03-24-2021 Daily Edition

George Segal, Leading Man of Lighthearted Comedies, Dies at 87

His long career stretched from 'Where's Poppa?', 'The Owl and the Pussycat' and 'A Touch of Class' to 'Just Shoot Me!' and 'The Goldbergs.'

Duane Byrge, Mike Barnes

George Segal, the engaging actor who during his 1970s prime generated great chemistry with his co-stars in such lighthearted classics as Where’s Poppa?, The Owl and the Pussycat, A Touch of Class, California Split and Fun With Dick and Jane, died Tuesday. He was 87.

Segal died of complications from bypass surgery, his wife, Sonia, announced. He died in Santa Rosa, California.

Although he was most associated with comedy and playing brainy, neurotic characters, Segal’s acting range was considerable.

His performance as a pusillanimous young professor in Mike Nichols‘ best picture nominee Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton landed him a supporting actor Oscar nomination. And in the war drama King Rat (1965), an adaptation of a James Clavell novel, he portrayed a conniving wheeler-dealer in a Japanese POW camp during World War II.

Segal, however, did comedy best. He starred for seven seasons (1997-2003) on the NBC workplace sitcom Just Shoot Me! as Jack Gallo, the roguish, many-times-married publisher who employs his journalist daughter (Laura San Giacomo) at his fashion magazine, Blush.

And starting in 2013, he was still going strong as Pops Solomon, a grandfather always on the lookout for the ladies, on ABC’s 1980s-set The Goldbergs.

“On behalf of everyone at The Goldbergs, we are devastated at the loss of our dear friend George,” a statement from the show said. “He was kind, sweet, beyond talented and funny. George was the true epitome of class, and he touched all of our lives so deeply. It was an honor and a privilege to have him as a colleague and friend all of these years. It is no surprise to any of us that knew him so well that he is a true national treasure.”

Fans got to appreciate just how delightful Segal could be from the many appearances he made on The Tonight Show, where he played the banjo and cracked up host Johnny Carson with his infectious high spirits. (He recorded a 1967 ragtime album titled The Yama Yama Man — Carson provided the liner notes — and performed for years with fellow actor Conrad Janis in the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.)

Segal’s single most hilarious moment in the movies could have come in the Carl Reiner dark comedy Where’s Poppa? (1970), when his character’s senile mother (Ruth Gordon) kisses his tush. “It was just another day at the office for me,” he told the Jewish Journal.

“I am saddened by the fact that my close friend and client of many years has passed away,” his longtime manager Abe Hoch said in a statement. “I will miss his warmth, humor, camaraderie and friendship. He was a wonderful human.”

During his remarkable 1970-80 run, Segal teamed up with leading ladies Eva Marie Saint in Loving (1970), Barbra Streisand in The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), Susan Anspach in Paul Mazursky’s Blume in Love (1973), Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class (1973), Goldie Hawn in The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), Jane Fonda in Fun With Dick and Jane (1977), Jacqueline Bisset in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) and Natalie Wood in The Last Married Couple in America (1980).

He also starred during the decade in the caper flick The Hot Rock (1972), in the sci-fi thriller The Terminal Man (1974), in Robert Altman‘s gambling film California Split (1974) and as Sam Spade Jr. in The Black Bird (1975).

The youngest of four children, George Segal Jr. was born Feb. 13, 1934, in Great Neck, New York. His father was a malt-and-hops agent and his mother, Fanny, a housewife. The family was Jewish but not religious, and he never received a bar mitzvah.

When he was 9, he saw Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire at the local movie house and decided to become an actor. “He was this guy with a trench coat and a gun, and Veronica Lake was nuts about him,” he recalled. “Something clicked in me that this was a job, and I wanted it.”

He attended the George School, a private Quaker boarding school, in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and then headed to Philadelphia-area Haverford College, where he was the banjo-playing leader of Bruno Lynch and His Imperial Jazz Band.

After he was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed on Staten Island, he got his bachelor’s degree in drama from Columbia University in 1955. His first job in the theater was janitor at the Circle in the Square.

He made his stage debut off-Broadway in 1956 in Moliere’s Don Juan, which featured Peter Falk, then appeared with Jason Robards in The Iceman Cometh and in 1959 in Leave It to Jane. For a brief spell, he was a member of the New York Shakespeare Festival Company.

In the early ’60s, with the solemnity of the Actors Studio tradition in vogue, Segal sidestepped The Method: “Everybody was so hung up there,” he said, “they were afraid to just act.” Instead, he co-founded a comedy improv revue, The Premise.

“I learned more about real motivation and how to improvise than I could have anywhere else,” he told Newsweek in 1970. While with The Premise, he was spotted by producer Larry Turman and signed for a small role in The Young Doctors (1961), then played a U.S. Army Ranger in The Longest Day (1962).

Segal ventured to Los Angeles in the summer of 1963 to do a TV series that never got off the ground. He ended up on episodes of such shows as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Channing and The Doctors and the Nurses.

His movie career took off in 1965 when he starred as that profiteering POW in King Rat. Nichols, with whom he had worked in The Knack off-Broadway, then offered him the role of Sandy Dennis’ husband, Nick, in Virginia Woolf after Robert Redford turned down the part. (Segal lost out on the Oscar to Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie.)

Segal then portrayed an unsavory personality who cloaks himself in the sympathetic guise of a Nazi hunter in Michael Anderson’s The Quiller Memorandum (1966).

He got an early chance to be funny when he played a New York detective with mommy issues in No Way to Treat a Lady (1968). The wife of director Jack Smight had spotted him cracking jokes on a talk show and thought he would be great for the part.

In 1979, Segal pulled out of the male lead in 10 (Dudley Moore took over) and was sued by producer-director Blake Edwards, who received a reported $270,000 in the settlement. That would foreshadow a career dry spell for the actor.

“Most of us get about 10 years at best [at the top],” Segal told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. “As you get into playing father roles, the parts dry up because — I don’t mean to say it’s a sex thing — but you have that testosterone vitality. Then slowly you move into another category, and there ain’t as many jobs there.”

In 1988, Segal got the lead on ABC’s Murphy’s Law, playing an insurance fraud investigator, but the show lasted just 13 episodes. He played a married businessman who impregnates an accountant (Kirstie Alley) and then dumps her in Look Who’s Talking (1989).

He began a comeback of sorts as Jeff Bridges’ best friend in Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces and as Mary Tyler Moore’s husband in David O. Russell’s Flirting With Disaster, both released in 1996. He began his long run on Steve Levitan’s Just Shoot Me! a year later.

After a guest-starring stint as talent manager Murray Berenson on HBO’s Entourage and two seasons on TV Land’s Retired at 35, Segal joined Adam Goldberg’s The Goldbergs.

“This was on the table, they sent it to me, and I laughed out loud, which is very rare. I really haven’t done that since I read the pilot of Just Shoot Me!,” he told The A.V. Club in 2013. “It’s very rare that an actor laughs out loud. So that caught my attention right away, and then an interview led from this to that and … ah, it’s mystical to me.

“I don’t ever know how it happens. Sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time, sometimes you’re just the guy they want. It’s impossible to explain. This is a real gambler’s business, acting. It’s a crapshoot, and you keep stepping up to the table and hope that your number comes up. Or it’s like being a used car in a used car lot. You’re just waiting for somebody to come over and kick your tires. You’ve got to be crazy to do this.”

Segal was married three times: to film editor Marion Sobel from 1956 until their 1983 divorce; to music manager Linda Rogoff (they met at Carnegie Hall when his band was opening for Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme) from 1983 until her death from aplastic anemia in 1996; and to Sonia Schultz Greenbaum, his high school sweetheart, since 1996.

Survivors also include his daughters, Polly and Elizabeth; stepchildren David, Matthew and Samantha; and grandchildren Lucas, Jacob and Max. Donations in his memory may be made to Planned Parenthood.

‘Shazam!’ Sequel Enlists Helen Mirren as Villain

The Oscar-winning actor will play Hespera.

Aaron Couch, Borys Kit

Shazam! Fury of the Gods - Helen Mirren Announcement — Courtesy of Trevor Leighton

Helen Mirren is joining the DC Extended Universe for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Mirren will play the villain Hespera, the daughter of Atlas, in the sequel to 2019’s Shazam! from New Line and Warner Bros.

Mirren joins fellow franchise newcomer Rachel Zegler, the star of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story. Sources say Mirren and Zegler will play sisters who both may or may not be of ill intent. The Shazam! sequel once again stars Zachary Levi as the adult version of teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who transforms into a superhero.

David F. Sandberg returns to direct from a script by Henry Gayden, with Peter Safran producing through The Safran Company. The first Shazam! opened in April 2019 and earned $366 million globally. In addition to Fury of the Gods, New Line is developing Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson as the classic Shazam! antagonist.

Mirren has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one for 2006’s The Queen. She has also delved into franchise filmmaking before with the comic book series RED 2 as well as The Fast and Furious franchise, in which she plays the mother to Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw. Coming up, she will reprise that role for Universal’s F9, and also stars in the upcoming Amazon anthology series Solos.

Miren is repped by CAA.

‘Black Widow’ to Hit Disney+ Premier Access and Theaters Simultaneously

Disney has also decided to give 'Cruella' a dual release, underscoring the company's aggressive foray into streaming and premium VOD.

Pamela McClintock, Aaron Couch

In its biggest pandemic-related streaming move yet, Disney has opted to make Marvel Studios’ Black Widow available on Disney+ Premier Access at the same time it hits theaters. Ditto for Cruella, another big-budget tentpole.

Black Widow is now slated for July 9, moving back from its previous May 7 date. It will be available to Disney+ subscribers for an additional $30. The studio previously released Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon for $30 through the Premier Access tier.

Disney also announced that Cruella, starring Emma Stone, will debut day and date in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on May 28. Meanwhile, the animated film Luca will skip theaters entirely and hit Disney+ June 18.

The bold moves underscore the company’s aggressive foray into streaming and premium VOD. In recent days, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek has made it clear that the old rules regarding how movies are distributed in theaters and in the home are gone.

“Today’s announcement reflects our focus on providing consumer choice and serving the evolving preferences of audiences. By leveraging a flexible distribution strategy in a dynamic marketplace that is beginning to recover from the global pandemic, we will continue to employ the best options to deliver The Walt Disney Company’s unparalleled storytelling to fans and families around the world,” said Kareem Daniel, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution chairman.

Disney hasn’t released any Premier Access numbers for Raya or Mulan, but it’s clear they generated enough business for the company to keep experimenting. A number of major circuits — including Cinemark in the U.S. — refused to carry Raya because they wanted more generous terms in exchange for the film playing day-and-date. It remains to be seen whether that pattern repeats itself with Black Widow and Cruella.

Tuesday’s announcement is no doubt a blow for exhibitors who are reopening their cinemas in such major markets as Los Angeles and New York City. A box office recovery in the short term will depend upon big titles being available.

On Tuesday, Disney also shifted dates for a number of titles, including Marvel’s Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which now opens Sept. 3 and moves back from its previous July 9 date.

Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy now hits three months later on Aug. 13, Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man moves back four months to Dec. 22, Adrian Lyne’s Deep Water moves to Jan. 14, 2022, and Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile shifts back five months to Feb. 11, 2022.

Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, was first set to hit the big screen May 1, 2020. It was delayed several more times before landing on its current date. Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow is set after Captain America: Civil War (2016) and finds Romanoff on the run. Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winston and Rachel Weisz also star.

The move comes as Marvel Studios has enjoyed critical success on Disney+, with its first series WandaVision earning strong reviews and its latest show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, premiering last week to what Disney touted as the streaming service’s biggest audience for a series premiere.

Halle Berry Joins Mark Wahlberg in ‘Our Man From Jersey’ for Netflix

The project is described as a "blue-collar James Bond."

Halle Berry will join Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix action-thriller Our Man From Jersey.

The project — described as a “blue-collar James Bond” — was written by David Guggenheim (Safe House, Designated Survivor). A director has yet to be attached.

Wahlberg, who worked with the streamer on action-thriller Spenser Confidential, will produce with Stephen Levinson.

Netflix will also work with Berry on her directorial debut Bruised, having acquired the movie out of TIFF. The Oscar winner, repped by WME, was most recently seen in the third John Wick film and will next be seen in Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall.

Sherri Shepherd to Star in ABC Comedy ‘Black Don’t Crack’

The '30 Rock' and 'The View' alum will play one of the leads in the pilot, which counts Viola Davis and Larry Wilmore among its EPs.

Rick Porter, Lesley Goldberg

Sherri Shepherd-ABC pilot Announcement — Courtesy of Lateasha Boone

Sherri Shepherd is headed back to ABC.

The former co-host of The View and 30 Rock alum will star in a comedy pilot at the network called Black Don’t Crack (formerly the untitled Regina Hicks pilot). The multicamera show comes from Insecure and The L Word: Generation Q writer and producer Hicks and counts Viola Davis and Larry Wilmore among its executive producers.

Kelly Park (ABC’s Call Your Mother, Netflix’s Country Comfort) has also signed on to direct the pilot.

Black Don’t Crack revolves around three sorority sisters who lost touch after college and reunite at a pivotal moment in their lives. Shepherd, who will also be a producer, will play Angela Wright, a single mom who put aside musical dreams to raise her son after the death of her husband. When she’s confronted with a personal crisis, she reunites with her sorority sisters in hopes of recapturing the passion, ambition and sisterhood of their glory days.

Shepherd currently recurs on Call Your Mother, which is midway through its first season on ABC. Other recent credits include Netflix’s Mr. Iglesias, NBC’s Trial & Error and Fox’s The Masked Singer. She’s repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, ICM Partners and attorney John V. Meigs Jr.

Hicks executive produces Black Don’t Crack with Davis and Julius Tennon (via their JuVee Productions), Wilmore and Andrew Wang. ABC Signature is producing.

Demi Lovato Breaks Silence on Overdose in Docuseries Premiere: “I Don’t Think People Realize How Bad It Actually Was”

In her new YouTube Originals docuseries 'Dancing With the Devil,' the singer opens up about what led to the tragic day that left her minutes away from death.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil.]

“I’ve had so much to say over the past two years of wanting to set the record straight about what it was that happened,” Demi Lovato says at the start of her new YouTube Originals docuseries, Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil.

In the four-part series, which premieres Tuesday — it also served as South by Southwest’s opening night headliner during its first-ever virtual fest — the singer breaks her silence on the events that led to her near-fatal 2018 overdose.

Prior to the overdose, Lovato had been in the middle of her Tell Me You Love Me tour and filming a documentary that has since been shelved. However, Lovato notes, in that documentary she was only allowing the cameras to see “the tip of the iceberg. … I wasn’t showing them what I was doing behind closed doors.” (Though that project was never finished, Dancing With the Devil repurposes footage from it to further provide context to Lovato’s story.)

The 2018 tragedy led Lovato to suffer a heart attack and three strokes and embark on a fight for her life: “My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes [to live].”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dancing With the Devil helmer Michael D. Ratner, whose OBB Media produced the project, teased that whatever audiences think happened the night of her overdose and prior “is probably pretty far from what really did.” Added Ratner: “What hasn’t been documented is the details of her life that led to that night. … We provide that opportunity for you to have a whole picture here.”

And now all will be revealed in the first two episodes of the docuseries as Lovato breaks down the moment she relapsed, what led to that night and the frightening aftermath in the hospital.

Below, THR takes a look at the takeaways from the first two episodes of Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil.

“Estranged Relationship” With Her Father

Ratner tells THR that it’s worth noting of Lovato’s story that her “decision-making of that night” started “many years” prior. To offer a complete picture of her life and the events that shaped her, Lovato speaks in-depth about the struggles she witnessed both her father and mother face.

Though Lovato has been open in the past about losing her father to addiction, in the series she speaks about him at length, explaining, “Growing up my whole life, I longed for that relationship with him, and then I resented him because he was an addict and an alcoholic and was abusive to my mom.” Lovato eventually cut her father out of her life because “it was causing more harm than good.” Though she lost her father years ago, Lovato admits his death is “complicated” because, to this day, the family doesn’t know the exact day that he died. “By the time he was found, his body was too decomposed to have an open casket. He had been laying there, I think, for about a week and a half before anybody found him — and during that was Father’s Day,” she says. “Every summer now that rolls around, I spend it thinking, ‘Was today the day that my dad died?'” Lovato also expresses how his death led to her feeling guilt for being a mental health advocate: “Yet, here was my father, who had bipolar [disorder] and schizophrenia and then, on top of that, the disease of addiction, and I hadn’t helped him the way that I would’ve helped other people or the way that I have been preaching about.”

In regards to her mother’s history, Lovato shares that her mother dealt with substance abuse and an eating disorder. “So I didn’t know any different. Then I was put in beauty pageants where it’s extremely competitive and it’s all about your looks and your talent. My self-esteem was just completely damaged,” Lovato says, recalling a pact she would make with herself that if she didn’t win a pageant then she would “never eat again.”

Enduring Overwhelming Control From Her Team

During a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Lovato explained that she wanted to “set the record straight” in the series as a way of proving that many can learn from “role models” who “have overcome their deepest, darkest struggles.” However, in the series, Lovato speaks in great detail about the pressures she originally faced from her team to be a role model for her fans, which eventually took a toll on her mentally and physically. Lovato explains that she previously had a team that consisted of assistants, a wellness coach, dietician, nutritionist and therapist, all of whom would help monitor her and ensure she wouldn’t relapse. It’s also revealed that anyone around Lovato had to be drug tested, and she wasn’t allowed to hang around anyone who wasn’t sober. Her former assistant Jordan Jackson admitted that there was one night she had to spend the night with Lovato because the singer simply ate a cookie. With so much monitoring and restriction, Lovato says she started relapsing in her eating disorder, as she consistently overexercised and was extreme dieting: “I feel like decisions have been made for me more so than I have made decisions for myself.” In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Lovato further divulged that she also was not in control of her finances, and every time she was in a hotel room, the phone was removed so she couldn’t order room service.

In unreleased footage from her shelved documentary, Lovato can be seen having an emotional conversation regarding sketches of her tour costumes. “There’s just so much pressure as a female in the industry to look a certain way and to dress a certain way and that shit is the stuff that I used to look up to. That shit’s, like, really triggering,” she says on the verge of tears.

Lovato’s friends and family also speak about the restrictions she faced. Lovato’s former choreographer and creative director Dani Vitale says, “I feel like I was always walking on eggshells no matter what. What I was eating around who, what we had in our dressing room, what kind of food.” Meanwhile, Lovato’s sister Dallas Lovato explains, “It was hammered into her head: ‘You have to be sober. You have to be this icon, this role model’ that my sister never claimed to want to be in the first place.” In footage from her former documentary, Lovato’s friend and former sober companion Sirah added that the singer almost became like “a martyr in a way that is so isolating. … I think that to be the poster child of perfection and mental health and all these kind of things is such a dangerous slippery slope.”

“I’ve spent more time trying to please other people the past several years of my life than I have really trying to make it what I want,” Lovato says. “I was miserable and I, like, snapped.” She later points out that “six years is a long time to be told that if you slip up you’re going to die. And at some point, enough just becomes enough.”

Relapsing

Growing miserable while under restrictions and pressures, Lovato recalls being at a photoshoot and having the thought, “I don’t even know why I’m sober anymore.” That same night, Lovato admits, she drank a bottle of red wine then contacted someone who had drugs on them. “I’m surprised I didn’t OD that night,” Lovato says, sharing that while attending a party, she reunited with her former drug dealer from six years prior. “I just went to town. I went on a shopping spree,” she says. That night she experimented with drugs she had never tried before including meth, which she admits she mixed with ecstasy/molly, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and oxycodone. “That alone should’ve killed me,” she says. Weeks later, Lovato says she was introduced to heroin when her drug dealer only had that instead of her usual “cocktail” of “coke and Xanax” (she explains that she “loved the combination” of it being “an upper and downer”). “I started using recreationally, and obviously, you can’t do that with heroin before you become addicted to it,” she says.

Her friends Matthew Scott Montgomery and Sirah explain that they, along with her family, were not aware of the drug use, but there were “red flags.” Montgomery recalls driving over to Lovato’s house after she told him she decided to drink again. Expecting her to be in a bad condition, Montgomery says he surprisingly found her drinking and fine. Meanwhile, Sirah recalls that during a friend’s game night she found Lovato upstairs in the bathroom with tin foil and smoking. “She didn’t even notice I was there and I was horrified and devastated,” she says. She stayed there to make sure Lovato was OK then told Lovato the next day that she needed to seek help.

Lovato says it was during a trip to Bali that she realized she had become “physically dependent” on heroin. She would then write her 2018 song “Sober” in which she admits to her relapse and sings lyrics such as, “I’m sorry to myself” and “To the ones who never left me / We’ve been down this road before / I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore.”

She eventually went on her Tell Me You Love Me tour where she says she was drinking alcohol excessively. In footage from her shelved documentary, Lovato can be seen partying in a bar and demanding the bartender give her more alcohol. After returning to L.A., she says she began using heavily again: “None of my friends knew what I was using so I kept it very hidden from everyone. That is one thing that I was very good at, was hiding the fact that I was addicted to crack and heroin.”

“She can hide stuff really, really well,” Montgomery agrees, whereas her sister Madison says, “Demi is very good at hiding what she needs to hide.” “Demi’s good at making you believe that she’s OK,” Lovato’s stepfather Eddie De La Garza adds. Lovato notes that it was “unfair” to those around her at the time given how much she was “manipulating” everyone and “making sure they never found out” about her secret drug use.

The 2018 Overdose

After admitting to being dependent on heroin and secretly using hard drugs, Lovato chronicles the night of her near-fatal overdose. Lovato narrates that she was out celebrating a birthday with friends, all of whom were unaware of her recent relapse. In photographs from the night, Lovato can be seen posing at the bar past midnight. The group would eventually return to Lovato’s house for an afterparty, with Vitale saying she felt “comfortable” after Lovato offered everyone La Croix and they just danced on the roof and had fun.

“When I was leaving the house, I just felt a little odd,” Vitale says, recalling thinking that she felt she needed to stay for some reason but couldn’t explain why. Lovato says at 5:30 a.m. she told everyone she was going to bed, but instead, she called one of her dealers over.

Jackson, who found Lovato that morning, shared that she arrived at the singer’s house early because Lovato had wanted a doctor’s appointment. Jackson said she kept knocking on the door to Lovato’s room to no answer, which eventually led her to go inside. “It was really dark and cold in her room and I kind of got chills. Honestly, I thought that she was just drunk or hungover so I started to nudge her a little. … She wasn’t really moving. She was, like, drooling,” Jackson says, saying she immediately called Lovato’s head of security and chief of staff Max Lea.

“She was propped up, vomit everywhere, but she was on her back, which isn’t good,” Lea reveals, adding that he instructed security to put Lovato on her side and clear her throat. Jackson also recalls the frightening scene of watching paramedics use Narcan in an attempt to bring Lovato back to life: “There was one point where she turned blue. Her whole body completely turned blue.” Lovato’s parents, sisters and friends also emotionally recall receiving texts and phone calls about the news, unsure what had happened, followed by panic at the thought of Lovato not making it.

Recovering in the Hospital

The scene at the hospital grew more terrifying given Lovato’s condition. Lovato’s neurologist, Dr. Shouri Lahiri, says that Lovato’s oxygen levels were “dangerously low” at 70 percent. “It was like a horror movie,” Lovato’s mother, Dianna De La Garza, says. “They put her in ICU. She had a tube in her neck that was taking her blood into a machine, cleaning it and then putting it back into her neck.” After asking the doctor what would happen if the tube was accidentally pulled out, Lovato’s mother said she learned the tube was “sewn into her neck.”

“I don’t think people realize how bad it actually was. I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. I suffered brain damage from the strokes. I can’t drive anymore and I have blind spots in my vision,” Lovato says. “I also had pneumonia and multiple organ failure.”

Lovato recalls being surprised when she woke up because she hadn’t injected any drugs into her system that night, but rather smoked them. “I’m really lucky to be alive. My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes and had my assistant not come in, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Things grew more emotional when Lovato’s younger sister sat next to her in her hospital room, only to have her ask, “Who is that?” Lovato was “legally blind” when she woke up — Lahiri says that the areas of Lovato’s brain that were initially affected were her vision centers at the back of her brain.

Lovato has opened up in a previous interview that she sought treatment because her parents threatened that she couldn’t see her younger sister anymore until she got sober. With tears streaming down her face, Lovato admits it’s “ironic” and “in a weird way, poetic” that she literally could not see her sister when she woke up: “I think that God has a twisted sense of humor sometimes.”

More From the Night of the Overdose

“What people don’t realize about that night for me is I didn’t just overdose. I also was taken advantage of, ” Lovato says. The singer reveals that she learned that on that July morning, she was found naked and blue. “I was literally left for dead after he took advantage of me,” she says. “When I woke up in the hospital, they asked if I had had consensual sex.”

Though everything was a blur, Lovato admits she had a flash of memory of being with her dealer and told the doctors it was consensual. But a month after her overdose, Lovato had a moment of clarity. “I realized, ‘Hey, you weren’t in any state of mind to make a consensual decision.’ That kind of trauma doesn’t go away overnight and it doesn’t go away in the first few months of rehab either,” she recalls thinking. The docuseries also briefly aired haunting footage of her dealer leaving her house in the morning, a few hours before Lovato’s assistant found her. “All of the daddy issues I had growing up, now I was literally discarded and abandoned. That amplified all of my Dad stuff,” Lovato says, adding that it became clear all of her “past traumas came to a head that night.”

Looking back on the frightening night and surviving, Lovato says, “It was a nice reminder that it wasn’t my time.” Montgomery also shared that when the singer turned 28, they celebrated her surviving “the 27 club.” “She was where her father was, but she got through it.”

The first two episodes of Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil are available to stream now, with a new episode airing every Tuesday.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders, contact Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) by calling 1-800-622-HELP (4357). For People struggling with eating disorders can call the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Hotline at 1-800-931-2237. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

NAACP Image Awards: ‘Black-ish,’ Beyonce, ‘Soul’ Score Most Wins in Non-Televised Ceremonies

Other top winners from the five nights of virtual presentations ahead of Saturday's live show include Barack Obama, 'Insecure,' and the late Chadwick Boseman, who was honored for his role in 'Da 5 Bloods.'

Hilary Lewis, Kimberly Nordyke

Black-ish, Beyonce and Soul — ABC/Richard Cartwright; Kevin Winter/Getty Images;Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

The 2021 NAACP Image Awards has crowned winners in more than 60 categories via streaming presentations across five nights ahead of the awards’ live show on BET and CBS on Saturday night.

Going into the live show, Black-ish leads with five awards, winning in the categories of best actor (Anthony Anderson) and supporting actor (Deon Cole) and supporting actress (Marsai Martin) in a comedy series on Friday night, after picking up another two awards earlier in the week, one of which — best performance by a youth in a TV program — also went to Martin.

Other top winners, with four awards each, are Beyoncé, who dominated the music-focused Thursday night event, and Soul.

Other top winners from the virtual ceremonies include three-time winners Power Book II: Ghost and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, best comedy series winner Insecure and former president Barack Obama, whose memoir A Promised Land was named best nonfiction literary work during Monday night’s show. (Obama previously was named the recipient of the NAACP’s Chairman’s Award in 2005).

On Friday, the late Chadwick Boseman also won the first of two NAACP Image Awards for which he’s nominated, best supporting actor in a film for his role in Da 5 Bloods. The cast of Boseman’s more recent, final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, also won the award for best ensemble in a motion picture.

On Monday, the NAACP presented awards in a number of literary and documentary categories as well as two special awards for activist and youth activist of the year.

Among the winners were John Lewis: Good Trouble for best documentary (film) and The Last Dance for best documentary (TV — series or special).

In addition, Keith McQuirter won best directing for a documentary (TV or motion picture) for By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem, while Melissa Haizlip won best writing in a documentary (TV or motion picture) for Mr. SOUL!

On Tuesday, Night Two, several writing and directing awards were handed out, with females dominating the winners in those categories. Michaela Coel took home the award for best writing in a comedy series for I May Destroy You, Attica Locke nabbed the award for drama series writing for Little Fires Everywhere, and Geri Cole won best writing for a TV movie or special for The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special.

In the TV directing categories, Anya Adams won for her work on black-ish, Hanelle Culpepper won for the drama series Star Trek: Picard, and Eugene Ashe won for best directing for a TV movie or special for Sylvie’s Love.

On the film side, Radha Blank won best writing in a motion picture for The Forty-Year-Old Version, while Gina Prince-Bythewood took best directing honors for The Old Guard.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, #FreeRayshawn — which was part of the lineup on the now-defunct Quibi platform — took home two awards. The program was named best shortform series, comedy or drama, while star Laurence Fishburne took home the award for best performance in a shortform program. That role also earned him an Emmy last year. And Misty Copeland was presented with a Special Award, the Spingarn Medal.

On Wednesday night, Soul scooped up two awards: best animated movie and best character voice-over performance for star Jamie Foxx.

In addition, awards were handed out in a slew of TV categories. Among the winners were Red Table Talk, named best talk series; VERZUZ, best variety show (series or special); The New York Times Presents “The Killing of Breonna Taylor,” best news/information (series or special); and Family Reunion, best children’s program.

Trevor Noah was named best host in a talk or news/information (series or special) — individual or ensemble for The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, while P-Valley’s Loretta Devine won the award for best guest performance in a comedy or drama series.

Two shows nabbed two awards each: Celebrity Family Feud won best reality program/reality competition or game show and Steve Harvey was named best host for a best reality program/reality competition, game show of variety (series or special) — individual or ensemble. And Doc McStuffins won best animated series as well as best character voice-over performance (TV) for Laya DeLeon Hayes.

In addition, Toni Vaz, who created the NAACP Image Awards, was honored with the Founder’s Award.

On Thursday night, Soul picked up two more awards for its soundtrack by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste and Tom MacDougall and for Batiste’s Music From and Inspired by Soul, which won best instrumental jazz album.

That night’s presentation, which mostly consisted of awards in music categories, saw Beyoncé collect four awards, two of which were for her “Savage” collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, less than two weeks after the pair took home multiple awards at the Grammys. As with the Grammys, Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” won for best music video, with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter also sharing in the award. Chloe x Halle won two awards: best soul/R&B song for “Do It” and best duo, group or collaboration (traditional) for “Wonder What She Thinks of Me.”

Drake won best male artist, with Doja Cat taking best new artist honors and Beyoncé winning best female artist. Best album went to Jhené Aiko’s Chilombo, after she was shut out at this year’s Grammys.

Also on Friday night, Jingle Jangle, which went into the awards with a leading 10 nominations, won two awards: best supporting actress in a film (Phylicia Rashad) and breakthrough performance (Madalen Mills). The Banker was named best independent film.

Stephen Curry also won a special sports award.

Awards in the remaining categories will be presented during the NAACP Image Awards’ live show, which will air on BET and across ViacomCBS’ networks including CBS, VH1 and MTV on Saturday, March 27 at 8 p.m.

Presenters for the virtual ceremonies included the cast of BET’s Bigger (Tanisha Long, Angell Conwell, Rasheda Crockett, Tristen J. Winger, and Chase Anthony,) CeCe Winans, Damson Idris, Daymond John, Javicia Leslie, JB Smoove, Leslie Jones, Madalen Mills, MAJOR., Marcus Scribner, Method Man, Nicole Beharie, Retta, Reno Wilson, Susan Kelechi Watson, Tamar Braxton and Terrence Terrell.

The NAACP Image Awards recognizes the achievements of people of color in TV, music, literature and film and those who promote social justice through creative endeavors.

A complete list of the awards handed out during the non-televised virtual ceremonies follows.

NIGHT FIVE: Friday, March 26, 2021

Outstanding Comedy Series
Insecure (HBO) (WINNER)
#blackAF (Netflix)
Black-ish (ABC)
grown-ish (Freeform)
The Last O.G. (TBS)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson – Black-ish (ABC) (WINNER)
Cedric The Entertainer – The Neighborhood (CBS)
Don Cheadle – Black Monday (Showtime)
Idris Elba – In the Long Run (Starz)
Tracy Morgan – The Last O.G. (TBS)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Deon Cole – Black-ish (ABC) (WINNER)
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
Jay Ellis – Insecure (HBO)
Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Laurence Fishburne – Black-ish (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Marsai Martin – Black-ish (ABC) (WINNER)
Jenifer Lewis – Black-ish (ABC)
Natasha Rothwell – Insecure (HBO)
Tichina Arnold – The Neighborhood (CBS)
Yvonne Orji – Insecure (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series
Power Book II: Ghost (Starz) (WINNER)
All Rise (CBS)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
Lovecraft Country (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Clifford “Method Man” Smith – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz) (WINNER)
Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
J. Alphonse Nicholson – P-Valley (Starz)
Jeffrey Wright – Westworld (HBO)
Michael Kenneth Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Mary J. Blige – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz) (WINNER)
Adjoa Andoh – Bridgerton (Netflix)
Aunjanue Ellis – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Lynn Whitfield – Greenleaf (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Susan Kelechi Watson – This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix) (WINNER)
Hamilton (Disney+)
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Blair Underwood – Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix) (WINNER)
Chris Rock – Fargo (FX)
Daveed Diggs – Hamilton (Disney+)
Leslie Odom, Jr. – Hamilton (Disney+)
Nnamdi Asomugha – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Octavia Spencer – Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix) (WINNER)
Aunjanue Ellis – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You (HBO)
Tessa Thompson – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix) (WINNER)
Aldis Hodge – One Night In Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Clarke Peters – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Colman Domingo – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Glynn Turman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Phylicia Rashad – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix) (WINNER)
Anika Noni Rose – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
Gabourey Sidibe – Antebellum (Lionsgate)
Nia Long – The Banker (Apple)
Taylour Paige – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
The Banker (Apple) (WINNER)
Emperor (Universal Home Video)
Farewell Amor (IFC Films)
Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)
The 24th (Vertical Entertainment)

Outstanding International Motion Picture
Night of the Kings (Neon) (WINNER)
Ainu Mosir (ARRAY)
His House (Netflix)
The Last Tree (ArtMattan Productions)
The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a se) (Netflix)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture
Madalen Mills – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix) (WINNER)
Dayo Okeniyi – Emperor (Universal Home Video)
Dominique Fishback – Project Power (Netflix)
Jahi Di’Allo Winston – Charm City Kings (HBO Max)
Jahzir Bruno – The Witches (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) (WINNER)
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Banker (Apple)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)
Nadia Hallgren – Becoming (A Higher Ground Productions and Big Mouth Productions Film for Netflix) (WINNER)
Loira Limbal – Through the Night (Third Shift Media, Inc.)
Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Shoes In The Bed Productions)
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Remi Weekes – His House (Netflix)

NIGHT FOUR: Thursday, March 25, 2021

Outstanding New Artist
Doja Cat – Say So (RCA Records/Kemosabe) (WINNER)
Chika – High Rises (Warner Records)
D Smoke – Black Habits (WoodWorks Records / EMPIRE)
Giveon – When It’s All Said And Done (Epic Records)
Skip Marley – Higher Place (Island Records/ Tuff Gong Records)

Outstanding Male Artist
Drake – Laugh Now, Cry Later (Republic Records) (WINNER)
Big Sean – Detroit 2 (Def Jam Recordings/G.O.O.D Music)
Black Thought – Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able (Republic Records)
Charlie Wilson – All of My Love (P Music Group/BMG)
John Legend – Bigger Love (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Female Artist
Beyoncé – Black Parade (Columbia Record/ Parkwood) (WINNER)
H.E.R. – I Can’t Breathe (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
Jazmine Sullivan – Lost One (RCA Records)
Ledisi – Anything For You (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
Alicia Keys – Alicia (RCA Records)

Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album
Brown Skin Girl – Beyonce‘ feat WizKid, SAINt JHN, Blu Ivy Carter (Columbia Record/ Parkwood) (WINNER)
I Can’t Breathe – H.E.R. (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
Anything For You – Ledisi (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
Black is King – Beyonce´ (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
Do It – Chloe x Halle (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)

Outstanding Album
Chilombo – Jhené Aiko (Def Jam Recordings) (WINNER)
Alicia – Alicia Keys (RCA Records)
b7 – Brandy (Brand Nu/eOne)
Bigger Love – John Legend (Columbia Records)
The Wild Card – LEDISI (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)

Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
Soul Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste and Tom MacDougall (Walt Disney Records) (WINNER)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Music from the Netflix Film) – Branford Marsalis (Milan)
Insecure: Music from the HBO Original Series – Various Artists (Atlantic Records)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey – Various Artists (Atlantic Records )
The First Ladies of Gospel: The Clark Sisters Biopic Soundtrack – Donald Lawrence (Relevé Entertainment)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album
The Return – The Clark Sisters (Karew/Motown) (WINNER)
Chosen Vessel – Marvin Sapp (RCA Inspiration)
Gospel According to PJ – PJ Morton (Morton Inspiration / Tyscot Records)
I Am – Koryn Hawthorne (RCA Inspiration)
Kierra – Kierra Sheard (Karew/RCA Inspiration)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song
Touch from You – Tamela Mann (TillyMann Inc.) (WINNER)
All in His Plan – PJ Morton (Morton Inspiration / Tyscot Records)
Never Lost – CeCe Winans (Pure Springs Gospel)
Something Has To Break – Kierra Sheard feat. Tasha Cobbs-Leonard (Karew/RCA Inspiration)
Strong God – Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul/RCA Records)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental
Music From and Inspired By Soul – Jon Batiste (Walt Disney Records) (WINNER)
Be Water – Christian Sands (Mack Avenue Music Group)
Omega – Immanuel Wilkins (Blue Note Records)
Reciprocity – George Burton (Inner Circle Music)
The Iconoclast – Barry Stephenson (Independent)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal
Holy Room – Live at Alte Oper – Somi (Salon Africana) (WINNER)
Donny Duke and Wonder – Nathan Mitchell (ENM Music Group)
Pulling Off The Covers – Mike Phillips (Sono Recording Group)
Stronger – Jeff Bradshaw (Bone Deep Enterprises)
The Eddy (From The Netflix Original Series) – The Eddy (Arista Records)

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song
Do It – Chloe x Halle (Columbia Record/ Parkwood) (WINNER)
I Can’t Breathe – H.E.R. (RCA Records/MBK Entertainment)
Anything For You – LEDISI (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)
B.S. feat. H.E.R – Jhené Aiko (Def Jam Recordings)
Black Parade – Beyonce’ (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)

Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song
Savage Remix – Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé (300 Entertainment / 1501 Certified Ent. LLC) (WINNER)
Deep Reverence feat. Nipsey Hussle – Big Sean (Brand Nu/eOne)
Cool Off – Missy Elliott (Atlantic Records)
Laugh Now, Cry Later – Drake (Republic Records)
Life Is Good – Future & Drake (Epic Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)
Chloe x Halle – Wonder What She Thinks Of Me (Columbia Record/ Parkwood) (WINNER)
Alicia Keys feat. Jill Scott – Jill Scott (RCA Records)
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Babyface – He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It (BMG)
Kem feat. Toni Braxton – Live Out Your Love (Motown Records)
Ledisi and PJ Morton – Anything For You (Listen Back Entertainment/BMG)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary)
Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé – Savage Remix (300 Entertainment / 1501 Certified Ent. LLC) (WINNER)
Alicia Keys feat. Khalid – So Done (RCA Records)
Big Sean feat. Nipsey Hussle – Deep Reverence (Def Jam Recordings/G.O.O.D Music)
Chloe x Halle – Do It (Columbia Record/ Parkwood)
Jhené Aiko feat. H.E.R. – B.S. (Def Jam Recordings)

Outstanding International Song
Lockdown – Original Koffee (Promise Land Recordings) (WINNER)
Blessed – Buju Banton (Roc Nation Records)
Pressure (Remix) – Original Koffee feat. Buju Banton (Promise Land Recordings)
Tanana – Davido feat. Tiwa Savage (RCA Records/Sony Music U.K./Davido Worldwide Entertainment)
Temptation – Tiwa Savage (Motown Records)

Outstanding Producer of the Year
Hit-Boy (WINNER)
Donald Lawrence
Jathan Wilson
Sean Keys
TM88

NIGHT THREE: Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Outstanding Talk Series
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch) (WINNER)
Tamron Hall (Syndicated )
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
The Oprah Conversation (Apple TV+)
The Shop: Uninterrupted (HBO)

Outstanding Reality Program/Reality Competition or Game Show
Celebrity Family Feud (ABC) (WINNER)
Iyanla: Fix My Life (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Shark Tank (ABC)
United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
Voices of Fire (Netflix)

Outstanding Variety Show (Series or Special)
VERZUZ (APPLE TV) (WINNER)
8:46 (Netflix)
Black Is King (Disney+)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion (HBO Max)
Yvonne Orji: Momma I Made It! (HBO)

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)
The New York Times Presents “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” (FX) (WINNER)
AM Joy: Remembering John Lewis Special (MSNBC)
Desus & Mero: The Obama Interview (Showtime)
The Color of Covid (CNN)
The Reidout (NBC)

Outstanding Children’s Program
Family Reunion (Netflix) (WINNER)
Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices (Netflix)
Craig of the Creek (Cartoon Network)
Raven’s Home (Disney Channel)
We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series)
Marsai Martin – Black-ish (ABC) (WINNER)
Alex R. Hibbert – The Chi (Showtime)
Lexi Underwood – Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Lyric Ross – This Is Us (NBC)
Miles Brown – Black-ish (ABC)

Outstanding Animated Series
Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior) (WINNER)
Big Mouth (Netflix)
Central Park (Apple TV+)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture
Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) (WINNER)
Onward (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Over the Moon (Netflix)
Scoob! (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Trolls World Tour (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)
Laya DeLeon Hayes – Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior) (WINNER)
Aisha Tyler – Archer (FX)
Courtney B. Vance – Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (PBS)
Dawnn Lewis – Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)
Deon Cole – Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Motion Picture
Jamie Foxx – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) (WINNER)
Ahmir-Khalib Thompson aka Questlove – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Angela Bassett – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Chris Rock – The Witches (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Phylicia Rashad – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble
Trevor Noah – The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) (WINNER)
Don Lemon – CNN Tonight with Don Lemon (CNN)
Jada Pinkett Smith – Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
Joy Reid – The Reidout (NBC)
LeBron James – The Shop: Uninterrupted (HBO)

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble
Steve Harvey – Celebrity Family Feud (ABC) (WINNER)
Alfonso Ribeiro – America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
Iyanla Vanzant – Iyanla: Fix My Life (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
W. Kamau Bell – United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

Outstanding Guest Performance – Comedy or Drama Series
Loretta Devine – P-Valley (Starz) (WINNER)
Chris Rock – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Courtney B. Vance – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Dave Chappelle – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Issa Rae – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)
Raynelle Swilling – Cherish the Day (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network) (WINNER)
Katori Hall – P-Valley (Starz)
Keith Knight – Woke (Hulu)
Ramy Youssef – Ramy (Hulu)
Teri Schaffer – Cherish the Day (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Special Award- Founder’s
Toni Vaz

NIGHT TWO: Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO) (WINNER)
Issa Rae – Insecure – “Lowkey Feelin’ Myself” (HBO)
Lee Eisenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon – Little America – “The Rock” (Apple TV+)
Mindy Kaling, Lang Fisher – Never Have I Ever “Pilot” (Netflix)
Rajiv Joseph – Little America – “The Manager” (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Attica Locke – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Spider Web” (Hulu) (WINNER)
Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard – The Good Lord Bird – “A Wicked Plot” (Showtime)
Jessica Lamour – Little Voice – “Love Hurts” (Apple TV+)
Katori Hall – P-Valley – “Perpetratin'” (Starz)
Tanya Barfield – Mrs. America – “Shirley” (FX)

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Geri Cole – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max) (WINNER)
Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, D. Rodney Carter, Emily Goldwyn, Rob Haze, Zuri Salahuddin, Bennett Webber, Evan Williams, Will Miles – Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular (IFC)
Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton (Disney+)
Sylvia L. Jones, Camille Tucker – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix) (WINNER)
David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, Mike Jones – Soul (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Anya Adams – Black-ish – “Hair Day” (ABC) (WINNER)
Aurora Guerrero – Little America – “The Jaguar” (Apple TV+)
Eric Dean Seaton – Black-ish – “Our Wedding Dre” (ABC)
Kabir Akhtar – Never Have I Ever – “… started a nuclear war” (Netflix)
Sam Miller, Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You – “Ego Death” (HBO)

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Hanelle Culpepper – Star Trek: Picard – “Remembrance” (CBS All Access) (WINNER)
Cheryl Dunye – Lovecraft Country – “Strange Case” (HBO)
Misha Green – Lovecraft Country – “Jig-a-Bobo” (HBO)
Nzingha Stewart – Little Fires Everywhere – “The Uncanny” (Hulu)
Steve McQueen – Small Axe – “Mangrove” (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special
Eugene Ashe – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios) (WINNER)
Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Emmanuel Adeji, Blitz Bazawule, Kwasi Fordjour – Black Is King (Disney+)
Christine Swanson – The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
Chuck Vinson, Alan Muraoka – The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)
Kamilah Forbes – Between The World And Me (HBO)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Old Guard (Netflix) (WINNER)
David E. Talbert – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Regina King – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Short-Form Series – Comedy or Drama
#FreeRayshawn (Quibi) (WINNER)
CripTales (BBC America)
Lazor Wulf (Adult Swim)
Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
Sincerely, Camille (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Outstanding Performance in a Short-Form Series
Laurence Fishburne – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi) (WINNER)
Giancarlo Esposito – The Broken and the Bad (AMC.com)
J.B. Smoove – Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
Jasmine Cephas Jones – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)
Stephan James – #FreeRayshawn (Quibi)

Outstanding Short-Form Series – Reality/Nonfiction
Between The Scenes – The Daily Show (Comedy Central) (WINNER)
American Masters – Unladylike2020 (PBS)
Benedict Men (Quibi)
In The Making (PBS)
Inspire Change Series (NFL Network)

Outstanding Short-Form. (Live Action)
Black Boy Joy (Film Independent Project Involve ) (WINNER)
Baldwin Beauty (Powderkeg Media)
Gets Good Light
Home
Mr. & Mrs. Ellis (AMB Productions)

Outstanding Short-Form (Animated)
Canvas (Netflix) (WINNER)
Cops and Robbers (Netflix)
Loop (Pixar Animation Studios)
The Power of Hope (The Power Of Hope)
Windup (Unity Technologies)

Special Award – Spingarn Medal
Misty Copeland

NIGHT ONE: Monday, March 22, 2021

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
The Awkward Black Man – Walter Mosley (Grove Atlantic) (WINNER)
Black Bottom Saints – Alice Randall (HarperCollins Publishers)
Lakewood – Megan Giddings (HarperCollins Publishers)
Riot Baby – Tochi Onyebuchi (TorDotCom Publishing, imprint of Tom Doherty Associates)
The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (Riverhead Books)

Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
A Promised Land – Barack Obama (Crown) (WINNER)
A Black Women’s History of the United States – Dr. Daina Ramey Berry and Dr. Kali Nicole Gross (Beacon Press)
Driving While Black – Gretchen Sorin (W. W. Norton & Company)
Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America – Michael Eric Dyson (St. Martin’s Press)
We’re Better Than This – Elijah Cummings (HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
We’re Better Than This – Elijah Cummings (HarperCollins Publishers) (WINNER)
A Knock at Midnight – Brittany Barnett (Penguin Random House)
Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World – Cole Brown (Skyhorse)
Lakewood – Megan Giddings (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Compton Cowboys – Walter Thompson-Hernandez (HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
The Dead Are Arising – Les Payne, Tamara Payne (W. W. Norton & Company) (WINNER)
A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team – Arshay Cooper (Macmillan)
A Promised Land – Barack Obama (Crown)
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice – Deborah Draper (Simon & Schuster)
Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL’s First Black Player – Willie O’Ree (Penguin Canada)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
Vegetable Kingdom – Bryant Terry (Penguin Random House) (WINNER)
Do Right by Me: Learning to Raise Black Children in White Space – Valerie Harrison (Temple University Press)
Living Lively – Haile Thomas (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Black Foster Youth Handbook – Ángela Quijada-Banks (Soulful Liberation)
The Woman God Created You to Be: Finding Success Through Faith–Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally – Kimberla Lawson Roby (Lenox Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
The Age of Phillis – Honorée Jeffers (Wesleyan University Press) (WINNER)
Homie – Danez Smith (Graywolf Press)
Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry – John Murillo (Four Way Books)
Seeing the Body – Rachel Eliza Griffiths (W. W. Norton & Company)
Un-American – Hafizah Geter (Wesleyan University Press)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children
She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm – Katheryn Russell-Brown, Eric Velasquez (Lee & Low Books) (WINNER)
I Promise – LeBron James, Nina Mata (HarperCollins)
Just Like a Mama – Alice Faye Duncan, Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Simon & Schuster)
Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice – Nikki Grimes, Laura Freeman (Simon & Schuster)
The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver – Gene Barretta, Frank Morrison (HarperCollins)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
Before the Ever After – Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin Random House) (WINNER)
Black Brother, Black Brother – Jewell Parker Rhodes (Hachette Book Group)
Dear Justyce – Nic Stone (Crown Books for Young Readers)
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning – Jason Reynolds (Hachette Book Group )
This is Your Time – Ruby Bridges (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Keith McQuirter – By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem (EPIX) (WINNER)
Muta’Ali – Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn (HBO)
Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff – Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (Ep. 1 & 2) (HBO)
Simcha Jacobovici – Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
Yoruba Richen – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)

Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Melissa Haizlip – Mr. Soul! (Maysles Documentary Center) (WINNER)
Mary Mazzio – A Most Beautiful Thing (Peacock)
Nile Cone – The Beat Don’t Stop (TV One)
Royal Kennedy Rodgers – Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (PBS)
Yoruba Richen, Elia Gasull Balada, Valerie Thomas – The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (Peacock)

Outstanding Documentary (Television)
The Last Dance (ESPN / Netflix) (WINNER)
And She Could Be Next (PBS)
Black Love (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (EPIX)
Unsung (TV One)

Outstanding Documentary (Film)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures/Participant) (WINNER)
All In: The Fight For Democracy (Amazon Studios)
Coded Bias (7th Empire Media)
Mr. Soul! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
On the Record (HBO Max)

Frank Darabont’s ‘Walking Dead’ Profits Trial Pushed to 2022

Just weeks before Darabont and AMC were set to face off before a jury, the trial has been postponed for another year because of the pandemic.

It looked like the heated, long-running dispute over The Walking Dead profits was nearing an end — but, just weeks before Frank Darabont and AMC were set to face off before a jury, the trial has been postponed for another year because of the pandemic.

Darabont first sued in 2013, launching a legal battle that has spawned almost as many spinoffs as the series itself. Darabont had been set for an April 26, 2021, trial — until AMC asked for a delay because of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen agreed to push the trial until April 4, 2022, with jury selection beginning a week before that.

There’s still a chance the trial could happen earlier. Cohen told Darabont and AMC that if a window for a five-week jury trial opens up on his calendar before then, and pandemic conditions aren’t an issue, they should “use their best efforts” to make themselves available.

‘Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway’: Film Review

Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson reunite with an animated James Corden in this CG sequel.

Proving every bit as charmless and frenetic as its 2018 CG-animated predecessor, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway once again goes about chaotically tossing bunny droppings over the perfectly fertile ground that is the Beatrix Potter source material.

While the author herself was the first to admit that her main protagonist could be “naughty,” returning director Will Gluck, this time teaming with Patrick Burleigh on the underplotted script, chooses to further nudge the definition toward the brattier limits of mischievous — pushing Peter more into the guise of a floppy-eared Alvin than a cotton-tailed Paddington. The resulting uninspired rabbit redux, which saw its original 2020 debut delayed by COVID lockdowns, will first premiere this week in Australia, where it was primarily filmed.

Stateside, the Sony release has been hopping around the release schedule, moving from June 11 to May 14 and now slated to open July 2, occupying the Independence Day weekend berth at one point reserved for Universal’s Minions 2: The Rise of Gru, now postponed until Summer 2022.

Back at McGregor Manor, life for Peter (voiced by James Corden), Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki), Cotton-Tail (Aimee Horne) and company has been anything but uneventful, what with the benevolent Bea (Rose Byrne) marrying high-strung Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson). For a brief moment, nemeses Peter and Thomas seem to have arrived at a fragile détente where custody over the garden is concerned, but it isn’t long before Peter ventures out into the big city in search of his true self. He soon becomes involved with a Dickensian gang of thieves led by the Fagin-like Barnabas (Lennie James).

Meanwhile, fledging author Bea also finds herself moving outside of her comfort zone when an arrogant publisher named Nigel Basil-Jones (David Oyelowo) pushes her to bring her beautifully illustrated Peter Rabbit adventure book to a broader audience by giving the characters an edgier commercial makeover, recasting Peter as a full-on bad bunny. Considering the first movie drew its share of wrath from Potter purists unamused by the crasser direction in which the gentle characters were taken, the set-up could have cashed in on some ripe satire. But Gluck and Burleigh are more concerned with trotting out the usual, garden-variety slapstick and generic one-liners.

Although Gleeson again happily takes to the physical demands of his role and Oyelowo also seems quite pleased to do something less dramatically demanding for a change, Byrne and the rest of the cast haven’t been given an awful lot to do here. The true star of the show, like the first time around, is the splendid CG animation furnished by Animal Logic and state-of-the-art VFX overseen by visual effects supervisor Will Reichelt that are seamlessly integrated into the live-action sequences.

Given the impressive technology at their disposal, had the filmmakers taken a cue from Bea and Peter’s own lesson about being true to who you are, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway might have arrived at a happier tonal intersection between Potter’s watercolors and airbrushed knockoff.

Distributor: Sony Pictures
Production companies: Columbia Pictures, 2.0 Entertainment, MRC, Animal Logic Entertainment, Olive Bridge Entertainment
Cast: James Corden, Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, David Oyelowo, Elizabeth Debicki, Margo Robbie, Lennie James, Sia, Colin Moody, Damon Herriman, Hayley Atwell.
Director: Will Gluck
Screenwriters: Will Gluck & Patrick Burleigh
Producers: Will Gluck, Zareh Nalbandian, Catherine Bishop, Jodi Hildebrand
Executive producers: Doug Belgrad, Jonathan Hludzinski, Jason Lust, Emma Topping, Thomas Merrington
Director of photography: Peter Menzies
Production designer: Roger Ford
Costume designer: Lizzy Gardiner
Editor: Matt Villa
Music: Dominic Lewis
Casting director: Nikki Barrett

Rated PG, 93 minutes

Kim Tyler, Child Actor on ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,’ Dies at 66

He played the oldest of the four Nash kids on the 1960s' NBC comedy that starred Pat Crowley.

Kim Tyler Dead: Child Actor on 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies' Was 66 — The cast of 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies': Twins Jeff and Joe Fithian are flanked by (from left) Patricia Crowley, Kim Tyler, Mark Miller and Brain Nash. Courtesy Everett Collection

Kim Tyler, who portrayed the oldest of the four rowdy sons in the Nash family at the center of the 1965-67 NBC comedy Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, has died. He was 66.

Tyler died Feb. 10 at his home in Hollywood Heights after a long battle with cancer, his family announced.

Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, based on Jean Kerr’s best-selling 1957 book and coming on the heels of a 1960 MGM film that starred Doris Day and David Niven, featured Patricia Crowley as a freelance newspaper columnist and Mark Miller as her husband, a college professor.

They are parents to Kyle (Tyler), Joel (Brian Nash) and twins Trevor (Jeff Fithian) and Tracy (Joe Fithian), raising the boys and an Old English Sheepdog named Ladadog in an old house in upstate New York.

Tyler was 11 when the series went on the air, and he worked on all 58 episodes of the show during its two seasons.

Born in Hollywood on April 17, 1954, Kim James Tyler made his onscreen debut in 1956 on an installment of The 20th Century-Fox Hour, and he went on to appear on episodes of Hazel, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, The Addams Family, My Three Sons and My Favorite Martian.

Please Don’t Eat the Daisies marked his last acting credit. His family said he was a talented musician, proficient poker player and amateur videographer.

Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Michelle.

Daily Edition

George Segal, Leading Man of Lighthearted Comedies, Dies at 87

‘Shazam!’ Sequel Enlists Helen Mirren as Villain

‘Black Widow’ to Hit Disney+ Premier Access and Theaters Simultaneously

Halle Berry Joins Mark Wahlberg in ‘Our Man From Jersey’ for Netflix

Mia Galuppo

Sherri Shepherd to Star in ABC Comedy ‘Black Don’t Crack’

Demi Lovato Breaks Silence on Overdose in Docuseries Premiere: “I Don’t Think People Realize How Bad It Actually Was”

Lexy Perez

NAACP Image Awards: ‘Black-ish,’ Beyonce, ‘Soul’ Score Most Wins in Non-Televised Ceremonies

Frank Darabont’s ‘Walking Dead’ Profits Trial Pushed to 2022

Ashley Cullins

‘Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway’: Film Review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Kim Tyler, Child Actor on ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,’ Dies at 66

Mike Barnes

Rumors Surrounding Prince William’s Relationship With Rose Hanbury Are at an All-Time High Amid Kate Middleton’s Recovery

A Mural by Banksy, Whose True Identity May or May Not Be Kate Middleton, Has Been Relocated from the Bronx to Connecticut

D.L. Hughley Says He'll Never Forgive Mo'Nique For Reigniting Rift With His Daughter

Top 50 Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time

This Best-Selling Magnetic Rowing Machine Is $185 Off on Amazon Today

A Boutique Collection of Chic Homes Makes Its Debut at One of L.A.’s Most Exclusive Developments

Denzel Washington Announces Return To Broadway, Starring In ‘Othello’

Spotify Is Hiking Its Subscription Prices In France Following Music Streaming Tax

Have a Tip?

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

George Segal, Leading Man of Lighthearted Comedies, Dies at 87

Related Stories

Related Stories

‘Shazam!’ Sequel Enlists Helen Mirren as Villain

Related Stories

‘Black Widow’ to Hit Disney+ Premier Access and Theaters Simultaneously

Halle Berry Joins Mark Wahlberg in ‘Our Man From Jersey’ for Netflix

Sherri Shepherd to Star in ABC Comedy ‘Black Don’t Crack’

Demi Lovato Breaks Silence on Overdose in Docuseries Premiere: “I Don’t Think People Realize How Bad It Actually Was”

Related Stories

NAACP Image Awards: ‘Black-ish,’ Beyonce, ‘Soul’ Score Most Wins in Non-Televised Ceremonies

Related Stories

Related Stories

Frank Darabont’s ‘Walking Dead’ Profits Trial Pushed to 2022

Related Stories

‘Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway’: Film Review

Related Stories

Kim Tyler, Child Actor on ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,’ Dies at 66

This Best-Selling Magnetic Rowing Machine Is $185 Off on Amazon Today

A Boutique Collection of Chic Homes Makes Its Debut at One of L.A.’s Most Exclusive Developments

Denzel Washington Announces Return To Broadway, Starring In ‘Othello’

Spotify Is Hiking Its Subscription Prices In France Following Music Streaming Tax