While Kanye West has definitely made himself known in the Twitterverse (via his infamous Twitter rants), he surprisingly has yet to establish himself on Instagram – until now, that is!
On Saturday, the “Famous” rapper joined the picture-posting social media platform. And by Sunday, he already had his page verified and posted his first picture. Kanye’s first post was a mysterious picture of a compact vehicle, driving alongside a uniquely shaped building at dusk. While it could just be a random picture Kanye likes, fans are already speculating that the picture is hinting at some big upcoming project that the rapper has yet to unveil.
Kanye West, Instagram post:
Back in March, Kanye admitted that he was considering joining the photo-sharing platform. However, he said there were some conditions that had to be met in order for him to do so. On Twitter Kanye told followers, “…I was thinking about getting an Instagram but only on one condition…. no one can ask me tor try to tell me what to Instagram…It’s my art…”
Kanye West, Twitter posts:
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709408385163268097
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709408940908486657
Clearly, Kanye intends to take a much different approach to Instagram than his wife Kim Kardashian (and the rest of her family). Kim (and the whole Kardashian/Jenner clan) has become known for their frequent promotional social media posts, including ones for supplements, detoxes, waist trainers, and various other products that they’ve likely never even tried.
Terrence Howard isn’t mincing words about his “Empire” character, calling him an expletive on the Emmy Awards red carpet during a live television interview.
Howard’s description Sunday of his volatile character on the Fox television series was bleeped by E! Entertainment Television. Red carpet host Giuliana Rancic was briefly taken aback before asking Howard’s wife whether the actor brought any of his character home with him.
Howard’s wife, Mira Pak, responded that he did, and quite often. Howard then joked that he had people hanging in their bathroom before the conversation turned to the couple’s infant son.
Howard’s character, Lucious Lyon, is a bigoted, homophobic music mogul who hits his children.
The red carpet exchange led some online commenters to bring up Howard’s history of domestic violence. He has admitted he struck his first wife in anger, and he is still fighting with his ex-wife Michelle Ghent over their divorce and her allegations he was physically abusive during their relationship.
A judge threw out the couple’s divorce judgment and the ruling is on appeal. Ghent is also suing Howard over alleged abuse, which the actor denies.
Howard was also the victim of mistaken identity on the Emmys red carpet – the official Twitter account of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences sent out a tweet identifying Howard as Emmy nominee Cuba Gooding Jr. It quickly corrected the tweet.
Although Howard wasn’t nominated for an Emmy Award, he did present the outstanding supporting actor in a limited series category.
Over the weekend, some of the biggest Hollywood stars gathered to Downtown Los Angeles for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards. After hosting the ceremony back in 2012, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel once again returned to act as the MC for the show.
Late on Saturday, Jimmy posted a picture of him and his special helper ‘working’ away at putting the final touches on his award show script. On Twitter, Jimmy playfully wrote, “Last minute [Emmys] punch up with my best joke writer,” alongside a picture of him writing notes with his 2-year-old daughter Jane.
Jimmy Kimmel, Twitter post:
last minute #Emmys punch up with my best joke writer pic.twitter.com/gBenQrKYXw
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 18, 2016
While previously talking with media outlet Deadline, Jimmy gushed about taking on the hosting gig for the second time. He explained, “If there’s one thing I learned from hosting the Emmys and from sitting there watching the Emmys, it’s that it can be a long, long night. So I’m going to try and make it feel shorter. You know, the people in that room, they just want to get their categories read and go home. So, I’m going to try and make it fun for the studio audience and hopefully that will translate to the home audience as well – and shorter!”
Jimmy wasn’t the only one with the spotlight on him at this year’s Emmy Awards. Several shows got an impressive number of nominations, including FX’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (received 22 nominations) and HBO’s Veep (received 17 nominations). In addition, there has been ample buzz around actor Rami Malek’s nomination, as he has been receiving plenty of praise for his role as Elliot Alderson in USA’s Mr. Robot (nominated for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series”).
The Emmy Awards had its share of surprises, sure things and Donald Trump jokes. One consistent theme was the continued creative erosion at the top broadcast networks, now merely an afterthought on television’s biggest night.
“Game of Thrones” won best drama for the second year in a row on Sunday, and became prime-time television’s most-honored show ever. Fellow HBO series “Veep” was named top comedy for the second straight year and that show’s star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, won best comedy actress for the fifth straight time and a record-setting sixth time in her career.
Other big winners included actors Jeffrey Tambor, Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany, along with most everyone associated with the FX miniseries, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson.”
Of the 27 awards handed out in prime time, six apiece went to HBO and FX. Streaming services Netflix had three and Amazon two.
The Emmy broadcast rotates each September among the four biggest broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox – and is designed to drum up excitement for the beginning of the fall season. Yet you’d hardly know those networks exist from watching Sunday’s awards. They accounted for four of the 27 awards, and only one for a prime-time scripted series. The most-watched network, CBS, was shut out.
Other trophies were sprinkled among USA, BBC America, AMC and Comedy Central – a stark illustration of the changing nature of television.
“There’s great stuff on network, there’s great stuff on cable,” said Alan Yang, who won a comedy writing award with Aziz Ansari for Netflix’s “Master of None.” ”What’s been really great about Netflix is they give us a lot of freedom and they trust us to pursue what our personal stories are. I think they’ve been rewarded with stuff that feels a little fresh.”
“Games of Thrones,” the fantasy saga based on George R.R. Martin’s novels, received 12 awards Sunday and at last weekend’s technical arts ceremony. That makes 38 total in the series’ history, passing “Frasier” as the most-honored prime-time series ever.
Yet the series’ top actors went home empty-handed. Malek, of USA’s thriller “Mr. Robot,” and Maslany of “Orphan Black” won the top acting trophies for drama series.
“Oh, my God. Please tell me you’re seeing this too,” said a stunned Malek, who participates in a hacking conspiracy in a series where it’s never quite sure what’s real and what’s imagined.
The top comedy acting awards were more predictable. Host Jimmy Kimmel even jokingly handed an Emmy to “Transparent” star Tambor at the outset of the show; he later got one for real. Tambor, who plays a man who has transitioned to a woman, urged Hollywood creators to find roles for real-life transgender actors.
An emotional Louis-Dreyfus noted that her father had passed away only a few days before. Still, she took time in her acceptance speech to note the uncomfortable resemblance of the current political scene to the fictional one in “Veep.”
“I think that ‘Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and politics,” she said. “Our show started out as a political satire but it now feels more like a sobering documentary.”
The presidential campaign was foremost in many minds. Former candidate Jeb Bush had a cameo in Kimmel’s opening skit, Emmy winner Courtney B. Vance voiced support for Hillary Clinton and Kimmel jokingly called out producer Mark Burnett, seated in the audience, as the man responsible for Donald Trump. Burnett cast Trump in the series “The Apprentice,” which broadened the New York businessman’s appeal.
Clinton tweeted her congratulations to Kate McKinnon of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” who won a supporting actress award for comedy. McKinnon’s portrayal of Clinton is her best-known impression.
Kimmel took a breezy approach to hosting, with some of his best moments coming in quips as the night progressed, as opposed to the more produced opening sequence.
“What a night for O.J.,” Kimmel said as the Simpson miniseries earned five trophies Sunday. “I wonder if he’s having a viewing party with the guys.” Simpson is serving time in a Nevada prison
Winning actors from the Simpson series couldn’t hide their excitement backstage. Sterling K. Brown, who won a supporting actor award, said later it felt like he had floated out of his body and looked down at everyone in the crowd when his name was announced. Acting winner Vance, who sweetly thanked his wife onstage, said he’s ready to hand over his trophy to her.
“She’ll tell me where it will go in our house,” he said.
Backstage, actress Regina King took note of the Simpson series after winning a supporting award for “American Crime,” the only winner from a scripted series that aired on one of the commercial broadcast networks.
“I’m happy to be able to stand with this in my hand for the team, happy that there was no one from ‘People vs. O.J.’ in my category,” she said.
John Oliver of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” won the Emmy for top variety talk series. But the night was not without some disappointment for the comic. He told reporters later that he had been excited about seeing a seating chart where he was going to sit two rows behind Beyonce.
“It’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past 48 hours, that I’d be looking at the back of Beyonce’s head for four hours and she hasn’t turned up,” he said. “So, this is nice, but this evening genuinely has a sense of loss. I was going to stare at the back of her head and experience happiness in a form that I hadn’t felt.”
Maggie Smith was honored as best supporting actress in a drama series for the final season of “Downton Abbey.” It was her third win for playing the formidable dowager. As became her custom, she didn’t attend the ceremony. That was gag material for Kimmel, who said her trophy would be in the “lost and found.”