Wyllisa Bennett

Rantings From The Red Carpet

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#BLACKGIRLMAGIC

February 5, 2020 by Wyllisa Bennett Leave a Comment

IN THE NEWS!! Me!

I’m am so excited to share that I was honored at City Hall on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 as a part of Black History Month by the office of LA City Councilman President Emeritus Herb Wesson. This honor is particular sweet because President Emeritus Wesson is the first an only African American to be selected the president of the Los Angeles City Council – and to get this during Black History Month, means everything to a conscious sister like me! And I gave an unapologetically Black, Black, Blackity, Black speech! Lol

I was honored for my work in arts and entertainment. As a celebrity publicist, my job is to make people famous and keep people famous.  But the most rewarding work of all is when I can bring my talents to the Black community, and work on projects that empower and uplift our people  — such as the Leimert Park Village Book Fair and the Pan African Film Festival. I do this for the culture!

I’m so thankful to my friends and family from North Carolina who could attend this monumental career highlight for me. Their presence meant everything to me. It was a beautiful day for me!

The City of Los Angeles honored iconic comic legends like Luenell, Eddie Griffin; Marsha Warfield; Miss Laura Hayes – the Original Queen of Comedy; and Emmy-winning comedienne and actress Tiffany Haddish as part of their Stand UP: The Art and Politics of Comedy for Black History Month.  There’s an exhibit of their work in the City Hall Bridge Gallery on the third floor of City Hall.  The exhibit will be on display through March 9, 2020.

Along with Los Angeles City Council President Emeritus Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (District 10), special thanks to Councilmen Curren Price (District 9), and Marqueece Harris-Dawson (District 8) for their constant support. They have been instrumental in my work in the Black community.

MAMA, I’M ON TV!

January 5, 2020 by Wyllisa Bennett Leave a Comment

Spilling the Tea With Claudia Jordan & Co. on Fox Soul

I had the wonderful opportunity to appear as a guest on Fox Soul’s tv show, “Out Loud With Claudia Jordan,” who is one of my favorite tv personalities because she exemplifies both beauty and brains. Plus, she has a wicked sense of humor. The show’s topic addressed gossip, Internet trolls and the rumor mill. All in front of a live studio audience! Lawd, somebody gave me a mic, and I put my 15 minutes of fame to good use! Check out the clip below.

We dished on a lot of things, especially how some careers and made and slayed by the blogs and social media. Now, I subscribe to the school of thought that “all publicity is good publicity!” Of course, there are exceptions to the rule! Joining me in the conversation was entrepreneur J.C. Jones, — who was caught on camera making out with reality star Black China, and lived to tell about it – along with blogger Kyle Anfernee, formerly of The Shade Room, who now runs his own blog, The Neighborhood Talk.

Claudia spilled the tea about her own anguish of being a target in the blogs, and how it almost ruined her career! Oh, and I found out that the rumor about her having an affair with legendary radio jock Tom Joyner and breaking up his marriage was totally untrue! That was a rumor that been around for years! I asked her about it on the air, and glad she came clean about it.

A few tidbits from the show:

  • Not only was J.C. caught on camera kissing Black China, which caused quite a scandal, but it also outed him as a bisexual man before he had a chance to tell his family and kids in Louisiana! Ouch! Google him!
  • Just to repeat: Claudia Jordan never had an affair with radio jock Tom Joyner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show. She doesn’t even have his personal phone number!
  • Blogger Kyle Anfernee admits that Grammy-winner Cardi B hates his guts! Perhaps, it’s because of his friendship with Nicki Minaj. Oh, the shade of it all!
  • When asked which celebrity I WANTED TO REPRESENT DURING A PR CRISIS – hands down, Nicole Murphy, and the scandalous pictures of her kissing director Antoine Fuqua.  Nicole, call me! 
  • When asked which celebrity I WOULD NOT REPRESENT DURING A PR CRISIS – that’s easy — embattled Grammy-winning R & B artist R. Kelly.

To see the full show, click here. Check out my Instagram for more pictures. Thank God for good lighting and a good hair day. Hair and makeup by me. My LBD by Morph Clothing.  One dress, so many ways to wear it! The beautiful photos by David Laffe.

OUT LOUD WITH CLAUDIA JORDAN https://vods3-prod.franklyinc.com/foxsoul/foxsoul_1406_90_0_0_24216385_14967168_2.mp4

OUT LOUD WITH CLAUDIA JORDAN https://vods3-prod.franklyinc.com/foxsoul/foxsoul_1406_90_0_0_24216385_14967168_2.mp4

BLACK, BY POPULAR DEMAND!

May 24, 2018 by Wyllisa Bennett Leave a Comment

The Duke and Duchess of Sussez

SPOILER ALERT: I am going to use the word “black” a lot in this post and my latest column for the California Crusader News. Because spring is in the air, and it seems like everyone is catching spring fever even more so … for the love of black culture. The month of April sprung forth many blossoms of Black Pride by popular demand!

In April, Beyonce’ slayed so hard at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, it was dubbed #Beychella. She was the first black woman to headline the show. Secondly, Compton’s very own critically-acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar wins the Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album, “DAMN.” It’s the first for a hip hop artist. Who needs a Grammy Award when you can have a Pulitzer? His album lost out to Bruno Mars’s “24K Magic” for Album of the Year; but the Pulitzer Prize is certainly more prestigious, and more importantly, a huge milestone for the music genre that was initially dissed by the mainstream.

And finally, there’s the historic run of “Black Panther,” the crown jewel of Black Pride. Directed by Ryan Cooglar, it features a predominantly black cast as well as a bunch of empowered, kick-ass beautiful black women, wearing natural hair! Breaking box office records, the Marvel superhero movie has raked in more than a $1.33 billion globally, and last month, knocked off “Titanic” to become the third, highest grossing movie of all time in the United States, behind “Star Wars: the Force Awakens” and “Avatar,” respectively.

But May brought forth even more blooms. I love it when black culture pops up in unexpected places like say: a royal wedding. I mean was I alone, getting up in the middle of the night to make sure a Black girl from Crenshaw Boulevard walk down the aisle at Windsor Castle to marry Prince Harry! Side note: I’ve traveled to London, and visited Windsor Castle. It’s pretty ritzy!

A black mother, wearing dreads and a nose ring. A black preacher, preaching over his allotted time limit. A black choir, singing “Stand by Me.” A black cellist, playing oh so beautifully, and he’s the first black performer to be named to Britain’s Young Musician of the Year. And of course, Black Twitter had its fun with the hashtag: #BlackRoyal Wedding! Only one thing was missing, and that was the sound of tambourines, accompanying the choir! Oh well, we can’t have everything.

And then there’s news of Stacey Abrams, a state legislator in Georgia, who won her gubernatorial primary, becoming the first black woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the U-S of A!

Beyonce: She Did It for the Culture

It’s been an incredible season of celebrating black culture for sure. But, back to Beyonce! All hail Queen Bey! She did it for the culture! To borrow a line from her husband – a lyric in Jay-Z’s “Izzo” (H.O.V.A.). Because nothing exemplifies black culture like a good, old-fashioned homecoming, which takes place during the fall on the campuses of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).

You can read more of my thoughts about Beyonce’s historic Coachella performance and how she created an incredible opus, celebrating blackness – black art, black beauty and black culture in my latest column for the California Crusader News. CCN#20_May_10_2018

Illustration of Beyonce at Coachella by Nigerian artist Morenike Olusanya.

 

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT 2 ARTIST MORENIKE OLUSANYA

I’m excited to spotlight the illustration of Beyonce by Morenike Olusanya, a 23-year-old visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer from Lagos, Nigeria. To view her work, visit her website at IamRenike.carbonmade.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @IamRenike

FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: Girl Crushes, Vision Boards and Virtual Mentors

March 31, 2018 by Wyllisa Bennett 1 Comment

Excited to bump into a “virtual mentor.” Lena Waithe became the first African American woman to win an Emmy for writing on Netflix’s “Master of None.”

 

Today is the last day of Women’s History Month. What a glorious idea to spend a whole month celebrating feminism, female empowerment and girl crushes.

I think it’s no coincidence that “Wonder Woman,” directed by a woman, made over $1 billion at the box office worldwide, cementing its place in history as one of the top-selling superhero movies of all time because I feel like women are really coming into their own.

Already, it’s been an incredible year of celebrating African American women in front of and behind the camera, especially with the release of “Black Panther,” empowering actresses Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and of course, Angela Bassett (a girl crush) to portray such strong, powerful Black women on the big screen. (And their natural hairstyles were giving me so much life!)

For the past two months – i.e. Black History Month and Women’s History Month — I’ve been offering commentary about the accomplishments of African Americans and women on several radio shows where I serve as an entertainment correspondent.

The dynamic women of “Black Panther.”

Still, all year long, I’ve been bursting with joy on the inside because I’ve had these random, yet special moments with some of the very women who I’ve admired from afar. Some may call these chance meetings a coincidence, but I don’t. I like to think of them as breadcrumbs that God is leaving behind to let me know my life is moving in the right direction. Almost, like he’s giving me clues to the next chapter of my story. This is how I “listen to my life,” if you know what I mean.

In the book, “The Hollywood Commandments: the Spiritual Guide to Secular Success,” New York Times bestselling author DeVon Franklin offers life lessons and advice for success by combining “spiritual teachings with secular strategies.” In one of the chapters, he talks about having “virtual mentors” – that is, leaders in your field who you know, but may not know you — who can serve as mentors by studying their career path, projects, social media posts, interviews, etc. (Don’t be a stalker, though.)

This is great advice because it helps you think about your career in a different way, setting new goals and aspirations to make your dreams come true. It’s like living vicariously through someone else until your dream pops off, and then hopefully, you become a virtual mentor to someone else.

I have a list of virtual mentors. One of them is my former colleague Ava DuVernay, who I know from working in PR together. As the publicist of record for the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), I supported her early movies, “I Will Follow” and “Middle of Nowhere,” and promoted her projects within my professional circles. And look at her now! She went from being an entertainment publicist to making history as the first Black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe as director of “Selma;” she’s the first African American woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of more than $100 million with “A Wrinkle in Time,” AND she’ll be the first African American woman to direct a superhero film, “New Gods” from DC Comics.  (She’s the second woman to helm a superhero film, behind Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman.”)

I’m excited about the doors she’s opening for other women, too. Along with Oprah Winfrey, she’s the executive producer of OWN’s “Queen Sugar,” and for all three seasons, she’s hired only female directors like Julie Dash (“Daughters of the Dust”), Tanya Hamilton (“Night Catches Us”), Victoria Mahoney (“Yelling to the Sky”) and actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“A Low Down Dirty Shame,” “Eureka” and “Pastor Brown”).

“If Game of Thrones can have three seasons of all male directors, why can’t we have three seasons of all women directors?” 🤷🏾‍♀️ https://t.co/e2xTDy8fXw

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) March 21, 2018

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‘Tis the Season: A Year in Review

December 26, 2017 by Wyllisa Bennett 1 Comment

I love this time of year! No, no, no … I’m not talking about the plethora of holidays – that is, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s Day and Kwanzaa – which makes up the holiday season. Instead, I’m talking about another reason for me to shop: the beginning of awards season! And come January 2, 2018; there will be plenty of brunches, lunches, parties, after parties, gifting suites, screenings, etc. for me to attend that I won’t have time to do laundry or complain that “I don’t have anything to wear!”

Right now, I’m carefully curating my awards season wardrobe so I can be red-carpet ready next year. And I’m carefully watching the waistline so I can get into my new clothes. Some mac ‘n cheese here and sweet potato pie there can easily cause a 10-pound weight gain, and sideline my fashion options.

I love blinging things! My latest arts-and-craft project is the strassing of these NearlyNude block heel sandals by Stuart Weitzman. I can’t wait to wear them to some fancy, smacy red–carpet event.

It’s the perfect season to add yet another LBD (little black dress) to my wardrobe. I can’t wait to wear this long, black tulle skirt I found on sale at Bloomingdale’s. And given the fashion trend of embellishments – inspired by fashion gods like Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana – I’m revamping some of my old, favorite clothes AND shoes with DIY projects, using Swarovski crystals, sequins and rhinestone patches, and of course, glitter! With some E-6000 glue and a toothpick, I meticulously blinged out the heels of one of my favorite shoes, the NearlyNude block heel sandals by Stuart Weitzman. In eight hours, I made a great pair of shoes look simply amazing! (Side note: YouTube DIY videos are terribly addicting, and DTLA’s Fashion District is a goldmine of stuff! Shout out to the Bead Factory on Maple Avenue.)

Correction: In my article, I mistakenly called my shoes by the wrong name, the Nudist. It’s the Stuart Weitzman version with the sky-high stiletto heel. And trust me, after several attempts, and many broken heels, I’ve come to the conclusion that I cannot carry the weight of my body on a stiletto heel!

But I digress. In my latest column for the California Crusader, I do a quick year in review of all the good tv and films of 2017 with a little help from my friends at the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA). “Get Out,” written and directed by Jordan Peele, has crossed the $250 million mark worldwide, gobbling up awards along the way. In fact, “Get Out” topped the AAFCA’s  Top 10 list of Best Picture.

For my year in review, check out my latest column, which appeared in the December 21, 2017 of the California Crusader News. CCN#51_DEC_21_2017w

Gotta run, I’m heading out for the after-Christmas sales! There’s still more deals to be had!

“Get Out,” written and directed by Jordan Peele, has been named the top film by many film critic associations, including the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).

AIR CHECK: On the Air With Sanya On Air

December 11, 2017 by Wyllisa Bennett Leave a Comment

#Trending Topics With Wyllisa

ENGAGED! Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle are set to tie the knot in 2018. Talk about the come up of the century!

Back on the air with Sanya On Air! I am excited to work with media personality Sanya Hudson, the radio host of Sanya On-Air, based in New York City. I’ve signed on as the social and entertainment commentator, offering my witty thoughts on all things poppin’ in pop culture. On Saturday, December 2,  2017, I discussed how Black Hollywood is #winning the game in tv, film and music. The year 2017 was an incredible year for African Americans making strides in the entertainment industry.

Plus, Meghan Markle, a Black girl from LA, is marrying Prince Harry! Talk about a come up of epic proportions! Should a woman marry for love or security? Well, you can hear my thoughts on the show. Tune in!

Blooper Alert!

By the way, I had a brain freeze while on the air, referring to rapper Kendrick Lamar as “Lamar Kendrick!” Ugh!!

 

I HEART DENZEL WASHINGTON!

December 1, 2017 by Wyllisa Bennett Leave a Comment

Here I am at the special event, “Clips and Conversation,” hosted by Sony Pictures and the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) on November 9, 2017 at the Regency West in Leimert Park Village.

Oh Denzel Washington, how do I love thee, let me count the ways?

I love you for that single tear that tickled down your right eye in your Oscar-winning performance of “Glory,” showing strength, yet defiance.

I love you for transforming yourself into Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” donning reddish hair, while echoing the speaking power of the great slain civil rights leader.

Oh, I love you for your nastiness as a dirty cop in “Training Day,” letting us know that King Kong ain’t got nothing on you, and grabbing another gold statuette along the way. We all know you’re such a gentleman, a humanitarian and a philanthropist, but it was exhilarating to watch you on the big screen as one of the bad guys.

And now I love you as Roman J. Israel, a quirky, socially-awkward, gap-tooth criminal defense attorney, who’s stuck in the 1960s, and want to do the right thing for “the cause.”

I could go on …  and I did in my latest column for this week’s California Crusader News. I pay special homage to Washington for his work in the title role of his newest movie, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” It’s in theatres now.

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