Empire Names Tina Davis President

Gilles Pélisson has been named as the new president of French film and TV promotional body Unifrance.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music HarbourView Equity Partners, the asset-management company founded by Sherrese Clarke Soares, announced today it has agreed to partner with and purchase “select” recorded-music assets of Grammy-winning rapper-singer Nelly, a rep for the company confirms to Variety. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed, although TMZ reported that the deal was for $50 million and covered half of Nelly’s recorded-music assets. Nelly was represented by Steven Shapiro of Davis Shapiro Lewit & Grabel LLP. The deal includes some of Nelly’s most iconic tracks such as “Ride Wit Me,” “Dilemma” featuring Kelly Rowland, and “Hot in Herre,” both of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks.

Kelly Rowland is spending time with Beyonce‘s mom ahead of the Fourth of July!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Nouvelles Vagues, a new international festival dedicated to films about youth, is set to make a splashy debut Wednesday in Biarritz, a surf haven in southwestern France, with Penélope Cruz as its inaugural guest of honor. Launching with partners such as Chanel and leading French pay TV banner Canal+, Nouvelles Vagues was founded by fashion veteran Jérôme Pulis, who worked at Christian Dior for 16 years and producer Sandrine Brauer. The pair have enlisted former Locarno artistic director Lili Hinstin as programming chief. The festival is kicking off Wednesday evening with the screening of Tina Satter’s “Reality,” the Berlinale breakout film starring Sydney Sweeney, followed by a gala dinner hosted by Chanel. “Reality” was acquired by HBO Films for North America on the heels of its critically acclaimed world premiere at Berlin. Metropolitan FilmExport, the French distributor of “Reality,” is holding the local premiere of “Reality” at Nouvelles Vagues ahead of its theatrical release in August — a sign that the festival is perceived by French industry players as a potentially strong launchpad in a crowded marketplace.

The widower of a Manchester Post Office worker jailed for theft is waiting for a ruling on an appeal.

Patti LaBelle is addressing that viral moment at the 2023 BET Awards on Sunday night (June 25).

Tina Turner’s legacy was honored last night at the BET Awards with a special tribute sung by Patti LaBelle. The 79-year-old sang her heart out to Turner’s iconic “The Best.” A clip of the video has gone viral on social media where the singer couldn’t read the teleprompter and fumbled on the lyrics, but LaBelle handled it like a pro.LaBelle had a standing ovation after the performance. “I can’t see the words, and I don’t know.

Patti LaBelle paid tribute to her late friend and musical icon, Tina Turner, with a soul-stirring performance during the BET Awards.LaBelle took the stage to honor the incomparable Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, paying tribute to the late Turner with a rendition of «The Best.» Wearing a sparkly fringe minidress reminiscent of Turner's signature style, the Godmother of Soul showed off her powerhouse vocals as she belted out the song's lyrics — but not without a stumble here and there as she struggled to keep up with the teleprompter used to guide her through the song's entirety. Although LaBelle's vocals were solid, she admitted she wasn't able to see the lyrics on the teleprompter throughout the tribute, telling the crowd, «I can't see the words and I don't know. I'm tryin', y'all!»At one point, LaBelle asked, «Where are my background singers,» referencing her infamous performance of «This Christmas» at the 1996 National Tree Lighting Ceremony, where the «Lady Marmalade» singer's cue cards were out of order.Still, LaBelle powered through her stumbles and got back in sync with her background singers as the audience sang and danced along and ended the tribute to a standing ovation. «God bless you, Tina Turner,» she exclaimed on stage.LaBelle spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier backstage after her performance and opened up about why it was so important for her to honor Turner at the event and what it meant to her.«It meant no matter what voice I'm in — I'm hoarse, I have a cold — but whatever, I had to, I was giving it up for Tina Turner, 'cause she's simply the best,» LaBelle said, as she got a bit emotional thinking about the late icon.

The Hollywood Reporter that LaBelle was blocked from seeing the prompter.“It was an extraordinary privilege to celebrate the life and legacy of Ms. Tina Turner at BET Awards 2023.

Emiliano De Pablos Story House Pictures co-founder Andreas Gutzeit, head writer-showrunner on Beta/RTL smash hit series “Sisi,” is prepping “Disgrace,” a fast-paced thriller mini-series set during Argentina’s 1978 Soccer World Cup. Gutzeit will serve as “Disgrace’s” showrunner and head writer, re-teaming with Swantje Oppermann and Florian Puchert, part of the German writing team with Gutzeit behind “Dignity,” the critically lauded and pioneering Story House’s Chile-Germany co-production. At a development and scriptwriting stage, with a pilot script available, “Disgrace” features among the 10 projects playing at the Pitch Copro Series sidebar in Conecta Fiction 2023, which takes place June 26-29 in Toledo, the capital of Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha.

McKinley Franklin editor New York City will light up pink Wednesday in honor of the 25th anniversary of “Sex and the City” and the upcoming second season of “And Just Like That.” At sunset, several iconic New York City buildings (including the Empire State Building, Javits Center, One Bryant Park, One World Trade Center and Pier 17) will glisten a pink shade to celebrate the series and its offshoot. As such a prominent piece of “Sex and the City,” New York City plays an integral part in the legacy of the show. Max’s followup, “And Just Like That,” was developed and executive produced Michael Patrick King, alongside executive producers John Melfi, Julie Rottenberg, Elisa Zuritsky, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. Season 2 of the series debuts with two episodes on Thursday, June 22. 

‘Paper Empire’ Sets Entire Third Season Shoot At Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUlaCryptocurrency drama Paper Empire will film the entirety of its 10-episode third season at Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning shooting hub and location Film AlUla. Created and directed by Robert Gillings, the high-profile cast will feature Robert Davi, Denise Richards, Kelsey Grammar, Carole Alt, Helena Mattsson, Wesley Snipes, Anne Archer, Richard Grieco, Robert Knepper, Steve Guttenberg among a host of returning and guest stars. The action-drama series is produced by Robert Gillings Productions, Tadross Media Group and Inner Circle Films. “We are delighted the Paper Empire team will be basing their new season in AlUla, we’ve worked with the creative team to provide locations which underscore the glamour, opulence and world-class production value of the series,” said Film AlUla Director Charlene Deleon-Jones.

$12 vinyl doll by Funko was released on Feb. 27 and is the spitting image of the flame-haired Hollywood bombshell, down to the beauty mark on her cheek.“Set sail to an island of whacky adventures with Pop! Ginger Grant,” trumpets the ad for the 4-inch figure dressed in psychedelic beach garb.

Maggie Moore(s) has the real life families behind the tragedies upset.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music We say every year that the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction ceremony is the music industry’s best-kept secret — an invite-only, insider combination of a superstar awards show and a family reunion for the tight-knit songwriting and music-publishing community that is in its 52nd year and has never been televised or livestreamed. In fact, we’ve said it so many times that longtime SHOF CEO Linda Moran quoted us in her opening remarks on Thursday night. While the show has had honorees pull out in the past — Jay-Z due to the impending birth of his and Beyonce’s twins, less happily the Kinks’ Ray Davies due to the death of his sister — this year’s event was the first time two honorees canceled, deferring their inductions to next year: the reclusive Sade, who everyone figured had about a 40% chance of showing up, postponed several months ago due to a scheduling conflict, and Snoop Dogg, who pulled out abruptly for undisclosed reasons earlier in the week. But the SHOF is such a star-studded evening that the event was a rousing success filled with great music regardless — and the silver lining was the fact that it was over in a relatively tidy three hours (it often stretches toward five).

Tina Turner’s legacy. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre will dim its marquee lights for the iconic singer on Wednesday, June 21.The sad news came Wednesday, May 24, that the legendary singer passed away peacefully at her home at 83 after battling a long illness.

Javier Mascherano is as excited by Alejandro Garnacho as everyone else - according to former Manchester United midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Omar Apollo, Brandy Clark and Coco Jones performed and three people were honored Tuesday night at the first T.J. Martell Foundation since 2019, which raised more than $1.3 million for cancer research. The honorees included Warner Records Co-Chairman and COO Tom Corson, who received the Lifetime Music Industry Award; Def Jam Chief Creative Officer and executive VP Archie Davis, who received the Rising Music Superstar Award; Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated songwriter/producer Shane McAnally, who received the Spirit of Music Award. The event was hosted by Gala Co-Chairs and Board Chairman John Esposito, Tunji Balogun, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Robert Carlton, Steve Gawley, Laura Swanson and Julie Swidler.

Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho was handed his senior Argentina debut on Thursday afternoon as they beat Australia 2-0.

Editor’s note: The following interviews were done outside of the FYC event series, as there was no panel or screening.