Hitting ‘The High Note’: Producer Rodney Jerkins on Working With Tracee Ellis Ross, What Michael Jackson Taught Him

As music fans continue to champion a potential Verzuz battle between Kanye West and Pharrell, on Thursday (June 11), they received endless gems in a new interview between the two hip-hop luminaries.

Kanye West has objected to the references made for Michael Jackson in media. Defending the King of Pop, Kanye West recently said that media should not "tear down our heroes." Kanye West also denounced using references like "Wacko Jacko" and other names given to Michael Jackson by several agencies and media.

Kanye West has defended Michael Jackson in a new interview, saying “companies” and “documentaries” shouldn’t be allowed to “tear down our heroes.”In a conversation with Pharrell Williams for i-D Magazine, West appeared to reference the Dan Reed-directed documentary Leaving Neverland. That film focused on testimony by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, both of whom claimed that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children.

Diana Ross was reduced to tears after hearing daughter Tracee Ellis Ross’s songs from her new movie The High Note.The 47-year-old appears as singer Grace Davis in the feature and, speaking to Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, she opened up about the I’m Coming Out hitmaker’s reaction to her vocal recordings. While Diana hadn’t seen the movie at the time of the conversation, Tracee recalled: “I picked her up and we sat in my car.

Diana Ross cried after hearing her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross singing in 'The High Note'. Tracee plays the role of singer Grace Davis in the music industry comedy and admitted that her Motown legend wept after hearing some tracks from the upcoming movie.

Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson‘s new movie The High Note is now available to rent at home on demand and the film includes a scene that sheds light on what it’s like to be a black woman in the music industry.

The High Note, now available on premium VOD, sees Tracee Ellis Ross star as fictional diva Gracie Davis alongside Dakota Johnson as her assistant, Maggie. The pair sat down with The Hollywood Reporter remotely to discuss where they turned for inspiration and why viewers will love their movie.

Tracee Ellis Ross was pushed out of her comfort zone with her wardrobe in The High Note.

Tracee Ellis Ross has been using up to four face masks a day while in lockdown.

As social distancing becomes the new norm amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, theater screens remain darkened -- forcing many studios to push back release dates of upcoming films. But some are dropping their newest releases on streaming for at-home quarantine viewing, instead.

Tracee Ellis Ross is following in the legendary footsteps of her mother, Miss Diana Ross, to the tune of a hit single, sold-out tour and award-winning discography. Admittedly, it's for her new music-industry comedy,, but the talent is on display nonetheless.

By Dino-Ray Ramos

«My days are all just slowly descending into darkness,» June Diane Raphael laughs over the phone. «I start out super positive, and then it's just a slow ride down to, like, total despair and depression by 7:00 p.m.»

Tracee Ellis Ross has hit out at ageist critics, insisting she’s “only gotten better with age”.

Forty years ago, Motown legend Diana Ross sang “I’m Coming Out,” which would become one of her signature songs and a gay anthem.

The new romantic comedy “The High Note” is kinda like “The Devil Wears Prada,” but here the devil is a supernice lady with whom you want to drink wine.

The High Note: Tracee Ellis Ross — Photo: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

Nisha Ganatra’s “The High Note,” has a Tracee Ellis Ross problem, meaning that there isn’t enough of her in the movie. The script, procured by Flora Greeson, focuses chiefly on Dakota Johnson, which isn’t a bummer trade at all: Her deceptively breezy charm has enough strength to hold up even the hollowest pictures, no matter how many shades of grey they’re brushed with.