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Fox News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Broadway star Billy Porter says 'Black people have replaced the Jews' while promoting revival of 'Cabaret'
Actor Billy Porter said "Black people have replaced the Jews" in today's world during an interview on Monday about his revival of the musical "Cabaret" with actors of color. In the play, Porter plays "Emcee," an American fleeing the Jim Crow South in the 1930s who ends up in a concentration camp in Europe. He told "CBS Mornings" this was the first time three Black actors had played the lead roles in the musical, and compared how Black people are being treated today to how Jews were treated during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. "This is the first time in the 60-year history that all three of those characters have been African-American in a commercial production," he said. "And with what's going on in the world right now, Black people have replaced the Jews in this sort of configuration of what we're going through." Cabaret's original plot portrays a nightclub in Berlin as the Nazis rise to power in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and has several prominent Jewish characters. Porter described the production as "a call to action" for audiences. "I hope this piece is when you come to see it, you know, it lights a fire under booties, so that we can remind ourselves that love always wins, and all we have to do is get out in the streets and do our work," he continued. "CBS Mornings" anchor Gayle King agreed, remarking, "We need that reminder." The clip was first flagged by TikTok influencer Ben Lebofsky on X. "I'm sorry- Black people have WHAT??" he wrote in response to the clip. His post reached over one million views in 48 hours. Porter also told CBS that he was turned down from auditioning for the role in the late 1990s but feels like getting the part now is timely. "With the state of the world right now and with art as my activism, as my resistance, I'm right where I'm supposed to be for this piece," he said. A spokesperson for Porter did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Who is Spike Lee's wife Tonya Lewis Lee? The ex-lawyer married the director a year after meeting him and adapted his film She's Gotta Have It into a Netflix show – now she's an entertainment exec
Apple TV+ is on a roll. After the explosive premiere of Seth Rogen's The Studio, which features cameos from the likes of Martin Scorsese and Charlize Theron , the streaming giant released the highly anticipated documentary Number One on the Call Sheet. The two-part series celebrates the legacy and continued success of Black actors in Hollywood. Director Shola Lynch, producer Datari Turner, actress Ruth Negga, actor-producer Jamie Foxx and director-executive producer Reginald Hudlin at the LA premiere of Apple TV+'s Number One on the Call Sheet, in Hollywood in March. Photo: AFP The show stars icons like Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx , Viola Davis and Eddie Murphy , who recount their journeys in Hollywood and share interesting anecdotes via interviews. Murphy reveals that when he told Sidney Poitier he'd been offered the role of Alex Haley in the 1992 film Malcolm X, the legendary actor and film director told him, 'You are not Denzel, and you are not Morgan. You are a breath of fresh air, and don't f*** with that!' – meaning that he should not take up the role. The comedian and star of Beverly Hills Cop (1984) admitted he 'didn't know if it was an insult or a compliment'. Ultimately, Malcolm X director Spike Lee excluded Haley's character after taking over from Norman Jewison. Advertisement Spike Lee made his directorial debut with the dramedy She's Gotta Have It (1986). Photo: AP Lee's latest film is the neo-noir crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest (2025), starring Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky , and adapted from Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (1963). Amid the headlines about his work, Lee's personal life is also drawing interest. So who is Spike Lee's wife Tonya Lewis Lee, entertainment executive, founder of wellness brand Movita Organics, and the author of three children's books? Tonya Lewis Lee's background Like her husband Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee is a native of New York. Photo: @tonyalewislee/Instagram Lewis Lee was born and raised in Yonkers, New York, not far from Brooklyn, where her husband is from, per People. She studied liberal arts at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, before gaining a law degree from the University of Virginia. How did she meet Spike Lee? Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee at the 2018 premiere of A Star is Born, in Venice. Photo: AP Lewis Lee always wanted to go into the entertainment industry, but after graduating from law school in 1991, she moved to Washington to work as a lawyer, per People magazine. In 1992 she attended the Congressional Black Caucus dinner, where she met Spike Lee . They were dating by the end of the year, and when they got married in New York in 1993, Stevie Wonder performed at the wedding. The couple share two children – daughter Satchel, 30, and son Jackson, 28 – who are also in the entertainment industry. Tonya Lewis Lee works in Hollywood
