Author: Shekari Philemon

Essence Festival of Culture has unveiled its first wave of performers for the 2026 edition, and the lineup is generating significant buzz well ahead of the July dates. Cardi B, Patti LaBelle and the iconic duo Brandy and Monica have been confirmed as headliners for the annual celebration, which takes place July 3 through 5 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Latto and Kehlani round out the initial announcement as featured performers. Both Cardi B and Latto will be making their Essence Festival of Culture debuts, adding a layer of milestone energy to the summer event. Patti LaBelle, by contrast,…

Tessa Thompson is making her next move, and it is a literary one rooted in grief, mystery, and the quiet devastation of a marriage falling apart. The actress has signed on to produce and star in a film adaptation of A Separation, the acclaimed 2017 novel by Katie Kitamura. The project will be written and directed by Jonas Carpignano, the Italian American filmmaker celebrated for his Cannes-recognized southern Italy trilogy. The announcement marks one of the more compelling pairings in recent independent cinema development. What the story is about Published by Riverhead Books, A Separation follows a woman who travels…

Jennifer Hudson has never been one to separate her personal life from her artistry, and as she prepares for her biggest tour in years, the bond between love and music has never felt more alive. The star of Dreamgirls is gearing up for a joint North American summer tour alongside Josh Groban, and she says the creative fuel behind it comes from two people closest to her — her 16-year-old son David and her partner, rapper and actor Common. Hudson spoke about the upcoming tour at the 30th ABFF Honors held at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles in February,…

A quiet Sunday afternoon in Beverly Hills turned alarming when a woman opened fire at the gated estate of Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky, with the Grammy-winning artist reportedly inside at the time. The woman in her 30s was arrested and charged with attempted murder after firing multiple shots at the singer’s $14 million estate on Sunday afternoon. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the incident unfolded around 1:20 p.m. on March 8, with authorities stating that between five and ten shots were fired at the property. The suspect, identified as Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, allegedly aimed directly at the…

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G-7) nations are preparing to discuss a possible coordinated release of emergency oil reserves as surging crude prices and a near-total shutdown of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz put mounting pressure on global energy markets. The talks were scheduled for Monday afternoon Paris time, with France, the current holder of the G-7 presidency, taking the lead in organizing the call. The French government confirmed publicly that the use of strategic reserves was under active consideration. No final decision had been reached as of Monday morning, and the discussions were described as…

One of Wall Street’s most closely followed strategists has raised the probability of a significant US market selloff to 35% for the remainder of the year, up from a previous estimate of 20%, pointing to the escalating conflict in Iran as the primary driver of the revision. At the same time, the odds of a market meltup driven by investor enthusiasm rather than economic fundamentals have been slashed to just 5%, down from 20% previously. The shift reflects a rapidly changing landscape. Oil prices have surged above $100 a barrel, investors are bracing for a prolonged Middle East conflict, and…

The stock market may be in the middle of a reset, but according to one of Wall Street’s most closely watched voices, the worst may not be over. A chief investment strategist at Bank of America has laid out a framework suggesting that the conditions typically needed to signal the end of a brutal correction are only partially in place, leaving investors with little reason to expect a sharp recovery in the near term. The argument centers on a familiar pattern in market history. When extreme optimism builds up across financial markets and an unexpected external shock arrives, such as…

Pilates has existed long enough to have been dismissed as a celebrity hobby, misunderstood as glorified stretching, and then quietly vindicated by research while the dismissers were busy doing something that was hurting their knees. The method developed by Joseph Pilates in the early twentieth century is having a moment in 2026 that goes well beyond trend cycle, and the science behind why it works is catching up to the enthusiasm. Studio Pilates membership data from early 2026 shows a 40 percent increase in participation compared to the same period in the prior year, making it the fastest growing fitness…

Just one week ago, President Donald Trump was celebrating cheap gas. The national average had fallen to $2.92 per gallon, the lowest stretch since 2020, and the mood at a Texas energy rally held hours before the first airstrikes on Iran was triumphant. That celebration has aged poorly. Gas has since blown past $3.40 a gallon, the highest national average since September 2024. West Texas Intermediate crude surged more than 35% in a single week to close above $90 a barrel, its biggest weekly gain in the history of the futures contract. When asked about it, the president said he…

When footage emerged this week of a US Navy submarine sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, curators at some of America’s most storied naval museums had a striking reaction. The images looked remarkably familiar. Not because they had seen it recently, but because they had spent years standing inside the vessels that fought the last war that looked anything like it. The attack marked the first confirmed time a US Navy submarine had sunk an enemy ship in combat since 1945, when a World War II sub downed two Japanese vessels before eventually becoming a floating museum docked…