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Issa Rae explores history of Black representation in TV in documentary: “It makes such a difference”

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Issa Rae explores history of Black representation in TV in documentary: “It makes such a difference”


Award-winning actor producer and writer Issa Rae is opening up about what inspired her new documentary, “Seen and Heard: The History of Black Television.” She’s executive producer of the two-part series that explores the history of Black representation on TV and how Black artists and creators revolutionized the industry while confronting major challenges.

The series, which Rae and her collaborators started creating in 2019, features media icons such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Tracee Ellis Ross, Norman Lear and Shonda Rhimes.

“What inspired me to even get my start was just seeing the people that I love, the people that I know, the people that raised me on TV, and that representation was so essential for me to recognize that I could do it,” Rae told “CBS Mornings” Tuesday about her inspiration growing up in the 90s.

In the early 2000s, Rae said there was a “disappearance all of the sudden” of Black characters and shows on TV, but they reemerged about a decade later.

In the 2010s, “there were just so many new shows, new shows of color,” she said. But now, Rae said TV and media is once again in an era where Black characters and shows have disappeared.

“I think the advent of cable made a huge difference where, you know, now these networks had to try to capture the broadest audience possible because they were losing audiences to different niche cable networks and so they were like, ‘how can we maximize the audience we have?’ and they have a tendency to go broad then, and broad sometimes just means White, the most eyeballs that you can get,” she said.

Even though shows like “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were universal and watched by a broad audience, there is sometimes a feeling that Black shows may exclude an audience, she said.

The documentary also explores the importance of representation behind the camera.

“It makes such a difference when you’re thinking about something as small as set design. I’ve seen that just even on my own productions and watching movies. Sometimes you’ll watch a movie and you’ll see a Black character’s bedroom, and you’ll be like ‘they would never, what? They would never have that.'”

The details in a show could also apply to how a character dresses or their hair.

“I don’t want to be taken out of a story. If I’m immersed, like those small details really, really matter, and there’s just — also there’s a different level of honestly, pride that goes in, in creating something that you know you’re a part of and you understand on a different level,” Rae said.

She said the changing media industry is challenging, “but it’s another time that I’m confident we’ll get through. There’s so many opportunities in the digital era and that’s where I came from. I find hope in knowing that I can create. If I want to tell a story I’m going to tell a story regardless.”

The HBO documentary film “Seen and Heard: The History of Black Television” debuts Sept. 9 on HBO and HBO Max.



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Offset teases new album plans after recent shooting accident

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Offset teases new album plans after recent shooting accident


Offset speaks out on dangerous injuries in the Florida shooting

Offset is coming back stronger after his shooting accident which altered his plans, but he still showed up – even taking the stage on a wheelchair.

The 34-year-old rapper spoke about his recovery and accident in a new interview, sharing how he kept his morale up and continued pushing himself.

“You’ve got to keep pushing like the Energizer Bunny, man. Keep this s— pushing. Don’t got time to be slowing down.” Offset told the Creators Inc. Podcast on Thursday, March 23.

Speaking about his performance mid-recovery, the Annihilate hitmaker noted, “You got to go G6 — G5, sorry. Had them bring the bed out, lay on that thing for six hours, go to sleep. You cool.”

The rapper also hinted at his new album in the same interview, saying, “I’m trying to drop soon. Couple months from now. I don’t got no date yet, but getting the creative and all s— to go together. Removing songs, making new songs, just off life because all my s— always be off of life experiences. You know what I mean? What happens in my real life, I just put it in my music.”

Despite the Florida accident, Offset shared that he maintains a “gladiator mentality” which motivates him to push forward instead of being held down by such incidents.

“The show don’t ever stop at the end of the day. I was blessed enough to be able to still move, you know what I mean? So, I’m still moving. I didn’t really have a checklist for it,” he said.

The Open It Up singer added, “I don’t want nobody feel sorry for me or no s— like that. People get shot every day, bro, like, I’m blessed. I can keep pushing, so why would I just sit down? I got to keep pushing. I got to keep going.”





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Rob and Michele Reiner’s son, Jake, speaks out about his parents’ deaths: “My world, as I knew it, had collapsed”

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Rob and Michele Reiner’s son, Jake, speaks out about his parents’ deaths: “My world, as I knew it, had collapsed”


Jake Reiner, son of Rob and Michele Reiner, spoke out on Friday for the first time since his parents were brutally killed in their Los Angeles home in December, detailing the moment he learned what happened.

In a post to Substack, Jake said he was at the celebration of life for one of his best friends when his sister, Romy, called to tell him that their father was dead. Moments later, he wrote, he found out his mother was also killed.

“My world, as I knew it, had collapsed. I was in a trance,” Jake said. “The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened.”

He said he then took a rideshare service from the funeral in downtown to his family’s Brentwood home, which he called “unendurable.”

“Nothing can prepare you for what it feels like to lose both parents instantly at the same time,” he wrote. “It’s too devastating to comprehend. I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, no, it’s not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare.”

Rob and Michele were found dead with stab wounds on Dec. 14. Shortly after, their son, Nick, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Nick was charged with two counts of murder in the first degree in a Los Angeles courtroom in February. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.

Rob Reiner, director of iconic films such as “Stand by Me” and “When Harry Met Sally…” was 78. Michele Singer Reiner, an accomplished photographer and film producer, was 70.

Jake then wrote about his grief and described his relationship with his parents. He only alluded to his brother, not mentioning his name, at the end of the more than 1,600-word post.

“We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable,” Jake wrote. “Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it. It’s almost too impossible to process. I understand that people have questions about what happened. Some of those answers will come in time. But some parts of this belong only to our family, and keeping them private is the only way to protect what little remains of something that was taken from us.”



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Ellen Burstyn reflects on how poetry impacts her life

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Ellen Burstyn reflects on how poetry impacts her life



Ellen Burstyn, known for her Oscar-winning role in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” has spent seven decades in Hollywood, but she tells “CBS Mornings” that poetry has also shaped her life as she discusses her new book “Poetry Says It Better.”



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