viewers.
4.OPRAH ENDS TALK SHOW AFTER 25 YEARS AND DEBUTS NEW NETWORK OWN (2011)
The Queen of Talk said farewell to her Emmy Award winning Daytime Talk Show in 2011 after 25 years on air in May of that year. During the final week, there was a big star studded taping of a farewell concerts that aired May 23 and 24 in two parts for Oprah at the United Center in Chicago. Those who bid her farewell (and were a surprise for the talk show host ) were Will Smith, Tom Hanks, Dr Maya Angelou, Beyonce, Usher, and Aretha Franklin among many. Meanwhile on On Jan 1, of that year she debuted her own network OWN that was formerly the Discovery Channel. The channel started off with failing ratings to the fledgling network but got its footing when she teamed with TV mogul Tyler Perry in 2012 who helped save her network debuting the highly rated drama series, "The Haves and The Have Nots."
3.COSBY RAPE ALLEGATIONS SURFACES (2017) AND IS CHARGED (2018)
Comedian Bill Cosby's rape allegations from several women spilled over from 2016 into the next year with a high-profile sexual assault trial in which Cosby faced off against one of his dozens of accusers. The trial ended in a mistrial on June 17 after a Pennsylvania jury was deadlocked , unable to come to a unanimous decision. The jury deliberated for six days before a judge announced the mistrial. In the middle of all of this, the defense asked for a mistrial, but the judge refused to grant one and told the jury to keep talking it out to try to reach a “guilty” or “not guilty” verdict. Cosby was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. He stood a retrial in spring 2018 when the judge sentenced him three to 10 years in Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. He was prosecuted in September. Cosby became the face of the "me too" movement where women came out to sexual assault from men, more specifically men of power. Soon after he filed an appeal of his convuiction but in December 2019, the Pennslvania court denied it.
2.THE QUEEN OF SOUL DIES (2018)
AND THE
NO. 1
TOP STORY
OF THE DECADE
WAS
1.KANYE WEST
The Decade wouldnt have been the same without the antics of the Grammy Award winning superstar rapper. Beyond his releasing several No 1 albums ("My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," "Watch the Throne" with Jay Z, "Life of Pablo," "Yeezus" and "Jesus is King.") He started off the decade in 2010 with a controversial photograph of he and a naked Lady Gaga being carried by a tattered West in a jungle setting, began his freestyle publicity tour visiting the headquarters of Twitter, Facebook and Rolling Stone, went onto Twitter and sent a PR strategized apology to Taylor Swift regarding the ‘09 VMA Awards upstaging incident (and later in the year recanted on Twitter saying Swift fed on the incident) , leaked a nude pic he sent via MySpace; MTV, BET and websites broadcast his directed 30 minute avante guard film for “Runway,” off of "Fantasy" and released the artwork for the five album covers for his release with one causing controversy and an eventual ban of a painting showing a sex act between a beast and a nude white girl.
In 2011, he debuted his own clothing line KW during Paris Fashion Week, getting sued by two artists on copyright infringement. In 2014, he married Kim Karshadian dubbing them KIMYE,,his infamous cover of with his wife couple on Vogue and Kanye’s bullying tactics with publisher/editor Anna Wintour to give the cover spot to his fiancee, his Yeezus tour had an actor to portray Jesus during one of his moments of his tour that caused controversy over the depiction, he started sporting Confederate flag jackets, got into an now infamous verbal fight with MTV news anchor and radio personality Sway on his SiriusXM station Shade 45.
In 2015, he announced on MTV Video Awards after receiving the Video Vanguard Award that he was running for President in 2020, he almost interrupts Beck's Album of Year acceptance speech at this year's Grammy Awards, his last minute fashion show during New York Fashion Week caused a stir of white blonde models wearing nude brown attire.
In 2018, West went on TMZ Live and generalized that 400 years slavery was a choice causing controversy and conversation,, he visited President Trump after the passing of the music modernization act and concluded with a 10 minute rant about his love for Trump while wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat and then followed with hugging Trump--then later denouncing him. In 2019, he changed up his image with religion, preaching his own sermons and releasiing his first gospel album (SEE TOP 2019 STORIES ABOVE).
And, thats just half of the things he has done over the last decade--just enough stuff for for him to get the TOP SPOT!
