By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
Multi-award-winning superstars Megan Thee Stallion and Mariah Carey will headline 2023 LA Pride in the Park as the highly anticipated festival expands to two days: June 9-10 at Los Angeles State Historic Park.
“I can’t wait to headline and celebrate the phenomenal LGBTQIA+ community,” said Megan about the gathering with a theme this year of “All Out with Pride.”
“This incredible event advocates for diversity, inclusivity and equality, so I’m honored to perform and have a blast with all of the hotties in attendance,” she added.
“I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of LA Pride 2023,” Carey said. “I am happy to be back in person celebrating with the LGBTQIA+ community here in Southern California and throughout all of the lands. Let’s come together to celebrate love, inclusion, and pride.”
Early bird single day and weekend passes are now sold out. General single day ($69) and weekend ($119) tickets, as well as VIP single day ($299) and VIP weekend ($549), are now available at lapride.org.
CLIPPETTES: The Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure exhibit opens at The Grand LA March 31. That evening’s best bets include The K-Flow Show Live, featuring Kevin Flournoy with special guests Phil Perry, Amanda Cole, Lamont Dozier Jr., Shannon Person, Kori Withers and more at the Miracle Theatre in Inglewood; trumpeter Chris Botti at The Wiltern; and Black London punk trio Big Joanie at the Constellation Room at the Observatory …
Gayle King and Charles Barkley are reportedly being wooed to take over CNN’s 9 p.m. Eastern Time hot spot vacated by the departure of Chris Cuomo …
Azar Lawrence: The “Answered Prayers Tour” with special guests Lynn Fiddmont and Munyungo Jackson comes April 1 to Topanga Canyon’s Corazón Performing Arts …
Kendrick Lamar and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are producers of an upcoming comedy film that will “depict the past and present coming to a head when a young Black man who is interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.” …
The Grammy Museum kicks off their new “Sunday Brunch With…” fundraising event series with Jason Mraz at the renowned Verse LA in Toluca Lake April 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Later Deon Cole works out at the Hollywood Improv …
Disney’s 1970 animated movie “The Aristocats” is being remade as a live-action film to be directed by Questlove …
Artists Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems are presented in conversation by the Getty Center April 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. At 7 p.m. a separate ticket-related jazz concert with esteemed musician David Murray occurs in the Harold B. Williams Auditorium …
Telma Hopkins (“Family Matters,” “Family Reunion,” “Half & Half”) is returning to television as a regular on Freevee’s sitcom “Clean Slate,” starring Laverne Cox and George Wallace in a show about a child who returns to an estranged family as a proud trans-woman …
Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Caesar is at the Belasco April 6 as G. Love & Special Sauce are at the Troubadour with Ozomatli at The Venice West …
“On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko” guest Chris Carter (creator of “The X-Files”) dropped that the series is being rebooted by Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther,” “Creed”) with a diverse cast.
TASTY QUIP: “I feel like it’s an allegory and a metaphor, and a parable for what’s going on in the whole world with totalitarianism, fascism, attacks on Roe v. Wade, the ban on drag shows, the taking down of AP courses in Black history. This show covers it all, it’s so interesting because it was written in 2016, but it’s still so in the zeitgeist with what’s going on.” – JOHN LEGUIZAMO to Page Six on his new series “The Power,” now streaming on Prime Video
TC ON TV: March 31 – “Rye Lane” (Hulu): Director Raine Allen-Miller‘s romantic comedy that was the hit of the Sundance Film Festival premieres on the streamer after a brief theater run. It stars David Jonsson (“Industry”) and Vivian Oparah (“Class”), as Dom and Yas, two 20-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, who connect over the course of an eventful day in South London, helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance. “Die Hart 2” (Roku): A sequel to the Kevin Hart/John Travolta comic action series. “Murder Mystery 2” (Netflix): The Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston franchise continues with guest turns from Jodie Turner-Smith and John Kani. “TMZ No BS” (Tubi): Cardi B “Drew Barrymore” (Syn): John Legend, Tabitha Brown “Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song” (PBS): With Herbie Hancock (who plays Walt Disney Concert Hall April 2), Angélique Kidjo, Ledisi, James Taylor, Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper and others. “The Great American Joke Off” (CW) Hosted by Dulcé Sloan, the show features several riotous rounds in each episode that involves telling as many quick gags as possible in given categories.
April 1 – “Stalked By Her Past” (Lifetime): Meta Golding, Christian Keyes, and Isabelle Du are leads in this movie about a Hollywood star suddenly tormented by a stalker. “Saturday Night Live” (NBC): Quinta Brunson, Lil Yachty
April 2 – “2023 CMT Music Awards” (CBS): Darius Rucker, the Black Crowes, Kane Brown, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd and more. “Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico” (CNN): “Yucatan” “Unsung” (TV1): “Best in Black – Movies & Film” “Uncensored” (TV1): Tevin Campbell
April 3 – “AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange” (Black Public Media/BPM/GBH’s World Channel): The award-winning documentary series launches its 15th season with “Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters,” a film about the giant of dance and a piece close to his heart. The film, rated 100% fresh on RottenTomatoes, also takes audiences into the Loyola Marymount University studio of the film’s co-director Rosalynde LeBlanc as she teaches the piece to current-day students who struggle to connect to the earlier time and work. “Perry Mason” (HBO): Chris Chalk, who plays an investigator, has been signed to portray author James Baldwin in Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Capote’s Women.” “The Daily Show” (Comedy): Correspondent Roy Wood Jr. gets a turn in the guest-host seat this week.
April 4 – “My Name Is Mo’Nique” (Netflix): From staring down a racist teacher to her grandmother’s sex warning, the comedy legend spills all in this stand-up special filmed at Atlanta’s Rialto Theater. “Redefined: J.R. Smith” (Prime Video): A four-part docuseries following the retired NBA star as he pursues a college education and new athletic passion as a member of the men’s golf team at North Carolina A&T, the nation’s largest historically Black university. “That’s My Jam” (NBC): Keke Palmer & Saweetie vs. Will.I.Am & Joel McHale
April 5 – “Schmigadoon” (Peacock): A second season of the musical parody sitcom with Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Fred Armison and Ariana DeBose. “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” (Hulu): The series comes to an end. “The Crossover” (Disney+): Daveed Diggs is narrator and executive producer (along with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, series novelist Kwame Alexander and director George Tillman Jr.) of this coming-of-age basketball story. It features Jalyn Hall, Derek Luke, Amir O’Neil, Sabrina Revelle and Phylicia Rashad. “Live From The Artists Den” (AXS): Ed Sheeran “Dave” (FXX): The unexpected rap star and his crew are on tour in the third season, hitting up Texas and Philadelphia first.
April 6 – “Beef” (Netflix): Steven Yeun (“The Walking Dead”) and Ali Wong (“Crazy Rich Asians”) star as two strangers who get into a road rage incident that brings chaos into their lives. “Bel-Air” (Peacock): Bill Bellamy and Anna Maria Horsford were introduced last week as members of the Banks family.
END QUOTE: “I believe in the institution of marriage, and I intend to keep trying until I get it right.” –RICHARD PRYOR
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly 1 million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.