Joking about her mother’s daughter being “unemployed” did not prohibit former “Today Show” co-host Tamron Hall from donating $5,000 to the Apollo Theater Foundation at the famed Harlem landmark’s annual Dining with the Divas luncheon on Valentine’s Day. Looking regal in blue, Hall served as the afternoon’s MC, thoroughly entertaining more than 500 women who enjoyed a sumptuous lunch and Champagne as they dined right on the Apollo’s stage. Highlights of the fabulous afternoon included moving speeches from New York City’s First Lady Chirlaine McCray and a memorable mini-concert from former “American Idol” contestant Frenchie Davis. The charity surpassed its goal, raising more $30,000.
New Edition veteran performer Bobby Brown recently revealed to US magazine that his daughter with the late Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina Brown, died Feb. 2, 2015. Her death was not made public until July 26, 2015. In her honor, the crooner is hosting a Celebration of Serenity Gala March 4, which would have been Bobbi Kristina’s 25th birthday. The gala will raise money for the Bobbi Kristina Serenity House to bring awareness to domestic violence and provide assistance for victims.
Although Wendy William canceled her Valentine’s Day show because of flu-like symptoms, the Daytime Diva continues to flourish. Bounce, the fastest-growing African-American network on television, has acquired the day and date repurpose rights to “The Wendy Williams Show” from Lionsgate’s Debmar Mercury in a new agreement. The deal represents the first-ever repurposed programming arrangement done by a new-generation broadcast network, also known as a multicast network. Starting Monday, March 5, Bounce will air “The Wendy Williams Show” weeknights at 11 p.m., ET/8 p.m., PT, on the same day the episode premieres in syndication.
Grammy-nominated funk rock pioneer Nona Hendryx continues her year at Joe’s Pub at The Public in New York City as the inaugural recipient of The Vanguard Residency and Award, which celebrates an icon of American pop culture, with two new shows. March 19, Hendryx has invited Liza Jessie Peterson to debut a new work called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” a mix of Peterson’s acclaimed one-woman show, “The Peculiar Patriot” and new book, “All Day.” Directed by Susan Batson, “Down the Rabbit Hole” is an intimate night with Peterson, taking the audience on an entertainingly raucous journey down the rabbit hole of prison prose and poetry.