BET Founder Bob Johnson Partners With Legal Sea Foods on Airport Expansion

The RLJ Cos. and Legal Sea Foods are joining forces to open smaller versions of the upscale restaurant chain at major airport hubs.

Robert L. Johnson, the founder and chairman of The RLJ Cos. and the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), announced a joint venture with the Boston-based restaurant group to open smaller-scale versions of the famed restaurant within airport terminals all across the country. 

“I am very excited about the RLJ Companies joining with Legal Sea Foods and its CEO and President Roger S. Berkowitz, to expand the Legal Sea Foods dining experience to millions more airport travelers,” Johnson said in a written statement. Roger’s family founded Legal Sea Foods, whose roots in the food business go back almost 100 years, and has established an exceptional reputation and loyal following for its unparalleled quality.”

(Facebook.com/LegalSeaFoods)

Legal Sea Foods opened restaurants at other airports that proved to be successful such as Logan International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and Reagan National Airport. The expected joint venture will lead to an increase in new airport locations across the country.

“As two entrepreneurial owners, Roger and I are both enthusiastic about what our brand combination can successfully achieve in meeting the dining needs of consumers who are seeking first-class food in locations long underserved by great restaurants,” Johnson continues.

“As a family-owned and operated company, we feel we have a kindred spirit in Bob who has achieved phenomenal success through smarts, tenacity and a strong sense of what people want,” said Roger Berkowitz, president, and CEO of Legal Sea Foods. “Our venture will enable us to bring the freshest, highest quality food from the sea to those traveling by air.”

The RLJ Cos. is a portfolio of companies with holdings in several industries, including the RLJ McLarty Landers Holdings L.L.C., the highest-earning black-owned auto company with revenues of $1.8 billion and ranked No.1 on the 2019 BE Auto 40 list of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses, Black Enterprise‘s annual “BE 100s” list.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2QY9FaY

New photo of Blue Ivy released on her 8th birthday by grandfather, Mathew Knowles

Blue Ivy Carter is now eight years old!

As the first child of Beyoncé and Jay-Z celebrated her Jan. 7 birthday, her grandfather, Mathew Knowles, took to Instagram to wish her well and upon doing that, he also released a never before seen picture of the young starlet.

READ MORE: Vanity Fair writer mocks 7-year-old Blue Ivy Carter for looking like her father Jay-Z

“Happy Birthday to my beautiful and oldest granddaughter Blue Ivy. Love, Papa G,” Knowles wrote, accompanying his post with a GIF of Blue wearing her hair straight and shoulder-length, and donning a backpack, an orange, long-sleeve shirt and a skirt embossed with cherries, perhaps heading to school.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Happy Birthday to my beautiful and oldest granddaughter Blue Ivy.⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣Love,⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣Papa G

A post shared by Mathew Knowles (@mrmathewknowles) on Jan 7, 2020 at 9:53am PST

Just a week ago, the older sister to twins, Rumi and Sir, 2, brought in the New Year with her mom and rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

On Jan. 1, Megan posted two photos on Instagram, which look to be from a New Year’s Eve party. One shows the trio smiling with Beyoncé puckering up for the camera. The other shows Blue looking over her shoulder and reminding us so much of her mama.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Happy 2020 🤘🏽 @beyonce

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Jan 1, 2020 at 9:59am PST

Megan captioned the black and white photos: “Happy 2020 @beyonce.”

The past year has been a big one for Blue Ivy. She continued to travel the country and world with her famous parents. She walked her share of movie premieres and red carpets. She sat courtside with her folks rooting on NBA games.

Blue Ivy also dropped her first song on The Lion King soundtrack, “Brown Skinned Girl,” along with St. Jhn, Wiz Kid, and Beyoncé. The song, which includes Blue Ivy singing, earned her the Ashford & Simpson’s Songwriter’s Award, which was presented at the 2019 Soul Train Awards. The song, which landed on the Billboard Hot 100, also earned Blue a songwriting credit.

Blue Ivy also sang the Black national anthem on her mother’s 2019 Homecoming documentary.

And Bey and Jay continue to make the case that Blue Ivy is a “cultural icon” in their battle to get her name trademarked. In their trademark brief, the couple said their daughter is “reported on by popular press, and whose name generates millions of hits on a Google search.”

READ MORE: She’s just 7! Why Blue Ivy is REALLY triggering people’s anti-Blackness

Blue Ivy almost came out of the womb a star. Her dad featured her coos and cries on his hit “Glory,” which landed B.I.C. (how Jay credited her on the track) as the youngest kid to ever appear on Billboard’s charts.

What can Blue Ivy expect in this 8th year? Our guess is more greatness.

The post New photo of Blue Ivy released on her 8th birthday by grandfather, Mathew Knowles appeared first on TheGrio.

from TheGrio https://ift.tt/36BAJ6v

Fox says it’s official, Jussie Smollett will not be returning for the ‘Empire’ finale

Nearly a year ago, Smollett was canned from the hit drama amid charges that he concocted a wild story about being robbed at gunpoint by two, homophobic men on the streets of Chicago – charges that were later dropped by Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx.

Since then, speculation started growing that Smollett would return in the finale episode, however, Fox entertainment head, Michael Thorn, said that’s not happening, according to TheWrap.

READ MORE: Jussie Smollett may be brought back to Empire during final season, showrunner says

“He will not be coming back,” Thorn said to TheWrap. “As you would expect when you’re finishing an iconic series like Empire, that Brett (Mahoney), as the showrunner, along with his producing partners, would certainly have discussions about what’s the best way to finish the show. In this case, Jussie will not be coming back for the finale.”

Producers wrote Smollett and his character, Jamal Lyon, out of the show at the end of Season 5 as Chicago police built its case around the narrative that Smollett staged his own attack to promote his career. Prior to the start of the final season, the network said there were “no plans” for Smollett to return, however, Mahoney told TheWrap that it would be “weird and particularly challenging to do (the finale) without him.”

Empire, co-created and executive produced by Lee Daniels is currently on a midseason break but will return in the spring to run its final episodes. Producers wrote Smollett out of the show by having Jamal move to Paris.

The series debuted five years ago to powerhouse ratings, becoming an almost instant success. Since that time, however, it has steadily lost viewers each season and ratings have tanked. Having Jamal come back from Paris would certainly boost show ratings but Thorn said it is not something that producers have discussed or are considering.

“I will tell you on all of our shows we always talk about how do you boost ratings and in this marketplace it’s very challenging,” Thorn told TheWrap. “When you’re a pop-culture phenomenon, like Empire was, you burn bright for as long as you can. Unfortunately, when you’re doing 18 episodes a year … some viewer attrition is just unfortunately inevitable. But we think this season has been fantastic. Have we talked about how to goose ratings? Of course. Did we talk about exploiting Jussie’s situation to do so? No.”

READ MORE: Jussie Smollett hits back at critic who claims he lied about racist attack

Thorn said longtime viewers of Empire are in for a treat when the show closes out.

“What I will tell you is what Brett and Danny and Lee and Imagine (Entertainment) have planned is awesome,” Thorn added in the interview. “And I’m really excited. It’s bittersweet, obviously, for the show to end, but I’m really excited, ’cause I think they have an incredible creative plan for the finale and I hope people come in droves.”

The post Fox says it’s official, Jussie Smollett will not be returning for the ‘Empire’ finale appeared first on TheGrio.

from TheGrio https://ift.tt/35z8F27

BAFTAs: No Nominations For You Cynthia Erivo (or Any Non-White Actors), But Can You Sing at Our Ceremony?

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has quite the audacity and the unmitigated gall. Following a PR nightmare with its all-white acting nomination list for the EE British Academy Films Awards (known as the BAFTAs), it looks like the academy’s nerve went even further than you can imagine.

Read more...

from The Root https://ift.tt/2Qxjmhw

Save Big on TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53 Wireless Earbuds [Exclusive]

TaoTronics SoundLiberty 53 | $28 | Amazon | Use the promo code KINJAUKX

Read more...

from The Root https://ift.tt/2N8w1VU