Songs, Movies & Moments: October 2023

A Look at Entertainment

by T.J. Moore –

Count actress and comedienne Leslie Jones among the many Black women in Hollywood who have experienced unequal pay compared to their white co-stars.

In her new memoir, Leslie F__ Jones, she recounts the drama surrounding her role in the 2016 Ghostbusters remake alongside Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig.

Jones claimed she was paid way less in the film, and said she was initially lowballed with an offer from producers who promised the role would be great exposure.

“It was made clear to me at times during the process that I was lucky to even be on that movie, but honestly, I was thinking ‘I don’t have to be in this (expletive) especially as I got paid way less than Melissa McCarty and Kristen Wiig,” Jones wrote in an excerpt of her memoir.

Jones alleged that her initial offer was $67,000 and had to fight for the $150,000 that she received.

According to IMBD, the film’s budget was $144 million, and it made over $229 million worldwide. The Hollywood Reporter reported that McCarthy took home $14 million.

Actress Kerry Washington gets extremely candid thanks to her new memoir Thicker Than Water, which includes a shocking and life-changing revelation about her father. In the book, the actress revealed that she discovered that Earl Washington, that man she knew all her life as her father, is not her biological father.

In a recent interview with People, Washington, 46, said she leaned the truth wile preparing to appear on Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s Finding Your Roots.

Before the episode’s filming, Washington’s parents spoke with Gates about the secret they had held onto for decades. In the spring of 2018, they finally decided to have the difficult conversation with Kerry Washington after Gates suggested full disclosure.

Washington’s memoir is on bookshelves now.

VH1 in collaboration with Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Productions and Jesse Collins Entertainment have announced a new game show, Celebrity Squares—a twist on the classic Hollywood Squares format that features Black pop-culture trivia.

Rapper DC Young Fly is set to host, with guests including Babyface, Bobby Brown, Tiffany Haddish, Kirk Franklin, Taye Diggs, and others.

The show will feature two participants playing tic-tac-toe while collecting money and rewards. A $10,000 cash award awaits the player with the most money in their bank at the end of the game, when they advance to the bonus round.

The series premiers Oct. 17 on VH1.

Deborah Roberts is getting a new role at ABC’s 20/20.

The network announced on Sept. 26 that Roberts will become the new co-anchor for the popular news program, one year after becoming a contributing anchor. She will join co-anchor David Muir and “will also continue to report across all programs and platforms as senior national affairs correspondent,” according to ABC.

Roberts has been a part of 20/20 since 1995 and is lauded by ABC for “covering everything from political figures to the most shocking crime cases gripping the nation.”

Roberts will replace Amy Robach.