Oprah Winfrey to receive honorary PEN/Faulkner award

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNia DaCosta will direct the feature film adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best-selling novel “The Water Dancer.” The film is being backed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer and will be produced by Maceo-Lyn, Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films.DaCosta directed last year’s horror hit “Candyman” and is also stepping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her next feature, the upcoming “The Marvels.” Her first film, “Little Woods,” starred Tessa Thompson and Lily James and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018 before getting released theatrically by Neon.“The Water Dancer” is a surrealist story that unfolds in the pre–Civil War South. It follows Hiram Walker, born into slavery, who lost his mother as a child and over time loses all memory of her.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) has been tapped to direct an adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2019 debut novel The Water Dancer for MGM, Plan B, Harpo Films and Maceo-Lyn.

“Candyman” director Nia DaCosta has found her next film and has been set to direct an adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book “The Water Dancer” for MGM. Coates adapted the script based on his #1 New York Times Bestselling Novel of the same name. The film adaptation is being produced by Maceo-Lyn, Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films.

Angelique Jackson After dominating the Grammy Awards with five wins, including album of the year, Jon Batiste is set to conquer a new medium — acting. The musician has joined the cast of “The Color Purple,” directed by Blitz Bazawule, for his feature acting debut.Batiste is set to portray Grady, husband to Shug Avery (played by Taraji P. Henson).

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are making a big move amid an ongoing family feud.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and other top execs are meeting with employees in a town hall this morning on the Warner lot in Burbank. It’s the first large-scale staff meeting since last Friday’s close of the $43 billion merger.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav brought out the big guns during his address to the new company at its first global town hall for employees Thursday.The newly merged company brought out its most famous employee, Oprah Winfrey, to moderate the event and to help introduce Zaslav to Hollywood.Winfrey is a longtime supporter of the media mogul, who has championed the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) — a cable channel jointly jointed by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studio — alongside her since its launch in 2011.

Chris Willman Music WriterWhat were the odds that the Recording Academy would honor the woman that many consider the greatest living female songwriter, Joni Mitchell, and great living male songwriter, Paul Simon, within a week’s time of one another? And yet that’s what happened as last Friday’s pre-Grammys MusiCares tribute to Mitchell in Las Vegas was followed Wednesday in Los Angeles with “Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon,” both with spectacularly curated lineups worthy of the feted. And although the Mitchell night is not set to be publicly aired, the good news for fans is that the Simon salute was filmed for a future CBS broadcast and is destined to be one of the highlights of the music-TV year.

Rihanna is making her official debut on the annual Forbes billionaires list, after reaching a net worth of over one billion dollars in 2021, honoring her incredible achievement with the success of Fenty Beauty and Fenty X Savage.The entrepreneur is also the first person from her native Barbados to enter the coveted list of the wealthiest people in the world, with her beauty line generating “more than $550 million in revenue in 2020.”Rihanna currently has a net worth of 1.7 billion dollars, making it to number 1,729 on the list, and positioning herself above Jay-Z and under Kanye West.

refugees’ lives and the intricacies of Mina’s relationships, examines the many angles of a timely and vital subject, and probes the life-changing choices humans are forced to make,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by award judges. “The exquisite language suspends time and investigates the intricacies of seeking refuge, both from geopolitical disruptions and from one’s own patterns of life.”Alameddine, a Lebanese American whose other works include the National Book Award finalist “An Unnecessary Woman,” will receive $15,000.

Celebrities have made Forbes’ 36th annual World’s Billionaires List.

Idris Elba has revealed that the Duchess of Sussex asked him to play a song by the rapper Dr Dre when he was the DJ at her wedding to Prince Harry. The Luther star said Meghan made a special request for Still DRE, a hit which was released in 1999 and features Snoop Dogg.